La Fe Magazine Online

Last Word

How do the Ten Commandments affect your daily life?

En Español

Brother John Allen

This issue takes us back to some of the first words spoken to us by the Lord, to the first of the commandments delivered by Yahweh through Moses to the Chosen People gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai. “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me....” (Exodus 20:2-3 and Deuteronomy 5:6-7). The greatest truth God gave our ancestors in the faith is expressed in the “Shema” (Deut. 6:4-5): “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This was a great leap forward in our understanding of the world and its mysteries. At that time in history, all the other peoples surrounding the Chosen People practiced polytheism (belief in many gods). This would continue for centuries. Though most of the great religions practiced today are monotheistic (belief in one God), polytheism still persists in many parts of the world. So what does this have to do with me? I have come far beyond my distant ancestors’ practice of worshipping other gods. I trust in the Lord, the one God, andbelieve in and love God’s only Son, Jesus Christ! I am no idolater! I have no others gods in MY life! I think back a few years to a homily given by Msgr. Lucian R. Brasley when he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Laredo. His opening line was, “Our Blessed Mother is not God!” That certainly got the congregation’s attention! He went on to explain that in subtle ways idolatry creeps into our faith life when we fail to understand the truth about Mary and the other saints ? that they themselves are children of the one God. Mary said it beautifully: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Luke 1:46). Later on she tells the servers at the wedding in Cana, “Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you” (John 2:5). Mary knew where she stood. She is our intercessor and our mother in faith. What about other, more sinister, “gods” I might worship without actually realizing what I’m doing? Do I make an idol of myself? When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, have I ever become aware of wanting to change the words to “...hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, MY will be done...”?...in other words, not really wanting to surrender my will to the Lord’s, but wanting to persuade God to work things out the way I wish. Do I make an idol of one issue? If I am pro-life (as all true followers of Jesus must be), do I include in my prayers and actions all pro-life issues ? an end to domestic violence, to war, to the death penalty...and not just an end to abortion? Do I make an idol of power? Do I “lord it over” my children, my spouse, my employees, my students, my constituents? Do I make idols of the pleasures of this world? Do I lust for more and more money so I can buy more and more possessions of the highest quality? Do I lust for comfort? For the best of food and drink?

For the other pleasures of the flesh? The First Commandment provides abundant material for prayerful reflection on my life and motives. I pray that I may have no other gods besides the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Mary and all the saints, and that I may live the “Shema” and the words of Jesus: “...love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father....” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Brother John Allen, FMS is Chancellor of the Diocese of Laredo

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