Catechesis: Fourth Commandment

“For if we wish to have excellent and able person both for civil and for Church leadership, we must spare no diligence, time, or cost in teaching and educating our children, so that they may serve God and the world.” —LC I:172.

Catechesis: Fourth Commandment

But those who keep God’s will and commandment in sight have this promise: everything they give to temporal and spiritual fathers, and whatever they do to honor them, shall be richly repaid to them. They will not have bread, clothing, and money for a year or two, but will have a long life, support, and peace. They shall be eternally richly and blessed. So just do what is your duty.—LC I:164

Catechesis: Fourth Commandment

We must therefore impress this truth upon the young that they should think of their parents as standing in God’s place. They should remember that however lowly, poor, frail, and strange their parents may be, nevertheless they are the father and the mother given to them by God.—LC I:108

Catechesis: Third Commandment

On the other hand, the Word is so effective that whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, it is bound never to be without fruit. It always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts. For these words are not lazy or dead, but are creative, living words.—LC I:101

Catechesis: Second Commandment

To confuse the devil, I say, we should always have this holy name in our mouth, so that the devil may not be able to injure us as he wishes.—LC I:72 (with import for the use of the Jesus Prayer)

Catechesis: Second Commandment

For when He says “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” He wants us to understand at the same time that His name is to be used properly. For His name has been revealed and given to us so that it may be of constant use and profit.—LC I:63

Catechesis: Second Commandment

The First Commandment has instructed the heart and taught faith. This commandment now leads us forward and directs the mouth and tongue to God.—LC I:50

Catechesis: First Commandment

We will see how He requires nothing greater from us than confidence from the heart for everything good. Then we may live right and straightforward and use all the blessings God gives, just as shoemaker uses his needle, awl, and thread for work and then lays them aside. Or we may behave like a traveler using an inn, food, and bed only to meet his present need.—LC I:47

Catechesis: Close

These are the people He means when He says, “those who hate Me” (Ex. 20:5); i.e., those who persist in their defiance and pride. Whatever is preached or said to them, they will not listen. When they are rebuked in order that they may know themselves and make amends before punishment begins, they become mad and foolish.—LC I:38

Catechesis: On Catechesis

For the reason we exercise such diligence in preaching the catechism often* is so that it may be taught to our youth, not in a high and clever way, but briefly and with the greatest simplicity. In this way it will enter the mind easily and be fixed in the memory.—LC Shorter Intro, par. 27

*The custom at Wittenberg in Luther’s time was to preach through the Catechism four times a year, using the Ember days. 

Catechesis: Intro to LC

It must be true that whoever knows the Ten Commandments perfectly must know all the Scriptures. So in all matters and cases, he can advise, help, comfort, judge, and decide both spiritual and temporal matters.—LC Intro 17

Catechesis: Monastic Vows

Paul speaks of faith differently than the philosophers. He does not assign faith to those who have mortal sin. So he says that people cast off faith who do not care for their relatives. In the same way he also says that unchaste women cast off faith.—Ap XXVII:68

Catechesis: Monastic Vows

The Gospel does not advise about distinguishing clothing and meats and giving up property. These are human traditions, about which it has been said: “Food will not commend us to God” (1 Cor. 8:8). Therefore, they are neither justifying services nor perfection. Indeed, when they are presented covered with these titles, they are mere “teaching of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).—Ap XXVII:26

Catechesis: Monastic Vows

Therefore, this blasphemy, which appears in Thomas, also cannot be tolerated, “The monastic profession is equal to Baptism.” It is insane to make a human tradition, which has neither God’s command nor promise, equal to Christ’s ordinance. Baptism has both God’s command and promise, which contains the covenant of grace and of eternal life.—Ap XXVII:20

Catechesis: Monastic Vows

“Another one,” he [the monk, John Hilton] said, “will come in 1516. He will destroy you and you will be unable to resist him.” Later, his friends found this very prediction about the declining influence of the monastic orders and the very date written in his surviving commentaries dealing with certain passages of Daniel.—Ap XXVII:3

Catechesis: Prayer for the Dead

Epiphanius declares that Aerius maintained that prayers for the dead are useless. He finds fault with this. We do not favor Aerius either, but we do argue with you because you defend a heresy that clearly conflicts with the prophets, apostles, and Holy Fathers. This is heresy is that Mass justifies by the outward act (ex opere operato), that when applied it merits the pardon of guilt and punishment even for the unjust if they do not present an obstacle. We object to these deadly errors…—Ap XXIV:96

Catechesis: Prayer for the Dead

Regarding the adversaries quoting the Fathers about offering for the dead, we know that the ancients speak of prayer for the dead, which we do not ban.—Ap XXIV:94

Catechesis: Sixth Petition

Although we have received forgiveness and a good conscience and are entirely acquitted, yet our life is of such a nature that we stand today, and tomorrow we fall.—LC III:100

Catechesis: Fifth Petition

In short, if God does not forgive without stopping, we are lost.—LC III:91

Catechesis: Marriage

Yet we do not make virginity and marriage equal. For just as one gift excels another…so virginity is a more excellent gift than marriage.—Ap. XXIII:38