Examination of Conscience for Elementary School Children
This Examination of Conscience is from catholickids101.com, a tool to help bring children to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist for the 21st century!
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
“I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me.”
To obey this first commandment you must always try to put God first. You must always try to remember to think about God and talk with Him in prayer every single day.
When you wake up, bless yourself first thing by making the Sign of the Cross. Offer to God all that you will think, say and do throughout you day. We do this for His glory. Ask for His blessing and protection.
You should always try to remember to pray before you eat. You want to thank God and ask His blessing on your food. Always try to pray with a thankful heart!
Throughout your day you can speak with God. In any situation you can talk with Him in your heart just like you would talk with your very best friend.
You can pray short prayers too. The more you do this, the easier it will become. It is a way to really help you think about God! Here are some prayers you can say: “Jesus, I trust in You.” “Thank You, Lord!” “Jesus.” “Father, I adore You.” “I praise You!” “I love You in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar.” These are all wonderful prayers. You can make up your own too.
It is always a good thing to pray before taking a test or doing homework. You can say: “Help me, Jesus.” “For Your glory, Lord.” “Come Holy Spirit!”
You can say a prayer for someone who is in need. “Bless them, Lord.” “Please help them, Jesus.”
All throughout the day there are many opportunities to pray.
You should try to always kneel down next to your bed each night and pray before going to sleep.
There are no exact words or an exact “right way” to pray throughout the day. But we must pray. The Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be prayers are “par excellence” (that means that they are prayers that are “the best of the best”) and should be prayed often.
Praying to God each day is how we honor God’s first commandment by putting Him first.
If you decide not to think about God, not to pray to Him, not to ever thank Him, not to make Him any part of your day just because you don’t care, then you would not be following the First Commandment. To do this would be a sin. If you do this, you would not be putting God first. He never forgets about you! You should never forget about Him.
Behaving badly during Mass, religion class or not doing religion or Bible study homework because you don’t care would be a sin against the first commandment.
To become distracted or forgetful during prayer is not a sin! We should try and keep our mind and heart with Jesus whenever we are praying. If we are at Mass or praying the Rosary and our mind wanders, it is not a sin. We just need to try and bring our mind and heart gently back to God as soon as we remember. It’s important to never give up.
Speak with Jesus as you would speak with your very best friend. Jesus wants to be your very best friend! He loves you so much. Always put Him first.
1st Commandment Summary:
I say my prayers each morning, before eating, throughout the day, and before sleeping.
I praise and adore God. I put God first.
This is how I keep God’s first Commandment.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
“You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.”
To follow the second commandment you must speak with respect and love when we talk about God, things that have to do with God and about people and things that are holy.
You must always say the Holy Name of Jesus with respect and love. You may notice that some people bow their heads, often during Mass or while praying the Rosary, when the Holy Name of Jesus is spoken. This is a beautiful gesture of respect and love.
You must always speak of people and things that are holy with reverence such as Our Blessed Mother, the Holy Cross and all the Holy Angels and Saints.
Sometimes people are in a bad habit of saying the name of God without thinking about what they are saying. They may exclaim, “Oh, my Gxx!” whenever they are surprised. They aren’t saying God’s name as a prayer or with proper thought. If a person is in the habit of doing this, they need to try hard to break this habit. We must speak the name of God with intention, respect and love.
If a person speaks or yells God’s name in a fit of anger or rage, it is a serious sin. This sin is called cursing and it is very wrong to do this. If you ever hear someone curse in this way, speaking the Holy Name of Jesus when in a rage as an example, it can be very shocking to hear. Imagine how Jesus feels when He hears someone say His name in this way. It grieves His Heart. He still loves that person but it hurts Him. Imagine how hurt and offended you would feel if someone used your name in this way. Can you now imagine how offensive it is to God who is all holy? You can understand how wrong this is. If you ever hear the Holy Name of Jesus cursed, it would be a wonderful thing if you would immediately tell Jesus that you are sorry His Name was used in such a way. Then pray for the person who did this. You could also whisper “Jesus” with love. To do this is called reparation. You are “repairing” the damage caused by the serious sin of cursing Jesus’ name.
If a person gets angry, picks up a pretty glass vase, throws it on the ground and it smashes into a 100 pieces, you could then see one of the effects of that burst of anger. A broken vase! However, the sin of cursing God’s Holy Name does damage that we can’t actually see with our eyes. This kind of sin damages the mind and hardens the heart. This is a grave offense against God.
If an actor, a singer or a writer curses God’s Holy Name in entertainment as heard in a movie, in a song or read in a book, it is still wrong. It is still a serious offense against God who is all holy.
Remember when out CK101 friend Anthony told us about the great Saint Anthony of Padua? We always want to speak about God and holy things in such a way that when Jesus looks at our tongue He will see our love and respect for Him. Just like Saint Anthony’s tongue, He will see a lily!
2nd Commandment Summary:
I speak of God, the Saints and holy things with love, respect and reverence.
I can pray for those who don’t.
This is how I keep God’s second commandment.
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”
Our Sabbath day is Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead! Each Sunday is like a little Easter. Sunday is a holy day. Sunday is the Lord’s day. Sunday is a day of rest.
We go to Mass on Sunday. We also go to Mass on all holy days that the Church asks of us to show our love by worshipping God. We call these days “Holy Days of Obligation.”
To not go to Mass on Sunday or on a Holy Day of Obligation on purpose would be a serious sin.
It may be that you have an illness that is contagious or you are too sick to leave the house. Then it would not be a sin to miss Mass. You would be there if you weren’t sick.
What if you live in a place that has a big snow storm and no cars can drive? What if you live in a place that has lots of rain and it’s not safe to drive when the streets flood? Would it be a sin to miss Mass then? No. You and your family would drive to Church if you could. Jesus understands.
Any situation that comes up concerning a charitable duty like a mother taking care of a sick baby and missing Mass would never be a sin. Jesus knows the person would be there if they could.
If you forgot that it was a Holy Day of Obligation and you would have gone to Mass to worship God on that special day if only you had remembered, then missing Mass would not be a sin.
To not go to Mass on Sunday because you are playing in a sports game or watching a sports event would be a serious sin. A person who does this is not keeping the Sabbath holy. This person is not putting God first.
The Church uses the Latin word “vesper” which can be translated into English “at vespers” or “in the evening.” That means, according to Church time, Sunday begins the evening before on Saturday evening. In a lot of places, especially in larger cities, there are many opportunities to go to Mass on Saturday evening. If you do this, you are following the third commandment and keeping God’s day holy by worshipping Him at Holy Mass. You are fulfilling your Sunday Mass obligation.
How do you behave at Mass? Remember, you are in God’s House. You must act with respect and reverence. You would never run, yell, chew gum, chatter or fight with your brother or sister, write on the hymnal, play games on the phone or text friends, bring food, soft drinks, candy or books that are not about Jesus into Church.
It is important to dress appropriately for Mass. You should be clean and modest in what you wear.
When you are at Mass, you must try your very best to concentrate on loving God with all your heart. You come to Mass to worship God. You come each week to offer your life to Him. You come to praise Him, thank Him and adore Him!
When you leave Mass, you want to try and keep this loving attitude for the rest of the day. You want to try and keep this attitude for the whole week! But especially on Sunday.
Sunday should not be just like all the other days of the week. It should be a day of rest and family time. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. This is the day I can especially show and tell Jesus that I love Him!
3rd Commandment Summary:
I go to Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days of Obligation.
I love God and worship Him with all my heart!
Sunday is a day of rest and family time.
This is how I keep God’s third commandment.
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
“Honor your father and your mother.”
God asks us to honor our parents in the fourth commandment. There are many ways to do this by loving, listening, obeying and praying for them.
God has given you your parents. They love you. They take care of you. They want you to love them, listen to them and obey them. They want this because it is the very best thing for you!
If you do not honor your parents then you are not honoring God.
It is not enough to say that you love your parents. You must show them your love by your actions.
You must obey your parents. If they ask you to do something, do it the first time they ask you.
A child that disobeys, throws a tantrum, yells or sasses back to their parents is not following the fourth commandment. To do this would be a sin.
Under the fourth commandment you must also respect and obey any person that your parents have put in charge or authority over you such as a grandparent, a teacher or a babysitter. You must respect and obey them as you would your parents.
Under the fourth commandment you must also give particular respect to the elderly. If you see an old man or women, no matter how different looking they seem, always be polite and kind. Never laugh at them or be rude.
When examining your conscience, you will ask yourself if you have ever been disobedient or disrespectful in your talk or actions to your parents, teachers or any person your parents have put in charge over you.
4th Commandment Summary:
I honor my father and mother by loving them, respecting them and obeying them.
I also pray for my parents.
I respect and obey my teacher and any other persons my parents have entrusted me to.
I am also kind to the elderly.
This is how I follow God’s fourth commandment.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not kill.”
God tells us in the fifth commandment that we are not to kill another person. In most circumstances it would be a serious, mortal sin. It is always wrong to kill an innocent human being on purpose.
If someone is killed by accident, it would not be a sin.
The examples listed below show when God’s fifth commandment is broken in serious, deadly (mortal) sin ways and when it is not. Kids shouldn’t have to worry if they have broken God’s fifth commandment in any of these ways. However, we decided to put them here so you can begin to understand and learn the difference. It is good to start forming our conscience now, little by little, so as we grow up we will understand right from wrong more clearly.
After these examples, we will put ways now that kids need to know to make sure they are following God’s fifth commandment.
Here are the examples of when killing someone is a serious sin and when it is not.
If a person is driving properly, going the right speed limit and paying attention to the road, and then suddenly a kid runs into the street right in front of the car without looking and is killed by the driver because he couldn’t stop the car in time, it would not be a sin for the driver. It would be an accident. It would be very sad but God’s fifth commandment would not be broken.
However, if a person is at a party drinking too much alcohol, then they leave the party, get into their car and drive, hitting another car and killing that driver because they are drunk, then it would be a serious sin. It is a serious sin to get drunk and it is a serious sin to drive drunk. You are putting yourself and other people in danger because a drunk person is not in control of what they are doing. They are not able to think properly. It is a sin to drink so much that you loose your ability to reason clearly. This is also true if a person takes drugs they are not suppose to take. A person who does any of these things is breaking God’s 5th commandment in a serious way.
If a doctor has a very sick patient and he gives them medicines to try and help them feel better and get better but the patient dies, it would not be sin. The doctor was trying to help the patient.
However, if a very sick patient didn’t want to live anymore and asks the doctor for a medicine that would kill them and the doctor gives it to them and the sick patient dies from taking that medicine, then both the patient and the doctor would be breaking God’s fifth commandment in a serious way. Doctors can help their very sick patients by giving them medicine to help take away their pain but they can never give them medicine to make them die on purpose. This is always wrong.
If an American soldier is guarding the White House in Washington, DC and a terrorist comes with a gun and starts shooting at people and the soldier takes out his own gun and shoots and kills the terrorist to stop him, it would not be a sin for the soldier. The soldier is using his gun to defend and protect innocent people. He is doing his job. However, it would be a serious sin against God’s 5th commandment for the terrorist. He is using his gun to kill innocent people on purpose.
Finally, if a mother has a baby growing in her womb and she decides to have the baby removed before the baby is ready to be born because she doesn’t want the baby, this would be very sad. This is a serious sin. All those involved would be breaking God’s fifth commandment not to kill. Our mom told us that Jesus loves mothers and babies very much and He is sad when a mother does this. However, no sin is too big for Jesus! A mother who does this would need to be sorry and go to Confession and Jesus will forgive her through this Sacrament. She will have healing this way.
Now let’s look at situations that don’t involve actually killing a person but these things are wrong and fall under God’s fifth commandment. These are things that all kids need to know.
We must not physically injure another person by hitting, beating, biting, scratching, cutting, pinching, burning or harming their body in any way on purpose. (You can physically defend yourself or another person if you are being assaulted like Marco explained on his CK101 page.)
We must never harm ourselves in any way on purpose. Of course, we must never take our own life. That’s called “suicide” and it is a serious sin. A person who takes their own life may not be fully responsible, like if they have a mental illness, but it is something we must never do.
We must not say cruel things or bully others by taunting, threatening or making fun of them. This is true in person and also through social media like on our phones or computers.
We must not hold in our hearts hatred towards another person. We must not want terrible things to happen to someone because of what they did to us. This would not be following God’s fifth commandment. We must never say, “I hate you!” to anyone no matter what they do.
Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We may feel angry or hurt but we can make an act of the will, a decision, to forgive the person who hurt us. We can pray like this: “Jesus, what that person did was wrong and it hurt me a lot. I don’t like what they did but I choose to forgive them out of love for You. I don’t want this hurt to keep my heart angry, hard, closed and bitter. Please help me Jesus.” And Jesus will always help a person who prays this kind of prayer. He truly understands.
Another way we can break God’s fifth commandment is by trying to make another person do something wrong. If you talk your little sister into taking money from your mother’s purse and giving it to you without asking your mother’s permission first, this would be a sin. If you convince your friend to tell a lie for you so you won’t get into trouble, then you would not be following God’s fifth commandment. Under this commandment you cannot harm another person by trying to make them do something wrong.
Finally, we must always be kind to our pets and small animals. We must never be cruel to them because we think it’s funny.
5th Commandment Summary:
We must never take innocent human life.
I never hurt anyone by beating them up or bullying them.
I never say cruel things or make fun of people.
I never harm another person by trying to make them do something wrong.
This is how I keep God’s fifth commandment.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not commit adultery.”
At first this commandment seems to be directed only towards adults but there are actually a lot of ways that kids must follow God’s sixth commandment in our lives too.
The sixth commandment is about keeping our hearts pure. Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.” We want to be able to see God in all we think, say and do. God wants each one of us to have a pure, clean heart. He understands how much sin hurts us. He especially wants us to be on guard against things that will hurt our mind and take away our innocence.
To keep our hearts pure we must not watch any show, movie or look at anything on the internet that exposes our minds to impure, immodest things and hurts our innocence. This is also true for the books and magazines we look at and the music and music videos we listen to and watch.
We must treat our bodies and other people’s bodies with purity and respect.
We must be modest in the way we talk.
We must never have conversations on our phones with people we don’t know or be a part of texting things that are immodest.
If we see, read or hear anything impure by accident, that is not a sin. We should turn off the movie or video or music as soon as we realize it is not good. It is only a sin if we choose to keep looking or keep listening to these things on purpose.
To follow God’s sixth commandment we also must dress modestly.
In the year 1917, Our Blessed Mother came down from Heaven and visited three children in a town called Fatima in the country of Portugal. Their names were Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. (These are the same children Isabel told you about on her CK101 Page.) Our Blessed Mother spoke with them and told them some very important things that she wanted all of us to know.
One of the things she said was there were fashions coming that would offend Jesus. She was talking about the way people would be dressing in the future. We have to always remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Holy things are covered in the right way. We need to dress in ways that reflect this truth. We must choose to act and dress in a modest way, everyday!
Sadly, Our Blessed Mother was right. Our world today is very immodest in many ways. We need to be aware of this. For instance, when walking through big malls, airports or public areas we may happen to see immodest picture ads. If this happens, we can simply look the other way and say a little prayer. It is an excellent practice to pray 3 Hail Mary’s when we wake up in the morning and ask Our Blessed Mother to help protect our senses and keep us “pure of heart” throughout our day!
6th Commandment Summary:
I guard my heart by only watching, reading and listening to things that
will not hurt my mind and take away my innocence.
I am modest in how I act and dress.
This is how I keep God’s sixth commandment.
SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not steal.”
God’s seventh commandment tells us we must not take and keep something that belongs to another person.
We must always ask before taking things that do not belong to us. We know this to be true when visiting a neighbor’s house but we must also do this in our own home too. Some kids think because something belongs to a person in their family it belongs to them. We must not take personal items from our siblings such as their clothes, candy, jewelry or the money on their dresser without asking them first.
We must always pay for things that are for sale in a store. If we take something from a store without paying for it, this is called “shoplifting.” Shoplifting is the same thing as stealing. This kind of sin can be a venial sin or a mortal sin depending on what is stolen. Here are two examples:
If a person steals a pack of chewing gum, it would be a venial sin because it is an item that doesn’t cost very much money. It would not be a big loss to the store owner. However, even through it is a small theft, we throw away our honor when we do this. We are not trustworthy when we steal.
If a person steals an expensive diamond wedding ring, it would be a mortal sin because the item is worth thousands of dollars. It would be a big loss to the store owner.
It is very important for kids not to get into the habit of stealing. Children who steal things can grow up and become thieves who steal big and expensive things. There are many adults in prison today because they were caught stealing large sums of money. Many of them started stealing small items and small amounts of money when they were kids. They never overcame their sinful habit.
Jesus doesn’t want us to steal anything. He will help us if we have a problem with stealing things. We should go to Confession when we steal something, even if it’s a very small thing. The reason is the graces we will receive from the Sacrament of Confession will make overcoming this sin easier.
If a friend lets you borrow a toy, game, book or any type of item, you must give it back to your friend. If you forget and they don’t remind you, it is not a sin. If you don’t return it on purpose, hoping your friend will forget, it would be a sin. If you damage the item or lose it, you must try and fix it or replace it unless your friend says you don’t have to.
You must not look at another person’s work and copy it as your own. This would include tests, book reports, and homework assignments. This is usually called “cheating” but it is actually stealing another person’s work.
You can use another person’s work as part of your school assignment if you give them the proper credit. For instance, if you use a poem that someone else wrote, you must give the author’s name. Don’t use the poem as if you wrote it.
You must not download music, movies, books or anything from the internet without following the right procedure for each item. Some things need to be paid for. Some things can be used for free. Always ask your parents or teacher for help and guidance before downloading anything. All these things dealing with “copyright ownership” fall under the the seventh commandment.
If someone, on purpose, breaks their neighbor’s window, spoils their lawn, scratches their car or damages any of their neighbor’s personal property, they commit a sin, sometimes serious, under the seventh commandment.
You may notice “graffiti” painted on buildings. This is when a person takes a can of spray paint and writes with paint all over a building or public property. This also is a sin against the seventh commandment. Any person who damages property on purpose is “stealing” from another. This kind of damage usually takes a lot of time and money to clean up.
7th Commandment summary:
I never take or damage what belongs to others.
I never cheat on tests or homework.
This is how I keep God’s seventh commandment.
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
The eighth commandment tells us we must not tell a lie. Satan, in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden, was the first to tell a lie. The serpent said to Eve, “If you eat the forbidden fruit, you will not die.” The serpent knew this was a lie. We must never copy Satan. We must not lie.
Always remember that a lie is a lie. Do not try and excuse a true lie by calling it: “an exaggeration,” “a fib,” “a tall tale,” or “a little white lie.”
Even if you are afraid of getting in trouble with your parents or teachers you must not lie.
A boy named Pete was walking home after playing a long, muddy game of football. He walked into the kitchen, opened up the refrigerator door and took out a cold drink. He suddenly looked down at his feet. “Oh, no!” he thought in a panic. “I forgot to take off my shoes again!” He looked at the trail of dirt and mud from the back door to the refrigerator. He quickly took off his shoes and tossed them out the back door. Then he ran to the bathroom, grabbed a bath towel and started to wipe up the floor. When the floor was clean, he took the dirty towel and buried it in the bottom of the laundry basket.
“Good thing Mom wasn’t here,” he thought.
Two days later he heard Mom yell, “Oh, no!”
Pete knew that voice.
Someone was in trouble.
Mom came storming into the kitchen, holding the dirty bath towel in her hands.
Pete and his brothers and sisters looked up from the kitchen table where they were eating their after school snack. Everybody stopped eating.
“Who got mud all over this brand new bath towel and then stuffed it in the bottom of the laundry basket?”
Mom was not happy.
“Well?” she asked. “Because whoever did this not only ruined this new towel but also ruined two gorgeous silk blouses that your father gave me for my birthday last year!”
Mom was definitely not happy.
What do you think Pete did? Did he tell his Mom the truth? Did he speak up right away? Did he wait to see what would happen? Did he not say anything at all? Did Pete lie and say he didn’t do it? What do you think?
Pete followed God’s eighth commandment. Pete spoke up right away and told his mom the truth. He simply told her what happened with no excuses. He told her he was sorry for ruining her things. Then Pete offered to give Mom his birthday money to help replace the things that were ruined.
Even though Pete knew he was in trouble, he did not lie.
Mom calmed down after Pete was done talking. She wasn’t upset anymore. She appreciated Pete’s honesty. She saw what a good example he was to his brothers and sisters. She said Pete could buy a new bath towel but not to worry about the silk blouses. Then she gave Pete a kiss and reminded everyone again to take off their shoes when they come in the house!
We must never hurt another person by telling lies about them. To tell lies about a person is called the sin of calumny. We also must not talk about another person’s sins, faults or weaknesses which are not necessary to reveal. This is the sin of detraction. There may be times that it is necessary to tell these things. If you are not sure, you can always talk about it with your parents. It’s never wrong to talk things over with them.
Here is an example of the sin of detraction:
The teacher in a 5th grade math class has just handed back to her students an important test that has been graded.
A girl named Angela has failed the test. She loves to read story books and has wonderful writing skills but when it comes to math she has a real weakness. Despite all her efforts, she has a very hard time understanding numbers. On the front of her math test is a big red F. Angela quickly hides her test before anyone can see it.
She feels bad.
There are two girls who sit behind Angela. Their names are Suzie and Kelly. Both of these girls are very bright in math and get straight A’s.
Today Kelly was watching her teacher carefully as she handed Angela back her test. Kelly sees the red F on Angela’s paper before she hides it.
What should Kelly do with this information about Angela’s F? Is it any of Kelly’s business? No. Is it necessary for Kelly to tell others what she knows? No. Could Kelly take this information and use it for good? Yes. How? What if Kelly asked Angela if she would like to do their math homework together after school while they waited for the bus. That way she could help Angela. Great idea!
Now what if Kelly takes that great idea even one step further. What if she decides that she is going to help Angela because she wants to show Jesus how thankful she is that He gave her the gift of understanding math really well. She recognizes that her “gift of being a math whiz” isn’t just for her own benefit alone but it pleases Jesus when she uses the gifts He gave her to help other people. Wow! Kelly is on her way to becoming a Saint with that kind of thinking!
What does Kelly do?
Sadly, Kelly can hardly wait to tell Suzie that Angela has “failed another test!” Kelly and Suzie are laughing. Angela wonders what they are laughing about.
“Another big red F. I just can’t believe it! Really, how can anybody be that stupid?” whispers Kelly.
“Yeah, she really is stupid,” agrees Suzie. “If I were her, I wouldn’t even come to this math class anymore. What’s the use? She should go back to the second grade.”
Angela hears them. She knows they are talking and laughing about her. So do the other kids around them. This feels way worse than getting an F on her math test.
Angela suddenly wishes she could curl up in the corner of the classroom and disappear forever.
Suzie and Kelly are guilty of the sin of detraction. Do you see how hurtful and ugly the sin of detraction can be?
Every person has a right to their good name. A person’s good name or “reputation” can be damaged or even totally destroyed by the sins of calumny, often called slander, and detraction often called gossip. These sins can be either venial or mortal depending how serious the damage is to the person’s good name.
Again, if you are ever unsure about if you should tell what you know, always ask your parents for guidance. It is never wrong to honestly discuss these things with them.
There is also another sin that we need to be aware of under the 8th commandment. This sin is called “rash judgement.” This is when we think things about another person without any evidence.
For example, a girl named Olivia sees a new girl she has never seen before walking down the hallway at school. Olivia notices one of the boys looking at the new girl. Olivia says to her friend, “Look at that new girl over there trying to get all the boys to notice her. She must be stuck up!”
Olivia is guilty of the sin of “rash judgement.”
8th Commandment summary:
I must tell the truth.
I never lie to get out of trouble.
I never tell lies about another person.
I never speak about anyone’s faults or sins unnecessarily.
I never make rash judgements.
This is how I keep God’s eighth commandment.
NINTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.”
God made marriage between a man and a woman and He made it something that is holy. It’s so special that Jesus made Marriage (also called “Matrimony” which means “the office of motherhood”) one of the 7 Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
A husband helps his wife get to Heaven and a wife helps her husband get to Heaven. Together they help their children get to Heaven. And holy families can help people all around them get to Heaven! Remember, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were the ORIGINAL Holy Family. God loves families so much!
Sometimes a husband is not faithful to his vocation of marriage. He stops looking at his own wife and starts looking at another woman. He wonders what it would be like to be married to that woman instead of his own wife.
God does not want this. His ninth commandment says “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” He does not want a husband to be unfaithful to his wife. He wants a husband and a wife to love each other and be faithful to each other.
Sometimes a wife will do the same thing. She stops looking at her husband and looks at another man. She wonders what it would be like to be married to him instead.
God does not want this. He does not want a wife to be unfaithful to her husband. He wants a husband and wife to love each other. He wants them to follow His ninth commandment and stay faithful to each other.
As kids, we can ask Jesus to bless all husbands and wives. We must remember to pray especially for our own parents. Jesus loves it when we pray for them. Our prayers for our parents are very precious to Jesus.
9th Commandment summary:
God made marriage between a man and a woman.
We can pray for all husbands and wives to love each other and be faithful to each other.
We can especially pray for our own parents.
This is how we follow God’s ninth commandment.
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”
God’s tenth commandment tells us we must always be satisfied with what we have. If our friends have things we want but can’t have, we must not be envious or sad. We must not continually beg our parents for things other kids have that we want.
See the girl in the picture? Her name is Hannah. It’s her birthday! That’s Hannah’s mom in the background. She has made a beautiful birthday picnic lunch with all of Hannah’s favorite foods.
Do you see those two girls talking with Hannah’s mom? They are Hannah’s cousins, Rachel and Laura. They are like sisters to Hannah. Hannah’s mom, Rachael and Laura are having a lively discussion about Hannah’s birthday cupcakes and the wonderful presents they are about to give her. How happy they are to be together to celebrate Hannah’s 8th birthday on this sunny day!
There is just one problem. Look at Hannah. Does she look like she is having a good time at her birthday picnic? No, she doesn’t. This is the reason. Hannah is still pouting because she wanted a big birthday party. Last month her friend, Alice, had a big birthday party. Alice had 12 girls over to her house for a birthday sleep over. There was a giant birthday cake made out of cake batter flavor ice cream. The party decorations were amazing. And there were so many presents!
Poor Hannah. She can’t stop thinking about Alice’s big birthday party. This is sad because Hannah is missing her own wonderful birthday celebration. Hannah’s mom and cousins love her very much. They have put a lot of thought and effort into making this a special afternoon for Hannah with the amount of money they had to spend for her birthday picnic and gifts.
Hannah is not following God’s tenth commandment. She is “coveting” or wanting something someone else has and not being satisfied and thankful for her own special party with it’s own special blessings.
A child with a thankful heart will never break God’s 10th Commandment!
10th Commandment summary:
I am satisfied with what I have.
I am not envious of what others have.
I have a thankful heart.
This is how I keep God’s 10th Commandment.
