Thinking about the 9th and 10th Commandments.
Many people who struggle with chastity get themselves stuck on the 6th Commandment - but sins of the flesh are often rooted in sins of pride, envy, jealousy, unchecked concupiscence and covetousness. A sin against chastity can be so shameful to the penitent, he doesn't always understand the dispositions surrounding the fall - sometimes that is why certain sins become habitual. Maybe I can write a little more about it. In the meantime, I'm pondering the sections of the Catechism regarding these two Commandments.
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
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 ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.
Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
2514 St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. In the Catholic catechetical tradition, the ninth commandment forbids carnal concupiscence; the tenth forbids coveting another's goods.
THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
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.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
2534 The tenth commandment unfolds and completes the ninth, which is concerned with concupiscence of the flesh. It forbids coveting the goods of another, as the root of theft, robbery, and fraud, which the seventh commandment forbids. "Lust of the eyes" leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by the fifth commandment. Avarice, like fornication, originates in the idolatry prohibited by the first three prescriptions of the Law. The tenth commandment concerns the intentions of the heart; with the ninth, it summarizes all the precepts of the Law.
It isn't just a gay sin, but it is one often overlooked by 'gay pride'.
You want the same rights as heterosexuals - that is to marry and adopt? Though laws are changing, the desire is a form of covetousness - the married state is proper(ty) of male and females.
You want equal rights? You already have the same equal rights afforded to anyone. If you need 'special' rights, you can get a lawyer to draw up legal papers for power of attorney, inheritance and so on.
If we really examine ourselves we may discover that we want to obtain or be something that is not ours to have, or that belongs to another.
Sometimes we lust after someone because we want what they have...
Males sometimes want a guy to 'complete' them - they envy the masculinity of another, his good looks, his success.
Just think about it. Sins against the 6th Commandment may not be the biggest ones in our lives - the type of sin which conflicts gay people isn't always limited to acting out sexually.
We can be very jealous of others who advance in virtue as well.
Like I said, think about it. As St. James asks: "Where does all this enmity amongst you originate?"
Tuesday update:
Coincidently, Fr. James Schall published an essay on Envy titled On Inequality just today. It seems to be a more pervasive problem these days than we thought.
Wow! This if very insightful. I need to think about it with regard to other sins.
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