Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 465 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 465 - Part II. What attitude should a Christian take toward other people’s property?

(Youcat answer - repeated) A Christian must learn to distinguish reasonable desires from those that are unreasonable and unjust and to acquire an interior attitude of respect for other people’s property.   

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2536) The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power. It also forbids the desire to commit injustice by harming our neighbor in his temporal goods: When the Law says, "You shall not covet," these words mean that we should banish our desires for whatever does not belong to us. Our thirst for another's goods is immense, infinite, never quenched. Thus it is written: "He who loves money never has money enough" (Roman Catechism, III, 37; cf. Sir 5:8).  

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Covetousness leads to greed, avarice, theft, robbery and fraud, violence and injustice, envy and immoderate desires to own what belongs to others.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2535) The sensitive appetite leads us to desire pleasant things we do not have, e.g., the desire to eat when we are hungry or to warm ourselves when we are cold. These desires are good in themselves; but often they exceed the limits of reason and drive us to covet unjustly what is not ours and belongs to another or is owed to him.

(This question: What attitude should a Christian take toward other people’s property? is continued)