Second Lesson

First Commandment

I am the Lord Your God, You shall not have other gods before Me.

This Commandment is “first” not just because it heads the list but it is the most important. From it, all
the other commandments are derived & governed. So the rest of the 9 commandments rests on the first
commandment bcoz from it we have To know & love God gratefully accept His Lordship is the
foundation of all Christian moral life. Ang ginoo gyuy tig patigbabaw sa tanan. Sijai vasihanan matarung
sa atong kinabuhi matod sa atong pagka christiano. In revealing Himself as outgoing creative Love, God
calls every person to share in His love through a life of faith, hope & charity. So the 3 theological virtues
True happiness & our final destiny are achieved w/n the framework revealed in God’s laws. As Christ
taught, “Eternal life is this: to know You, only true God & Him You have sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17:3)

Fruits of the First Commandment

>The uniqueness & oneness of God stressed by the first Commandment is a liberating truth because
adoration of the one God frees us from slavery to & idolatry of the world. So if we put God as our #1
priority then this would preserve us from being slave, being enslaved to the world and preserved us
from idolizing from anything or anyone in this world. Try to notice with ur answers in our 2 nd activity, yes
u have ur own prevailances, what u aspire in life, its up to you to descern how can u attain them. But let
me just remind u that above all above of all those apirations u have, as pointed out in your answers God
should be the guiding point. So everytime I read in ur answers, having God as one of ur aspirations, I
eould be happy or I am happy to see it. But given mind that aspiring for this things successful carreeer to
be a professional teacher so kn and so forth, must be reminded that we are guided by God. And God
should be the source of our strength and God is our Guidance in aspiring for this things. Ok.

>God’s unique oneness is also a reconciling truth since the one God, as Father of us all, makes us one
family. You shall not have other gods , and that we consider as father of us all and having that give us
view. This makes us consider to velong in to one family. Thus Despite the endless struggles among
nations & peoples, & our own conflicts & misunderstandings, we realize God created the world for unity
& order. So kitang tanan anak sa dyos gihimo ang tanan nga maayo sa tibook creation para natong
tanan. Para sa atong kahiusahan ug sa han ay natong kinabuhi.

>Finally, final truth in the first commandment the oneness of God is a loving truth in that it makes
possible a genuine unified love of God. For the One God has no rivals,so there are no other gods before
Him, so we love Him w/ our whole heart completely & above all. And I can even say to myslef and to u,
God is even Above all our Human aspirations.

As liberating, reconciling & loving truth, the three truths, the Oneness of God can be the basis of our
personal freedom, our unity w/ all our brothers & sisters under our Heavenly Father, & our love for one
another. This basis is expressed in our renewal of Baptismal vows during our Easter Vigil Eucharistic
celebration. So during Easter nuh, wherein we renew our baptismal vows.

Virtues of the First Commandment

The First Commandment embraces faith, hope & charity.

Our moral life has its source in faith in God Who reveals His love to us. The 1 st Commandment requires
us to nourish & protect our faith w/ prudence & vigilance, & to reject everything that is opposed to it.
There are various ways of sinning against our faith in God:

-Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the
Church proposes for belief. So voluntary, meaning coming from ur own will, ikaw mismo gyud nag duha
duha. And the church He foundes to us for belief.

-Involuntary doubt medyu minus minus sija sa voluntary kay naa sa word involuntary refers to hesitation
in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected w/ the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its
obscrurity.

If deliberately cultivated, meaning we do not have the effort to fight this doubt can lead to spiritual
blindness.

-Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. Neglect, pagpasagad sa gi
revealed na kamatooran or imo gyud gi tuyo to assent.

-Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth w/c must be believed w/ divine & catholic
faith, or is also obstinate doubt concerning same. In connection with our divine and catholic faith.

-Apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith.

-Schism is the refusal of submission to the Pope or of communion w/ members of the Church subject to
him. So ning bolt out ning biya naka sa imong pakighiusa sa simbahan. Either sa leader nga maong pope
or maong sakop niini or under niya.

Hope

When God reveals Himself & calls him, man cannot fully respond to the divine love by his own powers.
Man must hope that God will give him the capacity to love Him in return & to act in conformity w/ the
commandments of Charity. Thus Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing & beatific vision of
God. So ang virtue of Hope in the 1st commandment would bring us confident expectation of the
blessing from God and beatification, the hope of that face to face seeing of God. It is also the fear of
offending God’s love & of incurring punishment. The 1 st Commandment is also concerned w/ sins against
hope in God: this are the sins against the Hope in God:

-Despair makes man cease to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the
forgiveness of his ssins.despair nuh , mo undang naka sa paglaom nga naai kaluwasan sa ginoo. Or di
naka mo laom nga matabangan paka. Or mapasaylo ka sa imong mga sala. It is contrary to God’s
goodness,kanang mo sirado naka kay nawad an naka sa paglaom. God’s goodness is unending. to His
justice—for the Lord is faithful to His promises- & to His mercy. So di ta magpadaog anang despair.
Usahay ang yawa ang mo holhog nato ana. “di nata mapasaylo ana, wa natai mabuhat ana, padayun
nalang sa imong sala” that is despair. Lets continue hoping for God’s goodness to His justice for the Lord
our Lord is faithful to His promises & to His mercy.

-Presumption 2 forms of presumptions (1) is either man presumes upon his capacities (hoping to ably
save Himself w/o help from on high) so makaluwas knu sija sa ijang kaugalingon kapasadidad bisan y
tabang ang ginoo. Presuming.. or (2) he presumes upon God’s almighty power or His mercy (hoping to
obtain His forgiveness w/o conversion, and glory w/o merit). Ang pag presume nga anyway God is love,
God is merciful, pasayloon lagi ko nija. Bisan wa ka mag usab, nagpatuyang kalang. That’s presumption.
Y pagka usab sa imong kaugalingon.

Charity - 3rd virtue of the 1st commandment

Faith in God’s love encompasses the call & the obligation to respond w/ sincere love to divine charity.
The 1st Commandment enjoins us to love God above everything. One can sin against God’s love in
various ways: so these are the sins against our love to God:

-Indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity. It fails to consider its prevenient goodness
&denies its power. So refuses sa divine charity and fails to consider the prevenient goodness and denies
th power of God’s love or charity.

-Ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge divine charity & to return him love for love. Ingrato sa
binisaya. Di kabaws sa termino pa nato.

-Lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love. Baliwala lang ang divine love. It
can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity. Refusal to the command. Y pakabana.

-Acedia (greek word) or spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God & to be
repelled by divine goodness. Refused the joy that comes from God.

-Hatred of God comes from pride & its contrary to love of God whose goodness it denies & whom it
presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins & inflicts punishments.

Charity leads us to render to God what we as creatures owe Him in all justice. So kining love kining
charity mao kini mo pa amgo nato pagtubag sa ginoo isip iyang mga creatures aron mo hatag ta sa unsai
nahi angay paras ginoo. In the name of justice. Thus, the virtue of religion disposes us to have these
attitudes:

>Adoration to God is to acknowledge Him as God, as the Creator & Savior, the Lord &Master of
everything that exists, as infinite & merciful Love. So take note the word Adoration is exclusively
attributed to God. Wa nai laing hayagan ana. To adore God is to praise & exalt Him and to humble
oneself, as Mary did in the magnificat (inig basahon manyeficat) (the song of praise by Mary to God, my
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, so on and so forth ,
confessing w/ gratitude that He has done great things and holy is His name. Her act of adoration to God,
in his song of praise to God.

>Prayer, as lifting up the mind toward God, is an expression of our adoration of God: prayer of praise &
thanksgiving, intercession & petition. So prayer take note : students, should not be only intercession or
petition. It should contain or add some other words for you to remember, the expression of prayer.
Prayer of Acts, which signifies 4 contents namely, A-adoration C-contression (paghinulsol) T-thanksgiving
S-suplication or intercession . So take note : and intercessio ln or petition is katapusan lang na siya sa 4
ka mga elements or contents of prayers. 4 elements or contents in prayer : A-Adoration C-contression T-
thanksgiving S-suplication It is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God's Commandments.
The acts of faith, hope & charity enjoined by the 1 st Commandment are accomplished in prayer.
> Sacrifice is every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness and thus achieve
blessedness. So kana d I sacrifice is reaction in the name sa atong pakughiusa sa Ginoo sa ijang
pagkaholy we can achieve the blessedness . The prophets of the Old Covenant for the old testament
often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart and not coupled w/ love of neighbor. Christ
made the perfect sacrifice when He offered Himself on the Cross as a total offering to the Father’s love
and for our salvation. By uniting ourselves w/ sacrifice we can make our lives a living sacrifice to God. So
kana d I atong for example kana d I inyong pagpaningkamot nga mag toon, sa idiomatic expression sa
tagalog nga nagsusunog kilay. Sacrifice in the name of sharing or uniting the sacrifice of God.

>Promises and Vows

In many circumstances, the Christian is called to make promises to God, like in Sacraments of Baptism,
Confirmation, Matrimony or Holy Orders. Out of personal devotion the Christian may also promise to
God this action, that prayer, this almsgiving and so forth. Fidelity to promises made to God is a sign of
the respect owed to the divine Majesty and of love to a faithful God.

Vow is deliberate & free promise made to God concerning a possible & better good w/c must be
fulfilled by reason of the virtue of religion. It is an act of devotion in w/c Christian dedicates himself to
God. By fulfilling his vow, he renders to God what has been promised and consecrated to Him. So kining
promises, gihimo ta niini as a respect or angayan or deserving para niya. Binali niini An act of disrepect
to God.

The last gratitude :

>The social duty of religion and the right to religious freedom

All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God & His Church, and to embrace it
& hold on to it as they come to know it. This duty derives from the very dignity of the human person. So
ato ning duty pagpangita sa kamatooran which concerns God and His Church.

The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually & socially. .naai individual,
naai socially. Bisan sa atong prayer, naai prayer personal individual na sija, pwede ra mahimo sa atong
bay. Pero naa poi social nga worship nga uban ta sa kadaghanan sa tao sa sakop sa simbahan labi na inig
ka dominggo inig simba nato. By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them
to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality & mores, laws & structures of the communities in w/c
they live. The social duty of Christians is to respect & awaken in each man the love of the true & the
good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion w/c subsists in the Catholic &
apostolic Church.

Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in
accordance w/ his conscience in religious matters in private or public, alone or in association w/ others
w/n due limits.so even our Philippine Constitution acknowledges this. But this right to religious liberty is
neither a moral license to adhere to error unsai sajop di knu na sija pwede mahimo na sijang atong
permiso, di na pwede nga mo envoke ka sa religious liberty., nor a supposed right to error but rather a
natural right of the human person to civil liberty w/n the just limits from external constraint in religious
matters by political authorities. Mao bitaw tong na kaso, u know the case of Jehovah’s witnesses,
Division superintendent in Cebu made a complaint about a member belonging to Jehovah’s witnesses
for not attending the flag ceremony. The supreme court defends jehovah’s witness not to attend the flag
ceremony for them it is violating their religious belief. Ning daog sila sa maong kaso.

The 1st Commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord Who has revealed Himself to
His people. These are some ways of having other gods :

>Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. Kita ra bang
mga pinoy naa tai superstitious belief, ug mo justify raba ta nga “wa mai mawa ug motoo ta”, NO, its
not true. Naai nawa. Ang atong pagtoo sa usa lamang na Ginoo. It can even affect the worship we offer
the true God, e.g. when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices
otherwise lawful or necessary. So magpalaban ta sa mga magical kunu, magic magic, labi na sa bag ong
tuig, mga prutas, so it can affect our worship we owe to offer to the true. Kay ngano? Nakuhaan man
ato pagsalig sa atong Ginoo nga maoi nagpahiluna natong tanan. Sija mai god of providence. So ato pod
nato gi outright pag question ang ijang pagkamahilunahon. Question on relying on things we use, mao
nai atong ____ yabag na ang sound piste____kay wa naman ang atong pagsalig sa tanan. kahinomdom
ko sa mga sulti sa mga tiguwang nga walai arang sa Ginoo kay sija ang kasaligan sa tanan. To attribute
the efficiency of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the
interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition. Kana bang performance lang for
example natod ang kandila, nia tong kandilarya, kanang imong sug.an pero wa d I kai internal or interior
disposition in using that kandila.. ang imong belief sa gi symbolize sa nag siga nga kandila nga mao ang
ginoo. Mao to sijai importante, dili ang kandila mismo. Symbol lang na sija. So mahimo tang external
superstition ana, pagbutang mismo, may kalainan na sija sa 13 ka parisan nga prutas. Mao na ang
paggamit nato sa nagsiga nga kandila nga atong gi saligan kanang kandila mismo, dili ang gi symbolize
ing ana nga mao si Christ ang king of the world as pointed out in the bible. 2 nd way of having other gods :

>Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Ang ginoo nga gipabalaan nato ang dili ginoo. Idol lodi,
tinood na na. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, nga gi
puli nato whether this be gods or demons, power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. or
anyone nga mao atong gipakaginoo that’s idolatry. It does not only refer to false pagan worship. It
remains a constant temptation to faith. so pagan worship, mao lagi na nga mga pagano ngamiingon rata
mitoo sa ginoo pero ang atong focus ang ato nalmang career, kwarta,. The commandment to worship
the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from endless disintegration. It is a perversion of man's
innate religious sense. Worship knu nato sa lord alone saves us from endless disintegration. Sa ginoo
lang ta mo ipon, which I believe di gyud ta panalipdon sa ginoo, . pervention nuh. Those who worship
empty idols make themselves empty. Those who make them are like them , so are all who trust in them.

Next is :

>Divination and Magic

God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other Saints. Prophets of the old testaments. A sound
Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever
concerns the future, and giving up unhealthy curiosity about it. Ato nang kanang mga curiosity in the
future. Pagkamahilunaon sa ginoo. Improvidence, however, can constitute lack of responsibility.

-All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead
spirit of the glass or other practices falsely supposed to unveil the future. It should all be rejected.
 Ang uban ni sugba na hinoon sa demonyo. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading,
interpretation of omens mao tong itom na iring ni labay( insert laugh) & lots, phenomena of
clairvoyance, pagtan aw sa unsa lagi sa bolang kristal, and recourse to mediums mga espiritu – all
conceal a desire for power over time, history, and in last analysis, other human beings, as well as a
wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect & loving fear that we owe to
God alone. Unsa atong buhaton ani, putting oneself confidently into the hands of God His
Providence. Aron dili nata mahulog aning mga demonyo.
-All practices of magic & sorcery by w/c one attempts to tame occult powers so as to place them at
one’s service and have a supernatural power over others even for the sake of restoring their
health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be
condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone or when they have recourse
to demon’s intervention. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. wearing ba, basiyo sa bala, usa na
ka reprehensible. That’s a violation of the commandment.
-Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices. The Church for her part warns the faithful
against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil
powers or exploiting others's credulity. So kana kunung mga papel nga I humol sa tubig ug ipa
inom samot na knu kung kanang mga naai evil powers, ing ana, it has to be rejected.

>Irreligion

God’s 1st commandment condemns the main sins of irreligion:

-Tempting God consists in putting his goodness &almighty power to test by word or deed. Kung tinood
kang Ginoo, ihatag ni naho, ingana ingana. As what the Pharisees are doing to Jesus. This was what
Satan did to Jesus in the desert. The challenge contained un it wounds the respect & trust we owe our
Creator & Lord. It always harbors doubt about His love, His providence (ijang mapagkamahilunaon) & His
power.

-Sacrilege consists in profaning (panamastamas ) or treating unworthily the sacraments & other
liturgical actions, as well as persons, things or places consecrated to God. It is a grave sin especially
when committed against the Eucharist for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially
present for us. (mao bitaw na nga the moment we cross the blessed sacrament, we have to jenuflect.
Bcoz of that respect. So that we cannot commit sacrilege, walai pag respeto.

-Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. So nahitabo na ni niini sa acts of the
apostles. To Simon the magician who wanted to buy the spiritual powers of the apostles, St. Peter
responded: “Your silver perishes w/ you because you thought you could obtain God’s gift w/ money!”
(Acts 8:20). It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods & behave toward them as their
owner or master sa imong napalit nuh kay di na nimo mapalit for they have their source in God. One can
receive them only from him w/o payment.

>Atheism (having other gods) rejects or denies God's existence & covers different phenomena: rejecting
or denying God’s existence is Atheism.

1st phenomenon:
 -Practical materialism restricts its needs & aspirations to space & time. So ang dili mapamatud an sa
atong lima ka senses, they should not believed in. So ang Ginoo kay dili man makita sa atong mata, so
mo ingon sila nga there is no god. Ang toohan ra kadto rang makita ra sa 5 ka senses.

-Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be an end to himself and the sole maker w/ supreme
control of his own history. Mao knu ni ang usa sa mga teachings sa communist, naa daw sa tao ang tao
maoi ginoo. To be and end to himself,. Wala nai role ang ginoo.

-Contemporary atheism looks for the liberation of man through economic & social liberation. It holds
that religion thwarts such emancipation by raising man’s hope in a future life, thus both deceiving &
discouraging him from working for better life on earth. ... acquisition sa religion nga gi discourage kuno
mu trabaho ta niining kalibutana ang atong angayan no its not the teaching of the church. Teaching sa
simbahan....(di mklaro)........tanan natong gipanghimo sa ngalan sa Ginooaron mahiuban ta niya unya
kay sayod man ta kining kalibutana lumalabay ra so magsugod ta dinhi atong pagpaningkamot inubanan
sa Ginoo gipauban nato ang Ginoo para sa atong distiny...(di maklaro)... bear it in mind it is preparing for
our final distiny which is our future life.

Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of
refusing any dependence on God. So human autonomy refusing any dependence on God. The
imputability of this offense can be diminished in virtue of the intention & circumstances. (Di maklaro).....

>Agnosticism refrains from denying God, instead postulates the existence of a transcendent being
incapable of revealing itself & thus nothing can be said about. It can sometimes include a certain search
for God but it can express indifferentism, flight from ultimate question of existence & sluggish
conscience. (Di maklaro)...

…A Carved or Graven Image? (Mao ni kasagarang iataki sa ubang relihiyon nga kita Katoliko we
commit idolatry)

Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that
pointed symbolically toward salvation by Incarnate Word, like bronze serpent, ark of the covenant. Even
Jesus used bread &wine. Christian veneration of images is not against 1 st Commandment w/c proscribes
idols. The honor rendered to an image passes to the person portrayed in it.

Example: Crucifix symbolizes Christ being crucified in the cross and for catholic it is the symbol of our
salvation. diha ta goluwas sa Ginoo, so nag symbolize sija sa tinuod nga nahitabo sa gihimo sa atong
Ginoong Jesukristo alang nato. That is not an Idolatry kay ang idolatry kadtong gihimo sa mga Israelita
kadtong nasuko si Moses kay nagporma man silag kadtong multicaf o kadtong baka nga mo represent ni
Baal. And Baal is an Idol diyos diyos dili tinuod kauban sa trak-track dili tinuod nga Dios, nga ilang gipili
ug simba sa tinuod nga Ginoo nga mao si Yahweh, so mao na sijay idolatry.

Images are symbolizes who is true.

Example: Pictur sa imong nanay/mama or sa imong forever diba isud nimo sa imong pitaka, imo d.i
tamak-tamakan? panagsaan man gani imo ug hawok. So its an honor to the person being portrayed in
that image.

So kanang mga imahe nga naa sa atong simbahan nag represent na sila sa tinuod, like image ni Santa
Maria, image ni San Isidro, ug sa uban nga mga Santos, image sa atong Ginoo mismo sa atong Jesukristo,
so we render respect to them,dili sa ilang pagkapicture kund dili sa girepresentahan nila nga mao ang
tinuod nga Ginoo o tinuod nga Santa Maria. So bear in ming nga sa imong pagrespect nianang mga
imahe is ang tinuod. I hope you can able to defend our Catholoc Church.