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 TOPIC 31.1
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2258-2330

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-31-the-fifth-commandment/

 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not kill

God made man Human life is sacred: God alone Duty to care
unto his image the Incarnation is the Lord of life for physical health

Sins against human life. Suicide. Sins against human life. Abortion.
Need Sins against life.
for bodily mortification Homicide.
 God made man unto
his image
Gen 1:26
Human life is sacred from its conception to its natural death.

◦ Foundations of the sacredness of human life

◦ 1- Man is a body-person and is created unto God’s image

cf Gen 1:26-27

◦ The body represents the person

and shares in the dignity of personhood

◦ Our soul is spiritual, created directly and immediately by God

from the moment of conception…

◦ …and infused by Him into the matter prepared by the parents,

imbuing it with its specifically human identity.
Human “procreation”vs “reproduction.”

◦ Man is called to image God (Truth, Goodness, Beauty)

in and through the body: “Offer you bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to
God.”
cf Rom 12:1
 Human life is sacred:
the Incarnation
The sacredness of human life
is immeasurably enhanced by the Incarnation.

◦ “By His Incarnation, the Son of God

has in a way united each man with Himself.”
CCC 521

◦ All men are called to eternal communion with God in heaven.

◦ Through Baptism, our bodies become members

of the Body of Christ
cf. 1 Cor 12:12.27

◦ Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit: “Your bodies are the Temple of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. For
you have been bought at a great price. Glorify and carry God in your body.”
cf 1 Cor 6:19-20

◦ Even the mentally or physically handicapped

are called to eternal life.
 God alone
is the Lord of life
◦ “Human life is sacred because from its beginning
it involves the creative action of God and remains forever
in a special relationship with the Creator, its sole end. God alone is the
Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any
circumstance can claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent
human being.”
CCC 2258

◦ Note
At the moment of conception, the human embryo is complete
with its own genetically unique DNA. It already has a unique
and unrepeatable identity of its own.
 Duty to care
for physical health
God has made us caretakers of our bodies.

◦ Allow ourselves proper nourishment,

adequate sleep, exercise, recreation

◦ Avoid exposing our life to unnecessary danger: fraternity hazing,

reckless driving, risky sports

◦ Sins
gluttony, drug abuse, alcoholism,
disregarding traffic rules, neglecting safety precautions in construction
sites, factories, or mines

◦ Note
the body must not be given absolute value, sacrificing everything for
physical prowess,
athletic superiority, or showing excessive concern
for physical appearance (“cult of the body”).
 Need for bodily
mortification
Habitual corporal mortification is recommendable,
even necessary.

◦ Loss of the preternatural gift of integrity as the result of original sin.

◦ “The body must be given a little less than it needs. Otherwise, it turns traitor.”
St. Josemaria (The Way, 196)

◦ “Conquer yourself from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a fixed time, without
granting a single moment to laziness.”
The Way, 191

◦ “The day you leave the table without having done some small mortification,
you have eaten like a pagan.”
The Way, 681

◦ Temperance in food as an ascetic, not aesthetic, discipline.

Benedict XVI
 Sins against life.
Homicide.
Every sin against human life
usurps God’s sovereignty and is a grave sin.

Gravity of homicide
◦ the murderer is, in a way,
destroying all the works of God, for all things
in the material world have been created
for man’s good;

◦ the murderer runs the risk

of causing the eternal damnation of the victim
should he die in mortal sin;

◦ the murderer and all who have cooperated in murder have the duty
to make reparation to victim’s family
as a condition to obtain God’s forgiveness.
 Sins against human life.
Suicide.
◦ Gravity of suicide
◦ a sin against God’s love and love of self rightly understood;
◦ against love of neighbor since it destroys bonds of solidarity
with the members of the family and the society we live in;
◦ involves a special malice since one who kills himself
defies God with the last act of his life on earth

◦ Particularly grievous if committed consciously

and deliberately (e.g., as an act of public protest
for some social grievance).

◦ Not to despair of the person’s salvation.

Grave psychological disturbance, anguish,
grave fear of suffering or torture can diminish
one’s responsibility. God can always provide
the opportunity for repentance. The Church prays for those
who have taken their lives.
Cf CCC 2282-3
 Sins against human life.
Abortion.
Special gravity of the sin of abortion

◦ Human life must be respected and protected absolutely

from the moment of conception.
From the first moment, a human being
must be recognized as having the rights of a person –among
which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”
CCC 2270

◦ Why abortion is particularly grave:

◦ the victim is completely innocent;
◦ the crime is perpetuated by the very parents of the child, i.e., by
those who are especially charged with the duty to care for the child;
◦ the child dies without baptism

◦ No reason –medical, eugenic, social, economic-

can justify it.
cf St John Paul II. EV, 58-62.
 TOPIC 31.1
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2258-2330

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-31-the-fifth-commandment/