Minimal needed little confusion

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billcu1

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I am having a little confusion here about the minimal precepts of the church. We are to attend on Sundays and days of obligation. I am thinking that is the minimum. Unless there are outstanding circumstances. I am also hearing confession once a year at least. And to take part in communion once a year during Easter. Now are we to go to Mass at all these times and only be required to take the host once a year? That would make for much spiritual weakness IMO.
 
Why focus on the “requirements?”

Do what you can, when you can. If you are only able to make it to Liturgy once a month, you can make the most of the time. Our Lord knows you’re not a lout if you do your best. That is enough.
 
You are forgetting two of the precepts (though how many there are depends on whose list you use). Fasting (and abstinence) on the appointed days/times. Also providing for the needs of the Church (like time, talent, money, charity, volunteer) as per your abilities. Both of these likely happen on days other than Sunday.

I agree that communion nourishes our growth in Christian life, so to deliberately avoid it for a whole year makes no sense. But having a minimum is not designed to encourage us to avoid it. Rather it is designed to tell us to approach communion, that it is necessary for us. We should prepare ourselves for communion, so as to have a fruitful communion, and we should approach.
 
Remember, the Church speaks to people in all times and in all places. There were times and are today places where regular Confession is not available, where people may not have access to a priest or Mass for months and months.

For those of us who can go to Confession any Saturday (or insert your parish’s posted hours), well, we should be in a state of Grace to receive the Eucharist more than once per year.
 
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P75.HTM

II. The Precepts of the Church

2041 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 these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is 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:

2042 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.

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.

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 Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.

2043 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.
The fifth precept (“You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.") ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts; they help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.
The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.
 
DO you want to be a bare minimum CAtholic or a beloved child of God? That would be your best concern.
 
I guess this is the minimum for salvation. Unless I am misunderstanding.
 
Ask yourself:

What is the bare minimum you would desire for a spouse?
Should she just tolerate you? Or truly love you?

These “guidelines” are what keep us attached to the body of Christ, much like a string on a kite. It’s easy to let go and have our faith squelched by non-participation, apathy, or disinterest.

If you are on a Mission trip with the Peace Corps and there is no parish, then these guidelines make sense. But for most of us, we need the grace that frequent reception of the sacraments afford us.

Salvation has been won for you by Christ. Your job is to live as He did and He commands.

The Church helps us in this regard.
There’s no membership card that gets punched.

Go above and beyond, and see how much better this life is.
 
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The Church encourages frequent communion. The Church made communing once a year during the Easter season a precept because, for centuries, very few to no people were presenting themselves for communion in some churches.

The precepts aren’t so much a “minimum for salvation” as they are the most basic of principles for a healthy spiritual life. A doctor might tell you that you should eat a certain amount of calories per day, exercise so many times a week, not jump off cliffs, or other basic principles to help you keep a sound body. In a way, that’s what these precepts are for the spirit.
 
They are not a list for salvation. It is a list of positive law. They nudge us in a direction, a good one. That word “positive” there has a specific meaning. It means the Church made these for us to follow, to encourage spiritual health.

To go to heaven one must be in Jesus, united with Christ, living in communion with the Blessed Trinity, to have the HS dwelling in your heart, etc, there are several ways to express this. There is no other way to be saved.

So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
 
“But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.”
Revelations 3:16]

Doing the LEAST one can is among the surest ways NOT to attain heaven.

Required is not the same as RECOMMENDED

PRAY very much!
 
billcu1 said:
And to take part in communion once a year during Easter. Now are we to go to Mass at all these times and only be required to take the host once a year? That would make for much spiritual weakness IMO.
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There are a several reasons why we are required to receive communion at least once a year during Easter:
  1. Let’s say you are shut in or live in a place were it is very difficult to get to mass and have a dispensation to stay home and watch Mass on TV? You still need to get to communion at least during Eastertide
  2. we all must fast before receiving communion. In years past, the fast was from midnight and used to be 3 hours before Vatican II. In those days, it was very common for people to eat before mass and not be able to receive communion. Today, the fast is only 1 hour, which is harder (but not impossible) to break.
  3. some Catholics are often in a state of sin and have to refrain from communion. Perhaps it’s their Saturday night activities or because they have a hard time getting to confession (for whatever reason) … so they rarely receive communion.
  4. I’ve heard of some people (though I think this rare in the US) who won’t receive communion if they have venial sins.
  5. I’ve even heard of some Catholics who dislike their priest or music director so much that it causes them ill thoughts during mass so they refrain from Communion
  6. There are some people who will not receive communion without a 3 hour fast or even without fasting from midnight (even though the requirement is only 1 hour)
Point is - there are some reasons why practicing Catholics do not receive often, which is why the Church has instituted a minimum. The Church had to issue a minimum because some people were so pious that they would not receive for years.

------------- Now with all this said… please receive often, if you have been to confession. I also highly recommend at least monthly confession too. I think confession is a wonderful sacrament that not enough people attend.

God Bless
 
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