Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the Solemnity of Christ the King.

My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are seven (7) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Tenth Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2556.
The Tenth Commandment, ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods’ calls us to detachment from riches. If we are attached to riches more than to God, to faith… we will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Matthew 19:23–24). We should rather cling to the Lord God, holding Him fast (cf. Deuteronomy 10:20; 11:22; 13:4; 30:20; Joshua 23:8). The Lord Jesus is very clear in Sacred Scripture, our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees, or we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven; only if we do the will the Father will we enter the Kingdom of Heaven; unless we are converted and become as little children we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:20; 7:21; 18:3). The goal of our moral life in Christ is to be found pleasing in His sight by His grace at work in us. How sad it would be for us to hear from Him on judgment day that we are “not worthy of Him” (cf. Matthew 10:37–38) We cannot serve two masters, both God and money (cf. Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). The Tenth Commandment keeps God first.
There are different sorts of riches which we do well to consider. On the one hand we have Saint Paul, inspired by God, who teaches us about “the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Romans 11:33). Further, he teaches us about “the glorious riches of” the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). The providence of God will meet all our needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus (cf. Philippians 4:19). On the other hand we see how God warns us against trusting in our wealth or of boasting of great riches (Psalm 49:6). Temporal blessings are just that (cf. Proverbs 10:22; Ecclesiastes 3:13; 5:19; 6:2; 2 Chronicles 1:12). We should be grateful for the material blessings we may have or enjoy in this life. It is not a sin to have a nice place to live or nice clothes or nice food… but if we make these the end all and be all, the only reason we get up in the morning… then something is terribly wrong.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Himself calls us to be blessed and poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). This echos Proverbs 16:19 where we are instructed that “it is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoils with the proud.” We should never be afraid of honest work and honest gain. The disordered “love of money is the root of all evil” and is forbidden by the Tenth Commandment (cf. 1 Timothy 6:10).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr