At-Home Lesson#2

Part 1. God's Master Plan: LOVE

Topic 2: All You Need Is Love [1]

Behind DOCAT

When asked the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” the famous G.K. Chesterton is reported to have answered quite simply, “I am.”

There is certainly something wrong with our world. Somewhere between God creating everything and declaring that it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and the present, something has clearly gone very wrong. That something is sin. From the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden, evil entered the world and has been wreaking havoc ever since. But the brokenness in our world today isn’t due to that first sin alone—every sin committed contributes to it. Do we, like Chesterton, acknowledge some responsibility for the problems created by sin?

The good news is we aren’t stuck with the status quo. What do we need to fix this broken world? All we need is love! God has fully revealed his love to us in Jesus Christ, and through the grace of the sacraments he enables us to work toward a civilization of love. By choosing to act in love, we can help heal the wounds caused by sin.

Read DOCAT

Read the content under DOCAT# 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 (numbers in blue circle) from DOCAT p.19~p.23. [2]

What Does DOCAT Say?

1. How can we explain the presence of evil in a world that God created as something good?

2. What is the relationship between love and freedom?

3. According to DOCAT#12, what are the basic rules of life together in society?

4. What is the beginning of the civilization of love?

Answer the above questions [Click Here]

What Does the Bible Say?

1. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. What does this passage reveal about how God loves us?

2. Read Leviticus 19:18 and John 15:12. How is Jesus’s commandment similar to the Old Law? How is it new?

Answer the above questions [Click Here]

DO Reflect

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). The Golden Rule and the second greatest commandment. You have probably heard them over and over again. On the surface they seem so simple—treat others the way you want to be treated. It isn’t always easy in practice. As if it weren’t enough of a challenge just to love others as we love ourselves, Jesus gives us a new and even greater commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). The standard of loving behavior is no longer just natural human love—now the standard is divine love. Treating others with kindness and fairness is replaced with loving the unlovable more than we love our own lives.

God asks a lot of us, but he doesn’t ask the impossible. He doesn’t expect us to do anything he hasn’t already done for us, and he doesn’t ask us to do anything on our own strength alone. When God gives us a command, he also gives us the grace to live out that command. God wants to use us to heal the world with love. All we have to do is follow his lead.

1. The command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31) means that you have to love yourself before you can truly love anyone else. Do you love yourself? Why or why not? How might a lack of love for oneself get in the way of loving others?

2. What does it mean to love others as Jesus has loved us? What do you think this should look like in your own life?

3. None of us can do this alone. What steps can you take to be strengthened in God’s love in order to share that love with those around you?

Answer the above reflection questions [Click Here]

DO Chat

1. Why does God’s revelation of himself demand a response? Or to put it another way: Why can’t we just continue on as we were before we knew God?

2. If the Ten Commandments were already written on the human heart as natural law (DOCAT#12), why do you think God also gave them to Moses at Mount Sinai?

3. How does our love for others heal the wounds sin has caused in the world?

   1. Answer the above questions [Click Here]

DO Challenge

Memorize and Reflect:

If you haven’t already, memorize the Ten Commandments. Which commandment do you need to work harder at remembering and obeying?

Remember:

Remind yourself each day this week that God loves you profoundly and that your love for others has its source in God’s love for you.

           Answer the above questions [Click Here]

References / Citations

[1] DOCAT Study Guide. San Francisco, Calif: Ignatius Press, 2016.

[2] DOCAT: What to do? The Social Teaching of the Catholic Church. San Francisco, Calif: Ignatius Press, 2016.

[3] BibleGateway (online bible). https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Good-News-Translation-GNT-Bible/