LITURGY MATTERS: Don’t be a Goat!
By Michael McKenna, Archdiocesan Master of Ceremonies
The Decalogue (Ten Commandments), that collection of precepts written on two tablets of stone and given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, oblige both Christian and Jew alike.
At the heart of Jesus’ teaching are the Beatitudes that begin the sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-12). Observed by the Abrahamic religions they represent the eight required conditions that constitute the fundamental law of the kingdom.
In this regard, as a response to Christ’s ‘new commandment’: ‘to love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mt 22:39), the Church’s Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy provide a set of precepts by which we come to the aid of our neighbour in their spiritual and bodily necessities. Jesus’ parable on the ‘judgment of the nations’ provides important context for these prescribed charitable actions, referencing the shepherd separating the sheep from the goats and noting: ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’’ (Mt 25:40).
A less known but equally important codex of obligations, set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by the liturgical life, are the ‘Precepts of the Church’. Sometimes referenced as the Church’s ‘Commandments’ they are neither Divine law nor requirements of the natural moral law.
Rather, the Catechism notes that having been declared with legitimate authority, their obligatory character is designed to guarantee for the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer, the sacramental life, moral commitment, and growth in love of God and neighbour (CCC, 2041).
Among them is the Paschal Precept obligating the faithful to confess their sins at least once each year and receive Holy Communion during the Easter season. Why such a law?
Contrary to the contemporary practice of frequent Communion, there was widespread neglect of the Sacrament in the Middle Ages. As early as the 6th century it became necessary to enact laws obliging the faithful to receive the Holy Eucharist, retained today still in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Medieval Christians regarded salvation in more transactional terms, tending to associate quality of life with God’s favour.
Convinced of their own unworthiness, merely seeing the elevated host became a substitute for Communion and it was a common practice to run from church to church to see as many elevations as possible in the ill-conceived pursuit of the Sacrament’s grace.
As Catholics, the nourishment of the Eucharist is an essential gift of grace to live a spiritual and moral life worthy of the promised kingdom. Pope St Pius X observed that “Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven”. The call to holiness is challenging. Let’s not risk being a goat about it.