The Precepts of the Church
By Monsignor Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G.
 

We sometimes hear the question “what does it mean to be a practicing Catholic?”

The short answer to the question is people who are living in accord with the teaching and laws of the Church. To help develop that answer we can look to the precepts of the Church.

In a society that emphasizes rights, neglects responsibilities and avoids commitments, an understanding of these precepts is necessary. We live in a culture of entitlements, where there is an expectation that personal needs and preferences are to be met.

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The five precepts of the Church are meant to guarantee for the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer, the sacramental life, moral commitment and growth in love of God and neighbor.”

The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults describes the precepts in these words: “These are rules set in the context of a moral life, bound to and nourished by liturgical life. The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by pastoral authority is meant to encourage on the part of the faithful the indispensable foundations for their lives as Catholics.”

Attend Mass on Sundays and Other Holy Days of Obligation

The first precept, “to attend Mass on Sundays and other holy days of obligation and to refrain from work and activities which would impede the sanctification of those days,” reinforces the obligation of the third commandment. The United States Catechism amplifies our understanding of this precept in the following way: “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, should be treated differently from the other days of the week. We do that in making the day holy by attending Mass and refraining from doing unnecessary work. Holy Days of Obligation, when we celebrate the special feasts of Jesus, the Blessed Mother, and the saints, should be marked in the same way.”

The late Pope John Paul II devoted an Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, on keeping the Lord’s Day holy. In The Sacrament of Charity, his Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission, Pope Benedict noted: “The life of faith is endangered when we lose the desire to share in the celebration of the Eucharist and its commemoration of the paschal victory. Participating in the Sunday liturgical assembly with all our brothers and sisters, with whom we form one body in Jesus Christ, is demanded by our Christian conscience and at the same time it forms that conscience. To lose a sense of Sunday as the Lord’s Day, a day to be sanctified, is symptomatic of the loss of an authentic sense of Christian freedom, the freedom of the children of God.”

Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation

The second precept is described by the Compendium of the Catechism in these words: “To confess one’s sins, receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation at least once each year.”

Pope Pius XII stated many years ago that society and individuals were losing the sense of sin. The prayer known as the Confiteor invites us to seek forgiveness for sins of commission and sins of omission: “I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.”

If we want to understand sins of omission, failing to do the good that we can, a reflection on the last judgment in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew will be helpful. This Gospel passage inspired the seven spiritual and corporal works of mercy. These lists were never meant to be exhaustive, but illustrations of the various ways that we can put our faith into practice or how we can fail to live our faith. In our time, when a sense of sin is lost, there is also a loss of the awareness of the need to seek forgiveness and mercy. This precept tries to correct that failure.

Receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist

The third precept of the Church in the Compendium states: “…to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.” Further insight comes from The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults when it amplifies this statement and tries to motivate us to appreciate the gift of the Eucharist: “You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season. In the United States, this extends from the First Sunday of Lent to Trinity Sunday. Because the Holy Eucharist is both the source and summit of life for all in the Church, the Church teaches that every member for his or her own good must receive Communion minimally at least once a year.”

There are documents to help us appreciate the Eucharist available on the Vatican website (www.vatican.va). Especially helpful are Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter, Dominicae Cenae, and his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Also, the recent Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI on The Sacrament of Charity helps us to understand the mystery of the Eucharist and how the grace of the Eucharist can form our lives.

Observe Days of Abstinence and Fasting

The fourth precept is “…to abstain from eating meat and to observe days of fasting established by the Church…” Once again, The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults helps us to understand this minimum responsibility and clarifies the difference between fasting and abstinence: “You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence. Fasting is refraining from food or drink to some degree. Abstinence is refraining from eating meat. The Church identifies specific days and times of fasting and abstinence to prepare the faithful for certain special feasts; such actions of sacrifice can also help us grow in self-discipline and in holiness.”

In the Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, Pope Paul VI gave instructions on the necessity of doing penance and the importance of practicing the spiritual discipline of fast and abstinence. Pope Paul noted: “Christ, who always practiced in His life what He preached, before beginning His ministry spent 40 days and 40 nights in prayer and fasting, and began His public mission with the joyful message: ‘The kingdom of God is at hand.’ To this He added the command: ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel.’(33) These words constitute, in a way, a compendium of the whole Christian life.”

Pope Paul continued: “The kingdom of God announced by Christ can be entered only by a ‘change of heart’ (‘metanoia’), that is to say through that intimate and total change and renewal of the entire man — of all his opinions, judgments and decisions — which takes place in him in the light of the sanctity and charity of God, the sanctity and charity which were manifested to us in the Son and communicated fully.”

Pope Paul VI noted that external acts must express and support interior conversion. He stated: “The preeminently interior and religious character of penitence and the new wondrous aspects which it assumes ‘in Christ and in the Church’ neither excludes nor lessens in any way the external practice of this virtue, but on the contrary reaffirms its necessity with particular urgency and prompts the Church — always attentive to the signs of the times — to seek, beyond fast and abstinence, new expressions more suitable for the realization, according to the character of various epochs, of the precise goal of penitence.

“True penitence, however, cannot ever prescind from physical asceticism as well. Our whole being in fact, body and soul… must participate actively in this religious act whereby the creature recognizes divine holiness and majesty. The necessity of the mortification of the flesh also stands clearly revealed if we consider the fragility of our nature… This exercise of bodily mortification… does not imply a condemnation of the flesh… On the contrary, mortification aims at the ‘liberation’ of man, who often finds himself, because of concupiscence, almost chained by his own senses. Through ‘corporal fasting’ man regains strength and the ‘wound inflicted on the dignity of our nature by intemperance is cured by the medicine of a salutary abstinence.’

“Against the real and ever recurring danger of formalism and pharisaism the Divine Master in the New Covenant openly condemned — and so have the Apostles, Fathers and supreme pontiffs — any form of penitence which is purely external. The intimate relationship which exists in penitence between the external act, inner conversion, prayer and works of charity is affirmed and widely developed in the liturgical texts and authors of every era.”

When the Friday abstinence outside of Lent was changed from an obligation to an option, some people failed to choose another form of penance or spiritual discipline on Fridays. An understanding of this precept through a study of Pope Paul VI on penance will help people to understand the importance of doing penance and practicing spiritual discipline in our lives, most appropriately on Fridays. In other words, if a person chooses not to abstain on Fridays outside of Lent, they should choose another spiritual discipline. Friday remains a day of penance.

Help to Provide for the Material Needs of the Church

The fifth precept is “to help to provide for the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.” This obligation is also stated in the Code of Canon Law. The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for the works of the apostolate and of charity, and for the decent support of ministers. They are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources.

The New Testament and writings of the early Christians show the different ways the Christian community understood the responsibility of compassion, generosity and financial support for members of their community, for the needs of the mission of the community and for the needs of other Christian communities throughout the world. In our own day, support of the parish mission, support for the mission of the Diocese, and the mission of the universal Church is still our responsibility. Collections for the worldwide mission of the Church on Mission Sunday, for the work of the Holy See supported by the Peter’s Pence collection, other missionary appeals, the Diocesan Annual Appeal and appeals for charitable support in times of natural disasters invite and challenge our sense of solidarity and responsibility.

The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults states: “You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church. This means contributing to the support of the activities of the Church with time, talent, and financial resources, each according to their ability.”

This precept calls us to an understanding of stewardship and a way of living as disciples of Christ with a sense of thanksgiving. In gratitude for the gifts received and in solidarity with the mission of the parish, diocese, and universal Church, this precept reminds us of our responsibility to be active members of the Church and to share our gifts, talents and financial resources.

This precept invites us to a deeper understanding of attitudes and practices known as stewardship. Pope Benedict has stated: “Christians in particular, conforming their lives to the Gospel, recognize that all people are brothers and sisters: that life is a stewardship of goods received from God, which is why each one is responsible for the other, and whoever is rich must be as it were an ‘executor of the orders of God the Benefactor.’ We must all help one another and cooperate as members of one body.”