Preserving the Honor of the Individual and of the Community

Homily for Friday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time

The reading from the Book of Exodus lists what have become known as the Ten Commandments. A second version can be found in the Book of Deuteronomy. When we were taught the commandments as children, we learned the “Reader’s Digest” version. Today we hear a longer version which explains the rationale behind the commandments regarding our relationship with God.

The commandments that concern themselves with our neighbor are all grounded in the notion of honor and its preservation. Anyone who wishes to be known as a person of honor will realize that these statements all preserve the individual and the community from shame and dishonor. Honoring one’s elders is not peculiar to the Judeo-Christian world. All of the countries of the Middle and Far East regard this as a foundation for a well ordered society. Killing, stealing, lying, jealousy and committing adultery would quickly unravel that order.

All of the commandments are about relationships, both our relationship with God and with our neighbor. They are often reduced to the so-called two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor.

Just as the commandments depend upon an individual’s willingness to open the heart to God and neighbor, God’s word also depends upon an open heart, likened to good soil in the Gospel, in order for it to take root in one’s life.

God wishes us to be in a right relationship – both with God and with our neighbor. As Franciscans, we realize that our relationship with all of God’s created universe is about preserving the gifts that God has given us and which make it possible for us to live at peace with one another and with our environment.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator