PM2 Lesson 1 Discussion:

Decalogue
Principles and Foundations of  Morality: The Ten
Commandments 
Fundamental Principle of Morality
 The most basic principle of morality is deceptively
simple: do good and avoid evil. But this simplicity
hides a wealth of complexity. We find Jesus stating
the Christian version of this adage in the Gospels.
Jesus said: “Do for others what you want them to
do for you.” (Mt. 7:12) (This is the Golden Rule to
life). Jesus also puts his own special seal, on his
advice by stating the two greatest
commandments: love God, and love one
another. To love is to seek to do good to them, and
certainly, at the very least, to avoid doing them evil.
What does “Moral” Mean?
For a better understanding of this basic principle of
morality we need to explain what we mean by good
and evil. But first, let me say something about the
very word “moral.” The word is derived from
the Latin mores, meaning customs, habitual ways
of doing things. Customary ways of doing things
can, of course, be either right or wrong, good or evil.
When we say that something is “moral” we
generally mean that it is “good.” In the historical
past, in times when the social milieu was more
uniform, doing the right thing meant that you did
what the generally good people in society did
because this ultimately benefited the whole
community. To show responsibility for the
community is clearly one of the ways in which we
“do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”
In morality the fundamental value is always
the human person and the person in relationship
with society and the rest of God’s creation. We
belong to society and the human community by the
very nature of our birth; thus, personal morality can
never be divorced from our responsibilities as
members of that society.
Since customs, practices, habitual ways of doing
things vary from culture to culture, it can be
expected that there will be varying approaches to
morality. In the East, for example, “saving face” is a
moral value. In many parts of Africa, the good of the
tribe is the principal determining factor in moral
situations, while in the West, many of their moral
decisions are focused on the good of the individual.
The major issue in these varying approaches to
morality is that people have different views of what
is good or evil. It is time for us now to attempt to
shed some light on what we mean by good and by
evil. Is it possible for us to find meaning that can be
applied trans-culturally, to all people?
Good and Evil
Every human person has the innate tendency to
seek her or his fulfillment and perfection. This
fulfillment or perfection, we call “the good.” Hence,
we can state another fundamental moral truth:
Anything contributing to the full actualization of
human potential and the proper development of the
human person is good or moral. To those who
believe in God, see and understand God, as the final
end and purpose of human life, the supreme good.
Just as anything that contributes to the proper
growth and development of the human person
is good, so anything that frustrates or acts against
this proper growth and development is considered to
be evil. Some of the things that frustrate human life
and development, and which everyone would
therefore consider evil:
1.death 2.suffering and pain 3.disability
4.deprivation of freedom 5.discrimination that
deprives  one of opportunity to improve oneself
6. Deprivation of worth and self-esteem. We call
these “pre-moral” evils (that is, evils in the
objective sense before any moral slant has been
added.)
Human beings may be deprived of what they need
for their growth and development as persons in
different ways. One way that pre-moral evil may be
caused is by natural disasters such as: 1.
Earthquakes, 2.floods, 3.epidemics, 4. accidents
and, 5.in general, things which are outside of human
control. We call such evils “physical evils.” But, as
we know quite well, most of the evil in the world
does not occur in this way. Most of the evil in the
world is brought on by the free, deliberate and
unjustified actions of human beings. We call this
evils “moral evils.” And so, moral evil occurs when
we voluntarily and deliberately become involved in
the spread of pre-moral evil. A convenient division
may be made as follows:
Physical Evil (pre-moral evil): evil brought on by
forces normally outside human control, e.g., natural
disasters, sickness, accident.
Moral Evil: evil brought on by the free, unjustified
action of other humans.
While the above may be helpful distinction, it is not
always as clear-cut as it looks. Sometimes what may
at first appear to be purely physical evils are in fact
the result of culpable human carelessness or
negligence—the motorist who does not check his
car’s breaks, the meteorologist who brought
negligence does not accurately predict a hurricane,
the careless smoker who cause a fire. What all this
reaffirms is that, for the most part, it is the free,
unjustified action of human beings that frustrates the
legitimate personal needs of other humans or, in
other words, causes evil. Most evil is moral evil.
Some important considerations follow from the
above discussion:
Morality has to do with who and what we are as
human beings and with our legitimate development
as persons. It applies to all human persons.
Everyone is to be bound to morality. No society can
functions properly for the good of its members
unless there is some form of agreed upon moral
code that binds everyone.
Authority does not create morality. The Church, the
governments, or anyone else in authority cannot
arbitrarily declare something to be immoral.
Whatever it is must be immoral  (i.e., inflict
unjustified pre-moral evil) in and of itself before it
can (or should) be so declared. An example may
help us to understand this. The major argument
against abortion is not that the Church forbids it.
Rather, it is the other way around—the Church
forbids it because it is wrong, because it inflicts
unjustified pre-moral evil. And so, I am against
abortion, not primarily because I am a Catholic but
primarily because I am a member of the human
race. Nothing is immoral simply and only because
God says so. Let us repeat the important
principle: Things are not wrong because they are
forbidden; rather, things are forbidden because
they are wrong. We should look upon the
commandments of God as God’s very good advice
to us as to how we can best develop our personality
and live at peace in society.
Immoral and illegal are not the same thing. For
example, that in most countries abortion is legal, but
it is certainly immoral. Another example, driving
through a red light may be illegal, but not unless
there is a danger of pre-moral evil to the public, or to
oneself, it is not immoral.
Morality and the Human Conditions
Suffering in itself is evil. Evil is indeed a deep
mystery (CCC309). Jesus did not attempt to explain
evil. What He did was to spend a good part of His
life trying to alleviate the effects of evil, of human
suffering in all its forms. He also gave us a way of
coping with evil so that our personal sufferings can
become meaningful and even helpful to our
development as person.
It is basic fact of experience that all of us try to avoid
evil. In one way or another we all seek the “good
life”; we all seek happiness. It is also a basic fact of
experience that in seeking the “good life” for
ourselves we may bring evil on other people. We
trample on others, both to attain our own selfish
ends and to escape the evil that others bring on us.
What is even more troubling is that we often try to
rationalize our actions with such thoughts as “I need
this,” or “I’m only getting what is mine. Our
selfishness makes us insensitive to the harm we do
to others. We are all caught up in the vicious cycle of
the spread of evil. We have to be reminded again
and again the Golden Rule of life:  “Do for others
what you want them to do for you.” (Mt. 7:12)
Reasons for Being Moral
Perhaps we might act morally just to avoid
punishment. If avoiding punishment is our only
motivation, then, if there is no chance of being
caught, we just go ahead and act as we please.
Clearly, this is a selfish and unsatisfactory answer.
To avoid evil we act morally. If we inflict evil on
others then individuals, or the society in which we
live, might do the same to us. Again, this is rather
selfish and unsatisfactory answer. The action is
done out of self-interest.
To love God, others and the rest of God’s
creation. We act morally because of the inner
conviction that human persons are unique, precious
and worthwhile, that there is great intrinsic value in
the human person, and that human persons are
worthy of our love. We act morally because
everything that God created is precious to God’s
sight including the universe and everything in it.
My dear students, my joy is when you will not only
do what is right but you want to do what is right; and
you want to do what is right because you are aware
that you are precious in the eyes of God. You are
loved by God.
Covenant Morality-The Ten Commandments
A covenant is an agreement between two or more
parties. It establishes certain rights, with the
corresponding responsibilities, among the
participants. It goes further than a mere legal
contract. It establishes a deeper personal
relationship. God made a covenant with the Jewish
people through Moses: “I will be your God and you
will be my people.” To strengthened their covenant
the Decalogue was made. The Decalogue (from the
Greek meaning, literally, “ten words), These laws
constitute the basis of Israelite morality. True
Israelites religion does not consist only in acts of
worship. It involves the whole of life. They entered
into an agreement with God to obey his
commandments -- “All the words that the Lord has
spoken we will do” Ex.24:3
Covenant morality, then, is morality of faith. People
who have entered into a covenant with God act
morally because they believe that is what God wants
of them. They believe that the morality of their
actions, as they deal with one another, affects their
relationship with God. They now have an added
reason for being moral: 1. their faith and 2.their love
of God. We Christians believers have accepted the
new covenant brought us in by Jesus Christ.
The Ten Commandments
The Commandments must be viewed in the light of
Jesus’ insistence that love is the true basis for
morality. Jesus said: If we love God, we shall keep
His commandments (cf.Jn.14:15).
The Commandments are stated in the Bible in
negative form. There are advantage to stating the
commandments in this negative form. 1. It makes
the Commandments easy to remember   2. Clear
prohibitions (don’t do it). Nevertheless, even granted
these advantages, too many of us see the
commandments only as negative stricture. We tend
to perceive them as limiting our freedom, as forcing
as not to do things we might want to do. The result is
that we miss the aspect of invitation; we do not see
the commandments as loving proposals from a
loving God. We do not see them as God’s gift to
us for our own good (CCC #2059). It is far more
helpful to present the commandments as positive
statements (invitation and guides) rather than
negative commands. At the same time, it is
important for us to preserve the more familiar`
negative biblical form.
The first 3 commandments of the Decalogue can be
brought together under the one heading of “love
God” and the numbers 4-10 under the one heading
of “love our neighbors). The numbers 4-10
commandments simply represent basic human
morality (CCC#2070). It is morality that applies to
everyone, religious believers and non-religious
believers alike. These commandments not only
recognize but also emphasize the intrinsic value, the
preciousness of the human person. They indicate
the way human persons should live in order to get
along with one another in society and make a
success of their life. Once again, therefore, it should
be clear that God proposes the commandments to
us as his loving advice for our own good. They are
proposed to us for the peaceful ordering and
harmony of human society and the rest of God’s
creation.
First Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall have no other gods
before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol,
whether in the form of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is on the earth beneath, or the is in
the water under the earth. You shall not bow down
to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:3-5)
Positive Form: Recognize, accept and worship only
the One, True God.
Second Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not make wrongful use
of the name of the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:7)
Positive Form: Respect and reverence for God.
Third Commandment
Negative Form: None
Positive Form: “Remember the Sabbath day, and
keep it holy”(Ex. 20:8).  
Fourth Commandment
Negative Form: None
Positive Form: “Honor your father and your mother”
(Ex. 20:12)
Fifth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13)
Positive Form: Respect life, and the bodily integrity
of every person, including your own.
 Sixth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not commit adultery”
(Ex. 20:14)
Positive Form: Respect the integrity of married life.
Seventh Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
Positive Form: Respect the personal possession
and freedom of others.
Eighth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16)
Positive Form: Respect the truth
Ninth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife ((Ex. 20:17)
Positive Form: Respect the integrity of marriage
even in intention and desire.
Tenth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not covet your
neighbor’s house… or anything that belongs to your
neighbor. ((Ex. 20:17)
Positive Form: Respect the right of your neighbor
to own property.
Explanation and Reflection of the Ten
Commandments
First Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall have no other gods
before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol,
whether in the form of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is on the earth beneath, or the is in
the water under the earth. You shall not bow down
to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:3-5)
Positive Form: Recognize, accept and worship only
the One, True God.
Explanation: 
This commandment is more than an affirmation that
there is but one God. It asserts that this one God is
unique. Though revealed in and through human
history, this God is in fact the Lord of history, the
Lord of life. This commandment requires us to
recognize that this one God has offered us a special
and unique relationship, a continuing presence in
every aspect of life.  We are called to deepen this
relationship.
This is the basis of all the other commandments. To
believe in God and to do God’s will is the foundation
of moral life. Idolatry is to worship gods other than
God, thus, a violation to this first
commandment. These are the Modern idols: wealth,
possessions, honor, success, power, sex, drugs,
etc…
This commandment also prohibits images which
distort the true belief in God. Example: golden calf.
It does not prohibit religious images which are
valuable and are helpful for prayer. Veneration to
Mary and the Saints is not a violation to the absolute
worship of God, for it draws us closer to God. God is
the source of the holy lives of Mary and the Saints.
The violations to true worship of God are actions
against the dignity of persons who are created in
God’s image and likeness and destructions of His
creation. Church is against magic, sorcery,
witchcraft, Satanism, astrology and fortune telling,
etc…
 
Note: Be faithful to your own religion but respect
the religion of others.
For the non-Catholics, I will respect your stand
regarding your understanding of idols.
For the Catholics, I hope this will help you
understand our practices of venerating Mary and
Saints.
 Reflection:
God first! There are 24 hours a day. How much time
are we  spending daily to talk to God? Has TV or
Computer become our god so that we spend hours
“worshipping” before it? Remember, we are loved by
God. Let us be grateful to God.
Second Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not make wrongful use
of the name of the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:7)
Positive Form: Respect and reverence for God.
Explanation:
To understand this commandment we must fully
appreciate the meaning of “name” in the Hebrew
culture. For the Semitic peoples the name was the
person. To give someone a name was to say
something about the person. To show disrespect or
insult God’s name is to insult and show disrespect to
God. When we use the name of God we should do it
with honor, respect and with great reverence.
 Reflection:
Let us not insult God by cursing (calling on to God to
harm someone). Trash talk is common now a days
not only in the internet cafe but in the school
Campus and at FB post. This will destroys us,
destroys our covenant relationship with God and
with one another. Please use decent words for this
will lead you to do decent actions.
Third Commandment
Negative Form: None
Positive Form: “Remember the Sabbath day, and
keep it holy”(Ex. 20:8).
Explanation:
The Jewish Sabbath has become Christian Sunday
because the resurrection and the day of Pentecost
both occurred on the first day of the week. The
holiness of Sunday revolves around the positive
worship of God as a community. The Christian
Eucharist (Mass) is the center of our community
worship.
Reflection:
Make a gift of ourselves to God. Keep Sabbath holy
by attending Sunday worship (Mass), family bonding
and helping the poor. Make Sunday a special day
because it is a Lord’s Day. Pray and work.
Fourth Commandment
Negative Form: None
Positive Form: “Honor your father and your mother”
(Ex. 20:12)
Explanation:
We cannot develop as full human persons outside of
human society, both the smaller society of our own
family and the larger society of the country or nation
to which our family belongs. It is in our best  interest
to do everything with God’s help to maintain the
family as a strong and stable unit that, in its turn, will
contribute to a strong, stable and moral nation.
Honor is to show proper gratitude, affection, respect,
obedience and care for parents including
ate, kuya, lola, lolo etc. In honoring our parents, we
honor God. That is, parental respect and
responsibility for children. (Col. 3:21, Eph. 6:4, Lk
11:11-13, Lk 15:11-32) These are the duties of
Christian parents: to provide basic needs: food,
education etc. As children grow older, the parents
should give them autonomy and independence.
 The honor due to parents, as required by the fourth
commandment, extend to the support we owe to
them in their old age.
 Reflection:
This commandment enjoins basic filial respect for
parents which is necessary for the good of both
family and community. Do something to keep the
unity, joy, love and peace in the family. Laziness can
destroy the good relationship in the family. Be
helpful, be respectful, be loving…
Fifth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13)
Positive Form: Respect life, and the bodily integrity
of every person, including your own.
  Explanation:
We are made in the image and likeness of God and
loved by God. Thus, all human life has its basic
value and dignity. Any form of killing is an
affront/offend to God. The right to life is protected by
this Commandment. “You shall not kill, not only
where evil is being done, but also whenever we fail
to do the good we could, the good which is required
of us.” Vatican Council II had this to say:
Faced with a world today where so many people are
suffering from want, the council asks individual and
governments to remember the saying of the Father
of the Church: ‘Feed the people dying of hunger,
because it you do not feed them you are killing
them,’ and it urge them according to their ability to
share and dispose of their goods to help others.
Reflection:
Vatican Council II stated, “There is a growing
awareness of the sublime dignity of human person…
(who) ought  to have ready access to all that is
necessary for living a genuinely human life…food,
clothing, housing… rightful freedom even in matters
of religion. Do I share God’s concern for the
oppressed and unprotected people of the world?
Sixth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not commit adultery”
(Ex. 20:14)
Positive Form: Respect the integrity of married life.
Explanation:
Ancient Israel considered adultery to be a sin
against someone else’s marriage rather than one’s
own. The sin of adultery was a sin against justice. It
was an offense against human society, the stability
of which depends on stable marriages and families.
In this commandment we are also reminded that the
foundations of the marriage relationship is love, and
this love expressed in a sexual way. Catholic
teaching has always held that sex is a gift from God
reserved exclusively for celebrating married love.
Furthermore, the celebration of married love must
always respect both unitive (loving mutual self-gift of
the spouses) and the procreative (conceiving of
children) functions of sex.
Reflection:
St. Paul (Eph. 5:25-33) compares love in marriage to
the love of Christ for the Church (for us, the People
of God) Husbands, love your wives just as Christ
loved the Church and gave His life for it…Every
husband must love his wife as himself, and every
wife must respect her husband.
Seventh Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
Positive Form: Respect the personal possession
and freedom of others.
 Explanation:
This commandment means not to unjustly claim the
possessions of another as ones’ own. It protects the
right of possessing goods and properties for the
good of individuals and families and the whole
community. This is an example of violations of the
personal rights of others to property in the larger
context: bribe for political forces; manipulation of the
economic system for unjust incurred assets.
The universal destination and the private
ownership of goods
“God destined the Earth, and all its contains, for all
peoples so that all created things would be shared
by all, under the guidance of justice, tempered by
charity.” (PCPII)
This Commandment guards property from 2
kinds of theft.
Theft from above - the rich robbing the poor.  
Multi national Corporations are taking advantage of
the small farms or businessmen, bribing, violation of
business contracts, refusal to pay just wages, tax
evasion schemes and falsification of documents,
excessive gambling, irresponsible borrowing, and
refusal to repay legitimate debts.
Theft from below - the poor robbing the rich.
Shoplifting, stealing office/factory/school supplies,
office to work-hours wasted in sloth, borrowing and
never returning, cheating with false weights or the
use of inferior material, smuggling, and overcharging
to make excessive projects.
On Social Justice
This is the basis, that’s why the church’s social
teaching is based on the intrinsic dignity of every
human person (PCPII). We are children of God. Our
neighbors are images of God.
Justice is Equal distribution of wealth and just
wages. Today, one of the greatest injustices is the
reality that the ones who possess much are few, and
those who possess almost nothing are many.
On Preferential love for the poor
Salvation is for all especially those who are in need.
The preference for the poor is a Christian
preference, for Christ comes to proclaim a message
of salvation to the poor. Love for the poor is opposite
of a life lived in extravagance while a great number
of the people are very poor. Poor should not be
made recipients of the charity of the rich, for what is
given to them are actually theirs, according to
fairness and justice.
 Reflection:
This is a demand of justice. The right to private
property is a basic human right but we have a
responsibility to share with those who have less or
have nothing. Preferential love for the poor is a
demand of social justice, which is giving to the poor
with what is justly theirs and not making them
recipients of “excess” of the rich.
How does the Seventh Commandment foster
social justice?
This commandment fosters social justice as it
prohibits all ways of robbing others’ freedom by
stealing what is rightfully theirs. In today’s economic
world, this prohibition includes both private
possessions and public properties, and actions such
as corporation, manipulations, unjust trade
agreements, and the like. PCP II urges “a
passionate care of our earth and our environment.”
Eighth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16)
Positive Form: Respect the truth
Explanation:
The protection of the truth preserves the very basis
of decent human life in the family, in the society, and
in the Church. Truth is the foundation of all authentic
human relationships. Truth, primarily, means the
quality of human interpersonal relationships and
behavior that: (1) is grounded in God the Father, the
source of all truth; (2) was fully manifested in His
Son, Jesus Christ (Who is the Truth and who comes
to set us free) who sent His Spirit of truth that
proceeds from the Father.
Example: To bear witness to the Truth, Living
examples, Martyrdom
Offenses against the eight commandment
Lying - most common and direct offense against the
truth. Example: White lies, escapist
lying (palusot), Simple flattery (bola/ulog-ulog).
False witness and perjury, telling lies under oath
Detraction and slander/calumny (pagbutang-
butang), Destroying reputations publicly
The church asks us to live in the truth and bear
witness to the truth
This commandment forbids false testimony, rush
judgment, lies, backbiting/gossip, and tale bearing,
fake news  
 
Reflection:
The 8th commandment demands that the truth be
upheld, because lying can damage persons and the
life of the community.
Truth is not a philosophical abstraction but the
revelation of the personal God in Christ who is the
truth and the liberating power of the truth, which
must guide/ inspire all our human relationships.
All persons have the capacity to search God and
pursue the truth, and because persons are social,
this search must be undertaken in the community.
The offenses against the truth are the offenses
against the dignity of a person and the well-being of
the community.  
How does the Eight Commandment foster truth,
justice and love?
This commandment prohibits destructive perversions
of the truth that damage the life of the covenant
community. Like all the others, the Eight
Commandment must be understood in the context of
the covenant. It, thus, touches the truth involving the
human interpersonal relationships of justice and love
that ground the community’s life.
Ninth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife ((Ex. 20:17)
Positive Form: Respect the integrity of marriage
even in intention and desire.
Explanation:
To covet means to desire eagerly, to long for, to
yearn for. The word covet is not the same as the
word “kabit” in the bisayan term. The objective of
this commandment  is to purify our hearts, that is, to
avoid avarice and envy and to believe that God must
reign supreme in our hearts. This commandment
aims to protect the value of chastity or purity of
hearts. Chastity puts order into our sexual drives,
channels our sexual energies, and seeks the limit,
for married people are called to live conjugal
chastity.
The following are offenses against chastity:
Lust - disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment
of sexual pleasure or an excessive and selfish
desire for sexual pleasure.
Masturbation - deliberate stimulation of the genital
organs in order to derive sexual pleasure
(disordered action).
Fornication - carnal union between unmarried man
or unmarried woman; a sexual union outside of the
exclusive and permanent commitment in marriage.
Homosexuality - for homosexual orientation, you are
not responsible; but for homosexual act, you are
responsible. It is wrong because they are not based
on the complementary and mutual love of man and
woman and are not open to the gift of life.
Pornography - propagates the sexually
obscene/indecent and licentious/lustful in a
dehumanizing and exploitative
manner. Example: bold pictures for business, using
people as an object.
Prostitution - exploitation and injustice on the part of
the poor by the rich, no love, no commitment, only
selfish pleasure of the buyer.
Pornography and Prostitution - use sex that
degrades persons for illicit profit.
 Chastity - protects from being used and abused.
Sex education - education of the whole person.
Reflection:
How to practice chastity?
Married people are called to conjugal chastity which
primarily means the exclusive and permanent fidelity
to one’s spouse.                              
Celibate people must consecrate their hearts to God
in a life totally devoted to the service of his people.
Single people are obliged to practice chastity in
sexual abstinence.
How does the Ninth Commandment protect human
sexuality?
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” goes to
the interior root and source of the disorders of the
flesh by prohibiting covetousness, or evil desires of
the heart. It also rejects the many effects of this
covetousness common in modern sexist
consumerist society.
Tenth Commandment
Negative Form: “You shall not covet your
neighbor’s house… or anything that belongs to your
neighbor. ((Ex. 20:17)
Positive Form: Respect the right of your neighbor
to own property.
Explanation:
The seventh commandment warns us against
impulses and desires of a particular kind: selfish
desire for that which belongs to the neighbor. The
covetousness which proceeds from the heart is
expressed externally in the actual selfish and sinful
acts.
This commandment prohibits the covetousness
for powers and possessions which belong rightfully
to one’s neighbors  (Neighbors refer to individual,
group of people, and nations). Examples: goods,
properties and means of livelihood.
Once Greed possessed the heart, it will never stop
in order to satisfy itself. It is a disorder of covetous
desires (7th and 10th Commandments). The seventh
commandment deals with our outward actions
regarding possessions and social structure. The
tenth Commandments, on the other hand, focuses
on the inner desires of our heart from which one’s
external actions originate. This commandment
forbids coveting the goods of another as the roots of
theft, robbery, and fraud, which the seventh
commandment forbids—greed and the desire to
amass (collect or gather) earthly goods without limit.
Sin against the tenth Commandment: avarice,
injustices by harming our neighbor in her/his
temporal goods, envy. Poverty of heart is to
renounce all that you have. “Only an attachment to a
greater love can break the attachment of the heart of
a lesser love.” Desire for God (Luke 14: 33) “None of
you can be my disciple if you do not give up all your
possessions”—Seeking God with all our mind, heart
and soul.
Reflection:
Avarice and envy are sins against the
10th Commandment
Jesus enjoins (order) us to attach ourselves deeply
to Him, who is our comfort, consolation and
fulfillment.
It is our desire for God that sets us free from the
allures and temptations of the world.
How does the Tenth Commandment foster social
justice?
This commandment fosters social justice by
prohibiting the distorted desires of the heart from
which stealing and exploitation of our neighbors
arise. It forbids not only unjust craving but also envy
at another’s success, such as seen in Cain’s “envy-
hatred-murder” pattern.
 
Summary: The Ten Commandments
 Love the Lord your God         (Commandments
1,2,3)
 Respecting God’s Gift: LIFE  (Commandments 4,5)
Respecting Human Sexuality    (Commandments
6,9)
Building Justice                          (Commandments
7,10)
Respecting Truth                        (Commandment  8)