A Beacon Of Light… The Eighth Commandment And Personal Integrity

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.

(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)

• + + Welcome back to our survey of the Catechism and the Eighth Commandment. This Commandment deals specifically with personal integrity. The Eighth Commandment is: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:15, Deut. 5:20). The Eighth Commandment condemns lying and the misrepresentation of the truth in our relationship with others (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2464).
  Because God is regarded as the author of all truth, the Church believes that humans are obligated to honor the truth. This belief finds its root in the Old Testament where God is referred to as “the source of all truth” (CCC, n. 2465). If God is the source of truth, then His word and laws are founded in this same truth. As the Creator and Author of Life, God prompts us in the yearning toward truth.
  And so, human beings are predestined to living a life that is rooted in the truth of the Gospels. The truth of the Gospels is found in the person of Jesus Christ. It is fitting, then, that having received the “fullness of grace” and the “light of Christ” within our souls, we would always strive for truth in every accomplishment in life.
  The “fullness of truth,” however, is not an idle part of our lives. Living this fullness requires us to bear witness to truth in our lives. Meaning, we must be like the martyrs who gave their lives in defense of truth. How did the martyrs, and the apostles for that matter, find the courage to stand up for this truth? To answer this question we need to return to the Passion of our Lord, especially the moments He spent before Pontius Pilate. The exchange that occurred between them gives us the example to follow. Here, Jesus, proclaims that He came into the world to “bear witness” to the truth.
  So, referring back to the martyrs and the apostles, by Jesus’ bearing witness to the truth during His condemnation, we are called to be witnesses of truth to the whole world. Our witness is primarily transmitted by our words and actions.

Don’t Tell Lies

The most obvious way to fulfill this Commandment is not to lie. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines lying as: “the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord” (n. 483). Lying is primarily the way we break this Commandment.
Think back to a time in our youth when we were first told about lying. Maybe our parents asked us how we did on a test at school and we answered by saying we did great! Later when the test was sent home our parents saw that we did badly. Why didn’t we tell the truth in the first place? Lying is often used to cover up something we did. We are usually ashamed of the action and don’t want others to know about it.
We see this a lot in the political arena. Candidates often hide, or, don’t tell the full truth, for fear of losing an election. Sadly, this has become part of politics and lying is found within all the political parties of our time. Gossiping is talking about another to someone else.
An example of this would be if we heard about a married couple who is struggling in their marriage.
We don’t really know, but we go around telling our friends about it anyway. Usually we begin by saying, did you hear about Mary and John Smith? We entice another person’s curiosity and pull them into listening to the gossip. Spreading rumors or telling tales about someone that are meant to diminish their reputation is also wrong. We do this because of our own insecurity. By doing this we are not making ourselves look better before others, but we make ourselves look untrustworthy.
In the Gospels Jesus reminds us that to love God is to love our neighbor as ourselves. We all want to be loved and recognized for who we are, but sadly this doesn’t happen in today’s world. Every day we see examples in the mass media of people talking behind others’ backs. Talking behind others’ backs includes being negative, critical, or uncharitable in thought, word, and deed regarding others.
Many of us may have been the giver or receiver of this as a child. My elementary school years were difficult. I had very bad eyes and was often ridiculed for the extra-large books I had to use in class. My eyeglasses were extremely thick and so I was given the nickname “bottlecaps.” Today there is such disregard and disrespect for our neighbor. The Eighth Commandment encourages us to see if we have failed by not loving and respecting our neighbor.
When we make a mistake, or are proven to be wrong regarding someone’s reputation, we have an obligation to restore the good name of another whom we have injured through our speech and actions. I have seen so many priests’ lives destroyed because of an allegation of misconduct. Oh, the news of the allegation becomes frontpage news, but the restoration of a priest’s good name is never frontpage news. This is a total disgrace! We must always work to restore the reputation of a person we have destroyed by word and deed.
When was the last time we played cards or a board game with family and friends? Did we win fairly or did we win by cheating? We all hate to lose but losing helps us with our humility. What about cheating on our schoolwork and tests? If we did cheat, it’s a sign to us that we failed to study hard enough. As we advance along the educational journey in life, we are tested and examined to see if we are trustworthy. This shows our good character and is looked at by potential future employers. If we are trusted in small things, then we will be trusted in much larger things!

Exercise Humility

Have you ever heard a fish story? Maybe your dad or uncle went fishing and caught a moderately sized fish. Each time, however, as the story is retold the fish gets bigger and bigger until it’s the size of Manhattan! Exaggerating the truth does not ingratiate us to others; in fact, it pushes them away. Whenever we tell a story we should always be faithful to the story line and not make it bigger or better than it is.
It is easy to fall into the trap of bragging or boasting. We all want to be recognized for our accomplishments, but being recognized doesn’t mean we need to be reminded every day! We have all met people who are always talking about themselves! They constantly share about everything they have done for the past 25 years. Lucky them! We must exercise humility and refrain from bragging or boasting.
Another area where the Eighth Commandment is often forgotten is in the use of social media. We live in an era where technology is at the forefront of daily life. The boom of the technological revolution allows us to be seen and heard all the time. The use of social media has ramifications that far exceed local boundaries. Whatever we post on social media has the potential to be seen by thousands and eventually by others we know. Sadly, the use of social media has been the source of many arguments, fights, and debates. We must be extra vigilant in making sure we are being truthful online.
But also, we must make sure we do not fall into the temptation of bullying others online. There have been many situations where social media bullying has led to severe consequences and often suicide.
The Eighth Commandment calls us to be a people of truth! May we always strive to be truthful in all we do!