Name: _________________________
DIRECTIONS: Carefully read the following essay about commandments. Underline and
highlight any words, phrases or sentences that strike you as important. After reading the
essay, respond to the questions on page two.
Thank God for Commandments
By Joe Hoover, S.J.
March 7, 2022 | America Media
“You shall not steal. You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another. You shall not
swear falsely by my name” (Leviticus 19:11-12).
Commandments! How refreshing, how lovely, how clear! How cold-water-bracing
is a commandment! Especially in a day and age of suggestions, of invitations, of
insinuations. What might it look like if you did…. You may want to consider…. There
could be a different way of going about….
But commands? Who commands anymore? Very few. Battalion leaders.
Defensive line coaches. Your 9-year-old if you try to take away his Nintendo Switch.
Stand down, father. Stand down. Immediately. Now hand over the console…
And the God of the Israelites. You shall not steal. You shall not defraud. You shall
not curse the deaf. You shall fear the Lord. Crisp certainty emanates from the punchy
cadence itself.
Not everything needs a tormented decision, not everything needs discernment.
The blunt and sublime axis of all Jesuit spirituality, known as the Principle and
Foundation, invites us to be open and free for nearly every decision we make (all of
which are ultimately about how to best serve God); to not be shackled, attached, to
unthinkingly choosing one way or the other… except for those decisions that cannot be
left to our free will but are forbidden.
In other words, God has not left it to our gleaming liberated will to decide whether
or not to put a stumbling block in front of the blind; whether or not we should withhold
wages; whether or not we should spread slander among our kin. God has forbidden
those things. They are not up for discussion.
They unburden the mind, these kinds of commands. They provide a framework of
clarity within a world where so many other things are not so clear. At least some
dilemmas in life do not need to be dilemmas at all. There is a bit of order in the
universe, a plan, something self-evident to the God-centered mind.
And, even when there arises a contradiction to this sentiment above; even when
some of these crystal-clear commands are, in fact, up to free will (the classic example
being lying to a Nazi about the dissident hiding in the barn); even then, readings like this
from Leviticus remind us that in God’s world, there is a right and wrong. Good and evil.
Virtue and sin.
The greatest of these commands, as Christ said, is to love your neighbor as
yourself. Love that covers a multitude of sins; that breaks our fall when we break the
commands; that picks us up, dusts us off and sends us back out to try again.
1. In your own words, summarize the author’s view on commandments. (write
one to two complete sentences)
The author sees the commandments as freeing because they are clear
instructions/orders on what to do and who to be.
2. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s perspective? Why or why not?
(write at least two complete sentences)
I disagree with the author’s perspective. There are many people who don’t have
the freedom to do what they want in the world, much less decide whether an order
is more refreshing than a suggestion. To decide, to feel different feelings, is a part
of nature, and the agonizing, confusing part that comes with it is also part of
nature. Just submitting by choice to follow constant orders, to be restricted on
what to feel, is like ChatGPT-ing homework. They’re taking the easy way out, and
ultimately being held back by their own way of thinking to experience the thrill of
wrestling with something confusing, and sorting it out in their own way.
3. Write three commandments for SI students that would help make our
community a healthier and safer place. (Write three complete sentences. The
commandments must be different from the commandments named in Exodus.)
1. Always be thoughtful of actions and words
2. Compliment three people every day
3. Be respectful of everyone