Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Mt 4, 5-11 The Lord, your God, shall you worship

(Mt 4, 5-11) The Lord, your God, shall you worship
[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, [6] and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you and 'with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" [7] Jesus answered him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'" [8] Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, [9] and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." [10] At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan! It is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.'" [11] Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
(CCC 2135) "You shall worship the Lord your God" (Mt 4:10). Adoring God, praying to him, offering him the worship that belongs to him, fulfilling the promises and vows made to him are acts of the virtue of religion which fall under obedience to the first commandment. (CCC 2083) Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Mt 22:37; cf. Lk 10:27:". . . and with all your strength"). This immediately echoes the solemn call: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut 6:4). God has loved us first. the love of the One God is recalled in the first of the "ten words." the commandments then make explicit the response of love that man is called to give to his God. (CCC 2096) Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve," says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy (Lk 4:8; Cf. Deut 6:13).

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