Here are some very basic obligatory rules that all Catholics should know. However, some Catholics are either ignorant of them, or knowingly fail to abide by them.
*Attend Mass every week. To deliberately miss Mass on Saturday vigil or on Sunday, is a mortal sin.
*Attend Mass on Holy Days of obligation. We are obligated to do so on certain Feast Days of the year. The Church bulletin and a good Catholic calendar lists these obligatory days.
*Go to Confession at least once a year. If in mortal sin, go as soon as possible. A mortal sin is a sin against any one of the Ten Commandments. The CCC has distinct references to mortal and venial sins.
*Believe with all your heart in the True Presence, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
*Do not receive Holy Communion if you know you have a mortal sin on your soul. That would be yet another and worse mortal sin called a Sacrilege. 
*Do not receive Holy Communion if you know you have a mortal sin on your soul. That would be yet another and worse mortal sin called a Sacrilege. Examination of Conscience is suggested each day and especially before Confession.
*"Obey your superiors and be subject to them, for they keep watch as having to render an account of your souls; so that they may do this with joy, and not with grief, for that would not be expedient for you." Hebrews 13:17 Adults are subject to their superiors at work, to authority, and to the law. Of course, all these are subject to the law of God and that is where our first allegiance must be. Obey the teaching of the Holy Father the Pope, and the teaching of the Magisterium.
*We must respect life in the fullest sense. Abortion is murder of GOD's most helpless creature, an innocent child in its mother's womb. Life begins at conception. Pro-Abortionists try to conceal what is really "Legalized Murder", by using the term, "Pro-Choice". It is NOT a mothers "choice" whether to murder her unborn child or not. The child is not hers. It belongs to GOD. It is not a part of her body. How could it ever be if it is a he and she is a she? It is a separate person with its own human systems and could even have a different blood type. Our Creator has thus created each person singularly, independently functioning and with the potential to be a humble member of the world or to become great. In our wonderful country, we each have the power to vote to put great people into leadership. A good Catholic, casts the right vote intelligently and carefully for a person who is Pro-Life which is Pro-GOD. To vote with the tide of popularity that encompasses arrogance, self-aggrandizement and self-pride for advocates who are "pro-choice" is to vote into power those who are the proponants of the culture of death. This is strictly forbidden and against the teaching of the Catholic Church which is the teaching of Christ! A vote for Pro-Life is saying yes to GOD. Remember, Mary, Our Blessed Mother said "YES" to GOD. Make your vote count for Life!
*Do not practice Contraception. It is counter to Holy Scripture and the teaching of the Church. Natural Family Planning, as taught by the Catholic Church is the way to go. Pope Paul VI wrote an Encyclical in 1968 in which he envisioned the evil consequences if contraception were to continue. It is called Humanae Vitae. Be sure to read paragraph #17 as it foretold exactly what would happen and is happening today over 30 years later. Contraception is the drugged mentality that leads to abortion and more.
*The parents have the responsibility to teach their children right from wrong at an early age, and to see to it that they have the proper Catholic education. Teach them their Sunday obligation, their prayers, that GOD loves them, etc., as soon as they are able to understand. It is not the responsibility of the Church to do this, as the primary responsibility rests upon the parents.
By the example of their parents, they shall learn. Our children when ill-prepared and with no role-models to emulate, go into the world as young adults and are prey for the many false religions and cults waiting to capture them. In their ignorance of the truth, they are enticed by the falseness and succumb to its teachings. Get your children into a sound religious education program. Ask questions of the teachers, lay and religious alike. Search for a program that is solid.
*Have a loving devotion for Our Blessed Mother of GOD.
*Pray the Rosary every day.
*Say your prayers every day. Say the Act of Contrition each night.
*Support the Church financially. Every person should know what they are able to contribute.Our Creator has thus created each person singularly, independently functioning and with the potential to be a humble member of the world or to become great. In our wonderful country, we each have the power to vote to put great people into leadership. A good Catholic, casts the right vote intelligently and carefully for a person who is Pro-Life which is Pro-GOD. To vote with the tide of popularity that encompasses arrogance, self-aggrandizement and self-pride for advocates who are "pro-choice" is to vote into power those who are the proponants of the culture of death. This is strictly forbidden and against the teaching of the Catholic Church which is the teaching of Christ! A vote for Pro-Life is saying yes to GOD. Remember, Mary, Our Blessed Mother said "YES" to GOD. Make your vote count for Life!






________________________Written by Bob Stanley, October 9, 1998 , http://www.thecatholictreasurechest.com/index.htm