God is for us a loving Father. To help us understand His commandments and to guide us safely toward our heavenly homeland, He gives us the Church – that is, the Pope and the bishops, together with the priests who share in their mission. We must listen to the Church and obey her as we would listen to God Himself, for Christ said to His Apostles, and through them to all their successors: “He who hears you hears Me; he who rejects you rejects Me.”
The Church proposes to her children certain principal precepts, which are like the minimum required for Christian life. These are called the commandments of the Church, and they are as follows:
In addition to commanding attendance at Mass on Sundays, the Church also forbids engaging on that day in heavy or prolonged bodily work. The Lord’s Day should be, as far as possible, a time of rest for the body after the labors of the week.
Yet this rest is not meant to be idle. It is intended to give priority to the soul, so that it may more fully receive God’s grace through prayer, Mass, the sacraments, and good works, and thus gain spiritual strength for the week ahead.
Here are some practical ways to sanctify Sunday as a family, in the spirit of the Church:
To participate attentively in Mass, arriving on time, praying beforehand, and remaining a few moments afterward in thanksgiving.
To devote more time to prayer: reading the Gospel or the lives of the Saints, praying the Rosary, visiting the Blessed Sacrament.
To live peaceful and fraternal moments: sharing a family meal without haste, taking a walk, enjoying simple conversations that strengthen unity and affection.
To practice charity: visiting someone who is sick or alone, helping those in need, showing special care for the poor.
To give the soul what the week often denies it: silence, good Christian reading, and reflection on one’s life in the light of God.
One day, during the feast of Passover, Jesus went up to the Temple in Jerusalem. But scarcely had He entered the courtyard when He found the holy place turned into a marketplace: rows of tables, the noise of trade, the cries of those selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the clinking of coins from the money changers.
A holy anger seized Him. He made a whip of cords, overturned the tables, scattered the money, drove out the merchants and their animals, and would not allow anyone to carry goods through the Temple. At the same time, He raised His voice:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”
Zeal for all that concerns the worship of God continually burned in the Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Above all, He desired that His Father’s name be glorified and that His house remain a place of silence, prayer, and encounter with God.
Philip II, King of Spain, was attending Mass one Sunday in the royal chapel. In the midst of the silence and recollection, he noticed two courtiers chatting and laughing together, as if they were at a mere entertainment.
When the service was over, the king had them summoned at once. With an angry expression, he said to them sternly:
“Is this how you attend Mass, gentlemen? Such poor Christians can only be very poor servants. Leave at once – I dismiss you, and let me never see you again in my palace.”
The Church asks every Christian to go to confession at least once a year. This precept sets a minimum limit, not an ideal for Christian life. It should therefore be seen as an extreme boundary which one should never go beyond without exposing oneself to the serious danger of losing one’s soul.
You would not think of going an entire month without washing yourself. Is it fitting, then, to let a whole year pass without cleansing the soul – especially when that soul may, at any moment, be called to appear before God?
To keep the soul alive and faithful, it is wise not to be satisfied with yearly confession. Regular confession – for example, once a month – helps us remain vigilant, struggle more effectively against our faults, and allow God’s grace to work deeply within us. Frequent confession is certainly one of the great means of living a holy life, correcting our faults, and growing in the love of God. It is also a time to renew a concrete resolution, to choose a specific point to improve, and to strengthen our efforts in prayer, patience, charity, penance, and so on.
Easter Communion is a precept by which the Church asks every faithful Christian to receive Holy Communion at least once a year, during the Easter season, usually in one’s own parish. In this way, she reminds us that the Eucharist is not an optional ornament of Christian life, but an essential spiritual nourishment, closely linked to the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ celebrated at Easter.
This precept also sets a minimum – a final limit so as not to cut oneself off from the source of grace. But it does not prevent, and indeed encourages, frequent Communion for those who are in a state of grace and who prepare themselves with reverence.
If the Church asks us to receive Communion at least once a year, she is in fact urging us to approach the Holy Table much more often. Frequent Communion nourishes the life of grace within us, strengthens our faith, helps us resist temptation, and makes us more faithful in our daily duties.
Each time we receive Jesus with a pure and recollected heart, He gradually transforms us into His likeness. Thus, instead of approaching Him only at Easter out of obligation, we come to make regular Communion – at least every Sunday, and more often if possible – an act of love and a living encounter with Him who is the “Bread of Life.”
Jimmy was six years old. His blond curls framed a face that was both gentle and serious. He attended kindergarten in a small town along the Marne, where barges glided slowly by and, every Sunday, the church bells rang out to call the faithful to Mass.
One Saturday evening, after supper, little Jimmy climbed onto his father’s knees. He nestled close to him, more affectionate than usual, wrapped his small arms around his neck, and after a moment of silence, began:
“Daddy, I want to ask you something. Will you grant it to me?”
His father smiled, a little cautious:
“That depends, Jimmy, on what you ask.”
The child went on with innocent confidence:
“Well… Jimmy would like his daddy to go out with him tomorrow, Sunday.”
The father, thinking of some outing, answered without much thought:
“Granted, my dear. But where do you want us to go?”
Then Jimmy, with newfound seriousness, replied:
“To church, Daddy.”
His father was taken aback:
“What? To church?”
“Yes, Daddy. The teacher who gives us catechism said that those who never go to Mass on Sunday will be punished by God and will go to hell. I don’t want you to go to hell, Daddy. I never want to be separated from you, because I love you so much. So you see – you must come to church with me, so that we can go to Heaven together.”
The words fell simply, without emphasis, but they pierced the father’s heart like an arrow. He had made a promise; he would not disappoint his dear child.
The next day, somewhat reluctant and a little embarrassed, he went with Jimmy to church. At first, he stood at the back with folded arms. But gradually, the words of the Mass reached him and softened his heart. He reflected, then knelt, then prayed.
From that day on, to Jimmy’s great joy, he never again let a Sunday pass without going to Mass.
The fifth commandment of the Church reminds us that the Christian life is not made up of ease and pleasures. Through Lent, days of fasting and abstinence, and other times of penance, the Church invites us to take seriously the words of Jesus: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross each day, and follow Me.”
Penance is not something negative, but a free effort to love more deeply: to renounce something legitimate, to offer a hidden sacrifice, to give something up voluntarily in order to share, to accept difficulties with patience – in order to show God that we love Him above all things.
In this way, by uniting these small sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ, we purify our hearts, make reparation for our sins, and open our souls more fully to grace.
At La Salette (1846), the Blessed Virgin appeared in tears, lamenting indifference toward God and calling her children to conversion through faithful prayer and generous penance, in order to repair sins and avert great chastisements. She insisted on daily prayer, even if brief, and on the acceptance of sufferings offered in a spirit of reparation, as a path of reconciliation with her Son.
At Lourdes (1858), Mary gave this invitation to Bernadette: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners.” She asked for the recitation of the Rosary and simple acts of penance (praying on one’s knees, kissing the ground, small mortifications) for the conversion of souls. She did not promise happiness in this life, but in the next.
At Fatima (1917), the Blessed Virgin asked that the Rosary be recited every day, and that sacrifices and penances be offered for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for offenses committed against God and against her Immaculate Heart. She explained that the primary penance consists in faithfully fulfilling one’s duties of state and observing the law of God, promising mercy and peace if this call to prayer and reparation is heeded.
At Garabandal (1961–1965), the Virgin came to strongly reaffirm the urgency of prayer and penance, in continuity with La Salette, Lourdes, and Fatima. She asked for much prayer, especially for priests, and for sacrifices to be offered for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for offenses against God. She warned that if lives are not changed, great trials will come upon the Church and the world, but that God’s mercy is ready to be poured out if His children respond to this call to prayer, penance, and fidelity to Christ.
In the last two centuries, the Blessed Virgin has multiplied her apparitions, everywhere calling for Prayer and Penance. It would be too long to recount them all here.