Objective:
The middle school youth will learn how the Ten Commandments can guide their decisions. They also will draft their own “Ten Commandments for Middle School Youth Today.”
Overview:
Through His Son, God has revealed the way to live in love and service as human beings. This collection of teachings is known as the “moral law.”
The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction, God’s pedagogy. It prescribes for man the ways, the rule of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; it proscribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God and his love. It is at once firm in its precepts and, in its promises, worthy of love. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1950)
The purpose of the moral law is to dictate behavior not only for maintaining and strengthening our individual relationships with God, but also with one another in community. The Catechism states:
Law is a rule of conduct enacted by competent authority for the sake of the common good. The moral law presupposes the rational order, established among creatures for their good and to serve their final end, by the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. (1951)