The Commandments!!!

The Ten Commandments- they are what they are! The ten commandments are not suggestions, they are not recommendations, they are commandments, God's Law, and we need to live them each and every day. As law-abiding citizens of the United States, we have to live by the laws that are in place because they help to create structure and order. Ultimately, our citizenship is in heaven and we need to abide by the laws that God has given to us, the ten commandments. Our readings for today focus on the commandments: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 and Matthew 5:17-19. In Deuteronomy, Moses was teaching the people to live the commandments. Like the caption to the reading says, "Keep the commandments and your work will be complete." Jesus says in the gospel that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. We need to teach and obey the commandments for Jesus says, "Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." Even Saint Leo the Great says, "Every teaching of the divine commandments greatly emphasizes that honest love may overcome a perverse love, and that delight in justice may destroy the desire for sin" (Magnificat, 405). Jesus says that we are to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself. These are the two great commandments, but in living them, we are living the ten commandments. Let us do our part to teach and obey the commandments because they are God's Laws and they help us to live our lives every day. Have a blessed day!!!