“Be ever in my Heart, and at each moment, you will find peace. Do not be worried about what you are to do!
Blue Book #9a
We must be before the Lord first and do for the Lord next.
Grace in Every Season (January 21)
We often make the Catholic Christian life way more complicated than it needs to be. If you truly want to live out your commitment to Jesus through the Catholic faith, it’s not complicated. I’m not saying that it’s always ‘easy’ in a worldly sense, however you do receive abundant graces for the journey, but it’s actually very simple. There are only 5 ‘Must do’ items… then the rest will be filled in as you walk with Him.
These are the five precepts of the Catholic Church:
- Attend Mass on Sundays and days of obligation.
- Confess your sins at least once a year.
- Receive the Eucharist at least once a year.
- Observe days of fasting and abstinence.
- Provide for the needs of the Church.
If you are new to the Catholic faith, or have been away for a while… welcome. For everyone else, the Lord has undoubtedly taken you way beyond this already, but thank you for being here, I commend your humility for having an interest in reading my very simple thoughts. The Lord will bless you for it.
Now back to the original concept of Eucharistic Living…of ‘being before the Lord’ and ‘being ever in Mary’s Heart’. One powerful way that the Church helps us with this is by offering Eucharistic Adoration. As you can see, it is not one of the 5 precepts (in fact, technically, you only have to receive Communion once a year even though weekly Mass attendance is required… this is mostly set in place so that you receive in a state of grace… go to Confession first … even if only once a year.), but it is so important in helping us to live out our faith.
We need to be coming to Him regularly as we face life decisions, struggles and even joys… big and small… bring them all to Him. And there you will find His Mother also. It is this that ‘nourishes’ us and gives us peace beyond understanding.