Display the Ten Commandments

Recently my mother sent a letter to the pastors in her local diocese—that’s 127 Catholic churches. The purpose: Display the Ten Commandments. As my mother said in her letter, our Lord and his Commandments are being driven from the public square.

“God’s ten rules for living are being forgotten as we continue to see heartbreaking news about mass killings, violence in our communities, and disregard for the sanctity and dignity of human life. Without the Ten Commandments, we are in deep trouble. Without God, our Supreme Authority, we are in the hands of the devil.”

At the age of 93, Mom is deeply concerned about our future. “We must do all we can to restore faith in God,” she said in her letter. Mom is right about that since faith in God is declining. Is publicly displaying the Ten Commandments on church property the answer?

Catholic churches display images from the New Testament and of the saints. The Ten Commandments come from the Old Testament. However, some Catholic parishes display the Ten Commandments in stained glass. Laying out God’s direction for all to see can certainly help those who are lost.

God’s Gift

However, many want to shut God, and his way, out of society. Out of sight, out of mind. Turning away from God and his will, we cheat ourselves out of God’s loving goodness, which our world desperately needs.

“The gift of the Commandments is the gift of God himself and his holy will. In making his will known, God reveals himself to his people” [CCC 2059]. Revealing himself to us, God reveals love; God is love. God is the supreme Good and the source of all good [CCC 2052].

In the Commandments we see faith, hope, and especially love. God became man in Jesus Christ to teach us what they mean for our daily lives. The Word became flesh and our Savior summed up the Commandments this way: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.” The second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” [Matthew 22:37–39].

Live the Commandments

God’s Ten Commandments seen through Christ’s ministry show us how to live for the sake of our salvation and the salvation of the world. Following God’s will, the Word that became flesh lives within us! It’s a lifetime of living and sharing our faith, hope, and charity.

Certainly, we can display the Ten Commandments by the way we live. So long as God’s Commandments remain in our minds and hearts, we can live and teach the Commandments in and out of Church. What God gives to us He calls us to share.

Love is the fulfilling of God’s law [CCC 2055]. However, if we do not love the source of all good and show that love to one another by the way we treat each other, what becomes of us and our world? Breaking God’s Commandments, we hurt ourselves. When we hurt ourselves, we hurt one another. When we hurt one another, we hurt ourselves. We offend God.

The need for God and his will grows more pressing each day. Mom’s hope is that her letter will stir an idea to help keep God and his Commandments in the forefront of daily living. How else can we experience our Lord’s loving transformation in our lives and our world?