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The Commandments · Lesson 12 of 12

The Great Commandment and the Beatitudes

All ten commandments are one love for God and neighbor, and Jesus fulfills them by changing our hearts and giving us grace. The Beatitudes show the happiness that love leads to.

This is a summary of Lesson 12 of The Ten Commandments. The full lesson takes about 3 minutes in the Saints Light app.

Moses Presenting the Tablets of the Law, a painting by Philippe de Champaigne
Moses Presenting the Tablets of the Law, Philippe de Champaigne, c. 1648

What this lesson teaches

  • Jesus summed up all the commandments as love of God and love of neighbor.
  • Christ fulfills the law by taking it into the heart and giving the grace to live it.
  • The Beatitudes describe the happiness we are made for and the shape of a life on the way to God.
  • The commandments make an excellent examination of conscience before Confession.

Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites

  • CCC 2055
  • CCC 1965-1972
  • CCC 1716-1724
  • CCC 1454

CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.

Scripture read in this lesson: Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 5:3-10; Romans 13:10.

A sample question from this lesson

How did Jesus sum up the whole law?

  1. Keep the sabbath and honor your parents
  2. Love God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself
  3. Obey the priests and give to the Temple
  4. Avoid every sin and you will be saved
Show the answer

Love God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus says the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments of love (CCC 2055).

The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.

Words to know

Beatitudes
The blessings Jesus proclaimed at the start of the Sermon on the Mount, describing true happiness in God.
New Law
The law of the Gospel, fulfilled in Christ, which works through love and grace.
Examination of conscience
A prayerful review of our life in the light of God's word, made especially before Confession.

More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.

Read the full lesson in the app

"The Great Commandment and the Beatitudes" is lesson 12 of The Ten Commandments. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.

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