You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's Goods (Catechism Series Part 39) - Auspice Maria Ep 69

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Welcome back to the Auspice Maria podcast. I'm Bishop James Ruggieri of the Diocese of Portland in Maine. And this week we cover the ninth and the tenth commandments, purity of heart and the desire for God. Before beginning though, I'd like to just invoke the Holy Spirit's presence and power to help us, to inspire us to open our hearts and minds.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. "O gracious and merciful God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, open our hearts and minds, enlighten us, guide us, direct us, and purify our hearts by the flame of the Spirit's love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

So in this episode, we come to a significant moment in our journey through the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Presently, we are in part three, Life in Christ, section two, the Ten Commandments. With the ninth and tenth commandments, now we conclude not only our treatment of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, but also section two and part three itself.

And this is very important because we move now after this episode to the last part of the Catechism, part four, which is dedicated to prayer. But before we get there, this week we're talking about paragraphs 2,514 to 2,557.

And traditionally, the ninth commandment is expressed, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife." And the 10th commandment is, "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods." Now, both of these commandments, the wording, arise from Exodus 20, verse 17, and also Deuteronomy 5, verse 21. These final commandments bring us somewhere very important. They bring us into the heart.

The commandments have taught us how to worship God, how to honor His name, how to keep holy the Lord's day, honor family and authority, protect life, live sexuality according to God's plan, respect property, and speak truth. But now the question becomes, "What is happening inside of me? What do I desire? What captures my imagination? What possesses my heart?"

I'd like to start with a powerful biblical example, and it is of King David and Bathsheba. Second Samuel, the book of Second Samuel, tells us that David was walking on the roof of his palace when he saw a woman bathing.

She was beautiful. David asked who she was and learned that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Yet David sent for her, knowing that she was married, and took her. When she became pregnant, David attempted to conceal what he had done. Eventually, he arranged for Uriah to be placed where the fighting was fiercest, and also he arranged for Uriah to be abandoned so that he would be killed. This is found in 2 Samuel chapter 11, verses 2 to 17. If we notice, there's a progression here: David sees, he desires, he takes, then he deceives. Finally, he becomes responsible for the death of an innocent man.

The story shows us why the final commandments concern the heart. Sin often begins long before the outward act. An inordinate desire is welcomed, entertained, and allowed to grow until it begins directing our choices. But David's story does not end with his sin. God sends the prophet Nathan, who confronts him. David finally admits, "I've sinned against the Lord," a really crucial moment in 2 Samuel chapter 12, verse 13. Tradition also associates David's repentance with the beautiful Psalm 51 and the line there in that Psalm, "A clean heart create for me, God, renew within me a steadfast spirit," Psalm 51, verse 12.

That prayer brings us directly into the ninth and tenth commandments. We need God not only to change what we do, we need him to purify what we desire. The Catechism begins with the reality of concupiscence. Saint John, the scripture writer, the evangelist, speaks of, quote, "sensual lust, enticement of the eyes, and a pretentious life." It's found in the first letter of John, chapter 2, verse 16. Now the Catechism identifies these as forms of covetousness or concupiscence. That's found in paragraph 2514.

Concupiscence does not mean that every desire is evil, and that's important to note. Desire belongs to being human. As human beings, we have desire. We desire food when we're hungry, warmth when we're cold, friendship when we're lonely. We desire love, intimacy, security, meaning, and ultimately, God Himself. And the Catechism explicitly says that many such desires are good in themselves. That's found in paragraph 2535.

Concupiscence, however, refers especially to the movement of desire that has become disordered and pulls against reason and God's will. It is part of the wound left in humanity by original sin. Concupiscence is not itself a sin, but it inclines us towards sin. That's from paragraph 2,515.

Now the Christian life therefore involves a spiritual battle. This does not mean that the body is bad. The Catechism explicitly rejects that idea. Body and soul together constitute the human person. The struggle is between allowing our desires to be governed by the spirit or allowing disordered desires to govern us. Saint Paul tells us, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit." It's from Galatians 5:25, chapter 5, verse 25.

Now the ninth commandment therefore calls us to purity of heart. Jesus says in Matthew's gospel, chapter 5, verse 8, in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God."

Purity of heart means more than sexual purity. The Catechism speaks of bringing our intellect and will into harmony with God's holiness, especially through charity, chastity, love of truth, and orthodoxy of faith.

Purity changes the way we see. The pure heart does not look at another person merely as an object to possess, to use, to compare or consume. It learns to see the other as a person created by God. The Catechism says purity enables us even now to see according to God and to recognize the human body, ours and another's, as a temple of the Holy Spirit and a manifestation of divine beauty. This requires grace and discipline. The Catechism speaks about chastity, purity of intention, purity of vision, discipline of imagination, and feelings, prayer. In a culture saturated with images, this teaching is especially important. We cannot control everything that appears before our eyes, but we can choose what we look at, what we entertain, and what we allow to inhabit our imagination.

The Catechism also speaks beautifully about modesty. Modesty is not embarrassment about the body. It is reverence for the mystery and dignity of the person. It, and this is a quote from the Catechism paragraph 2521, "protects the intimate center of the person." Its particular expressions may differ across cultures, but its purpose remains, helping us see ourselves and others as persons rather than objects.

Then the 10th commandment takes us deeper into our relationship with possessions and the good fortune of others. Again, desire itself is not the problem. It is perfectly legitimate to desire something good and to work honestly for it. The problem begins when desire becomes greed, avarice, or an unjust longing for what belongs to someone else.

And then there's envy. The Catechism describes envy as "sadness at another person's good and an immoderate desire to possess it for oneself," from paragraph 2539. Envy is particularly destructive because another person's blessing becomes the source of my unhappiness.

Someone else succeeds, and I become resentful. Someone receives recognition, and I feel diminished. Someone has a happier family, a larger home, greater wealth, better health, or opportunities I wish I had. And instead of rejoicing with that person, something within me says, "Why not me?" Now, our culture can feed this constantly. Advertising and social media can tempt us to measure our lives against carefully presented images of other people's lives. Comparison slowly becomes dissatisfaction. Gratitude gives way to resentment.

Now the Christian answer to envy is not pretending that we never struggle. The Catechism points us toward goodwill, humility, and abandonment to the providence of God. We learn to thank God for another person's blessings. We learn gratitude for what we ourselves have received. And this is where the commandments begin to move from disordered desire toward the desires of the Holy Spirit.

Grace does not leave us empty. God does not simply tell us, "Stop desiring." He teaches us to desire something greater.

The Catechism says that the economy of law and grace turns the heart away from avarice and envy and awakens within us the desire for, quote, "the sovereign good." That's from paragraph 2541. Christ's faithful are led by the Spirit and learn to follow the desires of the Spirit. This leads to poverty of heart.

Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Poverty of heart does not require that every Christian possess nothing. It means that nothing we possess should possess us. Wealth, success, comfort, status, and possessions cannot become our ultimate security. Detachment makes the heart free.

And this brings the Ten Commandments to an extraordinary conclusion. After all the prohibitions, all the moral teaching, all the struggles against sin and disordered desire, the Catechism ends with desire. The final section is titled, "I want to see God." The deepest desire of the human heart is not ultimately for another person's spouse, another person's possessions, more money, more pleasure, more recognition, or more power. Beneath all our restless searching is the desire for God.

The Catechism says that the desire for true happiness frees us from excessive attachment to the goods of this world so that we can find fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God. From paragraph 2548.

So this is where the moral life is leading us. "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God." David prayed, "A clean heart create for me, God." That prayer can become ours. Our desires can become disordered, of course. We can envy, we can covet, we can misuse our freedom. But please, let's remember, sin does not have to have the final word. Jesus Christ gives us new life. Through grace, prayer, the sacraments of the Church, repentance, and the work of the Holy Spirit, the heart can be purified. Desire itself can be transformed.

Perhaps that is a fitting way to conclude the Ten Commandments. God does not merely want obedient actions. God wants our hearts. He wants to heal what we love, what we seek, and what we desire. The final question is therefore not simply, "What am I forbidden to want?" Rather, the deeper question is, "What do I desire most?" The Christian answer is ultimately this: "I want to see God."

Thank you for joining us again for the Auspice de Maria podcast. As always, I'd like to conclude by just asking our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede for us as we pray. "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.