The Seventh Commandment

Today I had the pleasure of going to mass at a church I have never been to before. The fourth floor in Mega Mall. What's good about it is once inside you forget you are in a mall. Unlike Glorietta where you are among the shoppers. I know Christ once preached in the shore Lake Galilee but Glorietta is a bit ridiculous. Imagine you are trying to meditate on the meaning of the Gospel and someone two or three feet away is wondering what Gucci bag to pick. I have never been once.

Anyway the main reason I am writing this is because of his sermon on the week of the Bible. The fact that sometimes God sends you difficulties to remind you that you are not perfect and can always be better. That God is in charge.

He was telling a heart breaking story of a couple whose house he blessed. That they were married for ten years and still without a child. The wife really wanted one. Three years later the priest gets a call. It's the same couple and she wants her child blessed and at first the priest is elated ( his exact word) . Then the wife says "but" and there is dead silence. The priest had to make sure that the phone line was not dead . Then came "the baby is now with the Lord". The priest said he would drop everything and meet her wherever to comfort her and pray. Despite all that agony and misery. She still loved the Lord.

He told us of a time that a parishioner went to him and told him that he wanted something done because his motorcycle was stolen. Of course the priest reacted "why are you going to me?? Why not the police or the mayor or the barangay captain??'" The parishioner replied" All I want you to do is to work it into your sermon when you talk about the Ten Commandments and give my example when you get to the seventh commandment.I have a feeling I know who took it from our community and I want you to prod his conscience, make him guilty and give it back to me. " The priest replied "yes, that's my job I can do that.I will mention in when I talk about Thou Shall Not Steal. Make sure you are there. 5PM Saturday Mega Mall. "

A week passes and the priest says he saw this guy riding his motorcycle. He pulls up and says " Father your sermon was really effective. You went through the commandments, when you got to the sixth commandment ( Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery), I remembered where I left my motorcycle".

At the end of the whole mass , the church broke into applause.