Dear Parishioners, As we ended last week, we went through the first three of the Ten Commandments as one of the ways to examine one’s conscience to make a good confession.
Today we shall begin with the fourth commandment : 4. Honor your Father and Mother; there is no one without parents alive or dead; known or unknown. The question is; do you care about them, especially in their old age? Do you visit them or have neglected them? If they are dead do you pray for them by offering Holy Masses? If you have not been doing all these, then you have sinned by not keeping this commandment. This respect also extends to those in authority.
5. You shall not kill: Killing here means using a weapon like a gun, knife or cutlass to do away with someone’s life in the first place. Secondly, Killing also includes abortion, capital punishment and Euthanasia (mercy-killing) that is, helping someone to die well so as not to suffer. All these are killing. Other types of killings include poisoning, gossips, blackmailing, backbiting, slandering etc. Other sins of this killing category are self-mutilation and changing one’s sex. If you are guilty of these you have gone against this commandment and you need to go for confession.
6. You shall not commit Adultery; this means having sexual intercourse with another man or woman who is not your spouse or you are not married to. Thus fornication and adultery are the typical sins of this commandment. Other sexual sins are, lustful feelings for the other, self-stimulation or mutual stimulation to have sexual pleasure, watching of pornography, or having sex with animals, homosexuality, lesbianism etc. If you are guilty of all these you have sinned against this commandment.
7. You shall not steal; this is taking what does not belong to one. This may be material things or money or the embezzlement of public funds or group money. Stealing could be by action or intention, even if is not realized. For example, if I plan to steal someone’s money and in going to steal discovers he/she is there and beg for the money, I have still stolen by intention, because if he/she was not there, I would have stolen it. Are you guilty of stealing, this is one of your sins for confession.
8. You shall not lie: telling lies is being untruthful. This sin easily comes when we want to conceal the truth of what we have done or not done. We are expected however to tell the truth in love. That is, to tell the truth that leads to salvation; the truth that builds the community but does not scatter the community. In this case we can do what is called mental restriction or reservation. We should not tell some truth that will not be helpful to those who hear it. This is what telling the truth in love means.
9. You shall not covet you neighbors’ wife or husband; this is the commandment that calls for our respect of the matrimonial union of husband and wife. Have you had sexual intercourse with someone’s wife or husband? Then, you are guilty of sinning against this commandment.
10. You shall not covet you neighbors’ goods; this is directed to our neighbor’s property, which provides him/her livelihood. Coveting one’s neighbor’s property is a form of killing not only stealing. If we are guilty of this, then we have sinned against this commandment and need the sacrament of Confession.