LESSON 46

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

 "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13)

DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT

Many people today misunderstand the ownership of human life; and this is their big mistake about the Fifth Commandment. They think that life belongs to man. Therefore, they do not realize that anger, drunkenness, abortion, mercy killing (euthanasia), and neglect of health are sins.

You cannot understand this lesson unless you accept the basic Christian principle about life; namely, that life belongs to God, the Author of life. Human beings do not have absolute mastery over life.

A. LIFE BELONGS TO GOD, NOT TO MAN

Let's imagine that the president of General Motors, out of the goodness of his heart, lends you a big Cadillac. You thank him and tell him that you will repay him in the only way you can, by taking good care of his car (gift) and using it well. But when you start driving the Cadillac you forget all your promises and obligations; you try to have collisions with every automobile you see. And besides trying to wreck everyone else's automobile, you do your best to ~in the Cadillac that isn't yours -you pour alcohol into the gas tank just to see what will happen. And then, when you get tired of "bumping off' other cars, you go home and entertain yourself by taking the Cadillac apart. You remove the headlights and use them for salad bowls, you take off the horn and use it for a door bell, and then give the wheels to your children for playthings. You have received a beautiful piece of machinery, but you dismantled it, mutilated it, misused it. And it was not yours!

Now, God has given you a wonderful machine for your use -your body. You must not dismantle it, mutilate it, or misuse it. Remember, it is really not yours; it belongs to God. Therefore, you must not injure (do anything wrong to) your own body, your own life; you must not injure (do anything wrong to) the body or the life of another. Life does not belong to us; it belongs to God. Man did not give life; he may not take it away. God alone is the Author and Owner of life.

B. WHAT THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT COMMANDS

The Fifth Commandment obliges you to preserve your own life and the lives of others. You must take ordinary care of your life; you may do nothing to injure another's life.

C. WHAT THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT FORBIDS

The Fifth Commandment forbids unjust killing, wounding, striking, or mutilation of the body. It forbids anything that may lead to the killing or injuring of another, such as anger, hatred and revenge.

D. MURDER

Murder is the unjust killing of an innocent person. It is always a mortal sin.

E. SELF DEFENSE

In case of unjust at tack, you may do all that is necessary to defend yourself or another. To defend yourself, it is even permitted to kill the attacker, if that is the only way you can protect yourself. But, if you can get someone in authority, such as a policeman, to protect you, you may not injure or kill the person who is unjustly attacking you when that authority is present.

F. ABORTION

There is a story told of a mother who went to a surgeon and asked him to perform an abortion. The surgeon refused and made this suggestion to her. He told her to wait until the baby was born and then to hold her finger against the baby's windpipe, until the child stopped breathing. The mother cried out in dismay, "Oh I could not do such a terrible thing! It would be murder .""That's what you are asking me to do," said the doctor. "1 can't commit murder any more than you can."

Abortion is the killing of an unborn child. It is murder, no matter what the reason is for committing it. Any Catholic mother, doctor, nurse, or anyone else who has anything to do with an abortion is excommunicated and can return to the Church only through absolution that comes from the bishop. It is murder of the innocent, and what is even worse, it denies the child the opportunity of ever getting to heaven, because the child dies without being baptized. In the case of danger to the life of a mother at the time of childbirth, abortion is not the only way out; very often the mother and child can be saved by other medical means.

Science today tries to prove (falsely) that the fetus (they will not call it a baby) is not a human until it is born. True medical science contradicts this. As a Catholic we believe that life begins at conception. No one has a right to take the life of the innocent child.

THE USE OF BIRTH CONTROL: Some forms of birth control cause the in-utero death of the child, or death before implantation. Even risking this possibility of the murder of the unborn child is a grave sin.

G. SUICIDE

Life belongs to God. God gave the body and life for a purpose. Man cannot serve God and achieve this purpose without his body. because man is a composite of body and soul. Suicide makes it impossible for man to use his life as God wants him to use it Suicide is self-murder, it is a direct violation of the law of nature and, therefore, of God's Law. Catholic suicide victims are refused Christian burial.

A suicide exchanges a life of suffering here on earth for the intense and never-ending suffering of hell. A suicidal person is generally one who has lost hope and the desire to persevere through the hardships we all have to face. He is afraid to face a life of suffering on earth. He doesn't realize that his act could only bring him the intense and never-ending suffering of hell.

If an insane person kills himself, he is not guilty of the sin of suicide and could be buried from the Catholic Church.

H. MERCY KILLING (EUTHANASIA)

Mercy killing is murder. Life belongs to God. not to man. Neither doctor. nor patient, nor relatives have the right to take the life of a sick person. The doctor has taken an oath to preserve life and not to destroy it When the patient has a choice he does not want to die; and even if he did want to die, he would be asking for suicide or murder. The sufferings before death have a purpose, namely, to make up for the sins of a whole lifetime. More good is sometimes done on a bed of pain. than in a lifetime of activity. Let us be careful not to mistake a misplaced compassion at the sight of the sufferings of another for an ill-placed zeal to stop their suffering.

I. CAUSING DEATH OR INJURY BY SERIOUS CRIMINAL NEGLECT

To neglect your property so that others will be in danger of loss of life or limb is a serious sin. Sometimes employers in a factory commit this sin, by not having proper safety devices on their machinery .Landlords commit this sin by neglecting their property, so that it is hazardous to others. By seriously neglecting your automobile, for example the brakes, or by driving at dangerous speeds, you can commit a serious sin.

CONTINUE ON TO: Fifth Commandment Page 2/Capital Punishment, War, Anger, Drunkenness, Scandal