I truly did not mean to drag this out for so long! My cable company got sold, and my internet service was transferred, and for several days the only thing I was able to do was check email....plus I didn't want to trust anything important to that mail-to-blog thing you can do (but I've never tried).

Anyway, to summarize so far: The Catholic Church is where Jesus is Truly Present in the Eucharist, so if you want the Real Thing, you gotta be Catholic. That means keeping the Ten Commandments, the Two Great Commandments, and the Precepts of the Church. Yes, Virginia, it's still a mortal sin to lay out of Mass (or Divine Liturgy) just because!

Now - C4 through C10 are covered by GC2 (see previous posts for explanation of abbreviations). I think for the average person this should be pretty much self-evident. Also p5 is part of GC2 - contributing to the support of one's pastors. Obviously your pastor is your neighbor. And his support, directly or indirectly, comes from your contribution in the offering plate.

p6 is not as obvious a part of GC2, but it's in there. We are enjoined by GC1 to love God to the utmost. GC2 instructs us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and we are to desire holiness and sanctification for ourselves by virtue of the fact that God has given us Faith and Hope in everlasting life. Therefore we should desire nothing less than that same holiness for all people. Marriage is a sacrament of joy and ought not to be celebrated during penitential seasons, since by doing that we are putting our own desires above that of God, Who through His Church has given us times of reflection and penance (Lent/The Great Fast and Advent/St. Philip's Fast). During these seasons we ought to be preparing to celebrate the Nativity and Resurrection, and our thoughts and actions should all reflect this preparation (this is called 'living your faith, people). And if you're serious enough about your faith to follow this simple little bit, then go just a bit further and don't marry your first or second cousin, or someone who isn't Catholic, or someone who isn't even baptized.

But wait, there's more! Even if you are OK with all of these, there are bunches of other Catholic teachings, the denial of which is enough to keep you away from what you're after - Jesus, Truly Present in the Sacrament of the Altar.

The fifth commandment - are you truly pro-life? Really? Do you condemn abortion in ALL circumstances, because it's MURDER? Do you truly understand that contraception, whether physical or chemical, is also a violation of this commandment? If you hold the view that 'young people are in such a grip of their hormones that they are going to have sex outside of marriage anyway, so there should be birth control/condoms so that abortion doesn't enter the picture, and no unwanted/unplanned babies are conceived, then you are in dissent from the Magisterium of the Church and should not present yourself for Communion.

More later. If there's error here, correct me. I retract whatever is wrong in advance, but I need to know where I err so I can further educate myself.