Sei sulla pagina 1di 27

54

PROVOST, Jan (1465-1529)


Death and the Miser
Oil on oak
47 1/8 x 31 inches (120 x 79 cm)
Groeninge Museum, Bruges

Tenth Commandment:
You shall not covet your

What is required and what is


forbidden by the Tenth
Commandment?
2534-2540
2551-2554

This
Commandment
requires an
interior attitude of
respect for the
property of
others.

forbids greed, unbridled


covetousness for the goods of
others, and envy which is the
sadness one experiences at the sight
of anothers goods, and the
immoderate desire to acquire them.

It

Introduction

Man was created in


a state of
innocence; his
mind was
subjected to God,
the inferior powers
to reason, and the
body to the soul.

MASSYS, Quentin
The Money Lenders
Museo de Bellas Artes
Bilbao, Spain

Man

often forgets his dignity and


that he is worth more than material
things.

Not

satisfied with having enough,


he degrades himself by becoming
attached to things and by giving in
to greed and unbridled
covetousness.

One

might expect to find greed in


an atheist whose only hope lies in
ephemeral things, but it is
unbecoming in a Christian.

CHURCH
TEACHINGS

1. Greed: the root of all evils

Saint Paul wrote the following:


"For we brought nothing
into the world and we
cannot take anything out of
the world. those who
desire to be rich fall into
temptation into many
senseless and hurtful
desires that plunge men
into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is the
root of all evils" (1 Timothy
6:7-10)

GERRITSZ POT, Hendrick (1580-1657)


The Miser
Oil on wood, 1640
14 1/8 x 12 3/4 inches (36 x 32.7 cm)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Man

cannot let himself become


the slave of ephemeral goods.

Greed

and envy of other


peoples goods have to be
fought and conquered.

2. To be satisfied with what God grants


The

heart
identifies
itself with
what it loves.
BOSCH, Hieronymus
Death and the Miser
c.1485-90
Kress Collection
Washington D.C., USA

Being

satisfied with what God


gives, and what man can
honestly acquire, makes man
happy.

Disordered

desire or greed
offends God, and degrades
man.

3. What is forbidden by the Tenth Commandment?

The tenth commandment


forbids avarice, or the
disordered desire of riches,
and also the desire of
committing an injustice that
would harm others in their
temporal goods.

LE PRINCE, Jean Baptiste


The Miser
Private Collection

also prohibits that kind of envy or


sadness triggered by our neighbours
goods and accompanied by a
disordered desire to own and
inappropriately obtain them.

It

Envy

often derives from pride,


and gives rise to hatred,
criticism and slander.

4. Detachment from earthly goods

When Gods law


abides in the
human heart, he
finds himself
detached from
created goods,
because Gods
love rules his
life.
DAVID, Jacques Louis
Belisarius Begging for Alms
1781
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France

"

Blessed are the poor in


spirit, because theirs is the
kingdom of Heaven.
(Matthew 5:3).

We

are called to keep our


desires in line with the virtue of
hope, seeking perfect love.

5. Struggle against attachment to earthly goods


Attachment

to
material goods
brings
forgetfulness of
God and makes
life futile.

MASACCIO
The Distribution of Alms and the Death of Ananias
1426-27
Fresco, 230 x 162 cm
Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

The

remedy consists in
seeking true happiness by
living in Gods grace.

In

order to reach and contemplate


God we have to mortify, with
Gods help, our concupiscence,
overcoming greed for pleasure
and power.

6. To love and keep the Ten Commandments

The tenth commandment


refers to the intentions of the
heart and, together with the
ninth, sums up the Ten
Commandments of Gods
Law.

DE BOULOGNE, Valentn
Moses with the Tablets of the Law
c.1627-32
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, Austria

The

Ten Commandments show us


how to love God above all things
and our neighbour as ourselves.

ACTIVITY

1)

2)

Give 3 possible
effects/consequences of envy on
you and on your relationships.
Compose your own personal prayer
expressing your ardent longing for
God, who alone can heal us from
the covetousness of our heart.

Potrebbero piacerti anche