Master, what should I do
"Master, what good must I do to inherit eternal life? To the young man who asked him this question, Jesus answered: If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He added: "If you would be perfect, go', sell what you possess and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me".
(Mt 19,21)
This second response does not cancel the first. Following Jesus involves keeping the commandments.
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The Lord is our God
The man, in choosing the rules of their actions, is predisposed to prefer those that come from the desires of the flesh, even he raises many lusts to their idols, and consequently it remains a slave.
From the dawn of its existence, it has always examined whether his act, compared to what comes from the depths of its essence, is correct.
The sense of right, or rather the correct morally, so has gone through ups and downs in the weather, influencing society, cultures and peoples. The moral is, therefore, for the right man, the way to get good and achieve inner peace.
To this end God to rescue man and guide him in time to the streets impassable in the world, donated the Ten Commandments. They are dictated rules of his ardent love and the man needed to proceed swiftly on the path of true good and win the battle against his own selfishness. This is a necessary way to achieve love and obtain, at the appointed time, the eternal prize.
God who is Love, Goodness, Wisdom, Strength, Power, Perfection, i.e. the All, invites you with a loving command: "If you want to be a fair and good man, you have to follow the Ten Commandments, there are no other shortcuts." Well, try to consult your intellect, think logically and see how deep it reaches the invitation of God, and the same reason you will understand that the Decalogue is necessary to build your own human nature.
In every part of the world and under any legal system, thieves, and murderers, and liars are prosecuted when they commit offenses, however there are behaviors that involve human morality as respect for the father and mother, not wanting your neighbor's wife and property of others which are outside the civil law, but in the moral and natural. Hence the need to reject the unhealthy desires, so do not enter the mind to activate the will and become active; the only way to eliminate the root that still is not, but it could be.
Man is by nature selfish, lazy, incredulous, and careless, imprisons the intimate desire for good to gag him, step on it and dismiss it. However, evil always has consequences for those who commit it, since evil corrupts, impairs the reasons of the heart and reduces its ability to love. Also feeds the pride which plunges the man into despair and misery. True joy, conversely, is to love and be loved, and all that prevents them from fulfilling this love produces sadness, loneliness and selfishness. Selfishness, then, generates thirst for all lusts and fuels the fires that generate the unquenchable dryness that no pleasure can ever fill.
The rules of the Decalogue preserve the man from misery and lead him on the path of love, well; these rules are a heritage restricted to believers? No, it is a heritage to which all can draw abundantly. To pick hammers of active morality always, but even more resolute now, it will not remain that observe over time the results of their wicked lies. They, in fact, will not know how to respond to the desperation of their children who ask the reason of their existence, both the immense emptiness of their hearts, both of true love that does not disappoint but do not know where to find.
The first three commandments of the Decalogue regarding the worship of God and are the most important because the Almighty has precedence over everything and, therefore, should be loved and adored above all else. This duty is not reserved only for believers, but for all those who are establishing the question on the ultimate goal of life or, rather, the reason for living. It is a question that must be answered because it involves their own existence, opens the horizon of hope and eternity. This means understanding that God is close to us in joy and in suffering and waiting to help us with concern and love if they require intervention.
It is easy to understand that when a man is separated from God is nothing, while uniting himself with Him is life, power, strength, wisdom, temperance, justice, prudence, goodness, mercy, charity and many other courses to infinity, we receive the virtues and become his children in the Spirit.
We live in a society where the science of the world is unable to raise itself to the supernatural level, but strive to lower the supernatural to its ground level, relegates the existence of God as the result of some philosophical speculation without any importance. They say, with their knowledge that you cannot scientifically prove God, and then the Almighty cannot exist. Blinded by their pride, they spread this lie and cannot see the great testimonies that God has given through amazing facts. It would be enough to stop and meditate on the miraculous healings that took place in Marian shrines such as Lourdes, Fatima, or through the saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio, St. Anthony of Padua, just to name a few.
To a young man who asked what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus replied: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments." "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill them. Verily I say unto you, until you have passed the heavens and the earth, not even one stroke of a letter will pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these precepts, however minimal, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven"
(Mt 5,17-19)
Observe the Ten Commandments is necessary to walk towards freedom; the first freedom. St. Augustine writes in this regard: "It consists in being free from crimes ... such as murder, adultery, fornication, theft, fraud, sacrilege and so forth. When one begins to have no these crimes, begins to lift up one's head towards freedom, but this is only the beginning of freedom, not perfect freedom...".
TEN COMMANDMENTS
- Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
- You shall not take the name of God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Sabbath.
- Honor your father and mother.
- Thou shalt not kill.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- Thou shalt not steal.
- Do not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
- You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
The relationship between man's freedom and God's law has its intimate center in the moral conscience which is realized in human acts and through these acts of malice or goodness, which will produce in man, their own change. Acts of good will lead him toward the perfection of virtue.
"All beings subject to becoming never remain identical to themselves, but continually pass from one state to another by means of a change that always works, for good or for evil". (Saint Gregory of Nyssa).
"Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect".
(Rm 12,2)
Before proceeding with detailed exposure of the Ten Commandments, I end this first exhibition with a brief but illuminating thoughts. In this dark period that seems so much brighter to us of our earthly journey, we watch with horror the pit, a dark hole, where our body will return sludge in its decomposition. To not fall into despair we must be certain that from that mud will spring a flame, a light that is the soul.
The soul that is the gift of God, will find God to be united with him in the eternal abode, before, though, will have to undergo the Divine judgment that will have eternal consequences of joy or damnation.
It would be good to think about before the bells ring their chimes also for us, because we arrived at the end of our time on earth.
A special invitation
If you want to come to this joy and acquire the virtues, listen to Jesus' invitation: "All you will ask faithfully in prayer, you will get it" (Mt 18:20). In fact, without prayer, no spiritual journey is possible, nor can we follow the footsteps of Jesus our Savior.
If you want to match the invitation, or just pray from your home, click here and you will find an extraordinary prayer group. You will, therefore, be spiritually united with so many brothers spread across all continents, and your life will change.
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