THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Taken from the “Catechism Of The Catholic Church”
Latin text copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Citta del
Vaticano 1993
Edited, abridged, and rewritten in places by DSB
(In the Catholic
tradition, the Ninth
Commandment forbids carnal concupiscence (any intense form of human
desire); the Tenth forbids coveting another's goods. In the Protestant
tradition, the First Commandment forbids placing any god
before
Jehovah; the Second forbids making and/or worshiping idols. Each
tradition presents ten commandments with the difference being that the
Catholics combine into one the Protestant’s first two
commandments, and the Protestants combine into one the
Catholic’s
last two commandments.)
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet ... anything that is your neighbor's....
You shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his
manservant, or his maidservant,, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything
that is your neighbor's (Ex 20:17; Deut 5:21).
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt 6:21).
The tenth commandment enlarges and completes the ninth, which is
concerned with the unholy desires of the flesh. The tenth commandment
forbids coveting the goods of another, whish is the root of theft,
robbery, and fraud (Mic 2:1-2) – evils forbidden by the
seventh
commandment. Lust of the eyes and the earthly treasures of the heart
lead to the violence and injustice (Jam 4:1-3) forbidden by the fifth
commandment. Avarice (an inordinate desire for some supposed good;
greed; covetousness), like any practice of sexual immorality, is a form
of the idolatry prohibited by the first commandment (Col 3:5).
Therefore, the tenth commandment concerns the intentions of the heart,
and when linked to the ninth, it summarizes all the precepts of the Law.
I. The Destructiveness of
Covetous Desires
The God-created appetites lead us to desire pleasant things we do not
have, e.g., the desire to eat when we are hungry or to warm ourselves
when we are cold. These desires are good in themselves; but too often
they exceed the limits of reason and take us outside the boundaries of
righteousness established by God for the common good. When this
happens, they then drive us to covet unjustly what is not ours and
belongs to another or is owed to him.
The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to accumulate
earthly goods without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion
for riches and their accompanying power. It also forbids the desire to
commit injustice by harming our neighbor in relation to his temporal
goods. Therefore, to live according to the Law which says,
“You
shall not covet,” we must banish our desires for whatever
does
not belong to us and the thinking which says we must possess what
others possess to be happy. Once we give way to quenching our thirst
for another's goods so as to possess what they possess, it becomes
unquenchable.
It is not a violation of this commandment to desire to obtain things
that belong to one's neighbor, provided you have the means without
robbing God (Mal 3:8-10), without withholding from your family (1 Tim
5:8), without withholding from the poor (Prov 19:17, 28:27), and
without doing it by unjust means.
Yet our nature us such that most of us struggle against an inordinate
desire for “thing” in one or more areas of life.
Therefore,
we ought to urge one another to keep this commandment. For example, we
ought to urge Christian merchants who desire scarcity in order to drive
up prices, or who want to be the only ones buying and selling so that
they themselves can sell at a higher price and buy at a lower price, to
keep this commandment. We ought to urge Christians who see a crisis of
need (natural disaster, economic downturn, etc.) as an opportunity to
make a greater profit – either by selling high to those in
need
or buying low from them – to keep this commandment. We ought
to
urge Christian physicians to keep this commandment by serving all who
come to them, not just those who can pay the required rates. We ought
to urge Christian lawyers to keep this commandment by refusing lawsuits
and other types of cases that are intended to gratify the greed of
clients. And we ought to urge all Christians to keep this commandment
by resisting the urge to possess what the culture deems fashionable,
yet is unnecessary for life and godliness.
The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human
heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to repentance,
he told him the story about the poor man who had only one ewe lamb that
he treated like his own daughter and the rich man who, despite the
great number of his flocks, envied the poor man and ended by stealing
his lamb (2 Sam 12:1-4). Envy can lead to the worst crimes (Gen 4:3-7;
1 Kings 31). “God created man to be immortal, and made him to
be
an image of His own eternity. Nevertheless through envy of the devil
came death into the world” (Wisdom of Solomon 2:23-24).
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is
not
the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and
do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain;
so you fight and quarrel” (Jam 4:1-2). If we bring strife
into
the Body of Christ, where shall we end up? Will we not do serious
damage to the ability of Christ’s Body to show forth the
glory of
God? We claim there is one body and one Spirit, one hope of our
calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all
who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:4-6), yet we fight
and devour one another because of envy.
Envy is sin. It shows itself in the sadness at the sight of another's
goods and the immoderate desire to acquire them for yourself, even
unjustly. It goes so far as to wish serious harm to a neighbor who has
what you want but cannot obtain. Augustine saw envy as "the diabolical
sin." St. Gregory the Great said: “From envy are born hatred,
detraction, calumny, joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor, and
displeasure caused by his prosperity."
Envy often expresses itself in a refusal of charity; the baptized
person should struggle against it by exercising good will in a variety
of ways. Envy often comes from pride; the baptized person should train
himself to live in humility – for pride is the friend of evil
and
the enemy of righteousness.
II. The Desires of the
Spirit
The influence of God’s law and grace on men's hearts turns
them
away from avarice and envy. They introduce, exhort, and encourage a
desire for the good that God wills for all mankind. And they teach
Christians about the life, indwelling presence, and will or desires of
the Holy Spirit – who satisfies man's heart.
From the beginning, God has warned man against being seduced by the
fiery darts of the devil – darts that tempt to such evils as
envy
and greed by proclaiming the forbidden is really “good for
food .
. . a delight to the eyes . . . to be desired to make one
wise”
(Gen 3:6).
Though God gave the Law to Israel, He did not justify them through the
Law. Yet God expected them to submit to the Law and live according to
its precepts. Their struggle between wanting to do what is right and
actually doing what is right points to the conflict between
God’s
Law as it influences the mind, and the law of sin as it influences and
seeks to rule over the flesh (Rom 7:21-23; Gal 5:16-17). Therefore,
envy, greed, and covetousness are friends of the flesh and enemies of
the Spirit
“But thanks be to God, though Jesus Christ our Lord, the law
of
the Spirit of life sets us free from the law of sin and
death”
(Rom 8:25-8:2), “for the righteousness of God has been
manifested
apart from the Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those
who believe” (Romans 3:21-22). Therefore, Christ's faithful
“have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires
(e.g.,
envy, greed, covetousness)” and are now being led by the
Spirit
to follow the desires of the Spirit” (Gal 5:24; Rom 8:14,17).
III. Poverty of Heart
Poverty of heart is the opposite of envy, covetousness, and greed.
Jesus affirms this by exhorting His disciples to prefer Him to
everything and everyone, and bids them "renounce all that [they have]"
for his sake and that of the Gospel (Lk 14:33; Mk 8:34-36). He gave His
disciples an example of this when pointing out the poor widow of
Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on (Lk
21:1-4). Jesus also taught that detachment from riches is obligatory
for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven (Matt 6:24).
All Christ's faithful are to direct their affections rightly, lest they
be hindered in their pursuit of perfect love and kindness by the
selfish or excessive pursuit of worldly things and by a greedy
adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of Christian
poverty.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt 5:3). This
Beatitude
teaches that true, lasting happiness comes from poverty of spirit
– a poverty which is made up of humility and the product of
simple living. The Scripture speaks of voluntary humility as
“poverty in spirit.” Paul establishes Christ as our
example
in this when he says: “For your sakes He became
poor” (2
Cor 8:9).
The Lord pronounces woes against the rich for finding their relief from
affliction and comfort in the abundance of goods (Lk 6:24-25). He warns
them about the eternal poverty that comes from hoarding riches on earth
(Lk 12:17-21). Paul warns the rich that riches bring a snare, produce
foolish and harmful desires, and plunge men into ruin and destruction
(2 Tim 6:9-10). James warns the rich about their ungodly use of riches
in light of the coming judgment (Jam 5:1-6). As these scriptures make
clear, greed and covetousness lead to sinful behavior and destruction.
The way of the Christian is to put his life in God’s hands
– trusting God to ensure he has sufficient to meet his needs
and
help others in need (Matt 6:25-34).
IV. Wanting to See God
Directing desire for happiness toward that which brings true happiness
frees man from his excessive attachment to the goods of this world so
that he can find his fulfillment in godly living which is pleasing to
God, in a growing and maturing knowledge of God, and in meaningful
fellowship with God. Whoever pursues these will obtain all the goods
worth obtaining, and immeasurable joy besides (Psa 37:16; Prov 15:16,
16:8; 1 Tim 6:6).
For God’s people to obtain the good things God promises, they
must struggle – with grace and empowerment from on high
–
against their flesh, the world’s seductions, and the
devil’s temptations. In order to know God personally and
enjoy
meaningful fellowship with Him, Christ's faithful must mortify their
cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the seductions of
pleasure, riches, pride, and power.
This path to perfection (seeing God, finding true happiness, meaningful
fellowship with God) is open to all who have repented and come to faith
in Jesus Christ, for “The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
And
let the one who hears say, "Come (opening the door and inviting in the
Spirit and bride)." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one
who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev 22:17).
Though the path of humility and poverty may be hard in this life, the
next life holds rewards that are without equal and measure. There will
true glory be, where no one will be praised by mistake or flattery;
true honor will not be refused to the worthy, nor granted to the
unworthy; likewise, no one unworthy will pretend to be worthy, where
only those who are worthy will be admitted. There true peace will
reign, where no one will experience opposition either from self or
others. God himself will be virtue's reward; He gives virtue and has
promised to give himself as the best and greatest reward that could
exist . . . “I shall be their God and they will be my
people” (Lev 26:12). This is also the meaning of
Paul’s
words: “So that God may be all in all” (1 Cor
15:28). God
himself will be the goal of our desires; we shall contemplate Him
without end, love Him without feeling burdened, praise him without
weariness, and be filled with joy and satisfaction. This gift, this
state, this act, like eternal life itself, is open to all who will, and
will assuredly be forever.