II. La loi — Le 31e dimanche
The Tenth Commandment and the Heart
The final commandment extends the Law's reach to the secret desires and impulses of the heart, even before they become deliberate actions.
The Tenth Commandment 213. M: Let's come to the last commandment. S: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to him.1 " 214. M: Since the whole Law is spiritual, as you said, and the other commandments are meant to govern not just outward deeds but also the affections of the heart, what more is being said here? E: Through the other commandments, the Lord wanted to order our affections and wills; here, he also wants to lay a law on our thoughts—those that carry some covetousness and desire, yet never reach a settled will.2 Every temptation is a vice. M: Are you saying that even the slightest temptation that enters a faithful person's mind is a sin, even if they resist it and don't consent to it at all? E: It's certain that all evil thoughts stem from the weakness of our flesh, even when we don't consent to them. But I'm saying that this commandment refers to those desires that tickle and prick a person's heart without ever reaching a deliberate resolve.3 216. M: So you're saying that just as the evil affections that seize a fixed and, as it were, resolved will were condemned above, so also the Lord now requires such integrity that no evil desire should enter our hearts to solicit them and stir them toward wrong.4 E: Exactly.
The Summary of the Law
The entire Law is condensed into the two-fold command of loving God with one's whole being and loving one's neighbor as oneself.
The Summary of the Law 217. M: Can we summarize the whole Law now? E: Yes, we can, by reducing it to two points: the first is that we love our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.✦5 Likewise: "our neighbor as ourselves."✦6 218. Minister: What does the love of God require?7 S: If we love him as God, that means we have and hold him as Lord, Master, Savior, and Father—which requires fear, honor, trust, and obedience, along with love.8 Love God with all your heart, and so on.9 219. M: What does “with all our heart, our soul, and our strength” mean? E: It means with such zeal and such intensity that there is in us no desire, no will, no endeavor, no thought that goes against this love.10
Read the original Latin
Le dixième commandement 213. M : Venons au dernier commandement. E : « Tu ne convoiteras point la maison de ton prochain, tu ne convoiteras point la femme de ton prochain, ni son serviteur, ni sa chambrière, ni son boeuf, ni son âne, ni rien qui lui appartienne. »
214. M : Vu que toute la Loi est spirituelle, comme tu as dit, et que les autres commandements ne sont pas seulement pour régler les oeuvres extérieures, mais aussi les affections du coeur, qu'est-ce qui est ici dit davantage? E : Le Seigneur a voulu par les autres commandements ranger nos affections et volontés; ici il veut aussi imposer loi à nos pensées, lesquelles emportent quelque convoitise et désir, et toutefois ne viennent pas jusqu'à un vouloir arrêté.
Toute tentation est vice 215. M : Entends-tu que la moindre tentation qui pourrait venir en pensée à l'homme fidèle soit péché, encore qu'il y résiste et n'y consente nullement? E : Il est certain que toutes pensées mauvaises procèdent de l'infirmité de notre chair, encore que le consentement n'y soit pas. Mais je dis que ce commandement parle des concupiscences qui chatouillent et poignent le coeur de l'homme sans venir jusqu'à propos délibéré.
216. M : Tu dis donc que, comme les affections mauvaises qui emportent volonté certaine et comme résolue om été ci-dessus condamnées, aussi que maintenant le Seigneur requiert une telle intégrité qu'il n'entre en nos coeurs quelque mauvaise cupidité pour les solliciter et émouvoir à mal. E : C'est cela.
La somme de la Loi 217. M : Ne pouvons-nous pas maintenant faire un sommaire de toute la Loi? E : Si faisons, la réduisant à deux articles, dont le premier est : « Que nous aimions notre Dieu de tout notre coeur, de toute notre âme et de toutes nos forces. » Item : « notre prochain comme nous-mêmes ».
218. M : Qu'est-ce qu'emporte l'amour de Dieu? E : Si nous l'aimons comme Dieu, c'est pour l'avoir et tenir comme Seigneur, Maître, Sauveur et Père, ce qui requiert crainte, honneur, fiance, obéissance avec l'amour.
Aimer Dieu de tout son cour, etc. 219. M : Que signifie « de tout notre coeur, notre âme et nos forces »? E : C'est-à-dire d'un tel zèle et d'une telle véhémence qu'il n'y ait en nous nul désir, nulle volonté, nulle étude, nulle cogitation, qui contrevienne à cet amour.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Deut.6.5;Matt.22.37;Mark.12.30;Luke.10.27 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Matt.22.37 — And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Mark.12.30 — And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Luke.10.27 — And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
- ↩Lev.19.18;Matt.22.39;Mark.12.31;Luke.10.27 — You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Matt.22.39 — And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mark.12.31 — The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Luke.10.27 — And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Notes
- 1 ↩French chambrière is a female household servant; rendered maidservant to match the biblical inventory without modernizing the household terms away from the commandment list.
- 2 ↩"vouloir arrêté" is rendered "settled will": a fixed, deliberate resolve, as distinct from a mere covetous thought or stirring of desire that has not yet become a decided purpose.
- 3 ↩French concupiscences kept as 'concupiscences' for the technical Tenth-Commandment sense of disordered desire short of settled will; 'chatouillent et poignent' rendered as 'tickle and prick' to keep both the soft allure and the sharp sting of the image.
- 4 ↩Source reading «om été» treated as corrupt for «ont été» («were»); translation follows that corrected sense.
- 5 ↩Middle French affirmative « Si faisons » answers the negative question « Ne pouvons-nous pas…? »; rendered as « Yes, we can » rather than a conditional « if ».
- 6 ↩« Item » marks the second article; rendered as « Likewise » to keep the catechetical pairing without Latinate stiffness.
- 7 ↩Older French « emporter » here means to entail or carry with it (not modern « carry away »); rendered as « require » for natural catechetical English.
- 8 ↩« fiance » is middle French for trust/confidence (fiducia), not modern « engagement »; rendered « trust ».
- 9 ↩Source reads «cour»; context and the next question show «coeur» (heart) is intended, so the translation follows that reading.
- 10 ↩«étude» is taken in the older sense of earnest application or endeavor, not academic study; «cogitation» is rendered as thought.
Catechism of the Church of Geneva (Le catéchisme de l'Église de Genève) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit