"You shall not covet ... anything that is your neighbor's. ... You shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's."
Detachment from riches is the goal of the tenth commandment and the first Beatitude ("blessed are the poor in spirit") because, according to the Catechism, this precept is necessary for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. Covetousness is prohibited by the tenth commandment because it is considered to be the first step toward commission of theft, robbery and fraud; these may lead to violence and injustice.The Church defines covetousness as a "disordered desire" that can take different forms:
1. Greed is the desire for too much of what one does not need.
2. Envy is the desire for what belongs to another.
The US Bishops define it as "an attitude that fills us with sadness at the sight of another's prosperity."
Explaining Church teaching of this commandment, Kreeft cites Saint Thomas Aquinas, who wrote, "An evil desire can only be overcome by a stronger good desire." The US Bishops suggest that this can be achieved through cultivation of goodwill, humility and gratitude for one's own and others' blessings, while trusting in God's grace. Kreeft explains that Saint Paul the Apostle illustrated the concept in his letter to the Philippians when he listed his worldly credentials as a respected Jew and stated, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."As Jesus stated, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Church teaching on the tenth commandment is directed toward this same attitude toward worldly goods, termed "poverty of spirit".
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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