Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Bonaventure for Lent XXXVI

 And because our neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and, as an image of the Father, deserves our respect; as an image of the Son, our truthfulness; and as an image of the Holy Spirit, our love: therefore the commandments of the second tablet are seven in number. Two concern piety: the first -- to honor our parents -- imposes piety; the second -- not to murder -- forbids impiety. One concerns truthfulness, which is chiefly a matter of the spoken word -- the commandment not to bear false witness. Four concern love, the opposites of which, lust and greed, may exist in deed or in the heart. These four commandments are: you shall not commit adultery, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, you shall not steal, and you shall not covet your neighbor's goods. 

[St. Bonaventure, Breviloquium (5.9.5), Monti, tr., Franciscan Institute Publications (St. Bonaventure, NY: 2005) pp. 205-206.]