The Precepts of the Church and Sunday

They are positive laws made by the Church's pastors, set within a moral life that is fed by the liturgy. They are not the whole of Christian life. They guarantee the indispensable minimum of prayer and moral effort, so that we keep growing in love of God and neighbour.

As the Catechism gives them: you shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation; you shall confess your sins at least once a year; you shall receive Holy Communion at least during the Easter season; you shall keep holy the holy days of obligation; you shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence. The faithful also have the duty to provide for the material needs of the Church, each according to his ability. The Compendium of the Catechism (2005, no. 432) lists them a little differently, joining the holy days to the first precept and making support of the Church the fifth; the content is the same.

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. As the first day it recalls the first creation; as the "eighth day" after the sabbath it stands for the new creation begun by his Resurrection. So it became the Lord's Day, the first of all feasts. Sunday fulfils the spiritual truth of the sabbath and points to our eternal rest in God.

Yes. The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. The faithful are bound to take part in it on days of obligation unless excused for a serious reason, such as illness or the care of infants, or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin. Coming together on Sunday is also a witness that we belong to Christ and to his Church.

Yes. In the Latin Church the obligation is satisfied by a Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite, on the day itself or on the evening of the preceding day (CIC can. 1248 §1). For the Eastern Catholic Churches, the time for meeting the obligation runs from the evening of the vigil to the end of the Sunday or feast day (CCEO can. 881 §2).

The Eastern Code binds the faithful to take part on Sundays and feast days in the Divine Liturgy, or, according to the rules or lawful customs of their own Church, in the celebration of the divine praises (CCEO can. 881 §1). In the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches the Divine Liturgy is the Holy Qurbana. The Code also strongly recommends receiving the Eucharist on these days, and even daily (CCEO can. 881 §3).

If there is no priest, or some other grave reason makes it impossible to take part in the Eucharist, the Church strongly recommends a Liturgy of the Word in the parish church or another sacred place, if the bishop has arranged one, or prayer for a suitable time, alone, as a family or with other families. Those who are truly unable are not guilty of sin; they keep the day holy as they can.

For the Latin Church, the universal list is: Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Mary Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, St Joseph, Sts Peter and Paul, and All Saints (CIC can. 1246 §1). Bishops' conferences may, with the Holy See's approval, suppress some or move them to a Sunday (can. 1246 §2). The days common to all the Eastern Churches, besides Sundays, are the Nativity, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Dormition of Mary, and Sts Peter and Paul, unless the approved law of a particular Church changes this (CCEO can. 880 §3). Ask your parish which days bind where you live.

On Sundays and holy days we avoid work or business that hinders worship, the joy of the Lord's Day, works of mercy, and rest of mind and body. Family needs or important public service can excuse from Sunday rest, but such excuses should not become a habit. Some must work on Sundays; they should still set aside time for God. Christians should avoid making needless demands on others that stop them keeping the day.

Sunday is traditionally a day for good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm and the elderly. It is a day to give time and care to family and relatives, often hard to do on other days. It is also a day for reflection, silence, reading and prayer that help the inner life grow. And those who have leisure should remember those who cannot rest because of poverty.

After reaching the age of discretion, every Catholic is bound to confess serious sins at least once a year (CIC can. 989). Anyone aware of mortal sin should not receive Communion without first receiving absolution, except for a grave reason when confession is impossible. The Eastern Code asks anyone aware of serious sin to receive the sacrament of penance as soon as possible, and strongly recommends frequent confession, especially in the seasons of fasting and penance (CCEO can. 719). Confession of everyday faults is not strictly necessary but is strongly recommended.

The Church obliges the faithful to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation. In the Latin Church this is fulfilled in the Easter season unless for a just cause it is done at another time (CIC can. 920). The Eastern Code asks pastors to teach the faithful to receive the Eucharist at the times set by custom or by their own Church's law, especially at Easter (CCEO can. 708). But the Church strongly encourages Communion every Sunday and feast, and even daily.

Days of penance prepare us for the feasts and help us gain mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart. In the Latin Church every Friday and the season of Lent are penitential; abstinence from meat, or another food set by the bishops' conference, is kept on Fridays, and fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstinence binds from the completed fourteenth year, and fasting from the age of majority until the beginning of the sixtieth year; the bishops' conference may set other forms of penance (CIC cann. 1250 to 1253). In the Eastern Catholic Churches, fast and abstinence are kept as each Church's own law sets out (CCEO can. 882), so follow the guidance of your own Church.

The faithful are to help with the needs of the Church, so that it has what is needed for worship, for the apostolate and works of charity, and for the fitting support of its ministers. The same canon also binds them to promote social justice and help the poor from their own resources (CIC can. 222). No one should be deprived of the sacraments because of poverty.

They are a floor, not a ceiling. The precepts mark the least that keeps a Catholic living in communion with the Church. The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation of the whole Christian life, and the Church hopes that from it our love for God and neighbour will grow far beyond any rule.