Living a Properly Ordered Life
The Catholic Church gives us 5 precepts to help us order our lives around God. The precepts are meant to aid and guide us to become better people and they pull virtue out of us. What are the 5 precepts? The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 2042-2043 provides the details:
The first precept: we shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor.
The second precept: we shall confess our sins at least once a year.
The third precept: we shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.
The fourth precept: we shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.
The fifth precept: we shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.
The precepts are meant to help us grow in love for God and for one another. The Catechism states, “the precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life,” (2041). We are reminded that participation in the sacraments is essential to cultivate the Christian life.
As a side note: Of course, sometimes we find ourselves in a position that we are unable to follow the precepts. For example, sometimes we have to work on Sundays to provide for ourselves and our families. Some of us may not be able to fast on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday due to health reasons, such as diabetes.
I am sad that many people think of the precepts, as well as the Ten Commandments, simply as rules we must follow. As Fr. Ed often preaches, love is not transactional; God loves us no matter what. And because we are asked to be Christ-like, we must do our best to love in the same way.
God has taken initiative to grow in relationship with each one of us. He has given us everything and sustains us. God has made covenants with us and has never betrayed us. But we, in our weak human nature, transgress him frequently.
Out of gratitude and charity, it is right and just to respond to his beckoning. The Catechism defines justice as “the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion’…The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking,” (1807).
Justice brings peace: “Peace is the tranquility of order. Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity,” (Catechism, 2304). We don’t always have happy feelings when we attend Mass. But justice demands that we attend and participate. And even if we don’t feel intense Christian joy after each Mass, I think we are still at peace because we have done the right thing by going!
Again, peace is the tranquility of order. I think, also, that right order gives us interior freedom. When our lives are properly ordered and we have our priorities right, we are not tied down by guilt or worry. It seems like the lack of time keeps people from attending Mass on Sundays.
Here is a quote from St. Josemaria Escriva to reflect on: “When you bring order into your life your time will multiply, and then you will be able to give God more glory by working more in his service.” This may seem impossible, but I have found that somehow it is true.
The main point I’m reflecting on today is about relationship with the Lord. We grow closer to our loved ones by spending time with them. Our relationship with God is no different. Going to Mass is not about what I get out of it (although I think I do, even if I don’t recognize it). It is about loving, remaining committed, and worshipping God. Sometimes we don’t feel like worshipping God and that is very human. But, out of love, we can go to Mass anyway.
“You will live in the land I gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God,” (Ezekiel 36:28).