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The "Pastor's Corner" is a collection of essays written by Father McCreary on a variety of subjects including Church teachings, social issues of the day, and things to think about. They are published weekly in our Church Bulletin. Click on a essay title below to jump to that essay, scroll down to read them all or click on a subject above to view more essays. |
From
the Pastor's Desk  Very Reverend Glenn McCreary, V.F. |
The Ten Commandments
1. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me, July 17th, 20052. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, July, 24th, 2005
3. Keep Holy The Sabbath, July 31st, 2005
4. Honor your Father and your Mother, August 7th, 2005
5. Thou shalt not kill, August 14th, 2005
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery, August 21st, 2005
7. Thou shalt not steal, August 28th, 2005
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's spous, September 4th, 2005
10. Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor's, September 11th, 2005
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First Commandment
I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me July 17th, 2005 |
When we examine our consciences, often we tend to glide right by that
first of the Ten Commandments-"I am the Lord your God. You shall
have no other gods before me."
After all, we're Catholics. We recite the creed at virtually every Sunday
mass, claiming the Trinity as our God. When we think about God we imagine
the God of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, not the just and compassionate
Allah, not the multitudinous incarnations of the Hindu gods, not the
quiet meditations of the Buddha.
We may have images of the incarnate God and the saints in our homes
and churches, but we know the difference. That statue of Mary isn't
Mary-it's a reminder that God became visible in Mary's Son. And we know
the difference between God and the saints. They travel with us-in fact,
they have traveled before us into the kingdom-and they care about us
and pray for us. But the saints are by no means gods.
But, understanding the facts about God doesn't leave us off scot-free.
When we proclaim our Christian faith we say that God is the absolute,
the one beginning and end and center of the universe. No one else-no
other god, religion or philosophy, no person or ideology-can take the
place of God.
But, do we always act as if God were God? Is there anything or anyone
else who claims that supreme place in our lives? If, there is, we've
made a false god.
And that false god can take surprising forms and some unexpected names.
The false god might be money or power. The false god may be our relationships
or our work. The false god can well be a nation, an ethnic identity,
a sport, a political party. The false god comes under the guise of every
addiction: to alcohol or drugs, to sex or gambling. The false god may
be our own self-absorption, our conviction that we must always look
out for number one.
Some of these things are obviously bad things; others are just too much of a good thing. But, anything-absolutely anything or anyone-that we put in first place-the place that only God should occupy--is a false god. To live this commandment, to witness this commandment to the world, we need to unseat those false gods. And then God can truly be God for us.
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Second Commandment You shall not take the name of the July, 24th, 2005 |
Our understanding of the second commandment, "You shall not take
the name of the Lord your God in vain," could stand some clarification.
At its most basic, this commandment forbids perjury. When we swear an
oath, we call on God-the Absolute, Truth itself, Judge of the living
and the dead-to be our witness. When we swear falsely, when we use the
name of God to support our lies and cover our wrong-doing, we use God
and we empty the very concept of God of its meaning. Perjury, however
tolerant we may be when the rich and famous, when the politician or
celebrity lies under oath, diminishes both God's dignity and our society's
ability to deal in truth.
But, this commandment has been read much more broadly by Christians.
We talk about "swearing" and "cursing." We tend
to confess not only using God's name as filler in our conversational
English, but also the vulgar language we use. Now the commandment has
nothing to do with vulgarity. "Bad words" are more bad taste
than bad morality. But, don't take them casually, either. What possible
place could violent language or language that demeans God's gift of
sexuality have in a Christian's life. Possibly more telling is the ease
with which we use both religious and vulgar interchangeably. What do
we tell the world when the name of God and a vulgar word can occupy
the same place in our language?
Now for many people, language is habit. We don't think before we speak.
And when we act habitually, we don't act out of the complete freedom
that it takes to sin fully against God. But, when we recognize the bad
habit, we're morally obliged to break it!
But, let's not leave this commandment governing a few words here and there. We call ourselves Christian. We bear the name of Christ. We bear that name in vain when we fail to live, or at least to try to live, as Christ did. We give God's name no honor when we pray in church on Sunday but misuse our employees on Monday. We give Christ's name no honor when the world knows we're Christian (usually because we're always telling them so) but watches us cheat and lie and steal. We give the Lord's name no honor when we ignore the needs of the poor, when we accept easily the injustices of our society, when we refuse to rise to the gospel challenge of loving all people-even our enemy.
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Third Commandment Keep Holy The Sabbath July 31st, 2005 |
The third commandment tells us to "Keep holy the Sabbath."
In the full text of the Ten Commandments, keeping the Sabbath holy largely
has to do with work and rest. We have six days in which to work and
we have one for rest. And that rest is not just about us, the believers.
The rest belongs to the whole community, those who work with us and
for us.
Now the Jewish Sabbath focuses almost entirely on rest. The Hebrew scriptures
never command the whole community to attend religious services on the
Sabbath. But, we should notice that Jesus-the one who fulfills the law
and prophets-regularly attended synagogue and temple worship. Nothing
in the life of Jesus suggests that his followers would worship God with
quiet, private spiritual thoughts out under the trees. And in fact,
Jesus gives us a way to worship. At the Last Supper, after he gives
thanks and shares bread and wine, he says "Do this in memory of
me." Celebrating the Eucharist is one of the clearest and most
direct commands the Lord ever gave.
The church gives us the obligation to participate in the Eucharist
every Sunday and holy day (In case you've forgotten: December 8, Mary's
Immaculate Conception; Christmas and New Years; Ascension Thursday,
forty days after Easter; August 15, Mary's Assumption, and November
1, All Saints' Day). Don't be misled into thinking that these are just
the church's law, just manmade laws that we can set aside at will. Remember,
Jesus gave to Peter and the apostles the ability to loose and to bind.
When the church binds us to participate in the Eucharist on a given
day, we're morally obliged.
Now, we're only morally obliged to do what we're able to do. Mass obligation
ceases when we're sick, when we cannot find (though we should always
look) for a Catholic church, when we must work on Sunday.
But, now back to the Sabbath rest. The church has added Sunday Eucharist;
it has not abandoned Sunday rest. Certainly some people must work for
the common good on Sunday. Sometimes the conditions for being hired
include an ability to share in weekend work shifts. When as workers
we can exercise the choice to keep Sunday, we should do it. Employers,
however, have a responsibility to allow people to keep Sunday rest and
to attend Sunday religious services. Our materialistic culture's emphasis
on making more money and keeping busy can never trump God's law.
And remember, Sabbath rest and Sunday worship are God's gracious gifts.
Once every seven days, God tells us we matter regardless of how rich
we might be, regardless of how brilliantly our career has taken us.
And in the Eucharist Christ gives us his body and blood, a share in
his redeeming sacrifice. What could possibly be more important than
gratefully receiving God's gifts of Sunday rest and Sunday Eucharist?
 |
Fourth Commandment Honor your Father and your Mother August 7th, 2005 |
Take note of the verb in the fourth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother." Honor carries a broader meaning than "obey," a richer meaning than "do whatever your parents tell you to do."
Honor involves recognizing who the parents are. They've given us life. When we're young people, they have our best interests at heart. Amazing as it may seem, they have more experience of life, they are hopefully wiser and more discerning people than their young offspring. Honor means we acknowledge our connection through them to the human community. Honor means we don't pretend that we are self-made people, independent of the rest of the world. Honor means love, respect, and yes, a readiness to trust someone else's wisdom and to bow to someone else's will.
But, if parents abuse their position, if they harm the children entrusted to their care, honor never means putting up with the abuse. We don't honor people by allowing them to do wrong. Sometimes we honor people by confronting their weaknesses and helping them, even painfully, to grow.
And honoring parents is not just for children. The Old Testament book of Sirach tells us: "Take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life."
Even though honoring father and mother seems a challenge when we're children and parents seem to stand in the way of our doing what we want to do, honoring father and mother can be a challenge once more when they are faced with the illness and weakness that come with age. Taking responsible care of parents-at home or in nursing facilities-comprises the largest part of this commandment. Making responsible, life-respecting decisions about end-of-life issues comes into play here as well.
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Fifth Commandment Thou shalt not kill August 14th, 2005 |
How many times we hear people assess their moral standing: "Well,
at least I haven't murdered anyone!" Yet, on the way to that commandment,
"Thou shalt not kill" we discover a great deal of wrong-doing.
The basic principle behind the law is that human life is sacred. All
human life is sacred. The unborn child, the mentally or physically handicapped
person, the foreigner and the poor, the enemy in time of war, the convicted
criminal: all have been made in the image and likeness of God, all have
been potentially redeemed by the blood of Christ.
When we abort the unborn, we kill. When we allow people to starve to
death, we kill. When we fail to curb the excesses of war, especially
of modern warfare, we kill. When we fail to use capital punishment as
anything less than an absolute last resort-and our late holy father,
Pope John Paul II repeatedly told us that such a situation no longer
exists in western nations-we kill.
In the gospel, Jesus pushes the envelope even further. If we hate,
we kill. If we slander a reputation, we kill. If we have a grudge against
someone, Jesus tells us to turn around on our way to the altar-we have
no business offering God a sacrifice when we do not respect the human
dignity of another. And our Last Judgment turns out to be a list of
life-giving and death-dealing choices: did we feed the hungry? clothe
the naked? welcome the stranger? visit the sick and the imprisoned?
To prepare for that judgment, to live the Christ life we must be people
of life. Defend the rights of the unborn. Do the works of justice and
mercy. Shape our culture of death into a culture of life. Treat people-all
people-with respect. Hold back from slander and gossip. Make the choice
that Moses offered the children of Israel: I hold before you this day
life and death, a blessing or a curse. Choose life!
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Sixth Commandment Thou shalt not commit adultery August 21st, 2005 |
In the world of wine-making, there are two ways to add another substance
to the wine. If we add brandy or another sweet wine to our bottle, we
create a fortified wine-like Port or Sherry or Madeira. The addition
has "fortified" the flavor, strengthened and enriched the
taste.
On the other hand, we can add little water. That way we have more wine
to sell, but the flavor becomes thinner and the customer has been cheated.
And we call that particular vintage an adulterated wine.
And perhaps the wine maker's use of the word "adulterated"
can help us understand that sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not
commit adultery."
God has given his people in the sacred scripture, in the church's tradition
and in the use of our human reason a clear vision of sexuality. God
gives sex to the human race as a blessing-but a blessing within a very
particular context. Sex is about love. Sex is about permanent commitment.
Sex is about creating new life.
That threefold context-love, marriage, procreation-becomes the grid
from which answer our questions. If any of those elements are missing,
our sexual activity falls short of what God calls to do and to be. Adultery,
manipulative or abusive sexual activity, living together without marriage,
artificial birth control, homosexual activity, masturbation, pornography:
in each instance, we leave something out. We decide that sex doesn't
need to be about love, or it doesn't need to be about commitment, or
it doesn't need to engender new life.
And at that point, when our desires or actions stray from that threefold
context-love, marriage, procreation-we've watered down one of God's
gracious gifts, and we're in moral trouble.
return to top
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Seventh Commandment Thou shalt not steal August 28th, 2005 |
Thou shalt not steal seems a simple commandment. If something doesn't
belong to you, don't take it and don't use it without permission.
But sometimes we let ourselves get confused about what we own and don't
own.
When our eye looks at the answers on that other test paper or when we
paste on our own name on research we lifted from the Net, we've stolen
the work someone else did-someone else who bothered to read the book,
listen to the lecture, take the notes and study the night before.
When we fudge that income figure on our tax return, we've stolen from
the troops we support, we've stolen from schools and libraries we use,
we've stolen from the young woman for whom government aid makes it easier
to bear that inconvenient pregnancy.
When we download that song or movie, when we Xerox that article or that
music, we listen to or read or sing stolen goods.
When we don't pay the bill we owe, we steal from a company's merchandise,
its investors' return, its employees' next raise, its other customers'
hope for a good deal.
When we don't bother to care for the environment, we steal the health
of future generations, we steal the beauty of a creation loaned to us
and shared with all humanity.
When we pass on that juicy bit of gossip, we steal someone's reputation,
their right to their good name.
When we have more than enough to eat and a place to live and all sorts
of silly luxuries and we don't do anything for the poor, we've stolen-so
say the Fathers of the Church-from Christ himself who promised to come
to us in the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the sick and the imprisoned.
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Eight Commandment You Shall Not Bear False Witness |
 |
Ninth Commandment Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's spous, September 4th, 2005 |
This spring the parish book discussion group read Wisdom Instilled
from the Daily, Sister Joan Chittister's reflections on Benedictine
spirituality. One of the pieces of Benedictine life that Sr Chittister
takes up is the notion of stability. St Benedict wanted his nuns and
monks to make a promise of stability to this community, to this group
of people and way of living. Nothing could be worse, in Benedict's eyes,
than committed religious folk running after every new fad.
And stability, stability in relationships, is the value underlying the
ninth commandment; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's spouse.
God means us to find our salvation right where we are. St Frances de
Sales told us "Bloom where you are planted." And that applies
to relationships. Our culture has embraced the message that if we're
not happy here and now, move on-to another job, another relationship,
another spouse, another family. But when we continuously quit and move
on, what happens to our growth as people and as Christians?
The commandment tells us not to look at that other spouse, that other
relationship, that other family, that better and more perfect life.
The commandment tells us to stop our daydreaming and get to the work,
the very real work, of building good relationships and growing with
the people God has given to our lives.
Now certainly there come times when a marriage is physical or mentally
abusive. Of course that spouse has a right and sometimes a responsibility
to leave the situation. But in most instances, in normal circumstances,
we have a responsibility to stability in our relationships
.
And the commandment urges us to look at our attitudes towards relationship
and marriage. Have we become too accepting of divorce and remarriage?
Has kindness to people in their need become condoning an actual wrong?
Do we treat adultery and promiscuity casually? Do we pretend not to
see the harm done to persons and to community when we allow sex to become
shallow and meaningless? In regards to our children, what do our standards
about dating tell them? Does teenage dating prepare young people to
accept the challenge of Christian marriage? Or does teenage dating,
with it's breaking up and moving on, prep kids for separation and divorce?
St Benedict had a tremendous insight when he asked that extra vow, that
promise of stability. Maybe 1400 years later, we can hear that wisdom
and learn to live more faithfully the relationships we've been given.
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Tenth Commandment Thou shalt not covet anything that is September 11th, 2005 |
A glance at the mail tells me this is the time of year when coveting
seems to be in the air.
Every day they arrive-the Christmas catalogs. Every one of them encourages
us to page through the colorful pictures, read the descriptions, weigh
the prices. Every one of them wants to convince us that we need to own
what they have to sell. Every one of them whispers in our ear: Your
house will be more beautiful…Your friends will be impressed…Your
celebrations will be more joyful…Your time will be so much more
fun…if only you had…!
Now it's not wrong to own something. It's not wrong to appreciate something
that is beautiful, something that would give enjoyment. It's not wrong
to want something that will make our lives easier.
What is wrong, then, does the last commandment-Thou shalt not covet
anything that is thy neighbor's-condemn?
The tenth commandment condemns our tendency not to keep things in perspective.
Sinful conveting happens when we forget the difference between things
and people and values. People and values matter greatly. Sometimes people
and values are worthy sacrificing for. Sometimes people and values are
worth dying for. Things matter much less. We use them to serve people
and values. When they no longer serve people and values, things become
sinful.
And our desire to own becomes sinful when we grow more concerned about
the things in our lives and less concerned about the people we know
and the values we hold. And that desire can creep into the most well
meaning lives. So slowly we become more and more seduced by the commercialism
and materialism all around us. So slowly we become comfortable with
our relative wealth and what it can do.
Jesus calls his followers repeatedly to divest themselves of things
and the hold things can have on the human heart: "Blessed are the
poor," he cries. "If you want to be perfect, sell everything
you own," he invites. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasure
on earth that will rot and corrode, but seek after the treasures of
heaven," he calls out. "Seek first," he insists, "the
kingdom of heaven."
Supreme Court's decision about displaying the Ten Commandments on government property, July 10th, 2005
The Supreme Court's recent decision about displaying the Ten Commandments
on government property certainly raises some issues for us as people
of faith.
On the one hand, the Ten Commandments play a part in our legal heritage.
The Catholic faith-rooted in the Hebrew scriptures-gave shape to European,
and later American, culture. If we want to tell the story of law in
Western civilization, we need to include those commandments-much the
way the name of Thomas Aquinas is engraved on the J. V. Brown Library
wall along with Shakespeare and Milton and Whitman.
But, on the other hand, the Ten Commandments are clearly a religious
document. They claim their source in the God of Israel and are regarded
as inspired scripture by various Jewish and Christian groups. Would
we be quite so enthusiastic about quotes from the Qu'ran carved into
the lintels of a courtroom or a statue of Shiva reverently displayed
in a public park?
And, let's look at the scriptural evidence itself. The Children of
Israel had in their possession the real Ten Commandments, the stone
tablets carved by the hand of God and entrusted to Moses, his faithful
servant. No translations, no reproductions, no Xerox copies for them!
And were they a better people? more moral? more faithful? Fact is, they
wandered in the desert for forty years, testing God at every turn, doing
every conceivable type of wrong. Posting the Ten Commandments won't
solve our problems.
If we're worried about the Ten Commandments, maybe it's time for people
of faith to really live them. What if Christians really put God first?
What if churches and synagogues were crowded on Sundays and Sabbaths?
What if we really worked at our marriages? What if our concern for the
poor and the oppressed started to change our world? Maybe we can't hang
the Ten Commandments in a public building. But nobody has, and nobody
can prevent us from keeping the Ten Commandments in our daily lives.
And that would be the most powerful witness of all.
These next few weeks, I'd like us to reflect on the Commandments-to remember what they are, to understand the values they protect, to see how they can be applied to our lives today. I hope we'd be better able to live those Commandments and witness to the just and gracious God who writes them, no longer on tablets of stone, but in our hearts.