Posted on 06/16/2005 5:49:59 PM PDT by Salvation
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Sign of Reverence |
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06/16/05 |
Dear Grace, Every Sunday at Mass, I see people going up to receive Communion and I notice that many of them simply step up to the minister and put out their hand or open their mouth so casually. Arent we required to show some kind of reverence when we receive Communion? |
How do you display your reverence for the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ when you receive Communion?
Grace MacKinnon holds an MA in theology and is a syndicated columnist and public speaker on Catholic doctrine. Her new book Dear Grace: Answers to Questions About the Faith is available in our online store. If you enjoy reading Grace's column, you will certainly want to have this book, which is a collection of the first two years of "Dear Grace." Faith questions may be sent to Grace via email at: grace@DearGraceMinistries.org. You may also visit her online at www.DearGraceMinistries.org.
Precisely as described.
Whenever possible, as at our parish, kneeling, receiving on the tongue, of course. Kneeling is the traditional Western expression of humility and reverence (see Aidan Nichols' book on the liturgy for a much better explanation of this and other aspects of the sign value of traditional worship). If the US bishops' committee says it's all about penitence instead, well we (and they--see the Diogenes thread below) certainly could use some of that, too.
Receiving on the tongue is also the traditional Western way, hallowed by more than a millenium of use (which, if you believe in the presence and activity of God in history, must suggest, if not dictate, the conclusion that this is the way our Lord wants it) even if not done in the earliest times. By doing so, one receives our Lord directly from from His minister, who stands in persona Christi, rather than communicating oneself, which, like standing for a Westerner, is oh, so democratic.
To those for whom democratic usages are normative, I would say: Long live Christ the King!
Or "Viva Cristo Rey!", the last words of Bl. Miguel Pro SJ, in Mexico, and the Claretian martyrs of Barbastro, Spain, among many others, and the battle cry of the Cristeros. Also the cry of Brent Bozell, Frederick Wilhelmsen and the Sons of Thunder in their famous "rescue" at the GWU abortion clinic in 1970, chronicled in Triumph magazine.
Children absorb everything their parents do. The best thing a parent could do is set a good example.
Are you allowed to post on this thread if you know that it isn't the literal body and blood of Christ?
"Viva Cristo Rey!", the last words of Bl. Miguel Pro SJ, in Mexico
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