The 8th and 9th Commandment

Every Wednesday we have our Young Adults Discussion night. We get together and discuss issues we pull out of a jar, or the NET Team (we're currently hosting) decide on.

Tonight, as I'm sure you gathered, was about:

#8 Thou shalt not steal

and

#9 Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

The young men and women we have there never cease to amaze me! Watching the way each of them approach it is fascinating.

One questioned whether survival is good reason. If you steal that loaf of bread to survive, is it really wrong? Another said: but what about that escalation? You steal lollies one day and are able to justify that, but doesn't that mean you're able steal gradually more valuable things and are able to continue to justify that? Another said: It's hard to say "I've done the wrong thing" but easy to say "It's only a 10c lolly". It's easy to justify your actions, but so hard to forgive yourself for those actions.

In the end we turned to our priest, Father Peter, his answer was; there are degrees of how sinful it is, but in the end it is a simple, clear and direct sentence: You shall not steal. Whether it's a 10c lolly or a car, it's defined as stealing.

Next, we looked at bearing false witness. It became a conversation about witnessing the faith, mainly by example, through our lifestyles. A few said we should answer questions when they arise, but do little more than that. I put in my two cents and said some views are irreconcilable e.g. abortion. However, someone said we should take others opinions into account, because Jesus taught us to love and by respecting others opinions we are loving them. However, someone else said, but we have to back off if our opinion is going to start a fight, and talk about it another time.

It's been a very interesting night.

Oh, by the way, On Monday I'll be going to Mass at the Carmelite Nun's convent with our NET Team, it should be interesting. They only have 45 minutes interaction with the public, how intense is that?