1st Sunday of Advent-The Ten Commandments

"Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect." St. Matthew 24:44

An eminent lawyer once asked a Catholic friend to suggest some reli­gious book that would appeal to his legal mind. The Catholic urged him to read the Bible. The inquirer thought that his request had been misun­derstood. He again tried to make it clear that what he wanted was an ex­planation of what was in the sacred book. But the Catholic insisted that he start with the inspired text itself. The lawyer asked him:
"Where shall I begin?"

"Begin at the beginning, and read it through," urged his friend.

Now and then the Catholic called upon his legal friend to find that he was faithfully reading part of the Bible every day. But one evening he found the lawyer walking up and down in his office, deep in thought.

"What's on your mind, Bill?" questioned the Catholic.

"I've been reading the Book of Exodus, especially that twentieth chap­ter, which tells about God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses."

"Well, what about it?" asked his visitor.

"What about it?" echoed the lawyer. "Why, I have been trying to see whether I could add anything to it, but I can't; it takes in everything. Then I've tried to see whether there is any thing that could be left out, to improve it. Nothing can be added or left out."

Then, with earnestness, he exclaimed: "It's perfect."

Truly, the Ten Commandments are a perfect set of laws, whether we look at them from the standpoint of God or from the viewpoint of man. They are often called the "Decalogue," which means ten words, the ten laws which sum up the wish and will of God.

From the very moment when God created man the Almighty imprinted upon the human soul the natural or unwritten law. Man always could tell the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. Man always knew, for instance, that theft and adultery and lying and murder were wrong.

But the mind of man became darkened and his heart hardened. No longer did he see or want to see what was right and what was wrong. God found it necessary to declare His law again and in unmistakable words. How God gave His Ten Commandments to His chosen people we read in the Book of Exodus, Chapter Twenty.

God had given the Jews one favor after another, one blessing, one gift after another. But they were faithless to their Divine Benefactor. They preferred their blind passions and sinful appetites to the law God had planted in their hearts. Then it was that God decided to give them His Commandments in a way that would strike terror in their hearts.

Three months after the chosen people had left Egypt the Almighty assembled them at the foot of Mt. Sinai. He bade them keep three solemn days of preparation, praying, fasting, and purifying themselves from all uncleanness.

The third day dawned bright and clear. The rising sun lit up the summit of Mt. Sinai. Suddenly the scene changed. A black cloud covered the mountain, terrifying peals of thunder rolled along the mountainside, and blinding flashes of lightning skipped through the gathering darkness.

Surrounded by fire, the Lord descended upon the steep summit and called the prophet Moses. The whole mountain seemed wrapped in thick smoke. A trumpet sounded. The people trembled and took to their tents. But God called them forth to hear as He declared to them in tones of thun­der His Ten Commandments:

1. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.

Here is the most complete and perfect set of laws in the world, given by God Himself, given in a way that was solemn and awful, given to show us the way to heaven, given that we might know what He wants, and, that, doing what He wants, we might someday be with Him.

But isn't it impossible to keep these laws? Without God's help, yes. With God's help, no. Some, like Pelagius, an early heretic, taught that man could keep God's law by his natural powers alone. Others, like Calvin, in the 16th century, claimed that with or without grace it was impossible to keep the Commandments.

God's Church, the Catholic Church, teaches that with the help of God everyone can keep the law of God. Countless souls, of every age, sex and condition, have observed the Commandments. Countless others are keeping them today. It can be done. It must be done. God will punish those who deliberately refuse to keep His law. God rewards, even here, those who keep His Commandments.

Heaven and earth and everything in them will pass away, but the word of God, given on Mt. Sinai, and carved into the fleshly tablets of the human heart - God's Ten Commandments - the perfect law - will never pass away. Amen.
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Adapted from Talks on the Commandments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, OFM (© 1948)