1.

THIRD COMMANDMENT
The book is a complete explanation of
the Ten Commandments.
THIRD COMMANDMENT:
REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY
THE LORD’S DAY.
To purchase the Book, or for theological
inquiries (e-mails only), contact the author:
AUTHOR Rev. Fr. Paolo O. Pirlo, SHMI
EDITION 1st Edition, Manila, July 16, 2016
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
PUBLISHER Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate
Quality Catholic Publications
Isabella De Rosis St., Multinational
1708 Parañaque City, Philippines
Tel. (02) 828-2338
Tel. (02) 828-9509
sonsmaryphil@[Link]

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 2. A CATECHIST’S PRAYER
Loving Father, giver of all that is,
help me to remember that every gift
I have comes from you. Expand my
vision so that I can appreciate your
goodness in the world around me.
Jesus, our Redeemer, you are
the path to the treasures of my
heart and soul. Strengthen my
commitment to be a catechist and
deepen my capacity to share your
truth with those in my care.
Holy Spirit, Love Divine, all life
and energy flows from you.
Illuminate my thoughts and intensify
my desire to grow ever deeper in
my faith.
I lift up my prayer to you, God—
Father, Son, and Spirit—in humility
and hope. Amen.
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 3. THE SABBATH DAY
What is the Sabbath?
 The Sabbath is a day
of holiness and rest,
where all unnecessary
servile work must be
avoided.
 The term “Sabbath”
comes from the Hebrew
word shavath, which
means, “rest.”
 It is also called the
Lord’s Day, because it
is a day reserved for
God; and Sunday,
which means, “Day of Unnecessary work on Sunday makes
the soul as dark as a blacksmith shop.
the Sun.”
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 4. THE SABBATH DAY
Who instituted the Sabbath?
 The Sabbath was instituted by God who, having created
the universe in six days, rested on the seventh (cf. Genesis
2:3).

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 5. THE SABBATH DAY
Why is the Sabbath a foretaste of Paradise?

Paradise is described as  The Sabbath is the

the endless Sabbath, anticipation of eternal
or the “eternal rest.”
life in Paradise.
 According to a Jewish
tradition, God said to his
people: “My children, I
have something precious
that I would like to give
you: it is the Sabbath,
which is a sample of the
world-to-come, for
Paradise will be one
long Sabbath.”

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 6. THE SABBATH DAY
Why do we celebrate the Sabbath
on Sunday instead of Saturday?

THE JEWS celebrate the Sabbath WE CHRISTIANS celebrate on

on Saturday to commemorate the Sunday to commemorate the gift
wonder of creation, because of redemption, because Jesus
God rested on that day. resurrected on Sunday morning.

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 7. THE SABBATH DAY
How did the shifting of the Sabbath
from Saturday to Sunday happen?

1) EARLY CHRISTIANS: 2) COUNCIL OF 3) EMPEROR

For the first sixteen years (33-49 JERUSALEM: CONSTANTINE
AD), Christians were mostly Jews,
The Council of Jerusalem of 49 AD In 321 AD, Emperor Constantine
and they kept a double weekly
decreed that the non-Jew Christians proclaimed Sunday as a legal
celebration: one on Saturday, in
were exempted from the Old holyday throughout the Roman
obedience to the Law of Moses; and
Testament regulations, including Empire, in line with the teaching of
one on Sunday, to celebrate the
those on the Sabbath; they were to the Church. Ever since, Sunday has
Eucharist.
participate only in the Eucharist on been celebrated as the Lord’s Day

Sundays. by all Christians.

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 8. THE SABBATH DAY
When does the Sabbath begin and end?
 For the Jews, the Sabbath starts
The Sabbath begins with
at the sunset of Friday, with three evening stars.
the appearance of three
stars, and ends at nightfall of
Saturday. For us Christians, the
Lord’s Day starts at the sunset
of Saturday, and ends at
nightfall of Sunday.
 According to the Jewish
calendar, the days of the week
begin at sunset, because God
used the expression: “Evening
came, and morning
followed” (Genesis 1:5);
implying that each day started
with the evening.
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 9. THE SABBATH DAY
How do the Jews sanctify the Sabbath?
FAMILY EVENT: COMMUNITY CELEBRATION:
After cleaning the house and The worship in the synagogue
wearing the best clothes, the Jews consists of prayers, Scripture
partake of a special meal, and readings, a sermon, and songs.
chant the blessing while drinking a Having blessed wine and bread,
chalice of wine. They also set the people exchange the
apart a donation for the needy. Greetings: Shabbat Shalom.

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 10. THE SABBATH DAY
Why are two candles required at the Sabbath meal?
 The two candles represent The two candles represent
the two-fold declaration remembrance and
of the Third Commandment: observance of the Sabbath.
one in Exodus 20:8
(“Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy”), the
other in Deuteronomy 5:12
(“Observe the Sabbath day
to keep it holy”).
 For the same reason, two
candles are required on the
altar for the Mass: one is
called the Candle of
Remembrance; the other,
the Candle of Observance.

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11. SUMMARY OF THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

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 12. PARTICIPATING IN THE EUCHARIST
When are we required to participate in the Eucharist?
 We must participate in the Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of
Obligation, unless excused for a very serious reason, such as
sickness, old age, or distance from the Church.
 Those who cannot attend should do one of the following: 1)
participate in the Liturgy of the Word; 2) listen to the Eucharist
through any mass media; 3) recite five mysteries of the Rosary.

Jesus commands us to attend the Sunday Mass in

order to worship God and to build the community.

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13. PARTICIPATING
IN THE EUCHARIST
What are the ten
Holy Days of Obligation?

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 14. PARTICIPATING IN THE EUCHARIST
Is it a sin to neglect the Sunday Mass?
 Neglecting the Sunday
Mass without a serious
reason is a mortal
sin, because it is
against the Third
Commandment of
God.
 The participation to
the Eucharist is
necessary for the
spiritual
nourishment of the
soul and for the
Those who neglect the Eucharist,
building of the like Judas, expose themselves
parish community. to eternal damnation.

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 15. PARTICIPATING IN THE EUCHARIST
What are the clergy’s obligations
concerning the Sunday Mass?
1) DECOROUS 2) RESPECTABLE 3) DIGNIFIED

CHURCHES: PRIESTS: LITURGIES:

The churches must by beautiful Priests must properly perform The Eucharist must be

and clean; proportionate to the the functions of sanctifying, celebrated with dignity and

number of people, and teaching and governing. Zealous propriety, and great

convenient in matter of distance vocation promotion and seminary importance must be given to

and accessibility. formation are the first and basic the homily, in order to be

duties of the clergy. relevant and well prepared.

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 16. FOSTERING FAMILY LIFE
How do we foster family life?
 Family life is promoted by spending quality time
with the spouse, children and relatives.
 On Sunday,
the family
members
should partake
of the main
meal together,
enjoying
each other’s
company,
along with
common
games and
activities.
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 17. FOSTERING FAMILY LIFE
Is it important to pray together as a family?
 Common prayer is essential for the spiritual, emotional,
and material well-being of the family. As the saying goes:
“The family that prays together stays together.”
 Most families
that pray
regularly are
happy and
united; while
those who
devote little or
no time to
prayer, are likely
to become
dysfunctional
or broken.

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 18. ENJOYING REST AND HONEST RECREATION
Why do we need to rest on Sunday?
 Aside from the daily
eight-hours sleep,
the body also needs
a weekly day of rest
to recharge and
recreate.
 Sunday is the day for
the much-needed
rest for the body and
the soul, when we
should enjoy
adequate leisure to
cultivate our
familial, social,
and religious life.
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 19. ENJOYING REST AND HONEST RECREATION
What is the meaning of Honest Recreation?
 Honest recreations are those wholesome activities that
promote physical and spiritual health, as well as family and
social values, such as sports, outings, and parties
 On Sunday, we
must promote
happiness by all
means, as the
Scripture says:
“This is the
day which the
Lord has
made; let us
rejoice and be
glad in it”
(Psalm 118:24).

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 20. PRACTICING WORKS OF CHARITY
Can we perform Works of Charity on Sunday?
 Following the
example of Jesus, who As Jesus
healed on the Sabbath healed on the
(cf. Matthew 12:11-12), Sabbath, so
we should make works we do charity
of Charity on Sunday, works on
especially for the sick, Sunday.
the poor, and the
elderly.
 Indeed, we will not be
judged on how many
Masses we have
attended on Sunday,
but on the good deeds
we have done for our
neighbors (cf. Matthew
25:34-40).
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 21. UNNECESSARY SERVILE WORK
What kind of work is prohibited on Sunday?
 God prohibits any
unnecessary
servile work on
Sunday.
 A work is
considered
unnecessary when
it can be postponed
to weekdays
without any serious
inconvenience; and
it is called servile if
it is done for a fee. It is a mortal sin to do an unnecessary
servile work on Sunday.

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 22. UNNECESSARY SERVILE WORK
What is the meaning of the proverb:
“God does not pay on the Sabbath”?
 It means that the money one earns by making an
unnecessary servile work on Sunday is not blessed by
God, and will bring more pains than gains.

Whatever profit one makes by unnecessary servile

work on Sunday will bring more pains than gains.

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 23. UNNECESSARY SERVILE WORK
What are the works permitted on Sunday?
 Only necessary works are permitted on Sunday,
such as providing food, health care, and security.
 Also permitted are all kinds of work connected with
the divine worship, such as the services of janitors,
musicians, florists, and priests.

The work of the firemen is Arranging flowers for a Sunday

obviously necessary on Sunday. Mass is also a necessary work.

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 24. UNNECESSARY SERVILE WORK
What are the Sunday obligations of Christian employers?
 Christian employers must allow their employees to
sanctify the Lord’s Day.
 Although social necessities - such as sports, restaurants and
public services - require some people to work on Sundays,
they must be given proper time for rest and worship.

“If the mountain will not come to Muhammad,

then Muhammad must go to the mountain.”

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 25. UNNECESSARY SERVILE WORK
Did Jesus ever break the Sabbath?
 Jesus never broke the
Sabbath, because on the
Lord’s Day he never did
any unnecessary servile
work, and all his miracles
were works of charity.

 To the Pharisees who

complained because his
disciples had picked up
and eaten grain heads on
a field on a Sabbath, Jesus
replied: “The Sabbath
was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath” “The Sabbath is for man,
(Mark 2: 25-27). not man for the Sabbath.”

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 26. SECULARISM & HEDONISM
What is Secularism?
 Secularism is the attitude of spending the Lord’s
Day concerned only with material things and
physical pleasure, neglecting the worship of God and
the care for souls.
 In themselves, material
things and physical
pleasure – such as
sleeping, eating,
partying and shopping -
are not wrong; but
they become vicious
when enjoyed to the
excess and in total
disregard for spiritual The Sabbath was not meant to
matters. become a day of debauchery and sloth.

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27. SECULARISM
& HEDONISM
What is the
secularization of
Christian Holy Days?

 Secularization is the
process of
converting
Sundays and
Christian Holy
Days into pagan
festivities,
dedicated to
material hedonism,
such as shopping,
debauchery and
sloth.
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 28. SECULARISM & HEDONISM
How was Saint Nicholas secularized into Santa Claus?
 Saint Nicholas was a 3rd century Santa Claus is the secularized
Bishop of Myra, in Turkey, adulteration of Saint Nicholas.
renowned for his kindness and
generosity. In northern Europe, his
was venerated as San Nikolaus.
 Some 19th century American
writers contracted his name into
Santa Claus, and associated him
with reindeer from the North Pole,
and the climbing down of
chimneys to leave Christmas
presents.
 Since 1931, when the Coca-Cola
Company adopted him as a world-
wide marketing tool, he became
completely secularized as a
symbol of shopping and
commercialism.

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