Catechism of the Catholic Church

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2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." ²³⁹ "The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity": ²⁴⁰

When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice. ²⁴¹

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

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SECTION TWO: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

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CHAPTER TWO: YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF Jesus said to his disciples: "Love one another even as I have loved you." 1

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ARTICLE 7: THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT You shall not steal. 186

Notes for the above paragraph:

239 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Lazaro 2, 5: PG 48, 992.

240 AA 8 § 5.

241 St. Gregory the Great, Regula Pastoralis. 3, 21: PL 77, 87.

English Translation of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.

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