Third Sunday of Lent

   During Mass this morning the Priest spoke of the Ten Commandments.  I began to consider how often those commandments are ignored; perhaps unintentionally, but still ignored.

“I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.”

As Moses was on the mountain receiving the commandments the Israelites were at the base of the mountain worshipping a golden calf as their god, violating the first commandment. Yet, how many gods do we worship in our lives.  The list can be quite long.  Whatever is most important to you is, in a sense, your god.  It can be money, fame, success, or most anything else.  If you consider it before considering whether it is God’s plan there is a danger that it has become your god.

   “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

Some have a very simplistic view of this one.  As long as you don’t say G.. D… you haven’t violated it.  I think we need to expand that concept to include any use of God’s name for anything other than praise and worship.  God's name should never be used for trivial emphasis.  We often hear “I swear to God” as a means to add validity to what is being said.  Let’s leave God’s name out of it unless it is truly appropriate.

“Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.”

I sometimes wonder if people even know this one exists.  Especially in our money driven society working on Sunday or doing anything else that takes away from the sanctity of the Lord’s Day has become so common as to be the norm.  Today virtually anything that is done any other day of the week is fair game on Sunday as well.

     “Honor your father and your mother.”

Here again, does anyone remember this one?  We push our elderly into homes and visit them when we happen to remember.  Even worse we may be considering assisted suicide, euthanasia, for Grandma or Grandpa if they get to be too much of a bother.

     “You shall not kill.”

Where do we begin with this one?  We kill our unborn children; we euthanize our elderly; we use the death penalty to kill in the name of justice.  How can we act surprised when our young, and not so young people have no respect for life?  We’ve taught them that life isn’t sacred if it isn’t convenient.  And this doesn’t even consider the other aspects of this commandment; such as rumor mongering; hating our neighbors and so on.

     “You shall not commit adultery.”

What, you mean I can’t have sex with anyone I want anytime I want?  That seems to be the attitude of many concerning this commandment.  But we must also remember that Jesus told us that even to look at another with lust is committing adultery.  Think about that the next time you check out that cute guy or gal as they walk by.

     “You shall not steal.”

How many ways are there to steal?  If the cashier returns change for a twenty when you gave them a ten do you tell them or smile and walk away?  If you don’t make it right you have just stolen ten dollars.  We seldom think of the small things, but small things count as well.

     “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Just don’t tell lies, right?  Well, maybe.  What about the rumor that you listened to and perhaps passed along.  What about those little lies we all tell?  First, hopefully it isn’t all of us.  Second, when you think about it, many aren’t so little after all.

     “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.”

This one gets mixed up with the adultery thing, but perhaps there’s more to it than that.  If you are jealous of your neighbor’s spouse aren’t you slighting your own spouse.  Do you compliment your spouse for their efforts or compare them to another’s?

     “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”

The phrase “keeping up with the Jones” comes to mind.  If you are so competitive that you think you have to meet or outdo others you are quite likely ignoring this commandment.  Admiring the neighbor’s new car is fine as long as you aren’t determined to get a better one to show them up.

   This season of self-examination is the perfect time to read up on the Ten Commandments and see how often we fail to keep them.  Let's ask God to help in our efforts..