Christian values

- The Catholic Church says the Ten Commandments are: A PATH TO LIFE - a gift from God that give Christians helpful guidelines to follow to live a happy and peaceful life

- "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods but me" - In the modern world people worship things like money, power or sex. Following these false Gods will not lead to happiness

- "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God" - Saying things like OMG does not show respect to God.

- "You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy" - Christians should attend Church every Sunday and keep the day holy

- "Respect your father and mother" - Look after parents in old age—show them respect and gratitude for life

- "You must not kill" - Forbids murder, euthanasia, abortion, suicide. Should work to protect life

- "You must not commit adultery" - Should not break marriage vows. Should not have sex outside marriage

- "You must not steal" - Should have respect for others property. Support fairtrade to make sure people get a fair price for their goods

- "You must not give false evidence (lie) against your neighbour" - Lead a truthful life, lying breaks peoples trusts and damages relationships

- "You must not be envious/jealous of your neighbour's wife" - Do not be jealous of someone's partner, control sexual desires

- "You must not be envious/ jealous of your neighbour's goods" - Christians should not be greedy or jealous. It can make someone self-centred

- Jesus taught the Beatitudes as part of the Sermon on the Mount. - Beatitude means blessed or happy - they are a route to eternal happiness

- "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" - this means people that live in poverty and have a poor spirit (are not greedy or selfish) will have eternal life with God

- "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" - this Beatitude is for those people suffering; not for their own loss BUT for the loss in the world - for those people who are upset because of the evil in the world - God will being comfort to these people

- "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" - (Meek = gentle people) - this Beatitude is talking about people who always put others first and themselves last. - we look at Jesus’ example he always put others before himself.

- "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" - (This means Blessed are those that want what is right, those that fight for justice) - this Beatitude refers to those people that work for what is right - an example of someone who did this is Martin Luther King, he wanted equality for all people and worked for this. He wanted righteousness

- "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be show mercy" - (Mercy – to be kind and forgiving) - think of the Sacrament of Reconciliation module - Christians should be forgiving. - Pope John Paul II showed mercy to the man that shot him by forgiving him.

- "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" - to be pure in heart means you have a good attitude and want to do God’s will - if you are pure in heart you will do your best for others from your heart

- "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" - peace is more than just a lack of war - it means there is no conflict between anyone, anywhere. - Christians should work for peace. - for example Oscar Romero worked for peace in El Salvador and lost his life because of it - Christians believe he will be with God now because of his work

- "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" - followers of Jesus are often treated badly because of their believes—Blessed are those that stay true to what they believe as they will be rewarded for this - St. Maximillian Kolbe stayed true to his beliefs during WW2 and was killed for standing up for Jewish people. - Persecuted = treated badly .... Righteousness = for what is right.