Exodus 20:1-17
In those days:The first reading at Mass today includes the 10 Commandments. Whether the courts decide that the decalogue may be posted in government buildings or not, the Commandments will be the core theme of our parish Vacation Bible School at the end of August. (More info available on the parish website.) The title of this year's VBS is a simple one: GOD RULES! We who are beyond the enrollment age for this summertime lesson plan might do well to consider both the text above from Exodus and the simple VBS theme and ask ourselves: "Who rules my life? What rules my life? Whose rules do I play by? What rules do I ignore? What rules have I changed?" GOD RULES!
God delivered all these commandments:
“I, the LORD, am your God...
You shall not have other gods besides me...
“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain...
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God...
“Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
“You shall not kill.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
In the context of the ten commandments, to me, there are so many exceptions to the rule.
ReplyDeleteWhat if your mother or father did not deserve to be honored??
What if things were so tight with money, you had to work to keep your family provided for on the Lord's day.
What if you had a priest (not you), that completely turned you off and made it felt more hopeless to go to church than to attend??
What if you are in a bad marriage??
There are so many "what if's", Father Fleming. Which makes me doubt everything.
The Lord would never ask us to honor what is not honorable: in many cases, children can honor little else other than the fact that their parents gave them the gift of life.
ReplyDeleteThe command to love in the teaching of Jesus would clearly indicate that caring for one's family, even if that means working on the Sabbath, would override the Sabbath rule. Generally, one honors the meeds of others above all else.
Church is about two things: fulfilling the needs of others and having one's needs fulfilled, all as one serves and honors God. Should the priest in a parish make this impossible, it might be the responsibility of the indivdiual to find a parish where all needs and duties can be fulfilled.
If you are in a bad marriage, you need to work on making it better, becaust of the promise you made on your wedding day. If, after much hard work, nothing comes of it, and especially if abuse is involved, you might need to seperate/divorce. But those decisions involve more than we could possibly discuss in this limited forum.
These are less "what if's" and more the intersection of life with the scriptures - a junction that is often complex and seldom simple.
The temptation is to give up on it all; the challenge is to work with it and through it.
I like what anonymous said. I also liked your responce. But when you come from a situation that carries with it so many exceptions to the words writted in the Ten Commandments, it is quite difficult to not harden your heart to the consitancy of the written word. Even if that is exactly what you DON'T want to do.
ReplyDeleteThe first three commandments are about our relationship with God: holding God above all else, keeping the Sabbath as a day of prayer and rest, and honoring the Lord's name. Beyond that the commandments invite us to honor parents, to respect life, to respect the relationships and property others hold, to tell the truth. Surely in there are some things we can all treasure and reverence.
ReplyDeleteI think that even in our sophisticated, technical, and complicated world of today, it is still good to ponder those commandments. If not, we do risk having other "gods" before us. If not, it becomes easy to steal a little (paper clips?), gossip a bit, and on and on.
ReplyDelete