The Precepts of the Catholic Faith, Part 1

Jun 30

The First of a Seven Part Series

July 2, 2023

Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~

We know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. We know how to drive a car with all its myriad rules. We know how photosynthesis works. We know what it takes to do our taxes annually. But when it comes to knowing the simplest rules of our faith, we can be woefully uninformed. Every few years I run this multiple part series on the Precepts of the Catholic Church. I run them again now because they are critically important to know and live, and thus to memorize and share with others.

The Precepts of the Catholic Church: “pre” meaning “before”, and “cept” meaning “life” – before there can be life in God, these seven laws must be observed. Intentional failure to live them out would constitute a mortal sin: when one has knowledge of them and acts without undue coercion to disregard them. “The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor.” – Catechism #2041. This week we begin working our way through them by exploring the first precept. Here they are:

The Precepts of the Catholic Church

To attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation and resting from servile works.
To observe the days of abstinence and fasting.
To confess our sins to a priest, at least once a year.
To receive Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at least once a year during Easter Season.
To contribute to the support of the Church (tithing & volunteering).
To obey the laws of the Church concerning Matrimony.
To participate in the Church's mission of Evangelization of Souls.

The first of the precepts comes straight from #3 of The Ten Commandments: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath. “The Sabbath or seventh day, on which God rested after the work of the ‘six days’ of creation was completed, as recounted in the opening narrative of the Bible. Creation is thus ordered to the Sabbath, the day to be kept holy to the praise and worship of God. Just as the seventh day or Sabbath completes the first creation, so the ‘eighth day’, Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus rose from the dead [The Lord’s Day], is celebrated as the ‘holy day’ by Christians – the day on which the ‘new creation’ began. Thus the Christian observance of Sunday fulfills the commandment to remember and keep holy the Sabbath day” – Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“The first precept, ‘You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor’, requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principle liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration [Mass], in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.” – Catechism #2042.

Sundays are always holy days of obligation as well as in the Archdiocese of Seattle: January 1st (Mary, Mother of God), August 15th (Assumption of Mary), November 1st (All Saints), December 8th (Immaculate Conception), and December 25th (Nativity of Our Lord). What constitutes a good reason for missing Mass on a holy day of obligation? Three good reasons come to mind: infirmity, lack of transportation, and work.

If someone is too ill or weak to attend Mass, then they are not responsible for violating this precept. It is a prudential call whether or not someone is too ill or weak to attend Mass. With that said, in the past 27 years I’ve missed Mass on Sunday no more than five times due to illness.

If someone can’t make it to Mass because they lack the means to get there, then they are not responsible for violating the first precept. I have been to multiple American states, Mexico, Peru, Italy, Israel, camping, and have never missed a Mass on a holy day of obligation. The internet makes finding a Mass anywhere in the world relatively easy. When we travel we make all kinds of arrangements: what to pack, where I’m going to stay, who I’m going to travel with, car, boat, or plane, how much money it’s going to cost, what I am going to do, etc. One of the things we need to figure out while planning a trip is: where am I going to attend Mass on the holy days of obligation? Once we’ve figured that out, then we need to inform in advance the people that we are going to be traveling or staying with (people don’t like surprises), that we will be attending Mass on such and such a day in such and such a place. If we fail to do this out of laziness or cowardice, then we inadvertently communicate to others that our relationship with God and His Church is not as important as the people or events on this trip. By simply attending Mass, we participate in the Church’s mission to evangelize (precept #7). Imagine the statement it makes to others about how important Christ and His Church are when we make going to Mass away from home, perhaps far away from home, a reality. Now imagine what we communicate to others when we don’t attempt this: Christ and His Church are not as important as the company and other plans that I am keeping. FYI, sporting events at home or on the road apply to everything I’ve just said.

Now to missing Mass due to work. Sometimes people will not be able to attend Mass on a holy day of obligation because of a job and there is no Mass offering that they can get to on time. If this is truly the case, then we are not responsible for violating the first precept. However, when I worked in the market place, I asked my employers if they could make an allowance for me to attend Mass either on a Sunday morning or Saturday evening and they always did. I might have had to work the rest of that day but they were accommodating. I think most employers will try to make an accommodation if we ask. Of course this is again a great opportunity to evangelize our faith (precept #7) simply by our deeds.

Finally to the second part of the first precept: God doesn’t want us to work on Sundays and the holy days of obligation, or to make someone else work on those days, unless we have to.

Some jobs require us to work on Sundays or the handful of other holy days, or we’ll lose our job. If this is the case, then we’re not responsible for violating the first precept. Remember, when we frequent places of businesses on holy days of obligation (stores, restaurants, etc.,) then we force others to work on that day.

What if I have to run my business on the holy days of obligation to remain competitive? Because civil laws in America don’t enforce rest from labor on the holy days of obligation, then Christian business owners sometimes find themselves in the unenviable position of having to work on those days or losing business to competitors. This may ultimately result in the business going out of business, or being adversely effected by losing ‘market share’ to the point of having to lay people off. If this is the dynamic for a Catholic business owner and it may not be, but if it is, then the coercion of the free market system may negate their freedom to choose to stay closed on the holy days of obligation. If this is the situation they find themselves in, then they are not responsible for violating the first precept.

Next week the second precept: to observe the days of abstinence and fasting.

May Almighty God Bless You,