Commandments (6)
by Ottavio De Bertolis
We have reached the end of the Decalogue, and we combine the last two commandments, or words, those that traditionally go under a sort of duplication: "do not desire another's wife", and "do not desire other people's things". We unify them into a single “do not desire”, which is a sort of lowest common denominator.
To begin to clarify the meaning of this Word, we must first of all distinguish between "desires" and "cravings", or whims. Desire is something profound, which sculpts our identity and which constitutes what God created us for: so one can desire to study physics, or be an astronaut, or become a father, or consecrate oneself to God. These types of desires say our vocation itself: any other type of experience will be less significant and important for those who live them, and these desires will likely remain deeply rooted in us, overcoming any contrary or adverse evidence. It may be difficult to remain faithful to it, but it is not impossible, and the effort made in this sense will contribute to making us feel like ourselves, authors and protagonists of our choices. True desire is indelible, precisely because, ultimately, it comes from God.
by Ottavio De Bertolis
15/* The commandments: ten words to stay free. Do not steal
Let's continue our reflection on the ten words that make us free. The seventh commandment says: "thou shalt not steal", and with this each of us feels exempt from any guilt. In fact, none of us has ever gone to rob a bank, or pickpocket old ladies on the bus. But it is clear that the commandment, or rather the word, has a much more significant meaning.
First of all, I would like to note that there is quite little talk about it. In fact, while the sixth commandment, the one on chastity, is felt to be truly obligatory, a sort of bugaboo on which whether or not being in a state of grace depends, the seventh is quite overlooked, as if the Lord did not like the virtues “public”, but only “private” ones.
Don't commit adultery
by Ottavio De Bertolis, sj
At the conclusion of these reflections on the sixth commandment, we can therefore say some very simple things. First of all, that sexuality is a very powerful impulse in everyone, and that therefore it must be lived well, because this force must be well channeled: it is therefore not a question of denying or repressing it - that would only make it worse - but of integrating it into a context of fully human life, of deep and emotional relationships that are not false or illusory. In short, the sixth commandment invites us to learn to love, because, despite the fact that we are all "naturally" capable of it, this does not mean that we always succeed well. Ultimately, we must say that love, like any other human reality, needs to be redeemed: and this is, after all, the profound meaning of the sacrament of marriage, which is aimed at freeing the couple from ambiguities or distortions that can always arise in this relationship.
by Ottavio De Bertolis sj
We have already mentioned the profound meaning of the sixth commandment, which is not to repress, but to free our affectivity and our sexuality itself. In fact, it is evident that these impulses can be disordered and be experienced in a destructive way, that is, not human, but simply animal: experienced in this way, they are not even satisfying, precisely because love is not a simple mechanics of organs, but an agreement of souls. , or, if you prefer, of hearts. Each of us, married or not, lay person or priest, is marked by the profound need to love and be loved: if we thought that chastity consists in suppressing this, we would be completely off track. In this sense, as we mentioned, the sixth commandment does not teach us to repress, but to integrate and live more fully the world of our affections, because it is instead possible to live them badly or "less".
by Ottavio De Bertolis sj
We have thus arrived at the discussion of the sixth commandment, in front of which we all feel a little afraid since adolescence. And it is a shame to be afraid, because this commandment, like all the others, is not intended to be a bogeyman or impose burdens that we cannot carry, but rather to open our minds and our hearts to an important dimension of our life, here affectivity and sexuality, very deep internal drives in each of us. The meaning of the commandment is therefore not: "be careful what you do, because here there is always and only mortal sin", but rather "learn to live as a true man", that is, not as an asexual angel, which we are not, but not even a beast, which we are not, but could become.
Let us continue our reflection on the fifth word of the Decalogue: do not kill. We have already seen that "kill" here means the relationship with the other broken or deformed by violence. In a nutshell, we could say that "killing" occurs every time someone else is erased from our life. Again, we observed that the brotherhood that the commandment obliges us to live is not a relationship between two, me and my friend, but a relationship between three: me, the other and He who placed us next to each other. other. In this sense, to heal the wounds in our interpersonal relationships we must look to this third subject, God, who loved both of us first, forgiving each of us every debt: we can therefore welcome each other, as He welcomed us.