The first commandment of God
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:2-3)
Just as every commandment requires something, or rather commands or prohibits something, so too does the first commandment of God. It commands the duty to show respect to God, which is due to Him as the Creator, and prohibits showing that respect to anyone else.
When speaking of respect, it is necessary to say that it is reflected in the fact that someone is given recognition for their advantages and merits, and at the same time, if necessary, they also show submission. Therefore, if we are reasonable and just, we know that God is closest to us, that he is our greatest good, that we are completely dependent on him and that we are therefore obliged to give him our greatest respect. This is clear to us from these words of the Gospel: "For in him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
And this greatest respect, which belongs only and exclusively to God, is called worship. It is immediately necessary to emphasize that our entire virtuous life, our earthly well-being, and also our eternal salvation, depend on this worship of God.
Reverence or worship towards God
We show respect for God when we acknowledge God as the supreme lord and therefore bow down to Him and obey Him perfectly. This respect can be internal and external; respect with the soul is internal, and respect with the body is external.
When we talk about respect for God, it is necessary to say:
How we honor God internally
How do we honor God outwardly?
How we sin against the respect we owe to God
How we honor God internally
We honor God in an internal way:
With faith, hope and love
With awe and adoration
With gratitude for all the gifts of life
With zeal for his honor
By obedience and devotion to his holy will
With faith, hope and love
The inner way of reverence primarily includes three theological virtues, namely faith, hope, and love!
Faith consists in holding as true everything that God has revealed and that the Holy Church proposes to believe.
As the eternal and infallible truth, God is the firm foundation of the holy Christian faith, and we do not believe because God's revelation is completely clear to us or because there are other reasons for believing apart from God, but because we acknowledge God, who cannot deceive or be deceived, as the eternal and holy truth. For this reason, by faith we submit our reason to God and without a doubt hold that even that which we do not fully understand is true. Our perfect knowledge and awe that God alone reveals the truth make us surrender ourselves to God with a heart full of faith, even though faith is a mystery that we cannot fully understand.
It can rightly be said that we honor God by faith when we acknowledge him as the holy, eternal and infallible truth and when we surrender ourselves to him as such perfectly.
The same can be said about hope, because holy Christian hope consists in expecting from God with firm confidence everything that He has promised us!
So, the reason for our hope is again the ineffably possible, faithful, kind, merciful, and holy God. In other words, we hope for the promised good things because God is infinitely possible, faithful, kind, merciful, and holy. Therefore, it can be said that we honor God with hope when we acknowledge his infinite power, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and holiness and when we surrender ourselves to him as such, firmly believing that God can and will give us what he has promised.
Furthermore, we also honor God through holy Christian love!
Perfect love for God is when we love Him for His own sake, that is, because He is infinitely possible, faithful, good, merciful, and holy.
When we love God, we come to know Him in the light of Christian faith as the most perfect and most lovable good. Then we acknowledge that God alone possesses what deserves to be loved, which is immeasurable power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, immeasurable majesty, beauty, and holiness. For this reason, we want to come to God and know no greater longing or holy desire than to be united with Him temporally and eternally. Therefore, love is the highest way of honoring God, because it comprehends God in all His perfections and surrenders itself completely to Him.
St. Augustine says and teaches that God is honored especially through faith, hope, and love. We must awaken these three virtues in ourselves in order to show due honor to God.
It is a beautiful and praiseworthy custom to often pray to God for these three theological virtues, along with other prayers. We must pray for these virtues with a concentrated and pious heart, so that through them we can show the due respect we owe to God.
Since without holy Christian faith, hope, and love, that is, without this first and absolutely essential part of the inner way of reverence for God, one cannot revere God in an external way, or at all, correctly, it is necessary to say that we are obliged to know everything that is contained in these three theological virtues, without which it is impossible to correctly fulfill the first commandment of God.
With awe and adoration
We honor God with our perfect awe and worship. "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my fear?" (Mal. 1:6).
In these above words of the prophet Malachi, God wants to show us why we are obligated to show him our perfect reverence.
God is our master, and we are his servants; God is our Father, and we are his children. Is it the duty of a servant to honor his master, or is it the duty of a child to honor his father?
Could we forget our reverence for God when God is our greatest ruler, master, and at the same time a loving Father?
How great and holy awe do the holy heavenly spirits have for God when they lay down their crowns before him, fall down on their faces, and say: "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be to our God forever and ever!" (Rev. 7:12).
So we too are obliged to humble ourselves most profoundly before the immeasurable majesty of God, often saying: "O God, what are you, and what am I? You are almighty, and I am a weak creature who can do no good of myself. You are holiness itself, and I am a poor sinner who deserves nothing but contempt and punishment. You are eternal, and I am a being with a mortal body that will soon turn to dust and ashes. You are omniscient and I am ignorant, or you are everything and I am nothing!
Therefore, if we are filled with perfect awe of God, then we will humble ourselves before him and worship him.
The elevation of the spirit to God is an expression of our worship of God, and this elevation takes place especially in prayer, which can be a prayer of praise, thanksgiving, intercession, and supplication.
In addition to prayer, we express our worship through sacrifice, promises, and vows to God!
To worship God is nothing other than to respect and appreciate His unlimited majesty and to humble ourselves before Him, recognizing Him as our beginning and final goal, that is, the Lord and unlimited master of all things. Therefore, out of awe, we are obliged to humble ourselves and bow down to God, because we are His creatures who are completely dependent on Him.
We are obliged to thank God for all that we have and are, and to express our respect and adoration to our Lord and Creator very clearly. Thus performing our duty in humility of heart, let us often say: "Unspeakably great and loving God, I bow down to You and humble myself most deeply before You. You are my Lord and Creator, and I thank You for all that I am and for all that I have. Accept the gracious respect that I bring You in my obedience and humility. My destiny is in Your hands and do with me as You will, for I surrender myself completely to Your will. I live for You, I die for You, I am Yours alive and dead!"
With gratitude for all the gifts of life
Gratitude is also a form of showing respect for God!
If we are grateful, then we know that every good thing we have comes from God and that because of this we cannot boast and boast that we have something of our own and therefore through our gratitude we give due respect to God. The Apostle Paul speaks clearly about this: "What do you have that you did not receive? If, then, you did receive, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" (1 Cor 4:7).
The body, life, health, food and other temporal goods, as well as the immortal soul endowed with reason and free will, were given to us by God. Also, from God we have only the correct and saving holy Christian faith, in which there are many means for the salvation of our soul. Therefore, we know and acknowledge that every good and perfect gift comes exclusively and only from God, and precisely because of this, gratitude to God is our basic and greatest duty.
Since God asks us to acknowledge him loudly, that is, to praise, honor, and glorify him, he also asks us to constantly thank him for the good things we have received. Indeed, whoever does not thank God does not recognize him as Lord and his greatest benefactor.
The ungrateful person does not want to be dependent on God and takes the honor for himself, thus taking it away from God to whom it belongs alone and exclusively. In doing so, he does not fulfill the duty of reverence for God and sins greatly and grievously. Therefore, God despises the ungrateful most and pours out his wrath on them. This is quite clear from these words of God that he addressed to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah when they turned to idols and turned their backs on him, forgetting all the benefits they had received from him: "My people have exchanged their glory for those who do not help! Be astonished, you heavens, at this; be appalled and be terrified, says the Lord. For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." (Jeremiah 2:11-13).
The Lord Jesus Christ was also offended when nine of the ten lepers he had healed did not come to thank him for the kindness he had done for them. Then he said: "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Not one of them was found to return and give thanks to God, except this foreigner!" (Luke 17:17-18).
Therefore, if we are wise and righteous, then we do not follow in the footsteps of these ungrateful people, but rather we honor God and thank Him for all the benefits He bestows upon us every day.
In the morning when we wake up, we thank God for having so graciously kept us during the night and for allowing us to serve Him for another day.
We thank God after every meal and drink, as well as in the evening, for all the good things we have received during the day. We especially thank Him for the undeserved grace that we are members of the holy Church, in which we can so easily gain our salvation and become blessed.
We also show our gratitude by deeds of a pious and virtuous life, using the graces we have received according to the holy will of God. Such gratitude pleases God and ensures that He will continue to open His benevolent hand and do good to His faithful servant.
With zeal for his honor
We honor God with our zeal for his honor!
When a person values someone, he is not indifferent to the fact that others despise him, but he wants others to show him the honor that is due him. If he is scolded or insulted, he will actively defend his honor.
The same will be true of our behavior towards God if our heart is filled with deep awe for him. Then our greatest desire will be to see all people pay due respect to God, and on the contrary, we will be deeply saddened when we see that people do not show him what is necessary.
Therefore, zeal for the honor of God clearly belongs to the expression of reverence for God. Therefore, it is not surprising that all faithful worshipers of God were consumed with ardent zeal for His honor. Consumed with ardent zeal, David says: "For zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who mock You have fallen on me" (Ps 69:10).
This same zeal led the apostle Paul to say, "I do not count my life of any account as of any value, if only I may finish my course, the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).
It can be seen in particular that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is busy for the honor of his heavenly Father. He travels for three years throughout the land of Israel, preaching the Holy Gospel, performing various miracles, watching and praying, patiently enduring persecution and suffering, without complaining in the least about anything. In the end, he dies on the cross so that his heavenly Father may be shown the honor that belongs to him as God.
Because the name of God is dishonored by every sin committed, the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and all the wise and righteous servants of God were completely occupied with destroying injustice and sin among people and bringing them to God by their virtuous lives. In this endeavor, they did not fear any hardships and stresses, they endured torments and persecutions of every kind, and many even gave their lives as a sacrifice.
In a similar way, we are obliged to show our zeal for the honor of God today. This duty, if we are reasonable and righteous, is especially due today in this time when the name of God is being dishonored by all kinds of sins.
Indeed, if we can calmly look at so many sins, then we clearly show that we have no love for God and that we care nothing about his honor. If we have zeal, then we are obliged to do everything we can to reduce the insults that are inflicted on God, that is, to remove scandals and sins, to spread virtue and the holy Catholic faith.
We have a special role if we are parents, because we have a duty to be careful in what kind of company we and our children, that is, the entire family, move around in. We must not allow insults to be inflicted on God by cursing and bad words, sinful acquaintances, gambling and drunkenness. We are obligated to be a good example of a religious life to our household members and to encourage them to pray diligently, to devoutly attend the divine service on Sundays and holidays, to confess and receive communion frequently, and to persevere in leading a virtuous Christian life.
This zeal for the honor of God is a duty for each of us, and our earthly well-being and eternal bliss depend on this duty being conscientiously performed.
Likewise, those who do not have their own subjects are obliged to show in every situation of life that their hearts are full of true zeal for the honor of God. They are obliged to admonish their neighbor who sins in Christian love and see to it that he is corrected, and they are obliged to show those who mock virtues and the holy Christian faith that they do not approve of their actions. They are obliged to show them by word and deed that they despise such speech with all their heart and as much as possible they are obliged to avoid their company.
Furthermore, if we are reasonable and righteous, we are obliged to pray every day for unbelievers, heretics and sinners as well as for the righteous and believers. For the former to convert, and for the latter to persevere in the path of Truth and virtuous life. We are obliged to give everyone a good example of Christian life so that the words of the Lord may be fulfilled: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your works of love and glory to your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:16).
By obedience and devotion to his holy will
We especially honor God through our obedience and devotion to his holy will!
If respect for God is contained in recognizing God as our master and being submissive to Him, then it is quite clear that obedience and devotion to the will of God also fall within respect.
By practicing virtue, we do what God asks of us, thus recognizing him as our master and Father, and as such we humbly and confidently submit to him. Obedience to God in all things is our strictest duty.
When the question of who we are and who God is is asked, it is clearly seen that God is our Lord and Creator, or our Father, and we are only His creatures, servants, or His beloved children. Therefore, it is quite natural that a creature submits to its Creator, a servant to his master, and a child to his father.
Therefore, God hates and severely punishes disobedience, and that this is so is seen from the words addressed by the prophet Samuel to the disobedient King Saul: "You have done foolishly! If you had kept the commandment of the Lord your God, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom will not continue forever. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and He has appointed him to be prince over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you." (1 Sam 13:13-14).
"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as much as in obeying his voice? To obey is better than a sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft, and rebellion is as the sin of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king." (1 Sam 15:22-23)
Therefore, we can say with great certainty that we please God most when we obey His will. And that this is true is seen in the patriarch Abraham, who was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's word, as can be seen from these words of the Holy Scripture: "Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. And your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. Because you have obeyed My command, all the nations of the earth will be blessed in your descendants." (Genesis 22:16-18).
As can be seen from these words of God, obedience is the most perfect sacrifice we can offer to God. If, out of love for God, we renounce our temporal goods and if we leave all the comforts of life and take on various sufferings, then we sacrifice to God only the things that belong to Him. But, if we want to be completely obedient to God, then we must sacrifice ourselves to Him, because then we give up our freedom and completely surrender ourselves to God. By doing so, we place our free will in God's hands and allow Him to do with us whatever He wants according to His will. Surely, this is a completely precious and holy gift that we can offer to God, or rather, the sacrifice with which we honor Him the most. Therefore, we are always obliged to practice this great virtue of obedience and always overcome our own will and do only what God wants.
When we know and are absolutely certain that our will is also the will of God, then we must not let any obstacle or difficulty hold us back from carrying it out. In all circumstances of life, the will of God should be the rule of our behavior. Therefore, we are obliged to conscientiously obey our spiritual and secular leaders. To obey them means to obey God, because they are God's representatives on earth.
We are obliged to obey readily even when God sends us troubles and sufferings, and we should constantly bear in mind that God wants and always gives us what is best for us, both in happy and difficult days.
Finally, it can be concluded that inner reverence for God consists in the fact that we are obliged to believe in God, to hope in his promises, and to love him above all else.
In addition, we are obliged to have awe and worship him, to be grateful for his countless blessings, to work for his honor, to be willingly obedient, and to submit to his holy will in joy and sorrow.
If we do all of this diligently, then we are honoring God in a correct, internal way. And if we do not do all of this, then we are sinning greatly and gravely and are threatened with eternal destruction if we persist in these sins until our death.
How do we honor God outwardly?
We honor God outwardly when we manifest our inner feelings toward Him in our outer actions!
We manifest this especially when we go to church on Sundays and holidays to attend the holy service of God with other believers, when we pray aloud during that service, when we fold our hands and kneel during prayer, when we make the sign of the holy cross, when we perform a certain devotion before Jesus or before the image of a saint, as well as when we go on a holy pilgrimage or pilgrimage.
In short, we outwardly honor God whenever we manifest our inner awe-filled reverence for Him through outward actions.
This should be clear to every Christian believer who performs his duties correctly, so it is now only necessary to clarify whether external reverence for God is commanded and how one can err in it.
Referring to these clear words of the Lord: "But the time is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship him" (John 4:23), heretics conclude that the Lord Jesus Christ rejected all external reverence for God and seeks only internal reverence.
They misunderstood or misunderstood that passage, because the Lord Jesus Christ did not in any way reject external reverence for God, but rather wanted to say in those words that in the New Testament reverence for God is particularly internal, because in the Old Testament it was particularly external, and that this external reverence without internal reverence has no value.
Therefore, our human nature forces us to respect God both internally and externally. If we were purely spiritual beings, then we could only respect God internally in the spirit, just as the Angels do, but since we are composed of soul and body, we are partly spiritual and partly corporeal beings, and therefore we have a duty to respect God internally, or with our soul, and externally, or with our body.
If we are reasonable and just, then we know that the soul is the work of God and that it is obligated to devote all its strength to its Lord and Creator and to serve Him. We also know that the body is the work of God and that it too is obligated to express submission, gratitude, and adoration to its Creator.
Furthermore, the body has the task of serving the soul as a tool in all its activities!
What the plow is to the farmer, the brush to the painter, the pen to the writer, the body is to the soul and it uses it in everything it undertakes. Since the first and most important task of the soul is to honor God, it is easy to conclude that the body serves it exclusively and solely for this task.
We must know that through the incarnation of the Lord, and especially through the holy sacraments, not only the soul but also our body is sanctified. If God must be glorified and honored by all his creatures who are not sanctified, then it is quite clear to us that our body must do the same, especially since after the resurrection our body will be glorified with the soul and enjoy the eternal joys of Heaven.
Since Heaven rewards good deeds, because no one comes into it without deserving it, it is quite clear that the body must also work on the good deeds of the soul, especially in its reverence for God, in order to merit heavenly bliss with it.
The second reason for outward reverence for God is that it is already in our nature to manifest our inner piety in an outward way!
Each of us, by nature, manifests outwardly in our behavior what we think, feel, or want. This manifestation is all the greater if the emotions that move the soul are stronger. Thus, it is almost impossible to keep a feeling of great joy or great sorrow within oneself without it also manifesting itself in our posture, words, and actions. The same is especially true of the feeling of piety.
If we are vividly convinced of the immeasurable majesty of God, of his overwhelming love and mercy, as well as of his other perfections, then it is not possible for us to hold back our feelings. These feelings force us to fall on our knees, to fold our hands, to raise our eyes to Heaven, that is, to assume the correct piety of a true Christian believer. Just as a boiling vessel cannot retain its contents but spills them out, so the heart cannot hold back the fire of piety within itself but manifests it quite clearly outwardly.
So, when you see a man in church who looks around as if he were in a theater, who turns now to the right, now to the left, who is restless and does not behave with dignity and humility, it can rightly be said that this man has no true piety in his heart and that he worships God little or almost nothing in his interior and exterior.
This judgment is quite correct, because if that man had inner piety, then it would certainly be manifested outwardly in his behavior. The more religious feelings are alive, the more they are manifested outwardly. That is why in the biographies of the Saints one can read how they did extraordinary things in their piety.
Thus one can read how St. Wenceslas in Bohemia visited churches barefoot at night in the deepest winter and often left bloody traces in the snow. Others again spent whole hours in prayer and were completely closed off to the outside world, as if petrified.
Therefore, it is certain that there is some natural force within us that compels us to manifest our feelings of piety outwardly and not to neglect our outward reverence for God. We can neglect this outward manifestation of piety only if we oppose and work against our nature.
The next reason why we need external reverence for God is that it is precisely this external that supports our internal reverence!
We should be aware that the soul and body act on each other, that is, just as the soul acts on the body, so the body acts on the soul. Likewise, our internal reverence acts on the external, that is, the external is an expression of the internal and supports it.
If we neglect our external reverence for God, we gradually fall into lukewarmness and religious indifference and are in danger of losing our holy Christian faith. Therefore, for the growth and maintenance of internal piety and a pious life, it is also necessary to revere God in an external way.
Furthermore, we are obligated to practice outward respect in order to set a good example for others and to instill in them love and awe of God!
Namely, each of us is obliged to encourage our neighbor to the sacred service of God in every possible way. Of course, one of the ways is external respect for God. When others see that we often attend public services of God, at which we pray devoutly and express our awe of God, this leaves a good and salutary impression on them, and they too are forced, following his example, to perform their religious duties zealously and to glorify the holy name of God with a pious life. This is especially true for leaders and persons who occupy higher positions in human society. It is certain that subjects and members of the lower classes are encouraged when they see that officials and other high state officials honor God by attending public devotions deeply humbled in devoted prayer. Such examples are worth more than a hundred sermons, and therefore it is very important why we should honor God in an external way.
In every age since the world began, people have honored God in an outward way. From Cain and Abel through the patriarchs to Moses, we see how God is honored in an outward way. Through Moses, God gave the people of Israel many regulations concerning His outward honor. Thus, He established the Sabbath, many festivals, and a priesthood, prescribed various sacrifices and ways of presentation, and designated places for religious meetings and prayer.
Nor did the Lord Jesus Christ abolish external reverence for God. He wants external reverence to come from the internal and to be its clear expression. Jesus Christ reverenced God, or rather his heavenly Father, externally when he visited the temple in Jerusalem, when he prostrated himself and knelt in prayer, when he looked up to heaven and prayed. He also established the Holy Mass and the holy sacraments and instructed the apostles to introduce external signs of reverence for God everywhere. Therefore, these clear words from the Acts of the Apostles show that the first Christians gathered for the public service of God: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers." (Acts 2:42).
The first Christians were so concerned with outward reverence for God that during times of persecution they gathered in caves and hidden places and preferred to die rather than be without the Holy Mass, the sacraments, and the common sacred service of God.
Therefore, what Christians have always done, we are also obliged to do today, and therefore we are obliged to carefully avoid everything that could prevent us from outwardly expressing due respect for God.
At the end of this presentation, it is necessary to say that we sin gravely or mortally if we do not practice outward reverence for God, and this sin is manifested:
When we neglect the sacred service of God
When we behave indecently and immodestly in the sacred service of God
When we neglect the sacred service of God
The holy service of God includes all devotions that are performed in church on Sundays and holidays!
If we do not attend Holy Mass on Sundays and holidays, then we neglect the sacred service of God and as such we sin gravely because we violate God's commandments and the commandments of the Holy Church. When we neglect the service of God, we commit a triple sin: against God, against our neighbor, and against ourselves.
God has ordained public and holy devotions and wants us to participate in them in order to present to Him the sacrifice of our respect and adoration. Therefore, if we do not attend the public service of God without a valid reason, we sin greatly and grievously against God because we deprive Him of the honor that is due Him.
Likewise, if we do not participate in the sacred service of God, then we cause offense to our neighbor because we do not set the proper example that we are obligated to give him.
Ultimately, if we neglect the sacred service of God, then we are not attending to Christian instruction and are sinning against ourselves because we are not building ourselves up in leading a godly and holy life.
For these reasons, we must not neglect the sacred service of God and we are diligently obliged to attend on Sundays and holidays so as not to fail to fulfill our duty to God, our neighbor, and ourselves.
When we behave indecently and immodestly in the sacred service of God
God cares for the honor of His house and threatens severe punishments to those who, in the place where they should worship Him with deep reverence, insult Him with their improper behavior and hinder others in their piety.
From the Holy Gospel it is seen that the Lord Jesus Christ drove out the merchants and other people who desecrated the temple in Jerusalem with a whip and angrily said: "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers" (Luke 19:46).
If we behave inappropriately during the holy service of God, that is, if we chatter, laugh, and make various jokes, if we look around and have ugly thoughts, if we come to church immodestly dressed, to be seen and to see others, or if we come to church only out of habit and to satisfy some of our human needs, forgetting about the holy service of God and His honor, then we are committing a great and grave sin and God's wrath will befall us, if not in this world, then most certainly in the next world, where we will be condemned to eternal damnation.
Therefore, we are absolutely obliged to guard against any frivolity and indecency in the sacred service of God. Catholic parents in particular are obliged to ensure that their children behave with dignity and chastity, that is, that they learn from an early age to approach the sacred service of God correctly and with dignity.
Finally, we can conclude that we who clearly know what the first commandment of God commands us are obliged to honor God both internally and externally. Internally, by humbling ourselves before His immeasurable and holy majesty and acknowledging that God is everything and we are nothing. By presenting ourselves completely to Him as a sacrifice, we are obliged to praise, honor and glorify Him, and God should be the king of our heart and reign in it. This internal respect is the gold of the external, because just as a walnut without a kernel is useless, so external respect is without true value if it is not an expression of the internal, that is, internal holiness.
Therefore, we are obliged to honor God in an external way, because external honor is necessary and is a strict and holy duty for every person. Therefore, we are obliged to diligently and dignifiedly attend the holy service of God and we are obliged to be a good example to our household, subordinates, and other believers. In addition, we are obliged to diligently perform home devotions so that not a single day passes without morning and evening prayer. We are obliged to pray with a collected spirit and a pious heart in all situations of life. If various distractions inadvertently arise, we are obliged to remove them as soon as we notice them and direct our thoughts towards God again. We are obliged to maintain our pious Christian life through prayer, avoiding and despising every sin, and always doing what God commands us.
By behaving in this way, we exercise true Christian reverence for God, which will bring us grace and blessing here on earth, and eternal salvation and bliss in Heaven.
How we sin against the respect we owe to God
According to the respect we owe to God, we sin:
Idolatry
Superstitions
By magic
Blasphemy
Spiritual usury or simony
Idolatry
Idolatry occurs when we show a creature the due honor that belongs only to God!
We are obliged to acknowledge God as the highest and most perfect being, as the Lord of Heaven and Earth, and as the source of all good, and to strictly express our respect and adoration to Him.
When we show respect to a creature, that is, we acknowledge and honor that creature as our Lord and God, then we commit idolatry.
This is exactly what the pagans did, who considered the stars of the sky, fire, water, and many animals to be gods and prayed to them. They also placed individual people, both during their lives and after their death, among the gods and built temples to them, erected statues and offered sacrifices. They also made statues for themselves of wood, stone and metal and considered them to be gods and worshiped them.
Idolatry, unless it comes from justified ignorance, is one of the greatest sins we can commit, because the honor we owe to God is transferred and shown to a creature. Therefore, God very strictly forbade idolatry to the people of Israel and always severely punished them when they sinned by it.
Furthermore, it is necessary to know how idolatry can arise from justified ignorance and from malice!
If a man, out of justified ignorance, shows God's honor to a creature, because he does not know the true God, then such idolatry is not a sin in itself, because one cannot sin out of ignorance. Therefore, it is quite clear that the pagan who is a heretic and who does not have the opportunity to know the true God will not perish. But, as such, if he acts against his conscience and gravely offends the virtuous law, then for that reason he will perish eternally. However, if a man has the opportunity to know the true God and neglects that opportunity, that is, if he stubbornly opposes the messengers of the true God, then he is a heretic out of malice and will perish eternally.
We are also pagans or idolaters if we outwardly show divine respect to a creature, but inwardly we condemn this respect and worship the true God. Such idolatry was committed by many Israelites in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity, because in order to please the pagans they publicly honored their idols, but in secret they despised them and worshiped the true God. Therefore, such idolatry is a grave sin, because before men it deprives God of the honor that belongs to Him and at the same time it gives great offense to our neighbor.
Idolatry is also when we turn our hearts away from God and surrender them to creatures and our passions. That is why St. Augustine says: ''He who listens more to his own inclinations than to God does injustice, because what someone desires and worships is also his god.''
Such idolaters or heretics are arrogant people who value the honor and glory of the world more than God, then misers who sacrifice duty, conscience, justice and mercy to their greed, which is why the apostle Paul calls them idolaters and gluttons whose belly is also their god: "For this you know, that no fornicator, no unclean person, no covetous person - that is, an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God!" (Eph 5:5),
"Their end is destruction; their god is their belly; their pride is in their shame. They mind earthly things." (Philippians 3:19).
Furthermore, heretics or idolaters are also rulers who allow their subjects to do everything, because instead of admonishing and punishing them, they allow them to indulge in their sinful passions.
Generally speaking, a heretic is anyone who does not do the holy will of God, or anyone who sins greatly and gravely against God and their neighbor. Therefore, we are obliged to look into our hearts sincerely and if we have an idol in it that we worship, we are obliged to suppress it and as such give all our love to God and our neighbor.
Superstitions
Superstition is also a sin against the respect we owe to God!
This sin is committed when:
When we honor God or his Saints in a way that is contrary to the teaching and custom of the Holy Church
When we attribute to something a power that it cannot have either by its own nature, or by the prayer of the Holy Church, or by the holy decree of God...
When we call upon Satan, either verbally or silently, to tell us what is hidden
When we honor God or his Saints in a way that is contrary to the teaching and custom of the Holy Church
When respecting God and the Saints, we are always obliged to ensure that this respect does not contain anything that contradicts the teaching and custom of the Holy Church!
Since the Holy Church is the bearer of the revealed truth of God, only she can tell us quite clearly how to honor God in the right way. As such, she has prescribed the holy service of God and all that is necessary for our salvation. If our devotions are in harmony with the teachings of the Holy Church and do not contain anything that contradicts her teachings, then they are good and valid, and we honor God and the Saints in a worthy manner with them. However, if our devotions deviate in any way from the teachings and customs of the Holy Church, then as such they are completely superstitious and sinful.
When we attribute to something a power that it cannot have either by its own nature, or by the prayer of the Holy Church, or by the holy decree of God...
We must not give any thing such power that it cannot have either by its own nature, or by the prayer of the holy Church, or by the holy decree of God.
This superstition occurs when, in order to achieve a certain and desirable thing, we use unreasonable and unworthy means to achieve it. It is quite certain that we cannot ask and expect from God an unreasonable and unworthy means to achieve a certain and desirable thing. This unworthy and unreasonable means can only be asked and expected from Satan, and therefore such superstition is a grave sin.
When we call upon Satan, either verbally or silently, to tell us what is hidden
This superstition is called divination and includes: interpreting the stars, interpreting birds and animals, interpreting dreams, throwing dice, fortune telling, moving tables, etc. This type of superstition is also completely sinful, because with the help of Satan we want to find out what is hidden from us, that is, inaccessible.
By magic
Witchcraft is also a sin by which we sin against the respect we owe to God!
We commit this sin when we call upon Satan, either verbally or silently, to perform miraculous things with his help.
That there were magicians who performed miraculous things with the help of Satan is evident from these words of the Old Testament: "Then Pharaoh called for the wise men and the sorcerers. And indeed, the magicians of Egypt did the same with their sorceries: each one cast down his rod, and it became a serpent" (Exodus 7:11-12).
"Therefore Saul said to his servants, 'Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.'" And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor" (1 Sam 28:7).
Likewise, that there will be magicians who will perform miraculous things through Satan is evident from these words of God: "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here is the Messiah, or there!' do not believe it. For false Messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform such great signs and wonders that they will deceive, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:23-24)
"The coming of the lawless one will be according to the working of Satan with all kinds of power and lying signs and wonders, and with all kinds of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they did not accept the love of the truth so that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
Blasphemy
Likewise, sacrilege is a sin by which we sin against the respect we owe to God!
We commit sacrilege when we revile and dishonor that which is holy and dedicated to God. This sacrilege can occur in three ways, namely, depending on whether we desecrate or revile persons, holy places, or holy things dedicated to God.
Spiritual usury or simony
Spiritual usury is also a sin by which we sin against the respect that belongs exclusively to God!
Spiritual usury or simony occurs when we want to buy or sell a spiritual thing for money or for something of monetary value. It was named after Simon the sorcerer who wanted to buy from the apostles the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.
Spiritual things are understood to mean supernatural things that relate to the salvation of the soul, such as: the gifts of the Holy Spirit, grace, prayer, sacraments, blessings, relics of saints, the exercise of spiritual authority such as absolution from sins, the distribution of indulgences, etc. If we buy or sell such spiritual things for money or some monetary value, we become guilty of spiritual usury.
Simony or spiritual usury is a grave sin, as can be seen from the words of the apostle Peter: "May your money perish with you," Peter replied, "because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!" (Acts 8:20).
All of the above are sins by which we offend against the respect we owe to God. All these sins, if we are reasonable and righteous, we are obliged to condemn with all our hearts and with the necessary care and strength to avoid them completely in order to save ourselves from eternal destruction. Amen!
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