Commandments
“This audience is taking place in two locations: we are here in the square, and the sick are in the Paul VI Hall, following the audience on a jumbo screen. All together, we form a community: let us greet those who are in the Hall with a round of applause!”. Pope Francis made these off-the-cuff remarks at the beginning of today’s audience, continuing the series of catecheses on the commandments he began last Wednesday. “In the Bible, the commandments are not an end in themselves, but are part of a relationship, they are part of the Covenant between God and His people”, Pope Francis said, citing the Book of Exodus, which reads: “God spoke all these words”. “Nothing in the Bible is trivial”, the Pope said: “The text does not say: ‘God spoke these commandments’, but ‘these words’. The Jewish tradition will always call the Decalogue ‘the ten Words’. And that is precisely what the term ‘Decalogue’ means. Yet they have the form of laws, they are objectively commandments”. “What is the difference between a command and a word?”, the Pope asked the 13,000 faithful present in St Peter’s square today: “A command – the answer was – is a communication that does not require dialogue. The word, instead, is an essential means for relationships based on dialogue. God the Father creates through His word, and His Son is the Word made flesh”. “Love feeds on words, as does education or collaboration”, Pope Francis said: “Two people who do not love each other are unable to communicate. When someone speaks to our heart, our loneliness ends”. A word is received, communication is given”, he continued off the cuff: “and the commandments are the words of God. God communicates Himself in these ten words and waits for our response”.
