Decalogue Reflection

Gospel: Mt 22:15-21

What is the Decalogue really about? The Ten Commandments played a significant
role in my moral formation. In preparation for Confession, teachers regularly gave us
lengthy reflection guides based on the commandments. The Ten Commandments helped to
form my moral compass.
The word "Decalogue" means literally "ten words." God revealed these "ten words"
to his people on the holy mountain. They were written "with the finger of God," unlike the
other commandments written by Moses. They are the words of God. They are handed on to
us in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. Beginning with the Old Testament, the sacred
books refer to the "ten words," but it is in the New Covenant in Jesus Christ that their full
meaning will be revealed.
The "ten words" sum up and proclaim God's law: "These words the Lord spoke to
all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick
darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of
stone, and gave them to me." For this reason these two tables are called "the Testimony." In
fact, they contain the terms of the covenant concluded between God and his people. These
"tables of the Testimony" were to be deposited in "the ark."
The first three commandments are focused on loving God. The other seven
commandments are focused on loving people.
For the first commandment, the one true God has come to us, has revealed Himself
to us. He is the God of the Bible, the One who called Abraham, the One who sent Moses,
the God who gave the Law to Israel, sent the prophets, promised the Messiah. He is the One
who has come to us, revealed Himself to us, and given us salvation through His only Son,
Jesus Christ. The one who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, He is God. There is no
other god.
For the second commandment, we are to love God with our voices. Thus we do not
curse using his name. Thus we do not lie about who He is. Thus we do not invoke Him to
do harm to another. Instead, we are careful to honor Him in all that we say.
For the third commandment, God has given to us this promise: our welfare is in His
hands. We are not required to always work. Nor are we permitted to believe that our
welfare is created solely by our own effort. We are commanded to work, it is true. But as a
gift of mercy we have been given a day of rest. It is a day of rest from our labors. It is also a
day when we are called upon to rest in God. Thus it is marked by the Church's worship. For
the Church, Sunday has become this special day of rest. This is, of course, because Jesus
was raised from the dead on the first day of the week.
Here is the fourth commandment that speaks about our neighbor. These neighbors
are particular ones-- the ones who first touched our lives. We need to begin to love
somewhere. And if we don't begin with those about us we really haven't begun.
Our parents are given to us by God. They have been given a specific task to do--
they are to raise us up to know, fear and love God. We are not to make this task difficult for
them. We are to honor them in it. When we are young we are to obey them (unless, of
course, they command us to disobey God). When we are beyond their command by reason
of age, we are still to honor them by praying for them, loving them and even caring for
them.
This fifth commandment, which forbids the murder of the innocent, makes great
sense for several reasons. Among these are: a) God created my neighbor, and b) Jesus
Christ died for my neighbor. My neighbor therefore belongs to God, and God commands
me to love my neighbor as I love myself.
For the sixth commandment, God made man and woman. He made human sexuality.
It is a gift. As the giver of the gift, as the Lord of our lives, God has a right to place limits
on the activity of sexual intercourse. It belongs only in the context of marriage between a
man and a woman. Outside of this context, it is sin. Within this context, it is a rich gift for
which we should be thankful.
For the seventh commandment, when someone steals, his neighbor ceases to be
fully human. For when I steal, I forget that he belongs to God and is to be treated
accordingly. Since my neighbor belongs to God I am not to take from Him what God has
given him. When I steal from my neighbor he has become to me no more than a fruit-
bearing tree, given to me to use as I please. When I steal, I despise both God and my
neighbor.
To belong to Jesus, the Word of God, is to be a teller of truth. To lie is to bring
shame on the name of Jesus. To lie against my neighbor and bring hurt to him, is to despise
him, and therefore, to despise God, who loves him and has commanded me to love him.
The Apostle Paul tells us that not only is lying forbidden, but malicious gossip as well. We
are to love our neighbor in what we say. But gossip, however tasty, that hurts my neighbor
for no good reason, reveals a heart which has forgotten God. The fear of God is the
beginning of wisdom.
If I love my neighbor, I will be happy for his good fortune. I will not betray my joy
in his good fortune, by being jealous over what he has. I will not desire his wife (or her
husband), his job, his money, his good repute. Instead, I will love him, rejoice in his good
fortune, and totally avoid coveting.