The Effects Of Holy Communion And The Seventh Commandment

 

To My Readers: This week my guest poster, John Gregory, discusses the effects of the Greatest Sacrament, as well as the meaning of "Thou Shalt Not Steal." Please feel free to comment as usual. If you have any specific questions or comments for me, I shall respond as always, but it may take me a bit longer to do so this week.

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

THE EFFECTS OF HOLY COMMUNION AND THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT 

By John Gregory

 

“Lord, it is good for us to be here.” (Matthew 17: 4) 

 

With regard to the admirable virtue and fruits of this Sacrament, there is no class of the faithful to whom a knowledge of them is not most necessary.  For all that has been said at such length on this Sacrament has principally for its object, to make the faithful sensible of the advantages of the Eucharist.  As, however, no language can convey an adequate idea of its utility and fruits, pastors must be content to treat of one or two points, in order to show what and abundance and profusion of all goods are contained in those sacred mysteries. 

 

THE EUCHARIST CONTAINS CHRIST AND IS THE FOOD OF THE SOUL 

 

This they will in some degree accomplish. If, having explained the efficacy and nature of all the Sacraments, they compare the Eucharist to a fountain, the other Sacraments to rivulets.  For the Holy Eucharist is truly and necessarily to be called the fountain of all graces, containing, as it does, after an admirable manner, the fountain itself of celestial gifts and graces, and the author of all the Sacraments, Christ our Lord, from whom, as from its source, is derived whatever of goodness and perfection the other Sacraments possess.  From this (comparison) therefore, we may easily infer what most ample gifts of divine grace are bestowed on us by this Sacrament.  

 

It will also be useful to consider attentively the nature of bread and wine, which are the symbols of this Sacrament.  For what bread and wine are to the body, the Eucharist is to the health and delight of the soul, but in a higher and better way.  This Sacrament is not, like bread and wine, changed into our substance; but we are, in some wise, changed into its nature, so that we may well apply here the words of Saint Augustine: I am the food of the grown.  Grow and thou shalt eat Me; nor shalt thou change Me into thee, as thy bodily food, but thou shalt be changed into Me. 

 

If, then, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, (St. John 1: 17) they must surely be poured into the soul which receives with purity and holiness Him who said of Himself: He that eatheth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him. (St.John 6: 57) Those who receive this Sacrament piously and fervently must, beyond all doubt, so receive the Son of God into their souls as to be ingrafted as living members on His body.  For it is written: He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me; also: The bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. (St.John 6: 58) Explaining this passage, Saint Cyril says: The Word of God, uniting Himself to His own flesh, imparted to it a vivifying power: it became Him, therefore, to unite Himself to our bodies in a wonderful manner, through His sacred flesh and precious blood, which we receive in the bread and wine, consecrated by His vivifying benediction. (COT p. 241 – 242) 

 

Now Christ the Lord is that bread which is the food of the soul.  I am, He says of Himself, the living bread which came down from heaven. (John 6: 41) It is incredible with what pleasure and delight this bread fills devout souls, even when they must contend with earthly troubles and disasters.  Of this we have an example in the Apostles, of whom it is written: They, indeed, went into the presence of the council rejoicing. (Acts 5: 41) The lives of the Saints are full of similar examples, and of these inward joys of the good, God thus speaks: To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna.  (Apocalypse 2: 17) 

 

But Christ the Lord is especially our bread in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which He is substantially contained.  This ineffable pledge of His love He gave us when about to return to the Father, and of it He said: He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him, (John 6: 56) Take ye and eat: this is my body. (St. Matthew 26: 26; 1 Corinthians 11: 24)  

 

The Eucharist is called our bread, because it is the food of the faithful only, that is to say, of those who, uniting charity to faith, wash away the defilement of their sins in the Sacrament of Penance, and mindful that they are the children of God, receive and adore this divine Sacrament with all possible holiness and veneration.  

 

The Eucharist is called daily (bread) for two reasons.  The first is that it is daily offered to God in the sacred mysteries of the Christian Church and is given to those who seek it piously and holily.  The second is that it should be received daily, or, at least, that we should so live as to be worthy, as far as possible, to receive it daily.  Let those who hold the contrary, and who say that we should not partake of this salutary banquet of the soul but at distant intervals, hear what Saint Ambrose says: If it is daily bread, why do you receive it yearly?  (Catechism of Trent [COT] p. 549 – 550) 

 

There is an aspect of the Seventh Commandment that centers on the concept of sacrilege and the spiritual obligation of restitution. Receiving the Eucharist while conscious of an unconfessed mortal sin—including theft—is viewed as a "spiritual theft" or a profanation of what belongs to God. The word sacrilege comes from the Latin sacriledgium, which literally means "temple robber". In a certain sense, to receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin is to "steal" the sacrament. St. Paul warns that those who eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily are "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord".  We have a magnificent example or analogy of this if we compare unworthy reception to Judas’s betrayal, not to mention his own sacrilegious Communion, if in fact he received the Eucharist, where a sacred gift is misused for a profane end.  

 

Keep in mind that a mortal sin of theft (which can be stealing a small amount from the poor or a large amount from those better off) is not forgiven until the stolen goods are restored (or when this is impossible, that the value of what was stolen is given to the poor in reparation for that sin.)  Obviously, a person who refuses to make restitution remains in a state of mortal sin and is forbidden from receiving Holy Communion. One cannot be in "communion" with God while unjustly holding the property of a neighbor, as this violates the justice and charity that the Eucharist signifies.  

 

All sin, including stealing is a form of stealing the Precious Blood Jesus spilled for our Redemption as it is wasted on us if we are ultimately damned for an unforgiven mortal sin.  Neglecting to support the Church or giving to the poor from one's surplus can be characterized as robbing God of what is due to Him.  “That which you do to the least of My brethren, you do unto Me.” Approaching the altar without the proper "nuptial garment" of grace is seen as an attempt to seize a divine blessing that one has no right to in a state of rebellion.  With that we can look to the following from the COT: 

 

WHAT THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT FORBIDS 

 

This is the will of God . . . that no man overreach, nor circumvent his brother in business; because the Lord is the avenger of all these things (1 Thessalonians 3: 6) 

 

“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20: 15) 

 

IMPORTANCE OF INSTRUCTION ON THIS COMMANDMENT 

 

In the early ages of the Church, it was customary to impress on the minds of hearers the nature and force of this Commandment.  This we learn from the reproof uttered by the Apostle against some who were most earnest in deterring others from vices, in which they themselves were found freely to indulge: Thou, therefore, that teachest another, teachest not thyself: thou that preachest that men should not steal, stealest. (Romans 2: 21) The salutary effect of such instructions was not only to correct a vice then very prevalent, but also to repress quarrels, litigation and other evils which generally grow out of theft.  Since in these our days men are unhappily addicted to the same vices, with their consequent misfortunes and evils, the pastor, following the example of the holy Fathers and Doctors, should strongly insist on this point and explain with diligent care the force and meaning of this Commandment.  

 

In the first place the pastor should exercise care and industry in declaring the infinite love of God for man.  Not satisfied with having fenced round, so to say, our lives, our persons our reputation, by means of the two Commandments, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery,  God defends and places a guard over our property and possessions, by adding the prohibition, Thou shalt not steal.  These words can have no other meaning than that which we indicated above when speaking of the other Commandments.  They declare that God forbids our worldly goods, which are placed under His protection, to be taken away or injured by anyone.  Our gratitude to God, the author of this law, should be in proportion to the greatness of the benefit the law confers upon us.  Now since the truest test of gratitude and the best means of returning thanks, consists not only in lending a willing ear to His precepts, but also in obeying them, the faithful are to be animated and encouraged to an observance of this Commandment. 

 

TWO PARTS OF THIS COMMANDMENT 

 

Like the preceding Commandments, this one also is divided into two parts.   The first, which prohibits theft, is mentioned expressly; while the spirit and force of the second, which enforces kindliness and liberality towards our neighbor, are implied in the first part.  

 

Negative Part of this Commandment 

 

We shall begin with the prohibitory part of the Commandment.  Thou shalt not steal.  It is to be observed, that by the word steal is understood not only the taking away of anything from its rightful owner, privately and without his consent, but also the possession of that which belongs to another, contrary to the will, although not without the knowledge, of the true owner; else we are prepared to say that He who prohibits theft does not also prohibit, robbery, which is accomplished by violence and injustice, whereas, according to Saint Paul, extortioners shall not possess the kingdom of God, (1 Corinthians 6: 10) and their very company and ways should be shunned, as the same Apostle writes. 

 

But though robbery is a greater sin than theft, inasmuch as it not only deprives another of his property, but also offers violence and insult to him; (1 Corinthians 5: 10) yet it cannot be a matter of surprise that the divine prohibition is expressed under the milder word, steal, instead of rob.  There was good reason for this, since theft is more general and of wider extent than robbery, a crime which only they can commit who are superior to their neighbor in brute force and power.  Furthermore, it is obvious that when lesser crimes are forbidden, greater enormities of the same sort are also prohibited.  

 

The unjust possession and use of what belongs to another are expressed by different names, according to the diversity of the objects taken without the consent and knowledge of the owners.  To take any private property from a private individual is called theft; from the public, peculation. To enslave a freeman, or appropriate the slave of another is called man-stealing.  To steal anything sacred is called sacrilege—a crime most enormous and sinful, yet so common in our days that what piety and wisdom had set aside for the necessary expenses of divine worship, for the support of the ministers of religion, and the use of the poor, is employed in satisfying individual avarice and the worst passions. But, besides actual theft, that is, the outward commission, the will and desire are also forbidden by the law of God.  The law is spiritual and concerns the soul, the source of our thoughts and designs.  From the heart, says our Lord in Saint Matthew, come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies. (Matthew 15: 19) 

 

The grievousness of the sin of theft is sufficiently seen by the light of natural reason alone, for it is a violation of justice which gives to every man his own.  The distribution and allotment of property, fixed from the beginning by the law of nations and confirmed by human and divine laws, must be considered as inviolable, and each one must be allowed secure possession of what justly belongs to him, unless we wish the overthrow of human society.  Hence these words of the Apostle: Neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6: 10) The long train of evils which this sin entails are a proof at once of its mischievousness and enormity.  It gives rise to hasty and rash judgments, engenders hatred, originates enmities, and sometimes subjects the innocent to cruel condemnation. 

 

What shall we say of the necessity imposed by God on all of satisfying for the injury done?  Without restitution, says Saint Augustine, the sin is not forgiven.  The difficulty of making such restitution, on the part of those who have been in the habit of enriching themselves with their neighbor’s property, we may learn not only from personal observation and reflection, but also from the testimony of the Prophet Habacuc: Woe to him that heapeth together what is not his own.  How long also doth he load himself with thick clay. (Habacuc 2: 6) The possession of other men’s property he calls thick clay, because it is difficult to emerge and extricate one’s self from (ill-gotten goods). 

 

There are so many kinds of stealing that it is most difficult to enumerate them all; but since the others can be reduced to theft and robbery, it will be sufficient to speak of these two.  To inspire the faithful with a detestation of such grievous crimes and to deter them from their commission, the pastor should use all care and diligence.  Now let us consider these two kinds of stealing.  They are guilty of theft who buy stolen goods, or retain the property of others, whether found, seized, or pilfered.  If you have found, and not restored, says Saint Augustine, you have stolen.  If the true owner cannot, however be discovered, whatever is found should go to the poor. If the finder refuse to make restitution, he gives evident proof that, were it in his power, he would make no scruple of stealing all that he could lay his hands on.  

 

Those who, in buying or selling, have recourse to fraud and lying, involve themselves in the same guilt.  The Lord will avenge their trickery.  Those who sell bad and adulterated goods as real and genuine, or who defraud the purchasers by weight, measure, number, or rule, are guilty of a species of theft still more criminal and unjust.  It is written in Deuteronomy: Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag. (Deuteronomy 25: 13) Do not any unjust thing, says Leviticus, in judgment, in rule, in weight or in measure.  Let the balance be just, and the weights equal, the bushel just, and the sextary [the sixth part of a bushel] equal. (Leviticus 19: 35 – 36) Robbery is more comprehensive than theft.  Those who pay not the laborer his hire are guilty of robbery, and are exhorted to repentance by Saint James in these words: Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries, which shall come upon you. He adds the reason for their repentance: Behold the hire of the laborers, who have reaped down your fields, which by fraud has been kept back by you, crie and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. (James 5: 1, 4) This sort of robbery is strongly condemned in Leviticus, (19: 13) Deuteronomy, (24: 14) Malachy, (3: 5) and Tobias. (4: 15) 

 

Among those who are guilty of robbery are also included persons who do not pay, or who turn to other uses or appropriate to themselves, customs, taxes, tithes and such revenues, which are owed to the Church or civil authorities. 

 

To this class also belong usurers, the most cruel and relentless of extortioners, who by their exorbitant rates of interest, plunder and destroy the poor.  Whatever is received above the captital and principal, be it money, or anything else that may be purchased or estimated by money, is usury; [Money, as such; i.e., as a mere medium of exchange is essentially unproductive and interest on it is unjust; but to-day money is also capital, i.e., an instrument of production, and he who lends it has the right to a share in its profits by charging a reasonable rate of interest.] for it is written in Ezechiel: He hath not lent upon usury, nor taken an increase; (Ezechiel 18: 8; 22: 12) and in Luke our Lord says: Lend, hoping for nothing thereby. (Luke 6: 33)  Even among the pagans usury was always considered a most grievous and odious crime.  Hence the question, “What is usury?” was answered: “What is murder?” And, indeed, he who lends at usury sells the same thing twice, or sells that which has no real existence. 

 

Corrupt judges, whose decisions are venal [showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery], and who bought over by money or other bribes, decide against the just claims of the poor and needy, also commit robbery. Those who defraud their creditors, who deny their just debts, and also those who purchase goods on their own, or on another’s credit, with a promise to pay for them at a certain time, and do not keep their word, are guilty of the same crime of robbery. And it is an aggravation of their guilt that, in consequence of their want of punctuality and their fraud, prices are raised to the great injury of the public.  To such persons seem to apply the words of David: The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again. (Psalm 36: 21) 

 

But what shall we say of those rich men who exact with rigor what they lend to the poor, even though the latter are not able to pay them, and who, disregarding God’s law, take as security even the necessary clothing of the unfortunate debtors?  For God says: If thou take of thy neighbour a garment in pledge, thou shalt give it him again before sunset, for that same is the only thing wherewith he is covered, the clothing of his body, neither hath he any other to sleep in: if he cry to me I will hear him, because I am compassionate. (Exodus 22: 26) Their rigorous exaction is justly termed rapacity (aggressive greed), and therefore robbery. Among those whom the holy Fathers pronounced guilty of robbery are persons who, in times of scarcity, hoard up their corn, thus culpably rendering supplies scarcer and dearer.  This holds good with regard to all necessaries of life and sustenance.  These are they against whom Solomon utters this execration: He that hideth up corn, shall be cursed among the people. (Proverbs 11: 26) Such persons the pastor should warn of their guilt, and should reprove with more than ordinary freedom; he should explain to them at length the punishments which await such sins. 

 

Positive Part of this Commandment 

 

Restitution to the injured party is binding not only on the person who commits theft, but also on all who cooperate in the sin.  This includes not only those who order others to steal, and who are not only the authors and accomplices of theft, but also the most criminal among thieves but those who persuade and encourage it and these are considered equally guilty of theft as they are equal in intention when they can merely persuade rather than order others to steal.  Others guilty of the sin of theft are those who consent to the theft committed by others, those who are accomplices in, and derive gain from theft; if that can be called gain, which, unless they repent, consigns them to everlasting torments.  Of them David says: If thou didst see a thief, thou didst run with him. (Psalm 49: 18).  Those who, having it in their power to prohibit theft, so far from opposing or preventing it, fully and freely suffer and sanction its commission. Those who are well aware that the theft was committed, and when it was committed; and yet, far from mentioning it, pretend they know nothing about it, and all those who are assist in the accomplishment of theft, who guard, defend, receive or harbor thieves. All these are bound to make restitution to those from whom anything has been stolen, and are to be earnestly exhorted to the discharge of so necessary a duty.  Children who steal from their parents, and wives who steal from their husbands are not guiltless of theft.  

 

This Commandment also implies an obligation to sympathize with the poor and needy, and to relieve their difficulties and distresses by our means and good offices.  Concerning this subject, which cannot be insisted on too often or too strongly.  The faithful should be willing and anxious to assist those who have to depend on charity, for the necessity of giving alms and of being really and practically liberal to the poor, comes with God praising them and introducing them into His heavenly country, as the negligence thereof comes with God condemning and consigning to eternal fires those so guilty. These two sentences have been already pronounced by the lips of Christ the Lord: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you; and: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.  (Matthew 25: 34, 41) It was not in vain that Our Lord said “Give and it shall be given to you. (Luke 6: 38) Or, “There is no man who hath left house, or brethren, etc., that shall not receive an hundred times as much now in this time; and in the world to come life everlasting”; (Mark 10: 29, 30)  Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. (Luke 16: 9) 

 

Of course God does not ask the impossible or unreasonable, the necessity to give alms does not bind on those who are not able to do so, though they should be encouraged to at least lend to the poor what they need to sustain life, according to the command of Christ our Lord: Lend, hoping for nothing thereby. (Luke 6: 36) The happiness of doing this is thus expressed by holy David: Acceptable is the man that showeth mercy and lendeth. (Psalm 111: 5)  If we are not able to give to those who must depend on the charity of others for their sustenance, it is an act of Christian piety, as well as a means of avoiding idleness, to procure by our labor and industry what is necessary for the relief of the poor.  To this the Apostle exhorts all by his own example.  For yourselves, he says to the Thessalonians, know how you ought to imitate us; (2 Thessalonians 3: 7) and again, writing to the same people: Use your endeavour to be quiet, and that you do your own business, and work with your own hands, as we commanded you (1 Thessalonians 4: 11), and to the Ephesians: He that stole, let him steal no more; but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need. (Ephesians 4: 28) 

 

We should also practice frugality and draw sparingly on the kindness of others, that we may not be a burden or a trouble to them.  The exercise of considerateness is conspicuous in all the Apostles, but preeminently so in Saint Paul.  Writing to the Thessalonians he says: You remember, brethren, our labour and toil; working night and day lest we should be chargeable to any of you, we preached amongst you the gospel of God. (1 Thessalonians 2: 9) And in another place the same Apostle says: In labour and in toil, we worked night and day, lest we should be burdensome to any of you. (2 Thessalonians 3: 8) Hear this, exclaims the Prophet Amos, you that crush the poor, and make the needy of the land to fail, saying: “When will the month be over, and we shall sell our wares, and the sabbath, and we shall open the corn; that we may lessen the measure, and increase the sickle, and may convey in deceitful balances?” (Amos 8: 4, 5) Many passages of the same kind may be found in Jeremias (5; 21; 22), Proverbs (21), and Ecclesiasticus (10).  Indeed it cannot be doubted that such crimes are the seeds from which have sprung in great part the evils which in our times oppress society. When we give to the poor generously and habitually we are putting money in our treasury which will be rewarded to us in this life and paid back 100-fold in the next.  

 

As there are not wanting those who would even excuse their thefts, these are to be admonished that God will accept no excuse for sin; and that their excuses, far from extenuating, serve only greatly to aggravate their guilt. How insufferable the vanity of those men of exalted rank who excuse themselves by alleging that they act not from cupidity or avarice, but stoop to take what belongs to others only from a desire to maintain the grandeur of their families and of their ancestors, whose repute and dignity must fall, if not upheld by the possession of another man’s property.  Of this harmful error they are to be disabused; and they are to be convinced that the only means to preserve and augment their wealth and to enhance the glory of their ancestors is to obey the will of God and observe His Commandments.  Once His will and Commandments are contemned, the stability of property, no matter how securely settled, is overturned; kings are dethroned, and hurled from the highest stations of honor; while the humblest individuals, men too, towards whom they cherished the most implacable hatred, are sometimes called by God to occupy their place. It is incredible to what degree the divine wrath is kindled against such offenders, and this we know from the testimony of Isais, who records these words of God: Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves; they all love bribes, they run after rewards.  Therefore, saith the Lord, the God of Hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries; and I will be revenged of my enemies; and I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dross. (Isaias 1: 23-26) 

 

Some there are, who plead in justification of such conduct, not the ambition of maintaining splendor and glory, but a desire of acquiring the means of living in greater ease and elegance.  These are to be refuted, and should be shown how impious are the words and conduct of those who prefer their own ease to the will and the glory of God whom, by neglecting His Commandments, we offend extremely.  And yet what real advantage can there be in theft?  Of how many very serious evils is it not the source?  Confusion and repentance, says Ecclesiasticus, is upon a thief. (Ecclesiasticus 5: 17) But even though no disadvantage overtake the thief, he offers an insult to the divine name, opposes the most holy will of God, and contemns His salutary precepts.  From hence result all error, all dishonesty, all impiety. 

 

But do we not sometimes hear the thief contend that he is not guilty of sin, because he steals from the rich and the wealthy, who, in his mind, not only suffer no injury, but do not even feel the loss?  Such an excuse is as wretched as it is baneful. Others imagine that they should be excused, because they have contracted such a habit of stealing as not to be able easily to refrain from such desires and practices.  If such persons listen not to the admonition of the Apostle: He that stole, let him now steal no more (Ephesians 4: 28), let them recollect that one day, whether they like it or not, they will become accustomed to an eternity of torments. Some excuse themselves by saying that the opportunity presented itself.  The proverb is well known: Those who are not thieves are made so by opportunity.  Such persons are to be disabused of their wicked idea by reminding them that it is our duty to resist every evil propensity.  If we yield instant obedience to very inordinate impulse, what measure, what limits will there be to crime and disorder?  Such an excuse, therefore, is of the lowest character, or rather is an avowal of a complete want of restraint and justice.  To say that you do not commit sin, because you have no opportunity of sinning, is almost to acknowledge that you are always prepared to sin when opportunity offers. There are some who say that they steal in order to gratify revenge, having themselves suffered the same injury from others.  To such offenders it should be answered first of all that no one is allowed to return injury for injury; next that no person can be a judge in his own cause; and finally that still less can it be lawful to punish one man for the wrong done you by another.  

 

Finally, some find a sufficient justification of theft in their own embarrassments, alleging that they are overwhelmed with debt, which they cannot pay off otherwise than by theft.  Such persons should be given to understand that no debt presses more heavily upon all men than that which we mention each day in these words of the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our debts.  (Matthew 6: 12) Hence it is the height of folly to be willing to increase our debt to God by new sin, in order to be able to pay our debts to men.  It is much better to be consigned to prison than to be cast into the eternal torments of hell; it is by far a greater evil to be condemned by the judgment of God, than by that of man.  Hence it becomes our duty to have recourse to the assistance and mercy of God from whom we can obtain whatever we need.  There are also other excuses, which, however, the judicious and zealous pastor will not find it difficult to meet, so that thus he may one day be blessed with a people who are followers of good works.  (Titus 2: 14) [COT p. 440 – 453] 

 

The 7th Commandment—"Thou shalt not steal"—goes beyond simply taking physical items that do not belong to you. It is a command to practice justice and charity in the management of all earthly goods and the fruits of human labor. This commandment forbids theft and robbery — The unjust taking or keeping of a neighbor's goods against their reasonable will. Using false weights, measures, or counterfeit currency, as well as paying unjust wages or manipulating prices. Willfully damaging property, tax evasion, or wasting time and resources at work. Refusing to pay legitimate debts or practicing usury (exploiting another's need for excessive profit).  

 

Man has a natural right to acquire and own property for the support of their families and future security. While private property is legitimate, God originally gave the earth's resources to all of mankind. Owners are considered "stewards of Providence" who must use their excess to benefit others, especially the poor. A unique feature of this commandment is the strict obligation to make restitution. Forgiveness requires that stolen goods be restored or compensation be made as soon as possible. It includes the moral duty to treat animals and natural resources with religious respect, avoiding needless suffering or waste. We are to render to every person what their due. Fostering the common good and sharing spiritual and material goods with those in need. Practicing both corporal (e.g., feeding the hungry) and spiritual (e.g., instructing the ignorant) works of mercy as a debt of justice. 

 

It is important to remember that to be forgiven of mortal sin in the sacred tribunal of Confession or to have perfect contrition one must be truly sorry for his sins and intend to amend his life.  One who steals and does not make restitution is not truly sorry for his sin no matter how strongly he professes the contrary.  The priest can give absolution to such a one, but God cannot forgive one who is not truly sorry for his sin.   

Conclusion (by Introibo)

All good Traditionalist Catholics would be wise to remember both the tremendous effects of Holy Communion, and the necessity of making better preparation and thanksgiving each time we receive Christ in the Most Sacred Host. We must also bear in mind how we must know and obey the Commandments of God. Examining each one in depth is a great idea. Many thanks, John Gregory, for another wonderful contribution to this blog! Continued prayers for your family and your health.