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A. The seventh Commandment is: Thou shalt not steal.
A. To steal is a mortal or venial sin, according to the amount stolen either at
once or at different times. Circumstances may make the sin greater or less,
and they should be explained in confession.
A. Stealing is a sacrilege when the thing stolen belongs to the Church and when
the stealing takes place in the Church.
A. All sins of cheating, defrauding or wronging others of their property; also
all sins of borrowing or buying with the intention of never repaying are
equivalent to stealing.
A. Persons may sin against honesty also by knowingly receiving, buying or
sharing in stolen goods; likewise by giving or taking bribes for dishonest
purposes.
A. By the seventh Commandment we are commanded to give to all men what belongs
to them and to respect their property.
A. Persons working for others may be guilty of dishonesty by idling the time
for which they are paid; also by doing bad work or supplying bad material
without their employer's knowledge.
A. A person may be guilty of dishonesty in getting money or goods by false
pretenses and by using either for purposes for which they were not given.
A. The seventh Commandment forbids all unjust taking or keeping what belongs to
another.
A. We must return things found to their lawful owners as soon as possible, and
we must also use reasonable means to find the owners if they are unknown to
us.
A. If we discover we have bought stolen goods and know their lawful owners we
must return the goods to them as soon as possible without demanding
compensation from the owner for what we paid for the goods.
A. We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods, or the value of them, as far as we
are able; otherwise we cannot be forgiven.
A. If we cannot restore all we owe, we must restore as much as we can, and if
the person to whom we should restore be dead we must restore to his children or
heirs, and if these cannot be found we may give alms to the poor.
A. One who cannot pay his debts and yet wishes to receive the Sacraments must
sincerely promise and intend to pay them as soon as possible, and must without
delay make every effort to do so.
A. We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused.
A. The eighth Commandment is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor.
A. We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things,
and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one.
A. A lie is a sin committed by knowingly saying what is untrue with the
intention of deceiving. To swear to a lie makes the sin greater, and such
swearing is called perjury. Pretense, hypocrisy, false praise, boasting, etc.,
are similar to lies.
A. We can know the degree of sinfulness in a lie by the amount of harm it does
and from the intention we had in telling it.
A. No reason, however good, will excuse the telling of a lie, because a lie is
always bad in itself. It is never allowed, even for a good intention to do a
thing that is bad in itself.
A. The eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting, slanders, and
lies.
A. Rash judgment is believing a person guilty of sin without a sufficient
cause. Backbiting is saying evil things of another in his absence. Slander is
telling lies about another with the intention of injuring him. Detraction is
revealing the sins of another without necessity.
A. It is allowed to tell the faults of another when it is necessary to make
them known to his parents or superiors, that the faults may be corrected and
the wrong doer prevented from greater sin.
A. Tale-bearing is the act of telling persons what others have said about them,
especially if the things said be evil. It is wrong, because it gives rise to
anger, hatred and ill-will, and is often the cause of greater sins.
A. They who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his character
must repair the injury done as far as they are able, otherwise they will not be
forgiven.
A. The ninth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
A. We are commanded by the ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in thought
and desire.
A. The ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another's wife
or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires.
A. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us and we
try to banish them.
A. The tenth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
A. Covet means to wish to get wrongfully what another possesses or to begrudge
his own to him.
A. By the tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we have,
and to rejoice in our neighbor's welfare.
A. We should try to improve our position in the world, provided we can do so
honestly and without exposing ourselves to greater temptation or sin.
A. The tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully what
belongs to another.
A. The sixth commandment differs from the ninth in this, that the sixth refers
chiefly to external acts of impurity, while the ninth refers more to sins of
thought against purity. The seventh commandment refers chiefly to external
acts of dishonesty, while the tenth refers more to thoughts against honesty.
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