The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 268: The Precepts of the Church (2025)

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

God has given the Church his law as “the way of life and truth.” We, therefore, have the right to be taught and guided while maintaining a spirit of docility in love. In this, Fr. Mike reminds us that the Church is our caring mother. Her care extends into the five precepts of the Church, those laws establishing the very minimum needed to remain an active member of the Body of Christ. These have to do with attending Mass, receiving the sacraments, fasting, and providing for the needs of the Church. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2037-2043. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

We can't lose our faith the way we lose our car keys. We either give it away or we let it decay because we don't use it. Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz, and in my new book, Unshakeable, building a life of virtue in a world of chaos, I tell faith-filled stories that inspire you to live a life of virtue that flows from the unshakable power of God. Although we're surrounded by a culture that mocks virtue, we can feed ourselves stories that really do uphold what is good

and promote a virtuous life. When we live this way, we experience freedom and joy like never before. It's my prayer that the stories in my book, Unshakeable, will inspire you to fight the battle for a virtuous life and win through trust in an unshakable God. Order your copy at ascensionpress.com. Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Catechism in a year.

podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The catechism in a year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the catechism of the Catholic Church discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward a heavenly home. This is Day 268. We're reading paragraphs 2037 through 2043. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to download your own catechism in your reading plan visit ascensionpress.com slash c iy and lastly you can click

follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications because today say 268 we're reading paragraphs as i said 2037 to 2043 we're continuing what we said talked about we started talking about yesterday right church is the church is mother and teacher and so i don't know if you are catching on to this but in this section the church is maybe taking pains to simply remind us that the church is good, that the church founded by God, God who's good, founded a church that is good. Yes, of course, there are weeds among the wheat. Yes, we absolutely know that. There are sinners among the saints. And there are times when people have abused their power, times when people have abused teaching and people and people and all these things. And yet,

the church has continued to teach the truth consistently in season and out of season. Sometimes the church needed to be louder when it was too soft. And sometimes the church was needed to be softer when it's too loud. And yet at the same time, it always taught the truth. The church has always taught the truth. Why? Because the church is divinely inspired, right? Divinely founded by our divine founder, Jesus Christ himself, the second person in the Trinity.

The soul of the church is the Holy Spirit. And so we know that, yes, above everything, even though there are sinners in the church, the church is holy. The church is holy. And so we can always trust, we can trust the church. the church. And so paragraphs 2037 to the end here 2043. It's all about reminding us and inviting us to that reality. I can say it like that. Again, inviting us to just consider this reality, the goodness of the church. Now last little quick thing, we're going to talk about the precepts of the church today. And so there

are five precepts of the church. You know, we have 10 commandments. We have the eight beatitudes. But there are five precepts of the church. And we're going to talk about all five of those today. And how important they are in the life of the Catholic Christian. So as we launch into day 268, let's take a moment and call upon our Heavenly Father, call upon the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who teaches us to pray. Father in heaven, we know that we do not know how to pray as we ought. And we also know that our hearts are not the kind of hearts that they should be. We have, we have cynical hearts, we have skeptical hearts that have been hurt, hearts that have been hurt by life, by this world, by strangers, hearts that have been hurt by those close to us.

And many of us have hearts that have been hurt by your church. And we ask that you please, those hearts that have been hurt by the people around us and by the church, let them be healed also by the people around us and by the church. Those that have been wounded by your body, help us to also be healed by your body. Lord God, help us to not just sit in our sickness, to not just wallow in our wounds, but above everything else, to rise above, to rise above by the help of your grace, and to once again become people who can trust, people who can trust in your love, people who can trust in your teaching, people who can trust in the fact that you continue to guide and to guard your church today,

as much as you did in the first days of the church. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 268. We're reading paragraphs 2037 to 2043. The law of God entrusted to the church is taught to the faithful as the way of life and truth. The faithful therefore have the right to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purified judgment and with grace heal wounded human reason. They have the duty of observing the constitutions and decrees.

conveyed by the legitimate authority of the church, even if they concern disciplinary matters, these determinations call for docility in charity. In the work of teaching and applying Christian morality, the church needs the dedication of pastors, the knowledge of theologians, and the contribution of all Christians and men of goodwill. Faith and the practice of the gospel provide each person with an experience of life in Christ, who enlightens him and makes him able to evaluate the divine and human realities according to the spirit of God. Thus, the Holy Spirit can use the humblest to enlighten the learned and those in the highest positions. Ministries should be exercised in a spirit of fraternal service and dedication to the church in the name of the Lord.

At the same time, the conscience of each person should avoid confining itself to individualistic considerations in its moral judgments of the person's own acts. As far as possible, conscience should take account of the good of all, as expressed in the moral law, natural and revealed, and consequently in the law of the church and in the authoritative teaching of the magisterium on moral questions. Personal conscience and reason should not be set in opposition to the moral law or the magisterium of the church. Thus, a true filial spirit toward the church can develop among Christians. It is the normal flowering of the baptismal grace which has begotten us in the womb of the church and made us members of the body of Christ. In her motherly care, the church grants us the mercy of God, which prevails

over all our sins and is especially at work in the sacrament of reconciliation. With a mother's foresight, she also lavishes on us day after day in her liturgy, the nourishment of the Word and Eucharist of the Lord. 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 very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort in the growth of love of God and neighbor. The first precept, you shall attend mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor, requires the faithful

to sanctify the day commemorating the resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints. In the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days. 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 receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season, guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord's body.

and blood in connection with the pascal feasts, the origin, and center of the Christian liturgy. The fourth precept, you shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the church, ensures the times of acesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart. The fifth precept, you shall help to provide for the needs of the church, means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the church, each according to his own ability. The faithful also have the the duty of providing for the material needs of the church, each according to his abilities. Right? There we have it, paragraphs 2037 to 2043. Before we launch into the precepts, I think there's

something really, really powerful about just taking a moment and highlighting paragraph 2037. Out of the others, they're all good as well. But there's something so powerful here. It says, the law of God entrusted to the church is taught to the faithful as the way of truth and life. Yeah, of course, the law of God, way of truth and life. That's the law of God. The way of truth and life. That's how we grow. It says, the faithful, therefore, have the right to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purify judgment and with grace heal wounded human reason. So that's one of your rights. One of your rights as belonging to the Lord, as belonging to the father, as being an adopted son or daughter is the fact that you have the right to be instructed in the truth. In order to have a

real relationship, every real relationship has real rights and real responsibilities. This is so important for us to understand. If I'm going to have a real relationship with God, that means, yes, I have real rights. I have access to the Father. It also means I have real responsibilities. And there are commandments that are placed upon me that I have to have to do. That's a real responsibility. But I love this reality that the Catechism says here in 2037. One of those rights that you have, the one of the rights that we have as baptized Christians, as Catholics, is we have the right to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purify our judgment. And with grace, heal wounded human reason. I don't know if you've ever considered that to be a right.

I think sometimes, sometimes, maybe this isn't you, but maybe this is just me. Sometimes I see that being instructed in the way of life, right, in the way of God's commands, that's the burden, right? That sometimes can feel like that's the tension, that's the challenge, that's the difficult part of the whole thing. And yet, you know, we're going to talk about this in a couple days when we launch into the Decolog that the Ten Commandments, the Decalog, right? The Ten Commandments, they come out of the relationship. In fact, when in the Old Testament, it says, Lord, how I love your law. Why? Why? Why would I love your law? Well, because you've revealed yourself to me. You've brought me into a relationship with you. Because of that,

you actually care. That's why you've revealed your law to me is because we have a relationship with each other. And that is so powerful. When we talk about the Ten Commandments, or the beatitudes or even here today, the precepts of the church, we recognize this all comes from the relationship that God has brought us into a relationship with him and with each other and that it actually matters to him how we live. And it matters to him that we know how we want us to live. And it should matter to us too. We should look at this and say, Lord, how I love your law. I as a baptized Christian have the right to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purify my judgment and with grace heal wounded human reason. That is an

credible right, and that I've never considered to be a right. Maybe you've never considered that to be a right either. And yet it is. We also, it goes on to say, have the duty of observing the constitutions and decrees conveyed by the legitimate authority of the church. And even if they concern disciplinary matters, these determinations call for docility in charity, right? So a teachableness in love. And it's so important for us. We also have not just the right. We have the responsibility, not just have the right to know the truth. We also have the duty, the responsibility of observing the church's teachings. And we have to, that's what we're called, how we're called to live. It's so important. Now, the church teaches us in so many different ways and goes on in paragraph 2038 to note that

some of the greatest teachers have been among the humblest, right? Some of the greatest, most incredible minds that have just passed on the truth of God have been among those humblest that have been used to enlighten the learned and those in the highest positions. And this is, this is so true in the history of the church, just to study some of the saints, is to realize that. that, yes, there are some great minds and also some really powerful people, right? So here's a great mind, St. John Paul the Great, right? St. John Paul II.

Great mind also, the Pope, right? So here's highest position you could possibly have inside the church. So there's an example, but also we also have people who have talked to St. John Paul II. So as an example, St. Mother Teresa, right, of Calcutta. She's a great example of someone who would not necessarily be considered

the most learned. She was very wise, right, but not necessarily in book knowledge. She didn't have, I don't know how many degrees she had or if she had any degrees other than the ability to be able to teach high school. And yet, and also what was her role? What was her position? Her position was, yes, she's a founder of religious community, and that's amazing. But founders of a religious community that lives among the poorest of the poor in India, that is a pretty low spot. But yet, when John Paul looked at St. Mother Teresa, he saw a saint and learned from her, because that's the truth. Saints learn from each other, regardless of their roles, regardless of their position. I was on to talk about the fact that we need each other.

I mean, that's what we're talking about here in paragraph 2039. It says ministries should be exercised in a spirit of fraternal service and dedication to the church in the name of the Lord. And so, yeah, we want to serve dedicated to the church in the name of the Lord. At the same time, our conscience should avoid confining itself to an individualistic consideration in its moral judgments of the person own acts, meaning I don't just look at my own self. I don't just have, I don't just have that narrow view that says, well, this is right for me in this case. What I have to do is as far as possible, my conscience should take into account the good of everyone. As far as I possibly can, should take into account the good of everyone is expressed in the moral law, natural and revealed,

and consequently the law of the church and the authoritative teaching of the magistrate and my moral questions. This is so important. So personal conscience and my reason, right, should not be set in opposition to the moral law or magisterium of the church. I should, I need to do whatever I can to avoid setting myself up as it's me versus the church. The church teaches this, but I believe this contrary thing. As much as I possibly can, I need to avoid that. And I can avoid that by asking questions. I can avoid that not by saying, well, here's where you stand. Here's where I stand. But by saying, okay, Lord, where does your, what is your church teaching? Why is the church teaching this? How am I called to live this out? And then to ask those questions,

in the spirit of docility, right? The spirit of love, the spirit of trust that we keep talking about. But not a spirit of skepticism and not a spirit of cynicism. Now, last thing, that's why we need that spirit of filial spirit toward the church.

Like, okay, the church is my mother and I, as a beloved and devoted son of such a mother, that's my approach. That's the way I approach, is teach me and guide me. The last thing I said is precepts of the church. Now, these are so important.

In fact, the precepts, it says they're obligatory. We have to do this. the obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by pastoral authorities, right? This is the church has decreed this. If you say, where is this in the Bible? We'd say, it's not necessarily anywhere per se in the Bible, although the hints are there. But we'd say, this is what the church has formulated. And this is the discipline of the church that is required for what?

It's meant to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort. Think about this. These five things are the very minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort. in the growth of love of God and neighbor. So what that means is, if I'm not doing these things, I am not spiritually alive, right? So keep this in mind. These five precepts, even though, oh, these are only the teachings of the church.

No, no, no, no, no. This is the church, which has authority, right? The authority of God himself, who says, these are the precepts, the necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort. If I don't do these minimum, my spiritual life is flatlined. My spiritual life is dead. My moral life is dead. These are the, okay, I kind of want to emphasize this enough.

So what are they? Number one, basically, you shall attend mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor. That's it. Number one, if I fail to do this, if I choose to neglect to do this, choose to do something other than this, spiritual life, dead. So attend mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, rest from servile labor. Number two, second precept, you shall confess your sins at least once a year.

So basically going to confession, sacrament of reconciliation, at least one. one time a year in order to guarantee that I'm prepared to receive Holy Communion. Number three, you shall receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season. So back in the day, there were people who understood the beauty, the dignity, the power, the holiness of the Eucharist, because they experienced, they realized how good the Eucharist is. They didn't receive communion ever. They never received the Holy Eucharist until a pope came along and said, okay, listen, people, Jesus truly said, this is my body, take of it and eat it all of you.

And so you have to receive the Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season. And that is the precept. Number four, you still observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the church, which might sound burdensome to you until we realize that there are approximately two days of fasting in the church and a couple days of abstinence. So days of fasting are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Those are the two days of fasting and the days of abstinence abstaining from meat. Again, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. and then all the Fridays in Lent.

Now, it used to be the case that it was all Fridays throughout the course of the year. And the church in the 1960s has said, okay, yes, those days of penance, Fridays are always days of penance, unless there's some kind of solemnity or big high feast on that day. But every Friday's a day of penance,

that you're free to choose your penance on every one of those days except for the Fridays during Lent. On those days, the church still reserves the right to say, that's a day of abstinence, abstaining from meat. And the fifth precept, which is you shall help

to provide for the needs of the church. What's that mean? That means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the church each according to his own ability. All of these are doable, right? That's the thing is like any person, virtually any person at any given time

can accomplish all of these. That's why it's the minimum requirements for our lives to be even, our spiritual lives to even be alive. So even when it comes to providing for the needs of the church, you someone could say, I knew it, the church is asking for all my money.

Actually, the church is not asking for that. Remember in the Old Testament, in the old covenant, a tenth, a tenth of everything you had was to go to the Lord. A tenth, at least tenth of everything you had was to go to the Lord. Here's the church, the Catholic Church says, will give according to your ability, which means you get to decide if that according to your ability is a tenth of a tenth. If what you can give according to your ability is a tenth of a percentage, you get to actually choose that. The church says, okay, you decide, but you have to give. something you have to contribute to the needs of the church why because this church yes is holy it's divine it also lives in this world you know i think it was matthew kelly who came

who revealed that or discovered i don't know what it was he maybe discovered and then revealed that something like 80 plus percent are funded activities and parishes are funded by six or seven percent of the parish think about like 80 to 90 percent of what happens in any given parish is funded by six or seven percent of that parish and the remaining 15 to 20 percent are funded by the remaining 93 to 94 percent of the parish. You know, in so many non-Catholic churches, they have incredible staff, they have incredible programs,

they are able to help so many people, and it's amazing, and a lot of non-Catholic churches. Imagine if we actually did this Fifth Precept if every person in the pews, every person who's registered, every person is going to Mass, was saying, actually, no, I'm going to provide for the needs of the church, according to my ability. Imagine what we could do in this world. Imagine the good that even your local parish could do. Matthew Kelly even, he proposes the question.

He says, if it is 6%, what would change if it was 7? Like, honestly, if 6% of the parish is providing for 80 to 90% of what the church does, what if we just increase that by one percent? How much more could the church do? You know, often we complain, ah, the youth ministry in my parish is no good. You know why? Because you can't hire a youth minister

because no one's giving. Or the music in our church is so bad. You know why I can't hire a good musician because no one's giving? All these kind of these things, you know, it's not all connected to money. But in so many ways, there is this, hmm, a struggle that many of us have.

and parting with our money. And maybe it's because I don't trust the people who are taking care of the money. That's a real thing. But maybe it's just, I haven't thought about it. I think most people are not necessarily stingy. They're just not generous because they haven't thought about it. So here's the invitation. Fifth precepts of the church.

Think about it. All these five precepts, again, as I said, are the minimum requirement for a spiritual life and spiritual growth to be alive. and all five of them are doable right now, right away. We can do them immediately. So here's my prayer. I'm praying that you and I take these first steps that we, like we said the other day, Noon Cepi, let us begin, and just take up our cross, follow up to the Lord, and begin in these small, small ways that the church has said is what we must do in order to have a faith that is alive.

I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.