“Read the Owner’s Manual”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
November 3 – 4, 2018
Scripture: Mark 10: 46-52
How many of you have read the owner’s manual for your car? Not many of us, I am sure. The Ten Commandments are our guide, our owner’s manual, for how to love God and his people. People say “I know the Ten Commandments,” and they can even recite them by heart. They know them, but do they fully understand them?
There is a lot more meaning in the Ten Commandments than just ten declarative sentences. Just look at the Catechism…there are more prohibitions and commandments than first meets the eye. But, they are the beginning steps of how to love Him and others….they are neither too strict nor too lax, created to help keep us on the straight and narrow path. Many of us can talk the talk, and some of us can walk the walk when it’s convenient. But, once things get a little uncomfortable, we often bail.
The Ten Commandments are not burdensome, but we need to fully understand and follow them to grow in love. Many times our egos get in the way, which is a problem since love is focused on others first. We must learn how to be happy in simply obeying the Commandments. Christ said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). By the way, there are more than ten:
Matthew 35-36:
35) “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me; 36) naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”
Left to our own devices, we often screw up even though we say “I’ve got this.” Physicians tell us exactly how to care for our bodies. The Ten Commandments tell us how to care for our souls and to love Him and others. As Catholics, we believe precisely what Christ teaches…nothing more, nothing less. People are taught the truth; they just don’t want to live it. A lack of knowledge is not the problem…it’s a lack of love. We are more in love with ourselves than with Him. We want what we want when we want it. Christ asks so little of us, only to love Him and our neighbor. However, until our love of self dies, we will be unable to love Him or anyone else.
A rich man approached Jesus and said that he had obeyed the Ten Commandments all of his life and asked what else he needed to do to inherit eternal life. The man was very sad when Jesus said to him: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21). But, the rich man had many possessions and could not bear to part with them, so he walked away from Our Lord. He knew the Commandments, but he did not completely understand them. He could talk the talk, but was unable to walk the walk.
Blasphemy is saying something disrespectful about God, the Mass, or the sacraments. People commit blasphemy when they say that Mass is boring, that they don’t get anything from it, that they dislike the music, or that they don’t like the Mass given in Latin, English, or Spanish. Newsflash: We are not at Mass to be entertained…the Mass is NOT about us. It is all about Our Lord. We are there as participants to talk to God.
God asks us not to hurt ourselves or others. When we eat or drink too much, we harm our bodies. When we sin, we break away from the love of God. We hurt our family because they depend on us. We also hurt those who cannot see the face of Christ in us and be led to Him.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you study the owner’s manual (the Ten Commandments) so that you can love God and your neighbor?