Question of the Week
What actions does the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 58:7-10) describe as “light?” What blessings does God bestow on those who act with mercy and justice?
The Precepts of the Church
I imagine that at one point or another you may have heard about the “precepts of the Church.” I have preached on them a few times over the years. As we prepare for Lent in two weeks, I thought it would be good to review them. The precepts of the Church are meant to make clear the “very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2041-43). They are:
1. Attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile work, or work that contradicts the commandment to love God above all. Caregivers are exempt because Jesus said, what you do for others, you do for me.
2. Confess all mortal sins at least once a year so you may receive Jesus in Holy Communion.
3. Receive the Eucharist at least once a year during the Easter Season.
4. Observe the days of fasting and abstinence throughout the year. What does this mean? Fasting means reducing the amount of food you eat below normal levels. Specifically, on fast days you may eat one full meal and two smaller meals, but those two smaller together should not exceed the amount of the normal meal. Snacking is also prohibited on fast days (unless you struggle with diabetes or related issues).
All Catholics age 18 to 59 are required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. You are excused from fasting if you have a legitimate need to eat a normal amount of food on fast days. This includes the sick or infirm, including handicapped or mentally ill people who need the nourishment or cannot make a free choice to fast; pregnant or nursing women; and some manual laborers.
Abstinence means not eating meat (fish and seafood is not considered meat in this case). All Catholics 14 and older are required to observe abstinence on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays in Lent. Outside the U.S., this is required on all Fridays of the year, in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. In the U.S., it is still strongly recommended that we observe Friday abstinence outside of Lent, but Catholics may choose to substitute another penitential practice or act of charity for these days.
Note that the duty to perform the tasks of your state in life takes precedence over the law of fasting in the precepts of the Catholic Church. If fasting honestly causes you to be unable to fulfill your required tasks, it is uncharitable to fast, and the law of fasting would not apply in this case. Consult with me or Fr. Hattar if this is a concern for you.
5. Provide for the needs of the Church. Did you know that it appears that 50% of our registered families do not financially support the Church? Another 13% give less than $100 per year. As you can imagine, that lack of support harms us. On the other hand, it is amazing what 35% of parishioners supporting the Church does for the parish!
Jesus said we are salt for the earth and light for the world. He wants our “good deeds” to shine! I really don’t think our Lord had the minimum in mind here!
Remember the rich young man who approached Jesus and asked about what he must do to gain eternal life? Jesus gave him the minimum answer first: “Keep the commandments.” Of course, Jesus teaches us the same. It is assumed as a normative part of our discipleship.
When the young man said he kept all the commandments, Jesus looked at him with love and told him that if he wanted to be perfect to “go and sell everything you have and give to the needy and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” The young man walked away sad because he had many possessions. In other words, the possessions were possessing him! They held him bound tight.
We are given many opportunities to grow in our faith, discipleship, and generosity. We want our giving to resemble Jesus’ giving from the Cross.
Next week is our Commitment Sunday for our Stewardship for Saints & Scholars capital campaign. Over $2 million has been pledged with an incredible new potential gift of $300,000 offered as a matching gift. We still have a little over $1 million to go to reach our overall goal of $3.2 million. If you have yet to pledge to this great effort to support Catholic education and to help us fix up a number of maintenance needs, please prayerfully consider how to stretch yourself to do so. We need everyone’s help. Thank you ahead of time!