426 YOU SHALL NOT STEAL

YOUCAT Lesson 426

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

The Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal.

426  What is regulated by the Seventh Commandment: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15)?

The Seventh Commandment not only forbids taking something away from another person, it also requires the just management and distribution of the earth’s goods; it regulates the question of private property and the distribution of the proceeds from human work.  The unjust distribution of raw materials is also indicated in this commandment.  [2401]

 A banana laborer in Haiti. Since finding this photo on facebook in a posting by my great niece Stephanie, I often wonder whether the 26 cents/pound banana (bought at Kwik Trip gas stations) that I eat at breakfast has been harvested at a just salary by a field laborer somewhere in another country. I don’t know, but I am certain that God does. ….. 426

“To have and not to give is in some cases worse than stealing.”  Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916, Austrian writer)

“Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”  2 Corinthians 8:9

“Just as the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say "thou shalt not" to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. ... A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which has taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.” --Pope Francis

[2401]

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19; Matthew 19:18.)¹⁸⁶ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

2401 The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one's neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men's labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property. Christian life strives to order this world's goods to God and to fraternal charity. --CCC