Life flows along a course defined by desires, which influence humans' behaviour and lead them to accomplish remarkable feats but also toward great defeats. From the Law of Moses to the Christian message, from the classic age to the modern era, Western culture has constantly experienced desire's two-faced nature: a reckless vortex of vital energy and an insatiable abyss that consumes all. The Biblical Commandment imposes order and restraint on this natural tendency of humanity. But what does it mean not to desire in a context of material wealth and rampant consumerism? The least timely Commandment is perhaps the last and most ignored Word.

Gianfranco Ravasi is an archbishop and serves as the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.

Andrea Tagliapietra teaches History of Philosophy and History of Ideas and Philosophical Hermeneutics at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan.