Hearken!

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence. (Isaiah 48:17-19)

Isaiah spoke to the exiled, and he speaks to us now.  We must “hearken" to God’s commandments; otherwise, our river goes dry and the sea becomes stagnant.  Our descendants no longer will be like many grains of sand, more like indistinct clods of mud.  So, to what must we hearken?  The 10 Commandments, of course.  Good luck to us all!  How many below can we check off as “we have complied?”  [from Catholicism For Dummies]  It is time to reflect.

1. "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any strange gods before Me.” This commandment forbids idolatry, the worship of false gods and goddesses, and it excludes polytheism, the belief in many gods, insisting instead on monotheism, the belief in one God. This commandment forbids making golden calves, building temples to Isis, and worshipping statues of Caesar, for example.

2. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The faithful are required to honor the name of God. It makes sense that if you’re to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you’re naturally to respect the name of God with equal passion and vigor.

3. “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.” The Jewish celebration of Sabbath (Shabbat) begins at sundown on Friday evening and lasts until sundown on Saturday. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians go to church on Sunday, treating it as the Lord’s Day instead of Saturday to honor the day Christ rose from the dead.

4. “Honor thy father and mother.” This commandment obliges the faithful to show respect for their parents — as children and adults. Children must obey their parents, and adults must respect and see to the care of their parents, when they become old and infirm.

5. “Thou shalt not kill.” The better translation from the Hebrew would be “Thou shalt not murder” — a subtle distinction but an important one to the Church. Killing an innocent person is considered murder. Killing an unjust aggressor to preserve your own life is still killing, but it isn’t considered murder or immoral.

6. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The sixth and ninth commandments honor human sexuality. This commandment forbids the actual, physical act of having immoral sexual activity, specifically adultery, which is sex with someone else’s spouse or a spouse cheating on their partner... 

7. “Thou shalt not steal.” The seventh and tenth commandments focus on respecting and honoring the possessions of others. This commandment forbids the act of taking someone else’s property. The Catholic Church believes that this commandment also denounces cheating people of their money or property, depriving workers of their just wage, or not giving employers a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. Embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, and vandalism are all considered extensions of violations of the Seventh Commandment.

8. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” The Eighth Commandment condemns lying. Because God is regarded as the author of all truth, the Church believes that humans are obligated to honor the truth. The most obvious way to fulfill this commandment is not to lie — intentionally deceive another by speaking a falsehood. 

9. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.” The Ninth Commandment forbids the intentional desire and longing for immoral sexuality. To sin in the heart, Jesus says, is to lust after a woman or a man in your heart with the desire and will to have immoral sex with them. Just as human life is a gift from God and needs to be respected, defended, and protected, so, too, is human sexuality. Catholicism regards human sexuality as a divine gift, so it’s considered sacred in the proper context — marriage.

10. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.” The Tenth Commandment forbids the wanting to or taking someone else’s property. Along with the Seventh Commandment, this commandment condemns theft and the feelings of envy, greed, and jealousy in reaction to what other people have.

Too many of us consider these commandments as mere suggestions.   They are not.   They are the underpinnings of Catholic mortality.  Considering the political climate of 2020, I’m especially fond of #8 that condemns lying.  There are many sayings relevant to this commandment: (1) Denying the truth doesn’t change the facts; (2) The worst thing about being lied to is knowing you’re not worth the truth; (3) The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off!; (4) If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything; (5) The naked truth is always better than the best dressed lie; (6) Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie; (7) The only people who are mad at you for speaking the truth are those people who are living a lie; (8) The truth doesn’t cost anything, but a lie could cost you everything; (9) I trusted you, but now your words mean nothing because your actions spoke the truth; and (10) Nothing better than listening to a lie when you already know the truth.

Let’s try never to speak a falsehood or believe one.  Let's hearken to the LORD's commandments.

Deacon David Pierce