- To attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor, avoiding anything that would inhibit the worship of God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.
- To receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation often (minimally, to confess sins at least once a year). This sacrament “continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.”
- To live a Eucharistic life (minimally, to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season). This “guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.”
- To observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church. This “ensures the times of ascesis and penance that prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.”
- To help to provide for the needs of the Church, each according to his/her own ability.
(See CCC 2041–2043)
Consider the great evil committed in offending God, our good Father, infinitely lovable. Meditate on the fact that the passion of Jesus Christ was caused by sin. Reflect on the loss of grace, of many merits, and of heaven, and on the merited punishments of hell and of purgatory.
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