The Ten Commandments |
I remember attending a mass for a diamond wedding anniversary celebration many years ago. The Cardinal explained in his homily why the Ten Commanmdnets were written in two tablets instead of just one tablet. He said that the first tablet is about love of God, and the second tablet is about love of neighbour: |
gods before me. 2. Don't bow before idols. 3. Don't take my name in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day. |
father and thy mother. 6. Don't kill. 7. Don't commit adultery. 8. Don't steal. 9. Don't bear false witness. 10. Don't covet. |
His explanation brought back to my mind the words of our Saviour answering a question about the most important commandment. He cited two most important commandments: Matthew 22:37 This first commandment summarizes the 4 commandments in the first tablet. This means that if we love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, we should have no other gods but him; we should not bow before idols; we should not take His name in vain by forgetting it; and we should remember the Sabbath day, the sign between Him and His people. Matthew 22;39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. This 2nd commandment summarizes commandments 6 to 10 in the second tablet. Honouring our father and mother; not committing adultery; not stealing; not bearing false witness against anyone; and not covet anything that is our neighbour's, exactly defines loving our neighbour. There is another purpose of writing the commandments on two tablets instead of just one. The tablets can be presented side by side signifying that love for God and love for neighbour are of equal importance. That is why our Saviour said the second commandment is like the first. It's time to learn from the mistakes of Israel: Jeremiah 7:9 Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, Jeremiah 7:10 and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, "We are safe!"—only to go right back to all those evils again? Israel violated the first and the second tablet of the commandments, and believed they would be safe in the Temple. They were wrong. They are wrong until now. We are wrong now. The temple in Jerusalem is gone. What is left is the temple of the Holy Spirit: 1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? Our Saviour said the kingdom is within us: Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. and the image of God is within:Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. What happened to the temple in the Jerusalem is happening to the temple of the Holy Spirit. We all continue to go back to the dust where we came from. Now we believe to be saved when the Son of God comes again. The very Son of God who said: Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. We better admit how wrong we are and try our very best to do the will of the Father who is in heaven. |
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