Teaching and commentary by our pastor, the Most Rev. Francis J. Christian

REFLECTIONS

This week and next I want to present to you some thoughts on the meaning of the Ten Commandments. In his book BEFORE I GO, Peter Kreeft has some important reflections upon each of them which I find very helpful. Here they are.

1. “You shall have no other gods before me.” Being goo means being loyal to persons and first of all to God, the Original Person and the Inventor and Creator of all persons. Muslims wisely repeat five times a day, “there is no God but God.” (la illa’ha ‘illa Allah!”) Worship God or nothing, because nothing else is God.

2. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Words are sacred. By His word, God created the universe. “In the beginning was the word.” As we speak, so we think; and as we think, so we live; and as we live, so we are. If you care about who you are, care about how you speak. Be honest with words. Speak truly. And be good to words, love true words. Sing beautiful music when you speak. Three names of God that we must not take in vain are truth, goodness, and beauty.

3. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Take sabbaticals. Learn the art of leisure. Learn to relax and enjoy God’s gifts. And learn to enjoy God: “be still and know that I am God.” Make time to worship.

If you do this, you will learn that God is not a boss but a Father, and that we are not His worker bees but His kids.

4. “Honor your father and your mother.” The family is God’s invention and God’s image: the Trinity is a family. It’s sacred. Tradition is humanity’s extended family. Like your nuclear family, it’s far from perfect, but even its mistakes are precious because they’re yours. We can learn from them. Learn from all your parents, back to Adam.

5. “You shall not murder.” “Choose life” because human life isn’t just good, it’s sacred. Don’t fall for the con job of calculating the value of life. Deep down, everyone knows life is sacred, even when defaced by pain or death or even sin. Don’t fall for propaganda like “quality time” or “quality of life.” “Quality time” is used as an excuse for not giving your kids as much of your time (= your life) as you know you ought to give them. And “quality of life” is used as an excuse for killing people who aren’t as healthy as their killers.

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