In those days, God delivered all these commandments:
“I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
I remember as a child in parochial grammar school memorizing the Ten Commandments for Religion class. Unlike some folks, I loved the good sisters who taught us. They were loving and dedicated in their ministry as well as excellent educators. I remember distinctly Sr. Dorothy Ann tells us that the first three commandments are about our relationship with God and the last seven concern our relationships with our sisters and brothers. The quality of our ‘keeping’ of the first three will greatly depend and our dedication and sincerity in ‘keeping’ the last seven!
For the people of Israel, keeping the commandments mediated their covenant relationship with the Lord. Rather than being an impersonal keeping of the letter of the law, the commandments brought life to one’s relationship with the Lord.
With the fulfillment of that covenant relationship with the coming of Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, living a life of blessing in many respects brought to fulfillment being people of the ‘law and the prophets.’ In the sermon on the mount and in the Beatitudes, shalt not is fulfilled by living the life of the blessed – blessed are they that mourn, the peace makers, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the clean of heart…
Indeed, the quality and depth of our relationship with God is determined by how well we live those last seven commandments that call us to live the life of the Blessed! Every Lent provides a graced 40 days to look into our hearts and test the authenticity of our faith and if we have failed, to turn again in conversion to the God of unfailing mercy and begin again.