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 ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.316
For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.317
2534
The tenth commandment unfolds and completes the ninth, which is concerned with
concupiscence of the flesh. It forbids coveting the goods of another, as the
root of theft, robbery, and fraud, which the seventh commandment forbids.
"Lust of the eyes" leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by
the fifth commandment.318 Avarice, like fornication, originates in the idolatry
prohibited by the first three prescriptions of the Law.319 The tenth
commandment concerns the intentions of the heart; with the ninth, it summarizes
all the precepts of the Law.
I.
The Disorder of Covetous Desires
2535
The sensitive appetite leads 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 often they exceed the limits of
reason and drive us to covet unjustly what is not ours and belongs to another
or is owed to him.
2536
The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods
without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their
attendant power. It also forbids the desire to commit injustice by harming our
neighbor in his temporal goods:
When
the Law says, "You shall not covet," these words mean that we should
banish our desires for whatever does not belong to us. Our thirst for another's
goods is immense, infinite, never quenched. Thus it is written: "He who
loves money never has money enough."320
2537
It is not a violation of this commandment to desire to obtain things that
belong to one's neighbor, provided this is done by just means. Traditional
catechesis realistically mentions "those who have a harder struggle
against their criminal desires" and so who "must be urged the more to
keep this commandment":
.
. . merchants who desire scarcity and rising prices, who cannot bear not to be
the only ones buying and selling so that they themselves can sell more dearly
and buy more cheaply; those who hope that their peers will be impoverished, in
order to realize a profit either by selling to them or buying from them . . .
physicians who wish disease to spread; lawyers who are eager for many important
cases and trials.321
2538
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.322 Envy can lead to the worst
crimes.323 "Through the devil's envy death entered the world":324
We
fight one another, and envy arms us against one another.... If everyone strives
to unsettle the Body of Christ, where shall we end up? We are engaged in making
Christ's Body a corpse.... We declare ourselves members of one and the same
organism, yet we devour one another like beasts.325
2539
Envy is a capital sin. It refers to the sadness at the sight of another's goods
and the immoderate desire to acquire them for oneself, even unjustly. When it
wishes grave harm to a neighbor it is a mortal sin:
St.
Augustine saw envy as "the diabolical sin."326 "From envy are
born hatred, detraction, calumny, joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor,
and displeasure caused by his prosperity."327
2540
Envy represents a form of sadness and therefore a refusal of charity; the
baptized person should struggle against it by exercising good will. Envy often
comes from pride; the baptized person should train himself to live in humility:
Would
you like to see God glorified by you? Then rejoice in your brother's progress
and you will immediately give glory to God. Because his servant could conquer
envy by rejoicing in the merits of others, God will be praised.328
II.
The Desires of the Spirit
2541
The economy of law and grace turns men's hearts away from avarice and envy. It
initiates them into desire for the Sovereign Good; it instructs them in the
desires of the Holy Spirit who satisfies man's heart.
The
God of the promises always warned man against seduction by what from the
beginning has seemed "good for food . . . a delight to the eyes . . . to
be desired to make one wise."329
2542
The Law entrusted to Israel never sufficed to justify those subject to it; it
even became the instrument of "lust."330 The gap between wanting and
doing points to the conflict between God's Law which is the "law of my
mind," and another law "making me captive to the law of sin which
dwells in my members."331
2543
"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law,
although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe."332 Henceforth,
Christ's faithful "have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires"; they are led by the Spirit and follow the desires of the
Spirit.333
III.
Poverty of Heart
2544
Jesus enjoins 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.334 Shortly before his passion he gave them the example of the poor
widow of Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live
on.335 The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into
the Kingdom of heaven.
2545
All Christ's faithful are to "direct their affections rightly, lest they
be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things
and by an adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical
poverty."336
2546
"Blessed are the poor in spirit."337 The Beatitudes reveal an order
of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the
poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs:338
The
Word speaks of voluntary humility as "poverty in spirit"; the Apostle
gives an example of God's poverty when he says: "For your sakes he became
poor."339
2547
The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the
abundance of goods.340 "Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but
blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."341
Abandonment to the providence of the Father in heaven frees us from anxiety
about tomorrow.342 Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the
poor. They shall see God.
IV.
"I Want to See God"
2548 The desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods
of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude
of God. "The promise [of seeing God] surpasses all beatitude.... In
Scripture, to see is to possess.... Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods
of which he can conceive."343
2549
It remains for the holy people to struggle, with grace from on high, to obtain
the good things God promises. In order to possess and contemplate God, Christ's
faithful mortify their cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the
seductions of pleasure and power.
2550
On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them344
to perfect communion with God:
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...." This is also the meaning of the Apostle's words: "So that
God may be all in all." God himself will be the goal of our desires; we
shall contemplate him without end, love him without surfeit, praise him without
weariness. This gift, this state, this act, like eternal life itself, will
assuredly be common to all.345
IN
BRIEF
2551
"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (⇒ Mt 6:21).
2552
The tenth commandment forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and
their attendant power.
2553
Envy is sadness at the sight of another's goods and the immoderate desire to
have them for oneself. It is a capital sin.
2554
The baptized person combats envy through good-will, humility, and abandonment
to the providence of God.
2555
Christ's faithful "have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires" (⇒
Gal 5:24); they are led by the Spirit and follow his desires.
2556
Detachment from riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit."
2557
"I want to see God" expresses the true desire of man. Thirst for God
is quenched by the water of eternal life (cf In 4:14).
GO TO:
SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER TWO YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
CHAPTER TWO YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
Thou shall honor your father and your mother
Thou shall not murder
Thou shall not commit adultery
Thou shall not steal
Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor
Thou shall not covet thy neighbors property
Thou shall not covet anything of they neighbor
SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
PART THREE LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
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