Sirach 15:15-20
If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man’s every deed. No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live and keep your words. Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly observe them. Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Brothers and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for, if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
cf. Matthew 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; y
ou have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
Matthew 5:17-37
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. “Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”
Sirach 15:15-20
Sirach was promulgated approximately 180 years before Christ. It was written in Hebrew by a man named Ben Sira who was a Jewish person living in Jerusalem. Sirach gets its name from the translitera-tion of the Hebrew name Sira into the Greek Sirach. The book was translated into Greek by Ben Sira’s grandson several years later.
Ben Sira was a well-educated Jew who dedicated his life to a study of the Law and the Prophets. He was a highly respected scribe and teacher, who ran an academy for young Jewish men.1 He was concerned with the growing Hellenistic influence on the people and in particular its negative influence on orthodox Jewish Religion. He viewed the influence as a dilution of authentic fidelity to Yahweh.
Sirach is a beautiful collection of wisdom and poetry. The original title in Hebrew was The Wisdom of Yeshua (Jesus) ben (son of) Eleazar ben Sira.2 Sirach begins “Praise of Wisdom. All wisdom comes from the Lord and with him it remains forever… Before all things else, wisdom was created, and prudent under-standing from eternity. To whom has wisdom’s root been revealed? Who knows her subtleties? There is but one, wise and truly awe-inspiring, seated upon his throne: It is the Lord; he created her… He has poured her forth upon all his works.” (Sir 1: 1-8). In contrast with Greek philosophy which viewed wis-dom as a human attribute flowing from within, Sirach reveals wisdom as a gift from God. God is the crea-tor and the source of wisdom, and He chooses to pour out His wisdom upon creation. “With wisdom and knowledge, He fills them; good and evil He shows them.” (Sir 17: 6).
Our pericope is selected from a section that is titled Man’s Free Will in the NAB. It is introduced by the previous verse. “When God, in the beginning, created man, He made him subject to his own free choice.” (Sir 15: 14).
If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. The phrase that is translated in this verse as trust in God is derived from the Greek word pistis. The word carries with it our common understanding of the word faith. It means a system of beliefs that we hold and profess. It means trust and confidence. It means loyalty, fidelity and assurance. As it is portrayed throughout Sacred Scripture it takes on an even deeper meaning. It connotes a deep, abid-ing, personal relationship of love, even a sharing of life. This deep abiding relationship is made pos-sible by the justification that comes from the dying and rising of Jesus. By the Paschal Mystery we are set free to enter this communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed, “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word so that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they may also be in Us.” (Jn 17: 20-21).
Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man’s every deed. No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin. The Greek word that is translated as life in this verse is zoe. Zoe describes life in the Spirit. Zoe is the word that John used in his Gospel and in his letters to describe the fullness of life that Jesus talked about, life that comes from above and is eternal. There is another word for life in the Greek language, bios, that describes biological life. The Greek word that is translated as wis-dom in this verse is sophia. Sophia here describes a greater wisdom than human wisdom, the wis-dom of Greek philosophy. This is a mighty wisdom that comes from God. It is mighty (ischyros) and powerful (dynasteia) and all-seeing (blepo). Blepo can mean all-seeing in terms of physical sight but also describes the power of awareness and perception. Both Proverbs and Hebrews speak of this omniscient power of God. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Prov 15: 3). “No creature is concealed from Him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must render an account.” (Heb 4: 13).
This passage from Sirach restates the well-known passage from Deuteronomy. “I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding His voice, and hold-ing fast to Him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land which the Lord swore He would give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deut 30: 19-20).
1. Brown, Fitzmyer, Murphy; The New Jerome Biblical Commentary; P.H.; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; page 498.
2. Ibid.
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the psalter, consisting of 176 verses. It is titled A Prayer to God, the Lawgiver in the NAB and Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet in the ESV. The au-thor is giving thanks and praise to God for the gift of His laws and precepts, giving us guide-lines to live by. The psalm in an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 119, like Psalm 112, begins very similar to Psalm 1. The first two verses of Psalm 1 are as follows: “Blessed (ashre/makarios) are those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in the company of scoffers. Rather, the law of the Lord is their joy.” (Ps 1: 1-2).
Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart.
The word blessed is a translation of the Hebrew word ashre. The LXX translates ashre as makar-ios. (See the exegesis from Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time for a discussion on ashre/makarios.) The psalm begins with a declaration of praise for the Lord. Then it moves to a series of beati-tudes for those who live in right relationship with the Lord.
The Hebrew word that is translated as Lord in this verse and throughout the psalm is Yahweh. The Hebrew word that is translated as law is torah. Torah is typically translated into English as law as it is here. In Jewish understanding, however, torah has a connotation of instruction or teaching. It can also be translated as rule or direction. Law has a more negative or restrictive connotation in the English translation than torah warrants. The Hebrew word that is translated as decrees in this verse is edut. Edut is translated as testimonies in the ESV. Edut can also be trans-lated as witness, laws, warning or reminder.
Proverbs describes how God delights in those who walk blamelessly with Him. “The depraved in heart are an abomination to the Lord. but those who walk blamelessly are His delight.” (Prov 11: 20). Second Chronicles assures us that God is present to those who seek Him. “The Lord is with you when you are with Him, and if you seek Him He will be present to you.” (2 Chr 15: 2).
You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes! The Hebrew word that is translated as precepts in this verse is piqqudim. Piqqudim appears earlier in the psalter. “The precepts (piqqudim) of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Ps 19: 8).
Be good to your servant, that I may live and keep your words. Open my eyes, that I may con-sider the wonders of your law. The Hebrew word that is translated as good in this verse is gamal. Gamal appears in Psalm 13, and the ESV translates it as bountiful. “I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully (gamal) with me.” (Ps 13: 6). The Hebrew word that is translated as law in this verse torah. The word torah in Hebrew holds more of a connotation of teaching or instruction.
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly observe them. Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart. “For the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov 2: 6).
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
For an introduction to 1 Corinthians see the exegesis over the past several weeks. Our pe-ricope is selected from a passage that is titled The True Wisdom in the NAB, and True Wis-dom of God in the RSV. In the interpretation of this passage, it is important to bear in mind the pervasive Hellenistic influences in Corinth at the time, and the admiration that it allotted to human wisdom, sophia. James describes merely human wisdom as follows: “Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demon-ic.” (James 3: 15). Paul speaks of those touting merely human wisdom as infants in Christ. “Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshy people, as infants in Christ.” (1 Cor 3: 1).
Brothers and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. The Greek word that is translated as wisdom in this passage is sophia. The Greek word that is translated as mature is teleios. Teleios is the same word that Jesus used in Matthew 5:48. “So be perfect (teleios) just as your Heavenly Father is perfect (teleios).” (Mt. 5: 48). At its root, the word teleios means to reach completion or the maturity that its maker has created and intended it to be. Hu-manity was created out of love, for love. Reaching the fullness of agape love is to reach perfection in Christ Jesus.
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for, if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Again in this verse sophia is the Greek word that is translated as wisdom. Sophia appears 17 times in this short letter and 51 times in the entire NT. Sophia appears 139 times in the LXX. The Hebrew equivalent to the Greek word sophia is hakmah. Earlier in 1 Corinthians St. Paul states clearly that Jesus, the Word made Flesh, is the personification of Wisdom from God: “Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1: 24). Sophia is likened in Sacred Scripture to the preexistent Logos existing in eternity. “Wisdom (hakmah/sophia) sings her own praises… From the mouth of the Most High (Yahweh) I (Hakmah/Sophia) came forth, and mist like covered the earth… Before all ages, in the beginning He (Yahweh) created me, and through all ages I shall not cease to be.” (Sir 24: 1, 3, 9). “The Lord begot me (hakmah/sophia), the firstfruits of His ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.” (Prov 8: 22-23). Through Him all things came into being. Through Him all things were fashioned. “Such things as are hidden I learned, and such as are plain; for Wisdom (Hakmah/Sophia), the artificer of all, taught me.” (Wis 7: 22). Sophia is associated with the work of the Holy Spirit: “Or who ever knew your counsel, except You had given Wisdom (Sophia) and sent Your Holy Spir-it from on high?” (Wis 9: 17). Sophia is embodied in the human being living in righteousness. “Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the Lord, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom (hakmah) and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise (hakam) and intelligent people.’” (Deut 4: 5-6). Paul goes on to say that we are called to speak God’s wisdom.
But as it is written: What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not en-tered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, this God has re-vealed to us through the Spirit. In this beautiful quotation Paul is drawing from the Proph-et Isaiah. “No ear has ever heard, no eye has ever seen, any God but You doing such deeds for those who wait for Him.” (Is 64: 3). “Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.” (Is 65: 17). James describes what awaits those who love God. “Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that He promised to those who love Him.” (James 1: 12).
For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God. The only way to truly know God is through the Holy Spirit living within the depth of our souls.
Matthew 5:17-37
Our Gospel pericope today is a continuation of the famous teaching of Jesus that we call the Sermon on the Mountain. It begins with a consistent theme of Matthew, that Jesus is the ful-fillment of the Law and the Prophets. The expression Law and the Prophets, essentially refers to the entire OT, at least as Matthew uses the phrase. In ordinary Jewish thought, the OT in-cluded the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. The early Church Fathers saw the presence of the pre-existing Logos throughout the OT. Jesus, the Word made Flesh, is the personification of the Word of God.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. The disciples would include the twelve apostles, His followers in the crowd before Him. The Greek word that is translated in this verse as abolish is katalyo, which means to destroy, demolish, do away with, destroy, or invalidate. The Greek word that is translated as fulfill is pleroo. Pleroo means to ful-fill, complete, or cause or make to happen. Matthew first uses this word in the infancy narrative. “All this took place to fulfill (pleroo) what the Lord had said through the Prophet: ‘Behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a Son, and they shall name Him Emmanuel,’ which means God is with us.” (Mt 1: 23). (See also Mt 2: 6, 15; 4:14-16).
Strict adherence to the Law was essential in Jewish thought. “Therefore, the Lord com-manded us to observe all these statutes in fear of the Lord, our God, that we may always have a prosperous and happy life as we have today; and our justice before the Lord, our God, is to consist in carefully observing all these commandments He has enjoined on us.” (Deut 6: 24-25). “If you would harken to My commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted from My presence.” (Is 48: 18-19). “The grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of God stands forever.” (Is 40: 8). The Jewish people of Palestine standing before Jesus were still bound by God’s commandments.
St. Paul taught that not only Christ was the fulfilment of the Law, but it is our calling as well with the help of the Holy Spirit, to become the fulfillment (pleroo) of the Law. “For Christ is the end (telos) of the law for the justification of everyone who has faith.” (Rom 10: 4). Telos can also be translated as completion or fulfillment. “For the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending His own Son in the like-ness of human flesh and for the sake of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled (pleroo) in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8: 3-4). “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for one who loves another has fulfilled (pleroo) the law.” (Rom 13: 8).
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the small-est part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Matthew uses the expression heaven and earth pass away, to describe the coming of the Kingdom of God in all its fullness. In His eschatological teaching Jesus uses this expression to assure us that He will surpass this event. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Mt 24: 35). The smallest letter is a translation of the Greek word iota. Iota is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word yodah, which is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The expression part of a letter is the translation of the Greek word keraia. Keraia is referring to a small dot that was used to distinguish one Hebrew letter from another. The point is that Jesus came to abolish not even the smallest part of God’s statutes.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was critical of the scribes and the Pharisees for imposing additional laws and statutes upon the people and not observing them them-selves. The Greek word dikaiosyne that is translated here as righteousness is a very sig-nificant word in Sacred Scripture. Dikaiosyne can also be translated as justice, or fulfill-ment of the law. The Prophet Jeremiah foretold that the gifts of the Messiah would be righteousness, sanctification and redemption. “Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is right and just in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This the name they will give him: ‘Lord of justice.’” (Jer 23: 5-6). The word dikaiosyne appears 92 times in the NT and 344 times in the LXX. The Hebrew equivalent is sedaquah. Sedaquah/dikaiosyne is about being in right rela-tionship with God, especially important is being connected to God in faith and trust. In Sacred Scripture sedaquah is first attributed to Father Abraham referencing God’s cove-nant with him. “And he (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as right-eousness (sedaquah). (Gen 15: 6). St. Paul points to Abraham as a model of faith. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Rom 4: 3). Jesus points to the righteousness of the Father. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His right-eousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” (Mt 6: 33). Jesus teaches us that righteousness is necessary to attain eternal life. “And these will go off to eternal punish-ment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Mt 25: 46). St. Paul challenges us to pursue right-eousness. “So, turn from youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord.” (2 Tim 2: 22). St. Peter warns that many will suffer because of our righteousness with the Lord. “But even if you should suffer because of right-eousness (dikaiosyne), blessed are you.” (1 Pt 3: 14). Due to their hypocrisy many of the scribes and Pharisees were not in a right relationship with God.
What follows in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain is what is commonly referred to as the six antitheses. The pattern is basically the same. They begin with “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,” and is followed by the phrase, “but I say to you…” The an-titheses cover the following: anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and love of enemies. In each of the six teachings Jesus goes to the root of the commandment and challenges us to go deeper. Much like the Beatitudes we are called with the help of the Holy Spirit to live our lives on a higher level of being, to rise above the letter of the law. Our selected passage covers the first four of the six antitheses, anger, lust, divorce, and oaths. Jesus puts before us contrasts between the Law, the Torah, and this new way of living the com-mandments. They at first can seem to be a contrast, but it is important to consider that Jesus just informed us that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and not abolish them. The contrast then must be interpreted in that light. Jesus is teaching us what it means to fulfill the spirit of the Law.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be lia-ble to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the San-hedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. St. John sums this up in his first letter. “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.” (1 Jn 3: 15). The root of murder is anger and hate.
“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The root cause of adultery is lust. Adultery was forbidden under the Mosaic Law as articulated in Ex 20:14 and Deut 5:18.
“It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Deut 24: 1-4 ex-plains the rules for divorce under the Law. Jesus recognizes divorce as a reality of our fallen world. “Jesus said to them, ‘Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.’” (Mt 19: 8)
“Again, you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.” “You shall not swear falsely by My name, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord.” (Lev 19: 12).
The great Greek philosopher, Socrates once said, “The un-reflected life is not worth liv-ing.” As I look at the world today, I see many people living on the surface of life. Most people, it seems to me, are existing, and not really living, going through the motions of life, caught up in day-to-day activities without ever reflecting on the deeper meaning of life. In our readings this weekend, God is challenging us to go deeper. God is challenging us to go into the depth of our being to discover our true selves.
In our first reading from the Book of Sirach, God is reminding us that we are free. God has set before us good and evil, life and death. Which do we choose? Why do we make the decisions that we make? We have within us the seeds of good and the seeds of evil. Which seeds do we plant and water, and why? These are the questions that we are asked to ponder this weekend.
The seeds of evil are within us because of the effects of original sin. It is a part of our fallen human nature. When we find ourselves doing things that we know we should not be doing, when we find ourselves doing things that we don’t even want to do, we say that we know better. Yet, we find ourselves doing them non-the-less. This moment should cause us to pause and look deeper into our hearts and get at the root of the problem. In or Gospel this weekend Jesus challenges us to look for these underlying causes of our outward actions. If you choose to kill, Jesus asks, “Why do you hate?” To eliminate our outward actions, we must first confront our deepest thoughts and emotions.
In our second reading, St. Paul talks of an inner Wisdom, not wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, but God’s Wisdom, mysterious and hidden. This Wisdom is available to us as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that dwells deep within us. It is a Wisdom that will illumine our life and be a lamp for our feet, a light that will lead us down the right path. It is a light that leads to goodness and life, a light that leads to eternal life with God. The guiding light of our lives should be the prize that awaits us: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, … what God has prepared for those who love Him, this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of those who love You and enkindle in us the fire of Your love. Amen.
Yours in Christ,
Our faith is more than a Creed that we profess, it is more than a system of beliefs that we adhere to, it is more than a lens or prism through which we look at life, it is a way of life. God gives us rules and guidelines for life. The foundation of which are the Ten Command-ments.
At an early age, as part of the Baltimore Catechism that I was forced to memorize from cover to cover, I reduced the Ten Commandments to memory. I could recite them on que. As with much of what I memorized I did not understand half of what I could recite. One day as a 13-year-old, the seventh commandment was put to the test. The facts are as clear today as they were nearly 60 years ago. They are clear because the decision that I was forced to make became a foundational moment in my life. As such I am brought back to that moment often over the years.
I was on the 7th and 8th grade basketball team. I attended a public school that was invited to play in the local Catholic league. We were playing in a Saturday tournament at St. Jo-seph’s School in the heart of our local town. After our morning game we had a break of a couple of hours before our next game. Some of my friends and I walked down the local main street that was lined with stores that had lunch bars and soda fountains, I think they were referred to commonly as five-and-dime stores. One of my friends decided that we should steal a couple of water pistols and use them on the girls back at the gym. My job was to keep the clerk busy while they pulled off the heist. I quickly responded “no” and advised them to drop the idea. I walked out of the store. My friends were caught and were kicked off of the team among other consequences.
As I later reflected on that moment in time, I knew that stealing was wrong. I knew that it was against the 7the commandment. I understood that one. Thou shalt not steal seemed straight forward to me. I grew up in a strict Catholic, God fearing, law-abiding family. But I don’t recall any of that influencing my decision.
I was very close to my paternal grandfather. I was his first grandson and naturally his favorite. We did everything together. He and grandma owned a small country general mer-chandise store. He was the most generous person that I have ever known. He was always helping someone in need, especially large families that were in rough times. Grandpa had recently discovered that two teenage boys, from a family that he had once helped, were steal-ing gas from his store. He caught them and felt that he had to follow through with their par-ents and with legal proceedings. He felt that it was for their own good. But it was devastat-ing for him!
At the moment of decision in that five-and-dime store that day, all I could think of was how grandpa would feel if he knew that I was involved in stealing. All that mattered at that moment was the fact that I did not want to disappoint my grandpa. I knew that it would break his heart. That thought process trumped my parents, the Ten Commandments, the Church and everything else. Hundreds of times in my life I have reflected on that founda-tional moment. As a CPA I was often put in a position where someone was asking me to do something that would cross the line of law or ethics, and I refused.
My grandpa has been gone for nearly 50 years. His voice is still in my head, “Right is right and wrong is wrong.” I still do not want to disappoint him, and more importantly, Jesus!
