The Beatitudes & 10 Commandments

1. The Beatitudes & 10 Commandments Guidelines for Life

2. The 8 Beatitudes Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." • "Poor in spirit" means to be humble. • Humility is the realization that all your gifts and blessings come from the grace of God. • To have poverty of spirit means to be completely empty and open to the Word of God. When we are an empty cup and devoid of pride, we are humble. • Humility brings an openness and an inner peace, allowing one to do the will of God. It is pride, the opposite of humility, that brings misery. • For pride brings anger and the seeking of revenge, especially when one is offended. • If every man were humble and poor in spirit, there would be no war!

4. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted." • The Beatitudes built one upon another. • That means if we are humble and appreciate that all of our gifts and blessings come from God, we grow in love and gratitude for Jesus Christ our Savior. • But this can only produce mourning and regret over our own sins and the sins of this world, for we have hurt the one who has been so good to us.

5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." • A person who is meek is gentle and kind, and exhibits a docility of spirit. • Obedience and submission to the will of God are certainly not in vogue these days, but they will bring one peace in this world and in the next.

6. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." • A continuous desire for justice and moral perfection will lead one to a fulfillment of that desire - a transition and conversion to holiness.

7. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." • Love, compassion, and forgiveness towards one's neighbor will bring peace in your relationships. • Our Heavenly Father will be merciful with you! Jesus reminds us that whatever "you did to the least of my brethren, you did it to me ." • We will see these exposed in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:

8. "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." • To be pure of heart means to be free of all selfish intentions and self-seeking desires. What a beautiful goal! • How many times have any of us performed an act perfectly free of any personal gain? • But an act of pure and selfless giving brings happiness to all. - We will all see that as we do our “Pay It Forward” Projects

9. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." • Peacemakers not only live peaceful lives but also try to bring peace and friendship to others, and to preserve peace between God and man. • By imitating or mimicking God's love of man, the peacemakers become children of God.

10. "Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." • Jesus said many times that those who follow Him will be persecuted. "If they persecute me, they will persecute you ." • But the Lord promises his disciples that their reward will be the Kingdom of Heaven!

11. The Corporal Works of Mercy 1 Feed the Hungry 2 Give drink to the thirsty 3 Clothe the naked 4 Shelter the homeless 5 Comfort the imprisoned 6 Visit the sick 7 Bury the dead

12. The Spiritual Works of Mercy 1 Admonish sinners 2 Instruct the uninformed 3 Counsel/advise the doubtful 4 Comfort the sorrowful 5 Be patient with those in error 6 Forgive offenses 7 Pray for the living and the dead

13. The 10 Commandments • I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. • You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. • Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. • Honor your father and your mother. • You shall not kill. • You shall not commit adultery. • You shall not steal. • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. • You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. • You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

14. What do the 10 Commandments mean? • The Ten Commandments are a description of the basic freedom from sin that is necessary to live as a Christian. • They are a minimum level of living, below which we must not go. • The Ten Commandments and Catholicism have been bound together since the time of Christ. In fact, Jesus refers to the Ten Commandments and assures their validity in his dialog with the rich young man in Matthew's Gospel (Mt 19:16-21). • It's important to note that each Commandment is simply a summary of a whole category of actions. Don't be searching for a way around them because their wording doesn't fit you perfectly! For example, "bearing false witness against your neighbor" covers any kind of falsehood: perjury, lying, slander, detraction, rash judgment, etc. • The Commandments express man's fundamental duties to God and neighbor. They represent grave obligations. To violate them knowingly & willingly in a significant way is to commit sin ~ mortal or venial

15. The 1st Commandment: I am the Lord your God, Do Not Have False Gods • God made our world and created each one of us. • He wants us to know that He loves us and that He will always be with us. • There are times when we forget and we make other people and things more important.  That is wrong.

16. The 2nd Commandment: Do Not Take God's Name in Vain. • Names are special.  No one should dishonor anyone's name.  Especially God's name. • His name should be: Spoken with respect. Prayed to with care Asked for with love

17. The Third Commandment: Keep Holy the Lord's Day • Our Lord wants us to have a day of rest.  A day when we can put aside our work and just think of how much we are loved by God.  That special day is Sunday aka the Lord's Day. • We go to church on Sunday to spend time with God.  We listen to God's Word at Mass and pray for each other.

18. The Fifth Commandment: Do Not Kill • God gave us life.  He gave each of us this special gift and we should treat our lives and the lives of others with care and respect. • When we fight or do other disrespectful things, we are killing the special joy and peace that is given to us by God.  Their life is precious, as ours is, and we must remember to honor that life.

19. The Fourth Commandment:   Honor your Father and Mother • God gives you life but He shares that gift He has given with your Father and Mother.  He wants them to show you how to love by the love they give to you and each other. They are your best teachers.  They teach you lots of wonderful things including how much God loves you. • Other people, like your grandparents or aunts and uncles, have that special gift from God also.  They need to be treated with honor and respect, too.

20. The Sixth Commandment: Do Not Commit Adultery • This is mostly for married people.  When two people get married, they promise to share their love only with each other.  They must keep that promise. • When people aren't married, this commandment reminds us to honor ourselves and be sincere with our friends.  We should be a true friend and not break promises and not lead our friends to break their promises.

21. The Seventh Commandment: Do Not Steal • We all have things that are special to us.  Perhaps we have worked hard and earned it or perhaps it was a gift for Christmas or a birthday.  Whatever the reason, we would never want what is ours to be taken from us. To just take what is not ours is wrong.  It is selfish and harmful.  Everyone has a right to what belongs to them. • When we cheat, it's the same thing.  When we are cheating to win a game, to get the right answer, whatever we cheat on, it's taking what is not ours.

22. The Eighth Commandment: Do Not Lie • The truth makes us happy and lies make us so sad.  Lies hurt other people and they hurts us.  There are times when we lie to get out of trouble.  There are times when a  lie seems to help. That isn't true.  A lie always hurts the respect we have of ourselves and it usually hurts another person.  A lie brings shame on us.  A lie makes us sad. • When you tell other people's secrets, even if its true, that hurts them.  When we make them hurt, we hurt ourselves

23. The Ninth Commandment Honor your Neighbor's Wife • Marriage is a special gift from God.  Gifts always make us happy.  This gift of marriage is very special between a man a woman and God doesn't want any other man or woman to take this gift away.

24. The Tenth Commandment: Honor Your Neighbor's Goods • Many times, other people have really neat things.  We might even wish that it was ours.  Many people are good in sports or have really wonderful clothes. To want nice things for ourselves is okay.  When we become mean or nasty to others that have what we would like to have, that's wrong.  When we are unhappy and sulk because the other person is better in sports or wears better clothes than we wear, that's wrong. • We need to admire the things that other people have.  We need to admire their special talents.  We need to be happy for them.  We need to thank God for the special gifts He has given us.