The commandments shift focus with the move to the fourth through the tenth.  The first three commandments focus on our love of God.  Now, we focus on our love of neighbor to highlight the great commandments of Christ.  The first of these commandments calls us to honor our father and mother.  Jesus gives us the example of how to live out this commandment in relation to His own parents.  Upon finding Him in the temple at age thirteen, Mary and Joseph exclaimed to him, “Son, why have you done this to us?  Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety” (Luke 2:48).  Though Jesus was in God’s house – who is His Father – Jesus, “went down with them to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Luke 2:51).  Jesus honored His parents through His obedience to them even though He is the Son of God and creator of the universe.  How does Jesus’s example call us to live out the commandment?

              The primary focus of this commandment centers on one’s own parents whether by birth or adoption.  Respect for one’s parents derives from gratitude towards those who brought their children into the world and aided their journey to grow in stature, wisdom, and grace.  “With all your heart honor your father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother.  Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back to them that equals their gift to you?”  (Sirach 7:27-28).  Our parents gave us life and provided for us, which is the ultimate gift one can give.  Even if one is adopted, the adoptive parents provide for the needs of their children aiding their journey to grow into the people God calls them to be. 

              In addition to honoring those who gave us life and aid us in living, it is important to recognize the obedience of children towards parents for the good of the family.  Our obedience to God comes from us knowing that only God sees the big picture of the universe and salvation.  It is beyond our capabilities to see how all the small parts create the whole picture of salvation.  We do God’s will and obey Him so that we can be part of salvation.  Our parents seek to do good for the whole family, which is something as children we do not often see or understand.  Usually, children can see their individual good, but have difficulty seeing the good of the whole.  They need their parents to grow in that understanding, and trustworthy obedience to their parents to grow in wisdom.  While we are children, obedience is critical to the functioning of family life.  Once we are grown, obedience does diminish as one seeks to start their own family, but the honor for what our parents did in aiding us to grow should remain.  Honoring our parents changes in responsibility over time, but it never ceases to be.

              This commandment does not focus solely on honoring our parents.  All the commandments can extend beyond the literal understanding.  In regards to the fourth commandment, we are called to honor all who for our good have received authority in society from God.  Those who receive authority in society, particularly civil authorities, have a responsibility to serve the people they have authority over.  As Christ says, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).  With authority comes the burden of it.  Because of the responsibility, we who are under the authority have an obligation to respect that authority.  Whether it is a boss at work, the priest in the church, police, or civil government, there is a responsibility to respect the authority.  “Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God” (CCC 2238).  God deemed to place this person in authority over us, thus our respect for that authority stems from our love of God.  This is not a black and white issue where we are blindly obedient to authority.  The Church does state that our primary authority to follow is God, and we have an obligation in our consciences to obey God above all else.  When authority does not fulfill their obligation of serving the people for the greater good, we are obligated to obey God above that authority.  We must dutifully and faithfully discern carefully to both parties in following the commandment. 

              Ultimately, the great difficulty in following this commandment stems from our difficulty with authority.  Our country was founded on an anti-authoritarian principle, which can be justified with the abuse of authority.  The problem comes when any authority over us is seen with distrust, which usually results in the only authority we are willing to follow and obey is ourselves, even if the authority we seek to overcome is God.  We want to be the central authority in our lives.  God gave us this commandment to practice the virtue of obedience with our parents, authorities, and others to aid us to ultimately be obedient to Him.  As Christ tells us, “the person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones” (Luke 16:10).  Let us seek to honor our father and mother and practice respect to those God has appointed authority over us so that we can ultimately find obedience to God.