The Word of God and the Commandments of the Catholic Church

How to define the word of God?

The word of God is everything that allows Men to be in harmony with Himself and the environment in which He lives. It is in Her that all the truth is found that God is the only one to fully know and that He allows men to partially appropriate themselves in order to establish a special relationship with Him. This is, in our opinion, the reason why there are some who believe in several gods while others believe in only One. The word of God is therefore in this sense a matter of faith. It is everything in which we believe and which emanates from the One or those in whom we trust. It is a foundation on which we build a special relationship with God. For monotheistic religions and particularly Christianity, it is the Resurrection of Christ that is the basis of faith (1 Cor 15, 14). It is this testimony transmitted and retransmitted faithfully over the centuries by the workers of the gospel which allows men to experience the love of Christ, and Christians to be strengthened on the path they have chosen to follow in order to produce good fruits. Without any claim with regard to these multiple Christian sensitivities for whom the word of God would be limited to a set of holy books (The Bible), others on the other hand and in particular Catholic Christianity, in addition to the apostolic tradition (the transmission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the apostles), also takes into account the magisterium of the Church (the authority of the Pope and the bishops) and the works of the fathers (writings of considerable contribution in the evolution of Catholic doctrine), because within the framework of a particular relationship, the experience of faith and the fruit of the talent of each Christian can allow the Church to grow further, if it is proven after a  discernment that these theses really come from the Holy Spirit. The word of God is therefore ultimately all that God gives us or allows us to have to maintain a special relationship with Him for our good and that of our neighbour.

What are the commandements of God?

Without however omitting to specify that God endowed each human being with a conscience enabling him to distinguish good from evil and that each religion has divine principles that each of its faithful is bound to observe, we say that we generally speak of God's commandments refer to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Indeed, God through Moses gave His word or His recommendations to the people of Israel so that they remain in His love (Exodus 20, 1-21). It was not only words but above all improved seeds that God wanted, and that He still wants to plant today in the hearts of all those He has chosen for the expansion of His reign of love in the world. For Christians, in accordance with the catechetical formula of the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy from verses six to twenty-one [Dt 5, 6-21] there are 10 commandments; but if we go through the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) which is the source of all the biblical commandments, we will realize that there are many more and especially that the Israelites observed hundreds of laws. Later to the question of what is the greatest commandment, may be in order to free oneself from a tedious and boring number (Matthew 22, 35-40), Jesus answers by saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and the first commandment. There is a second one exactly the same: you will love your neighbour as yourself. All the law and the prophets revolve around these two commandments". The love of God and that of neighbour therefore summarizes the hundreds or more precisely the Decalogue, namely:

1. I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods but Me.

2. You shall not utter the name of the Lord in vain.

3. You shall worship the Lord your God on His appointed days.

4. You will honour your father and your mother.

5. Thou shalt not kill.

6. You shall not commit impurities.

7. Thou shalt not steal.

8. Thou shalt not bear false witness.

9. Thou shalt not desire another's wife.

10. Thou shalt not desire the good of others.

And why commandements of the Church? 

Commandments of the Church because Jesus said happy those who listen to the word of God and who keep it (Luke 11, 27-28). The Church, which is Mother because it is in it that the new birth is realized, helps Her children to better live their faith through concrete actions. By offering Her children the fruit of Her own meditation of the word of God, She shows them what they must do in order not to be, as the apostle Saint James says (James 1, 23), "only hearers of the word”. Church gives them the means to put the word of God into practice so as not to deceive themselves.

What are the commandments of the Church?

It must be specified from the outset that it is because She is at the service of the word of God that the Church has instituted these commandments. She does not take the place of Christ but is rather at His service because it is from Him that She received the grace and the mission no longer only as the apostle Saint Paul said (Romans 1, 4-5), to allow "pagan nations to welcome the faith", but above all to allow all men and Catholic Christians in particular to live concretely and daily the faith that they confess so that in everything, the name of Jesus Christ be glorified. It is therefore in order to better put into practice the word of God by fidelity to the commandments of the love of God and that of neighbour that the Church asks Her faithful to:

1. Celebrate feasts of obligation

2. Participate in Mass every Sunday and Feast of Obligation

3. Go to confession at least once a year

4. Communion at least once a year at Easter

5. Observe fasting and abstinence days

6. Pay the worship denier to the Church

How can we understand each of these commandments of the Church more concretely?

First of all, it must be said that “the central point of the Catholic faith is the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus for the salvation of all men (1cor 1, 23)”. Since religion is not a human invention but a divine revelation, the fruit of the special relationship that God maintains with it, the Catholic Church has celebrations which distinguish it from others.  Its faith is based on a set of "truths revealed by God" which "also bear the name of dogma" that is to say, indisputable truth of faith because they come from the personal relationship that exists between God and this Church. It is the reason why, in addition to celebrating the Nativity, Easter and the Ascension like many Protestant Churches, It also celebrates the Most Holy Trinity, the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary which together with all the other feasts among which those of the holy apostles, are feasts of obligation for every Catholic Christian. Obligation not in the sense of constraint but rather in that of a duty of love. The one who loves God indeed, does not act by constraint and without conviction. He must always act out of love for his Holy Mother the Church with whom Christ Has a special relationship. By celebrating the Lord on a daily basis, we glorify Him and we also contribute, thanks to His Spirit who is in us, to the expansion of His reign on earth. By going to confession at least once a year, the Church gives us the possibility of never hesitating to come back to our Father, whatever we have had to do or the situation in which we find ourselves, because if we sincerely want to repent, we will always be forgiven. By taking Communion at least once a year at Easter, we become “living tabernacles” which dwell in God and God in them (John 6:56). We become and we are temples of the Holy Spirit over whom God will always watch. By observing days of fasting and abstinence, we turn our privations into acts of charity towards God and especially our neighbour. Indeed, sharing what we have with those who have nothing or who do not have enough and abstaining from what is not necessary to focus only on what pleases the heart of God improves our relationship with Him. Finally, pay his denier of worship means being aware of the fact that our Church cannot grow without our constant contributions.

Find the french version of this article HERE!

Bibliographic orientation

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paris, Pocket, 2015.