Fourth commandment:
“Honor your father and your mother”
• It commands us to honor and respect our parents and those whom God
has vested with his authority.
How are parents be given such respect?
(1051)Filial respect for parents is to be given:
• Not because of their actual competence, productivity, or natural
virtues, but simply on their status as parents.
• Not just for the good of the family, but as necessary for the
community itself.
• Equally to both father and mother.
(1052) 3 common obstacles concerning the 4th commandment
1. Parents who neglect or abuse their children.
[Link] children`s and youth`s “growing up” periods that challenge parental patience
and understanding.
[Link] “generation gap” between parents and offspring that is intensified by the
increased speed and extent of modern cultural and technological changes.
• These obstacles can also be a positive force for going beyond mere customary
ways of acting, to bring out the full Christian meaning and values fostered by the
Commandment
Duties of children toward their parents
• Children owe respect, gratitude, docility and obedience to their parents. By doing
this, children contribute to the growth in harmony and holiness in the family.
• Adult Children should give their parents material and moral support whenever
they find themselves in distress, sickness, loneliness, or old age.
Duties of parents toward their children
• Parents, in virtue of their participation in the fatherhood of God, have the first
responsibility for the education of their children and they are the first heralds
of the faith for them.
• They have the duty to love and respect their children as persons and as children
of God and to provide for their physical and spiritual needs.
Fifth commandment:
“You shall not kill”
(1028) •It forbids direct attacks on human life, physical integrity and Human
dignity.
• It thus protects God`s gift of life and promotes practical care and
respect for the life and dignity of all persons.
• This indicates that the basis for the extraordinary value of human
life is GOD. He is the Lord and Giver of life, in whom “we live and
move and have our being”
(1030) Jesus perfected and intensified the respect commanded for human life
by linking it directly with the great, “love command”
“You have heard the commandment, ‘You shall love your countryman and hate
your enemy.’ My command to you is: Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors.
This will prove that you are sons of your heavenly Father, for his sun rises on the
bad and the good, he rains on the just and the unjust”
Matthew 5:43-45
(1031) Jesus intensified the commandment by forbidding even anger.
• See Matthew 5:21-22 (everyone who grows angry with is brother will be liable to judgment)
• Thus, did He go to the root of killing, and reveal anger of heart as the real
menace.
(1032) The basic value behind the 5th Commandment and Jesus` teaching is
that God alone is the ultimate Lord and Master of life.
• Since life comes from and is sustained by God, it belongs to Him.
• Therefore, we are stewards of life who must respect and care fir our own lives
and the lives of others.
• Hence it is not simply a question of “not killing” but of protecting, promoting,
and enhancing the quality of life.
Particular Offenses Against Life
(1036)The most widespread abuse in our country against physical well-being are the
common “vices” of alcohol and drug abuse, and to the less intensive degree,
smoking.
• The quality of life of both the users and their family and close friends suffers
greatly.
• More culpable still are the drug dealers and pushers who, for the sake of money,
care nothing about drawing others, especially innocent youth, into addictive
dependency that ruins their very lives.
Other Serious Offenses Against Life
(1037) Abortion
• The deliberate ejection of a non-viable fetus from the mother`s womb.
• It is strictly prohibited by the 5th commandment because it is the killing of an
innocent human being
(1038) Euthanasia
• Also called as “mercy killing”.
• It consist in putting an end to the life of the handicapped, the sick, or those near
death by an act or by the omission of a required action.
(1040) Suicide
• It is the terrible, unalterable act of taking one`s own life.
• It is the result or expression of a total loss of will to survive which came from depression
and despair. This involves:
• Running away from a life that has become impossible.
• God seems to be completely absent.
• As Christians, we must do all in our power to help those tempted to take their own lives, to
recognize God`s personal love for them, and to continue to “hope in the Lord.”
(1041) Capital Punishment
• the practice of executing those convicted of serious crimes.
3 traditional reasons/arguments for this punishment.
• Retribution
• The vindication of the rights of the victim is absent.
• Capital punishment seems to satisfy a spirit of vengeance or revenge, thus perpetuating the cycle
of violence.
• Reform or rehabilitation of the criminal
• Obviously, Capital Punishment destroys any chance to reform.
• Moreover rejects any hope that God`s grace could effect such reform.
• Deterrence
• It is the discouraging others from committing the same crime.
• There is no conclusive proof that capital punishment actually deters others from serious
crimes.
(1042) War
When is it morally permitted to use military force?
The use of military force is morally justified when the following conditions are
simultaneously present:
• The suffering inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave and certain.
• All other peaceful means must have been shown to be ineffective.
• There are well founded prospects of success.
• The use of arms must not produce evils graver than the evil to be eliminated.
In case of war, what does the moral law require?
• It requires the humane treatment of noncombatants, wounded soldiers and prisoners of war.
• Acts of mass destruction and genocide must be condemned. One is morally bound to resist
the orders that command such acts
Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything
reasonably possible to avoid it.
