March 8, 2015 – Third Sunday of Lent
Ex 20: 1-17; Ps 19: 8-11; 1 Cor 1: 22-25; Jn 2: 13-25
The Ten Commandments are our moral code given directly to us from God. Our Catholic beliefs, morals, and practices often come under attack from the secular society, but these clearly written morals are the anchor on which much of our behavior should be based.
In fact, according to the noted author and philosopher C. S. Lewis, “There is a universal morality among all humankind. These principles represented in the Ten Commandments are implanted in the hearts and minds of all women and men.” That would seem to make it simple, but as we all know, nothing is ever simple.
Nevertheless, during our Lenten preparations for Easter it is an excellent time for us to evaluate how we are doing in relation to these basic Commandments from God. Our sense of stewardship tells us that we are in need of God’s guidance and instructions. Too often in our society we seem to rely upon what our “personal” feelings may be in relation to morals and how we live them out. When questioned about the Commandments, Jesus responded that the two most important were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” as well as “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Our problem may be that we do not even fulfill those two Commandments, let alone the Ten Commandments. That should be our goal always, not just during Lent.
