Get minimum daily, and eternal, requirements

Most of us take vitamins and minerals. Whether it's calcium, a daily multivitamin or just trying to eat the minimum requirements of fruits and veggies (for fiber and minerals), we try to follow a healthy diet.

Why?

We want strong bodies. Without calcium, our bones and teeth weaken and can even collapse - taking us with them. "Iron-poor blood" leaves us with "that run down feeling."

So we take our daily requirements. Even if we don't, they appear in our cereal boxes, our bread bags and our soup cans. Even our candy bars list any amount of nutritional value they may contain.

"Minimum daily requirements" help build strong bodies. In the same way, the Catholic church has certain minimum requirements - called the precepts of the church.

They look like rules, and until recently were called "the commandments of the church," but are more like minimum daily requirements. They are the bare bones of what the church says we need to build strong, Christian lives - full of the Spirit and healthy in their relationship with God and others.

The precepts vary in number, depending on the source, but basically cover church attendance, sacrament reception and stewardship. They date back, in various forms, to the Middle Ages. Theologian and retired St. Norbert College professor, John Craghan, notes that six precepts were established by the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1886 for U.S. Catholics.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists five (nos. 2042-2043):

• Attendance at Mass on Sundays and holy days, with the accompanying obligation to rest from unnecessary work on those days;

• Yearly confession (sacrament of reconciliation);

• Reception of Eucharist at least annually, and preferably during the Easter season;

• Fasting and abstinence as established by the rules of the church; and

• The obligation to assist with the material needs of the church.

When a sixth precept appears on the list, it usually deals with observing the church's laws concerning marriage (canons 1055-1165.)

Looking these over, one can see that the precepts deal with external actions - attend Mass, go to confession, abstain, give, fast. And, in fact, by simply doing these actions, we fulfill the rules.

However, just like popping vitamins into our mouths, it's what goes on inside that really matters. Notre Dame theologian, Sr. Regina Coll, CSJ, notes that, while "they are concerned with external behavior, these behaviors are also meant to foster the spiritual development of the faithful."

Attending Mass and celebrating what God has done for us in Christ, receiving spiritual food in Eucharist and healing in reconciliation, as well as sharing our gifts and wealth with others, all work together to build us into strong, Christian disciples.

While Jesus did not establish the rules we now call the precepts of the church, he did tell us, many times, what we need to do to build up faith-filled bodies and souls: when he offered us the bread of heaven and the water of eternal life; when he told us to gather in his name and ask God's help; when he offered his very self and told us to "do this in memory of me"; and when he said to care for "the little ones."

As the Catechism tells us, these precepts are "positive laws" set up by the pastors of the church "to guarantee to the faithful the very necessary minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral efforts, in the growth in love of God and neighbor" (no. 2041).

It's kind of like establishing a healthy diet - you start the minimums, taking vitamins and trying to eat right. After a while, you feel stronger and have more energy. Before you know it, you're stopping in a health food store, buying a mountain bike or thinking about a marathon. You feel good and you want more of that feeling.

The same thing happens with religious practices - you begin with a little - the minimum requirements. They make you (and those around you) feel good. And before you know it, you're on the road to a healthy, eternal life.