Roman Catechism 23.32

Chapter 23 — Part III: The Decalogue — Introduction on the Commandments in General

Section 32. The Time And Place In Which The Law Was Promulgated — Finally, the time and place, in which the people of Israel received this Law from God should be noted. They received it after they had been delivered from Egypt and had come into the wilderness; in order that, impressed by the memory of a recent benefit and awed by the dreariness of the place in which they journeyed, they might be the better disposed to receive the Law. For man becomes closely attached to those whose bounty he has experienced, and when he has lost all hope of assistance from his fellow-man, he then seeks refuge in the protection of God.