382 Q. What is the Ninth Commandment?  A. The Ninth Commandment is:  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.

383 Q. What are we commanded by the Ninth Commandment?  A. We are commanded by the Ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in thought and desire.

384 Q. What is forbidden by the Ninth Commandment?  A. The Ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another’s wife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires.

385 Q. Are impure thoughts and desires always sins?  A. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us and we try to banish them.

386 Q. What is the Tenth Commandment?  A. The Tenth Commandment is:  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.

“Covet” means to long for or desire inordinately or unlawfully.  If I should desire, for example, my friend to be killed by an accident, in order that I might become the owner of his gold watch, I would be coveting it.  But if I desired to have it justly—­that is, to be able to purchase it, or another similar to it, that would not be covetousness.

387 Q. What are we commanded by the Tenth Commandment?  A. By the Tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we have, and to rejoice in our neighbor’s welfare.

388 Q. What is forbidden by the Tenth Commandment?  A. The Tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully what belongs to another.

Lesson 35 ON THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH

389 Q. Which are the chief commandments of the Church?  A. The chief commandments of the Church are six: 

1.  To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. 2.  To fast and abstain on the days appointed. 3.  To confess at least once a year. 4.  To receive the Holy Eucharist during the Easter time. 5.  To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6.  Not to marry persons who are not Catholics, or who are related to us
   within the third degree of kindred, nor privately without witnesses,
   nor to solemnize marriage at forbidden times.

390 Q. Is it a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of obligation?  A. It is a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holy day of obligation, unless we are excused for a serious reason.  They also commit a mortal sin, who, having others under their charge, hinder them from hearing Mass, without a sufficient reason.

“Serious reason”—­that is, a very good reason, such as sickness, necessity of taking care of the sick, great danger of death, etc.  Some persons when they go to the country in the summer believe themselves excused from hearing Mass because the church is a little further from them or the Mass at more inconvenient times than in the city.  When they are in the country they are bound by the same obligations as the Catholics who live in that parish