Catechism of the Catholic Church: Article 10:The Tenth Commandment
II. The Desires of the Spirit
2541The economy of law and grace turns men's hearts away from avarice and envy. It initiates them into desire for the Sovereign Good; it instructs them in the desires of the Holy Spirit who satisfies man's heart.
The God of the promises always warned man against seduction by what from the beginning has seemed "good for food . . . a delight to the eyes . . . to be desired to make one wise."
2542The Law entrusted to Israel never sufficed to justify those subject to it; it even became the instrument of "lust." The gap between wanting and doing points to the conflict between God's Law which is the "law of my mind," and another law "making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members."
2543"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe." Henceforth, Christ's faithful "have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires"; they are led by the Spirit and follow the desires of the Spirit.
III. Poverty of Heart
2544Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them "renounce all that [they have]" for his sake and that of the Gospel. Shortly before his passion he gave them the example of the poor widow of Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on. The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven.
2545All Christ's faithful are to "direct their affections rightly, lest they be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things and by an adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical poverty."
2546"Blessed are the poor in spirit." The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs:
The Word speaks of voluntary humility as "poverty in spirit"; the Apostle gives an example of God's poverty when he says: "For your sakes he became poor."
2547The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods. "Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." Abandonment to the providence of the Father in heaven frees us from anxiety about tomorrow. Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor. They shall see God.
IV. "I Want to See God"
2548Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God. "The promise [of seeing God] surpasses all beatitude. . . . In Scripture, to see is to possess. . . . Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods of which he can conceive."
2549It remains for the holy people to struggle, with grace from on high, to obtain the good things God promises. In order to possess and contemplate God, Christ's faithful mortify their cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the seductions of pleasure and power.
2550On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them to perfect communion with God:
There will true glory be, where no one will be praised by mistake or flattery; true honor will not be refused to the worthy, nor granted to the unworthy; likewise, no one unworthy will pretend to be worthy, where only those who are worthy will be admitted. There true peace will reign, where no one will experience opposition either from self or others. God himself will be virtue's reward; he gives virtue and has promised to give himself as the best and greatest reward that could exist. . . . "I shall be their God and they will be my people. . . . " This is also the meaning of the Apostle's words: "So that God may be all in all." God himself will be the goal of our desires; we shall contemplate him without end, love him without surfeit, praise him without weariness. This gift, this state, this act, like eternal life itself, will assuredly be common to all.
In Brief
2551"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt 6:21).
2552The tenth commandment forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power.
2553Envy is sadness at the sight of another's goods and the immoderate desire to have them for oneself. It is a capital sin.
2554The baptized person combats envy through good-will, humility, and abandonment to the providence of God.
2555Christ's faithful "have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24); they are led by the Spirit and follow his desires.
2556Detachment from riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
2557"I want to see God" expresses the true desire of man. Thirst for God is quenched by the water of eternal life (cf. Jn 4:14).
Notes
317 Ex 20:17; Deut 5:21.
318 Mt 6:21.
319 Cf. 1 Jn 2:16; Mic 2:2.
320 Cf. Wis 14:12.
321 Roman Catechism , III,37; cf. Sir 5:8.
323 Cf. 2 Sam 12:14.
324 Cf. Gen 4:3-7; 1 Kings 21:1-29.
325 Wis 2:24.
326 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 2 Cor. 27,3-4:PG 61,588.
327 Cf. St. Augustine, De catechizandis rudibus 4,8:PL 40,315-316.
328 St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job 31,45:PL 76,621.
329 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Rom. 71,5:PG 60,448.
330 Gen 3:6.
331 Cf. Rom 7:7.
332 Rom 7:23; cf. 7:10.
333 Rom 3:21-22.
334 Gal 5:24; cf. Rom 8:14,27.
335 Lk 14:33; cf. Mk 8:35.
336 Cf. Lk 21:4.
337 LG 42 § 3.
338 Mt 5:3.
339 Cf. Lk 6:20.
340 St. Gregory of Nyssa, De beatitudinibus 1:PG 44,1200D; cf. 2 Cor 8:9.
341 Lk 6:24.
342 St. Augustine, De serm. Dom. in monte 1,1,3:PL 34,1232.
343 Cf. Mt 6:25-34.
344 St. Gregory of Nyssa, De beatitudinibus 6:PG 44,1265A.
345 Cf. Rev 22:17.
346 St. Augustine, De civ. Dei , 22,30:PL 41,801-802; cf. Lev 26:12; cf. 1 Cor 15:28.