Family Activity:

Memorize the Ten Commandments, recite them 3 times a day:

• I am the Lord your God: You shall not have strange Gods before me.
• You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
• Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
• Honor your father and 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.

Weekly Virtue:

Sacrifice. Take time this week to spend time in front of a crucifix. Every home should have a crucifix, so if you don’t own one, go to your local Catholic bookstore and buy one. As a family, schedule time this week to pray in front of the crucifix, in your home or in the Church.

Family Reflection

Click the link below to read the scriptures from second Sunday of Lent. The model we will be using in the Lenten exercise are detailed in this article. For the readings today we will be reflecting on the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ victory over death.

Exodus 20:1-17

I, the LORD, am your God

Exodus 20:1

To whom did God give the Ten Commandments? Moses on Mt. Sinai

Who wrote the words of the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone? The ten commandments were written on the first set of tablets by God (Exodus 31:18), these tablets were broken by Moses during the golden calf incident (Exodus 32). The second set of Ten Commandments were written on the stones by Moses but God dictated the words to write (Exodus 34:27)

The Ten commandments can be divided into two parts, the first three commandments are what we owe to God, the last seven are what we owe to our neighbors.

The Ten commandments are the minimum that we must obey, but was not enough to save the people from their sinful ways.

What did Jesus give us to help us surpass the minimum requirements of the ten commandments? The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:2) are given at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes (Blessings) are promises that if we possess these attitudes and behave in such a way, we will be blessed by God. The story of the rich young man (Matthew 19:16) illustrates the relationship between the commandments and salvation. When asked what he must do to gain eternal life, Jesus responds with the second part of the ten commandments which speak of how we are to relate to our neighbor, but when the young man states that he has kept all these since his youth and asks what else he still lacks, Jesus responds by telling him to give everything he has to the poor and follow Him. Jesus challenges him to embrace the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

What do we cling to in this world? What still do we lack?

Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

Psalm 19 – Responsorial Psalm

Everlasting life, can you imagine? We all live for a period of time and as we get older the end of our earthly life becomes more real. A child doesn’t have much concept of this, but the reality is still there. No one gets out of this life alive. We only have a short time on earth to leave our mark. If we believe the scriptures then we know that we were made for more than just our earthly lives. We are training for eternity. We will either be with the Lord in heaven or not with the Lord in Hell, the choice is ours, The Lord has the words of everlasting life, study them, practice them and you will live forever with the Lord.

We proclaim Christ crucified

1 Corinthians 1:23 – 2nd Reading

Crucifixion was the preferred form of capital punishment for the Romans. It was one of the most painful ways to die, and Rome made use of it extensively to deter criminal activity. No one wanted to die by crucifixion, it was humiliating, painful and long.

When Paul tells the Corinthians that the response to Jews and Greeks is to proclaim Christ crucified, it seems like foolishness and a stumbling block, but because Jesus rose from the dead and now lives, it is the path to salvation.

God had a plan, it was to defeat sin by running head on to the worst method of death and showing that He loved us so much that he would embrace what we feared the most and show us that if we believe in Him, we too have nothing to fear even suffering and death itself.

How many of the Apostles were martyred? 11

Which Apostle died a natural death? John

Catholic Answers has an article which explains how each Apostle died.

Gospel of John 2:13-16

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

John 2:13-16 – The Gospel

How does the Gospel passage relate to the other readings? The Gospel describes Jesus cleansing the temple using a whip made of cords. After he drove out the merchants, the Jewish leaders asked Him for a sign as an explanation for his actions. In response he told them that He would destroy this temple and rebuild it in three days, but he was speaking of the temple of His body.

The first reading is about the Ten Commandments given to Moses and the people of Israel, the Psalm is about the law of the Lord and how His words are the words of everlasting life. In the second reading Paul tells the Corinthians that while Jews demand signs (the Jews in the Gospel demanded a sign) and the Greeks look for wisdom, Paul and his companions preach Christ Crucified.

It appears that Paul’s passage is the link between the first two readings and the Gospel. It links the old and new testament. Before Christ, the Jewish people had the commandments of God, but it wasn’t enough, they still desecrated the Temple and did not worship as the Lord desired. Then God sent His Son into the world to show us His love and make atonement for sin perfectly giving us the Holy Spirit which would transform our hearts and enable us to follow the law. Jesus conquering death and raising the temple of His body changed everything. Death was no longer to be feared, no ruler could use death as a weapon against us to compel action, Jesus conquered death.