A Note From Our Pastor: November 23, 2025

You’ve likely heard of the Precepts of the Catholic Church. While we’re called to thrive and be fully alive in our faith, the precepts can perhaps be understood as the minimum requirements of an practicing Catholic.

Why does the Church burden us with any rules? It’s for the same reason our parents provided guidelines for us. The Church wants us to flourish as human persons, and thus, as a gesture of love, she (the Church) gives us guidelines to help us flourish.

So, what are the precepts? They can be found in the Catechism (2041-3) and are as follows:

1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor. We must “sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord” (Sunday), as well as the principal feast days, known as Catholic holy days of obligation. This requires attending Mass, “and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.”

2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year. We must prepare for the Eucharist by means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). This sacrament “continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.”

3. You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season. This “guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.”

4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church. “The fourth precept ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.”

5. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church. “The fifth precept means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.”

So, regarding the first precept, why does the Church say Sunday Mass is necessary? As our Catechism says, “Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity…They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 2182).

Therefore, “the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin” (CCC, 2181).

I hope this clarity is helpful. May we thrive as sons and daughters of a loving and merciful God.

Yours in Christ,

Father Todd O. Strange