Word to the Wise
Friday, July 24, 2015 - Friday in the 16th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 20:1-17 and Matt 13:18-23]God delivered all these commandments. [Exodus]
In the great epic movie, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, there is a scene where God etches the ten commandments on the two stone tablets. Needless to say, such laser-like things were only in the popular imagination back then (at least in my small hometown). Those stone tablets have become a symbol of religious faith and a fundamental law that underlies Western civilization. (I do find it strange that they are frequently displayed with Roman numerals on them.) Today's first scripture gives us the full and unabridged version.
The first three commandments concern our relationship with God and what we should consider sacred. The next seven concern human to human interaction. There are times when I believe our secular society has decided to drop the first three and give grudging acceptance to the next seven. But those seven have their foundation in faith and not just pragmatic recognition of everyday life. If we do not believe these commandments have their origin in God, then we put ourselves in the position of being the supreme lawmakers and can "amend" these ten commandments in any way we want.
If someone were to ask any of us to recite the brief form of the Ten Commandments, how many of them could we recall? Jesus explicitly challenges the rich young man about them [Matt. 19:18-19]. He sums them up in love of God and neighbor. But that summation should not serve as an excuse to forget the content of the commandments and the challenge they give to our consciences. They were etched in stone on the mountain, but are they etched in our hearts? AMEN
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