Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on th 5th Sunday of Easter.

My dear Parishioners,

Peace! There are fourteen (14) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Seventh Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘You shall not steal.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2456.

Building upon Genesis 1:28, where God commands that we subdue and have dominion over all creation, the Catechism calls to mind another aspect of keeping the Seventh Commandment, ‘You shall not steal’ which at first glance may not be entirely obvious. How are we to exercise and use and have dominion over the created world? The Catechism makes a distinction between three sorts of resources at our disposal, namely, mineral, vegetable, and animal. This is an ascending order from least to greatest importance, from the inanimate to the animate. That which people steal is property. Gold, silver and other precious metals, diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones are among some of the favorite properties which are the targets of thieves throughout the ages. These are all minerals. When considering the vegetable trust, we should not limit ourselves to green beans and cauliflower. Recall the oak trees at Auburn University in Alabama poisoned by a fan from Tuscaloosa in 2011. Plant heists as well of both licit and illicit crops come to mind. Recall the reports from 2013–2014 regarding ginseng roots poached from the Smoky Mountains and cultivation of Papaver somniferum and Cannabis sativa, as all being part of our good stewardship or abuse of God’s good earth, creation, for which we are responsible. Cattle rustling is one of the oldest crimes known to man. To walk away with someone else’s livestock is not just a story from the old wild West as recent reports from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture (2014), Lubbock Texas (2011) and Clarksville Tennessee (2015) all show. Would that Snuffy Smith was the only one robbing the chicken coop. Crimes against the animal kingdom and the rightful owners of the beasts must be avoided, denounced and repented, with appropriate reparations made. Hunting an animal to extinction or encroaching its habitat to such an extent as to destroy the population is also a crime against the Creator, the creature and our descendants. Hunting per se is not illicit, nor is vegetarianism required by faith in God and obedience to His Commandments (cf. Daniel 1:12; Acts 11:7). Wanton polluting, exemplified by New York’s Love Canal in 1978, is sinful and irresponsible.

There are moral obligations or duties which bind us all and upon which we will be judged by Almighty God. Doing good and avoiding evil or repenting the evil we have done or the good we have failed to do are basic principles and axioms of ethics and morality. When considering God’s Commandments and all their parts, we are helped in the examination of our consciences as to just how we use the resources which God has made for our use and the use of those generations yet to be conceived and born.

God bless you!

Father John Arthur Orr