March 1, 2026 - Pastor Message
February 28, 2026THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH THE SECOND AND THIRD PRECEPTS
THE PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH
THE SECOND AND THIRD PRECEPTS
“You shall confess your sins at least once a year; You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2042).
The second and third precepts of the Church collectively form what is commonly referred to as our Easter Duty. The obligation to confess our sins at least once a year ties directly into the obligation to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season as we should only receive Holy Communion when we are properly disposed to do so: “A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible” (canon 916 of the Code of Canon Law). Since we need to make a sacramental confession before receiving Holy Communion when we are conscious of having committed serious sin, we need to do so at least once a year during the Easter season because we are obliged to receive Communion once a year at that time.
But why does the precept command that we receive Communion only once a year, and why during the Easter season? Shouldn’t we receive Communion every time we participate in Mass (which, recalling last week’s column, is to be every Sunday and holy day of obligation)? The answer to that question is yes. For our own growth in the spiritual life as well as the building up of our communion with one another in Christ, the Church “highly recommends” that the faithful receive Communion whenever they participate at Mass, provided they are properly disposed (canon 918). However, recall that the Precepts of the Church clarify for us the indispensable minimum in the spiritual and moral life, what we must do, not what we should do, and we must, at a minimum, receive Communion once a year. The need for such a precept emerged at a time when people very rarely received Communion at Mass. People felt unworthy to receive Christ in the Eucharist, preferring to stay at a distance and adore Christ from afar. The whole dimension of the Mass as a sacred meal was being lost. It got so bad that, other than their First Holy Communion, some people would only receive Communion again on their death bed as part of the Last Rites. So the Church had to impose this precept to ensure that people were not completely deprived of the grace of the sacrament.
As for why we are obliged to do so during the Easter season, it is because of the special connection between our Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ and the “Paschal feasts” we celebrate during the Easter season, especially Holy Week and Easter, from which the sacrament comes and which form “the origin and center of the Christian liturgy” (CCC, 2042). Christ gave us the gift of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, which we celebrate on Holy Thursday, and fulfilled it by sacrificing his Body and Blood on the Cross on Good Friday. He did this to give us the fullness of life, which he revealed in his Resurrection on Easter Sunday, and which he extends to us every time we celebrate and receive Communion with him. Thus, every celebration of the Mass connects us to the feasts we celebrate with special solemnity during the Easter season, and which is why we are obliged to receive Communion during that time.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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