PRECEPTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

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PRECEPTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
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• What does it mean to be a good Catholic?
• What is a Catholic in good standing?
• What exactly is a practicing Catholic?
• This evening our goal is to answer thoroughly
  these questions and thus aid you in becoming an
  informed Catholic in good standing.

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• THE CHURCH, MOTHER/TEACHER
• THE PRECEPTS of the CHURCH
• Catechism
• Cannon Law
• Scripture
• MORAL LIFE AND MISSIONARY WITNESS

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CHURCH MOTHER AND TEACHER

• And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
  I will build my church, and the gates of the
  netherworld shall not prevail against it.
• I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
  heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be
  bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
  shall be loosed in heaven."
• (Mt 1618-19).
• The Roman Pontiff and the Bishops, as authentic
  teachers, preach to the people of God the Faith
  which is to be believed and applied in moral
  life. It is also encumbent on then to pronounce
  on moral questions that fall within the natural
  law and reason.
• (CCC 2050)

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CHURCH MOTHER AND TEACHER

• Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing
  you these instructions so that, if I am delayed,
  you will know how people ought to conduct
  themselves in God's household, which is the
  church of the living God, the pillar and
  foundation of the truth.
• (1 TIM 14-15)
• The moral life is also spiritual worship.
• Christian activity finds its nourishment in the
  liturgy and the celebration of the Sacraments.
• (CCC 2047)

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The precepts of the Church are set in the
context of a moral life bound to and nourished by
liturgical life. The obligatory character of
those positive lawsdecreed by the pastoral
authoritiesis meant to guarantee to the
faithful the indispensable minimum in the
spirit of prayer and moral effort,in the growth
in love of God and neighbor
PRECEPTS? (CCC 2041)
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• The first precept
• You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days
  of obligation.
• requires the faithful to participate in the
  Eucharistic celebration when the Christian
  community gathers together on the day
  commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord.
• (CCC 2042)

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CANON LAWBook IV CHAPTER I FEAST DAYS

• Can. 1246 ß1 The Lord's Day, on which the paschal
  mystery is celebrated, is by apostolic tradition
  to be observed in the universal Church as the
  primary holyday of obligation. In the same way
  the following holydays are to be observed the
  Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany,
  the Ascension of Christ, the feast of the Body
  and Blood of Christ, the feast of Mary the Mother
  of God, her Immaculate Conception, her
  Assumption, the feast of St Joseph, the feast of
  the Apostles SS Peter and Paul, and the feast of
  All Saints.
• Can. 1247 On Sundays and other holydays of
  obligation, the faithful are obliged to assist at
  Mass. They are also to abstain from such work or
  business that would inhibit the worship to be
  given to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day,
  or the due relaxation of mind and body.
• Can. 1248 ß1 The obligation of assisting at Mass
  is satisfied wherever Mass is celebrated in a
  catholic rite either on a holyday itself or on
  the evening of the previous day.

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• Imagine how much it must hurt Jesus if we do not
  love Him enough even to participate at Mass on
  Sunday after all,
• He suffered to give us the Mass.
• The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is prefigured in
• Gen 1418-19 2213.
• It is foretold in
• Malachi 111.
• It was instituted by Christ in
• Mt 2626-30, Mk 1422-26,
• Lk 2214-20, Jn 6.
• Ho1y Mass is attested to in
• 1Cor 1016-21 Heb 1310.

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• The second precept
• You shall confess your sins at least once a
  year.
• ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the
  reception of the sacrament of reconciliation,
  which continues Baptism's work of conversion and
  forgiveness.
• (CCC 2042)
• This means we are strictly obliged to make a good
  confession within the year, if we have a mortal
  sin to confess.
• However, anyone who lets confession go for a
  whole year
• IS IN DANGER OF FALLING INTO MORTAL SIN.

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CANON LAWCHAPTER III THE PENITENT

• Can. 987 In order that the faithful may receive
  the saving remedy of the sacrament of penance,
  they must be so disposed that, repudiating the
  sins they have committed and having the purpose
  of amending their lives, they turn back to God.
• Can. 988 ß1 The faithful are bound to confess, in
  kind and in number, all grave sins committed
  after baptism, of which after careful examination
  of conscience they are aware, which have not yet
  been directly pardoned by the keys of the Church,
  and which have not been confessed in an
  individual confession.
• Can. 989 All the faithful who have reached the
  age of discretion are bound faithfully to confess
  their grave sins at least once a year.

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We need the help of frequent confession to keep
out of sin.

• Frequent confession greatly helps us to overcome
  temptation, to keep in the state of grace, and to
  grow in virtue. Always remember, this is a great
  gift given to us by our Lord.
• He breathed on the Apostles and said 'Receive the
  Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven,
  whose you hold bound are held bound."
• (John 2022-23.)
• Did Jesus give the Apostles the ability to read
  minds? No!
• He must have meant for people to confess their
  sins to the Apostles.
• Biblical references
• Mt 1619 1818 2Cor 518-20

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• The third precept
• You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy
  Communion at least during the Easter season.
• guarantees as a minimum the reception of the
  Lords Body and Blood in connection with the
  paschal feasts,
• the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.
• (CCC 2042)

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CANON LAWARTICLE 2 PARTICIPATION IN THE BLESSED
EUCHARIST

• Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of
  excommunication or interdict has been imposed or
  declared, and others who obstinately persist in
  manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to
  holy communion.
• Can. 916 Anyone who is conscious of grave sin may
  not celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the
  Lord without previously having been to
  sacramental confession, unless there is a grave
  reason and there is no opportunity to confess in
  this case the person is to remember the
  obligation to make an act of perfect contrition,
  which includes the resolve to go to confession as
  soon as possible.
• Can. 920 ß1 Once admitted to the blessed
  Eucharist, each of the faithful is obliged to
  receive holy communion at least once a year. ß2
  This precept must be fulfilled during paschal
  time, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at
  another time during the year.

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• Anyone who receives Communion only once a year is
  in danger of falling into mortal sin.
• Communion is food for the soul.
• Eating only once a year is certainly starvation.
• Even once a month is not often, and the result
  frequently is that the soul starves to death,
• death being mortal sin. 
• The Easter season in the United States begins on
  the First Sunday of Lent and ends on Trinity
  Sunday.

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• The Holy Eucharist was prophesied in Malachi
  111. It states
• "For from the rising of the sun, even to its
  setting! My name is great among the nations, and
  everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a
  pure offering, for great is My name among the
  nations says the Lord of hosts
• The Council of Trent defined this
• "pure sacrifice"
• as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in which the
  Body and Blood of Christ, the same flesh that
  hung on the Cross says Saint Ignatius of Antioch
  are confected.

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• The Holy Eucharist was prefigured in Exodus
  1615.
• It states
• "On, seeing it, the Israelites asked one another,
  'what is it?'
• For they did not know what it was.
• But Moses told them, 'This is the bread which the
  Lord has given you to eat.'

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In chapter 6 of St. John's Gospel it clearly
points out that the Eucharist is in fact the Body
and Blood of Christ.

• "Whoever eats My Body and drinks My Blood has
  eternal life."
• Were these words spoken by our Redeemer merely
  symbolic or metaphorical?
• Then why did the other disciples leave Him?
• Mosaic law strictly forbids the Jews from taking
  any blood or fat. Did Jesus deceive them?
• No! He meant what He said.
• "Unless you eat My Body and drink My Blood there
  is no life within you." 
• This is the greatest gift Our Lord left His
  Church.

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• The fourth precept
• You shall keep holy the holy days of
  obligation.
• completes the Sunday observance by participation
  in the principal liturgical feasts which honor
  the mysteries of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and
  the Saints.
• (CCC 2043)
• In addition it bows to the authority of the
  Bishop of each particular church to act in the
  role of apostle to the flock that he shepherds.

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CANON LAWCan. 1244

• ß1 Only the supreme ecclesiastical authority can
  establish, transfer or suppress holydays or days
  of penance which are applicable to the universal
  Church, without prejudice to the provisions of
  Can. 1246 ß2.
• ß2 Diocesan Bishops can proclaim special holydays
  or days of penance for their own dioceses or
  territories, but only for individual occasions.

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CATECHISM REFERENCE

• The fifth precept
• You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting
  and abstinence.
• ensures the times of ascesis (self-denial) and
  penance which prepare us for the liturgical
  feasts, they help us acquire mastery over our
  instincts and freedom of heart.
• (CCC 2043)
• The Church obliges us to abstain from servile
  work on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation.

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CANON LAW

• Can. 919 ß1 Whoever is to receive the blessed
  Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour
  before holy communion from all food and drink,
  with the sole exception of water and medicine.
• CHAPTER II DAYS OF PENANCE
• Can. 1249 All Christ's faithful are obliged by
  divine law, each in his or her own way, to do
  penance. However, so that all may be joined
  together in a certain common practice of penance,
  days of penance are prescribed. On these days the
  faithful are in a special manner to devote
  themselves to prayer, to engage in works of piety
  and charity, and to deny themselves, by
  fulfilling their obligations more faithfully and
  especially by observing the fast and abstinence
  which the following canons prescribe.

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CANON LAW

• Can. 1250 The days and times of penance for the
  universal Church are each Friday of the whole
  year and the season of Lent.
• Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some
  other food as determined by the Episcopal
  Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays,
  unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.
  Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash
  Wednesday and Good Friday.

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CANON LAW

• Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who
  have completed their fourteenth year. The law of
  fasting binds those who have attained their
  majority (18), until the beginning of their
  sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are
  to ensure that even those who by reason of their
  age are not bound by the law of fasting and
  abstinence, are taught the true meaning of
  penance.
• Can. 1253 The Episcopal Conference can determine
  more particular ways in which fasting and
  abstinence are to be observed. In place of
  abstinence or fasting it can substitute, in whole
  or in part, other forms of penance, especially
  works of charity and exercises of piety.

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Fast and Abstinence

• Fasting consists of one full meal, with meat, if
  desired. Along with two other meals without
  meat, sufficient to maintain one's strength
• the quantity of the two, when added up, should be
  less than a full meal.
• No in-between meal snacks.
• A day of abstinence is a day on which we are not
  allowed the use of meat or fowl.
• On a day of partial abstinence we may eat meat
  only once.

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• The Bishops of the United States have enacted
  Cannon 1253 for all Fridays outside of the Lenten
  season.
• We as Catholics in the United States are obliged
  on all Fridays outside the Lenten season to
• substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of
  penance, especially works of charity and
  exercises of piety.

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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

• The merits of fasting are found in
• Jer 3514-19 Jon 37-9 Jd 48 86 1Sam
  3113 2Sam 112
• Mt 617 Lk 237
• Fasting has been practiced by Gods servants
• 1Esdras 823 2Esdras 14 Daniel 103
• Fasting moves God to mercy
• Jonah 35-10
• Fasting is of great efficacy against the devil
• Mt 915 Mk 220 Lk 535 Acts 133 1422
  2Cor 65 1127.
• Fasting is an obligation
• Joel 212 Tobit 28 Mt 616 Mk 220 Lk
  236 535
• Acts 132 1422, Rom 133 2Cor 65 127 Eph
  518 1Thes. 56
• 1Peter 113 58.
• Christ fasted 40 days Matthew 42

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CATECHISM REFERENCE

• The faithful also have the duty of providing for
  the material needs of the Church, each according
  to his abilities.
• This means simply that each and every one of us
  is obliged to bear his fair share of the
  financial burden of the Holy See, of the Diocese,
  and of the parish.
• (CCC 2043)

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CANON LAW

• Can. 222
• ß1 Christ's faithful have the obligation to
  provide for the needs of the Church, so that the
  Church has available to it those things which are
  necessary for divine worship, for apostolic and
  charitable work and for the worthy support of its
  ministers.
• ß2 They are also obliged to promote social
  justice and, mindful of the Lord's precept, to
  help the poor from their own resources.

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TITHING

• The Catholic Encyclopedia states
• The practice whereby a tenth of one's income or
  goods are given to the support of and extension
  of the Christian cause is called tithing..
• It is derived from the old English word teotha,
  meaning "a tenth" this practice has been
  supported by Jewish law
• (Dt.1422)
• and by New Testament interpretation
• (2 Corinth 8 2-6 James 217). 

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• Tithing however needs much understanding because
  of the varying economic standards, the
  distribution of goods, taxes, and the commitment
  to alms for social purposes apart from the needs
  of the Church in fulfilling its mission.
• It is evident that the message of Christ cannot
  become universal without the means of
  accomplishing this work.
• Nor can works of charity be extended without
  economic generosity.

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• The Church teaches that each person, according to
  his or her means,
• is to give so that there will be an
• "upbuildinq of the Body of Christ.
• Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's
  mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
  holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual
  act of worship.
• (ROM 12 1)
• For some a tenth may be too small, for others
  impossible, for everyone too arbitrary.
• Hence, it is according to the conscience of each
  to do all they can.

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SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

• The motivation is not only self-respect and
  esteem, but the very feeling of accomplishment.
  
• See Leviticus 2523 1Chronicles 2914 Psalm
  241 Lk 161-8 638 Mt 2523 Galatians 62.
• Biblical references
• Genesis 1420, 2822
• Exodus 2220,
• Leviticus. 2730-34.

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MORAL LIFE AND MISSIONARY WITNESS

• Because they are members of the Body whose Head
  is Christ, Christians contribute to building up
  the Church by the constancy of their convictions
  and their moral lives.
• The Church increases, grows, and develops through
  the Holiness of her faithful, until
• "we all attain to the unity of the faith and of
  the knowledge of the Son of God,
• to mature manhood,
• to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
  Christ.
• (CCC 2045 Ephesian 122 and 413).

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MORAL LIFE AND MISSIONARY WITNESS

• Christians have to walk the walk
• Precepts are a minimum
• Absence makes the heart FORGET/AVOID
• Examples are the best teacher
• Responsibilities change with age/lifestyle
• TO WALK THE WALK REQUIRES A FIRST STEP