"You Shall Not Kill."

Christ said, "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'" [1]  This was what God said to the ancestors Christ was referring to above: "You shall not kill." [2]  These words of God are directed to anyone (after the Ten Commandment were given) who has ever thought of having someone killed.  Christ, Judge of the living and the dead, added the second part: "'whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'" [3]  It is interesting to note that neither God nor the Son of God was explicit as to the consequences of killing, with Cain being the exception. [4]

The question to ask is why would God and the Son of God admonish man not to kill but not give him any reason? Without giving man a reason not to have someone killed, man must think that he has a blanket license to kill, and he has kept killing and killing and is killing still, delivering death indiscriminately to others with more and more technically sophisticated weapons, and he will continue to kill and kill, as if killing is necessary, as if vengeance would put an end to all future killings, but then ending wars has never seemed to have been man's ultimate goal, when supporting a war economy seems to be the driving force.

Surely, God could have given man reasons compelling enough to stop him from killing, from using every excuse to support a war economy, but what if God could not give them because the "judgment" that Christ had referred to can vary infinitely in both punishment and redemption, and God could not possibly itemize every permutation so that man could comprehend in a meaningful way?  And if God did introduce into man's brain all the unique factors that result in a final judgment for an individual soul, man's head would figuratively explode.

Conversely, what if God thinks that it is easy enough for man to figure out the reasons not to kill for himself.  After all, he had eaten the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.  For God and the Son of God to elaborate further would therefore be redundant.

If that were the case, what could God have in mind that man ought to know but seemingly does not know or deliberately does not care to know?  Here is where this blogger's imagination once again lets loose.

In the whole of man's life, there could come a time, at any time, that man could come to the realization that he has sinned, and that he has come to regret all his sins, to recognize God, the Forgiver of Sin and all manifestations of Sin, and to ask God to forgive him, through Christ, the Son. The Son, Who was human, together with His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, understand all the frailties and pains of humanity, because They both had suffered, though in different ways.  In different ways, both Mother and Son are most compassionate.  The Blessed Virgin Mary prays that every man would surrender himself to Christ, in the way the penitent thief on the cross had.  Her Son, always loving, is prepared to forsake judgment and grant mercy to those who turn to Him with faith, humility and love.

If man's life is cut short because he was killed, then he would not have had the opportunity to live out his life to arrive at the moment when he is mature and wise enough to recognize his sins and ask for forgiveness which could be his final moments before his natural death.  Whether that moment will come depends on one's Free Will in accepting Christ, but if one's life is cut short by another, that moment will never arrive during life.

To eliminate one's chance to repent is to do something not even God would do.  For one to kill another is to take away one's ability to will freely to return to God.  This is a heavy burden to carry beyond one's life, one that could be so heavy that one's soul might not be sufficiently light to ascend through Purgatory that rids whatever remnants of sins that weigh down the soul in order that the soul can be perfectly light in radiance and perfectly light in sinlessness so that it will naturally float toward Heaven.

If what has been imagined has a scintilla of plausibility, then perhaps one ought to think before one kills, before one orders others to kill, before one thinks about killing, before one concurs with killing and applauds it (in political, academic, religious, non-religious and social circles).

Here, the focus pivots somewhat from the killers and killers' fans and supporters to those killed.  Whether the ones killed would have chosen God before death, and where their souls could go would require a further stretch of the imagination.

Since it is the self-righteous ones that kill (cast stones [5]), that advise, advocate and support the killing of others, it may be to their disappointment to know that perhaps by killing those they believed deserve to die would by their shortened lives reap the benefit that their sins, however egregious, would be forgiven at their premature deaths, and would eventually make their way to Heaven, unless, of course, they reject Christ to the every end, like the other thief who was crucified along with Christ who did not believe in the Son of God to be the Savior of man, the One Who is able to destroy man's death and grant man eternal life.

It may be even more of a disappointment for the self-righteous ones who kill, who advise, advocate and support the killing of others to know at the end of their lives that by not living by the words of God and the Son of God that the judgment that they would be liable for might not be to their liking, especially if that judgment is final, in other words, irreversible and eternal, and look up and see at the start of eternity those they so eagerly wanted to see die during their lives and had brought death to them praying in Heaven for their souls so that they might endure their eternal suffering with less pain knowing in death that they had been forgiven by the very people they so hated in life and killed by their sanctimonious yet murderous thoughts, words and actions.

If the future is viewed through an apocalyptic lens, the beginning of an end could be on its way.  If Satan continues to infiltrate and clutches the hearts of those in power, have risen to power or will rise to power on both sides of the "blood red" or "Hell-fire red" line, then many people in the world would suffer, and suffer greatly.  Since Satan's power cannot be overcome by man alone, prayer is an absolute necessity.  During those times when one is so troubled that no words come to mind, saying the rosary will help.  The Blessed Virgin Mary had consistently asked Her children to pray the rosary in Her many apparitions.  By doing as instructed, perhaps a next world war could be averted.

This blogger believes that man, through his heart (and by his prayers), can avoid wars, yet he has difficulty understanding how anyone can have a heart so callous as to ignore God's commandment not to kill that was reiterated and confirmed by the God's Son in the flesh, unless it has already been Satanized.

[1] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5 at 21, quoted without references or footnotes.

[2] http://www.usccb.org/bible/exodus/20 at 13, quoted without references or footnotes.
[3] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5 at 21, quoted without references or footnotes.
[4] http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/4, 1-16, quoted without references or footnotes.
[5] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/8, 1-11, quoted without references or footnotes.