by Father Alonzo Cox
As a kid growing up, I was very much fascinated with the Ten Commandments. I always thought of them as “rules” that every good Christian needed to live by. These were basic “rules” everyone needed to follow to get to heaven. Of course, if you broke even one of those rules, you needed to take responsibility and apologize for that, which meant going to the sacrament of reconciliation. This was the fabric of what was meant to be a good and holy person, following the commandments and apologizing if you dared break any of them.
As I grew older, the commandments became more than “rules” for me; they would become a way of life. The commandments were so ingrained in me that I could memorize them. As I grew and matured in my faith, memorizing the commandments was not the primary purpose, it was the actual living and carrying out the commandments that was the purpose.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is reminding us of the commandments and the importance they play in living lives that are rooted in holiness. We are very much aware of how important it is to adhere to the commandments and to try our very best not to break them. But Jesus goes even deeper into the actual commandment. We are very much aware of the commandment that says you shall not kill. It goes without saying that no one should take another’s life in any way, shape, or form. In that same commandment, the Lord says to us, if we are angry with our brother, we need to be reconciled to him. It is not enough to simply not kill another person, but if we are holding on to feelings of anger, rage, hatred, or division, we are not truly living out the commandment given to us.
Ultimately, the commandments are given to us not just as rules but as a way to look at how we can live as disciples and witnesses of the Lord. Jesus speaks of the importance of the conversion of mind and heart. It’s great that we know what the actual commandments are, but if we look deep into our hearts, are we living out the spirit in which the commandments are asking us to?
We must work to eliminate and eradicate all forms of hatred in our hearts. Particularly, as we celebrate Black History Month, we must never allow racism, bigotry, and discrimination to rear its ugly head. We are all brothers and sisters created in the image and likeness of God. It is in that spirit that we live out the commandment you shall not kill.
The commandments are a gift that helps us grow in our love for God and for one another. They are meant not to be rules in the sense of just following them, and that’s it. They are meant to be points of reflection on how we can grow as disciples of Christ. St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading from his letter to the Corinthians that we speak a wisdom not of this age, but of God’s wisdom, which is mysterious and hidden. It is in God’s wisdom that we not only hear his word, but we live it out.
As disciples of the Lord, our mission is to build up the kingdom of God here, preparing ourselves to enter into the heavenly kingdom that awaits us. We are called to use our gifts and talents for the building up of the kingdom of God.
The Lord offers us these commandments to not only strengthen our gifts but also to guide us in his ways of wisdom.
May we continue to be faithful to the words the Lord bestows upon us and the courage to live them out.
Father Alonzo Cox is pastor of St. Martin de Porres Parish, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and coordinator for the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns for the Diocese of Brooklyn.