The Ten Commandments

Sisters and brothers, today we're here to talk about the Ten Commandments. In order to talk about the Ten Commandments, we need to talk a little bit about law. What is law? It's the ordering of reason, as it were, that is promulgated for the good of the community by the one who has authority.

So when you think about the Ten Commandments, they're an ordering of our lives according to the one who has charge of the community, and that is God. This is God's law for us, revealed and made known, revealed law. And if we think about the Ten Commandments, we think about our Christian life. The Christian life is really about the imitation of Christ.

Well, one of the things that we can know is Jesus, as a good and faithful Jewish man, would have been and did indeed live well the Ten Commandments.

The listing of the Ten Commandments—and we can read them according to the way they are found in Scripture, or the Catechism of the Catholic Church introduces each one in a particular way that I think is helpful for us. Too often, we think of the Ten Commandments as duties we have to fulfill, as opposed to calls and invitations to a way of life.

The first commandment—we could read it as love the Lord your God. Have only one God. But the way the Catechism states it is: believe in the true God. And so we're called in our lives to believe in the true God. Then the second commandment flows from that: to honor the Lord's name. Do not use the Lord's name in vain. Another way to think about that is to reverence the Lord's name, but also to reverence all speech by which we talk about God's creation and God's creatures.

The third commandment: to love the Lord's day. Keep holy the Sabbath is certainly another way to say that. But to love the Lord's day, to come and live the Sunday as a day of worship, as a day of family, as a day of leisure, all in imitation of that eighth day of creation—of God's resting on the last day.

The fourth commandment: honor thy parents. Another way to hear that is strengthen the family—as parents care for children, as children care for their parents. And as that relationship moves from childhood through adulthood to the senior years, how do we honor our families, both nuclear and extended? Strengthen the family.

The fifth commandment: thou shalt not kill. Another way to say that is to promote a culture of life, whether it's how we deal with the unborn children and our protection of life from the cradle to the grave. Our stance toward capital punishment. Both ends of life should be protected. The dignity of human beings is protected. The protection of life. So, promoting a culture of life.

The sixth commandment: instead of thou shalt not commit adultery, perhaps we can hear it this way—be faithful and fruitful in marriage and live our marriages well.

The seventh commandment: one way to say that is thou shalt not steal. Another is to say, act justly. If we're acting justly, we're giving to each what is their due. And so we're not stealing or taking what is owed to one another. We're making sure it is provided for them, whether that's an employee, a coworker, a member of our family, or even what we owe to the Church.

The eighth commandment: thou shalt not lie—or in other words, tell the truth. To make truth the standard by which we live our lives. To be truthful in the manner in which we live and authentic in the manner in which we live.

The ninth commandment: instead of thou shalt not covet your neighbor's wife, practice purity of heart. That we would have a pure intention towards all, whether it's a neighbor or a neighbor's wife, whether it's a friend or family member, a purity of heart toward all.

And the tenth: embrace poverty of spirit. Instead of thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods. Think of embracing a poverty of spirit, whereby we acknowledge that the goods of the world are gifts to us from God and they're intended not only for our well-being, but the well-being of others. And that envy is about holding, not about sharing.

Sisters and brothers, as we hear these, we can hear the call of God for us to imitate the manner in which Christ would live through these Ten Commandments as pathways not of duty, but as pathways of daily renewal.

Reflection Questions:

1. How do I view the Ten Commandments—as obligations or invitations to deeper discipleship?
   
   

2. In what ways am I living out the commandments in imitation of Christ’s love and truth?
   
   

3. Which commandment challenges me the most right now, and how is God inviting me to grow through it?