Afraid of appearing too pious ?

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marthaferretti

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I’ve read here and elsewhere about Catholics worried about how they’ll appear to other Catholics if they kneel for Holy Communion, receive Holy Communion on the tongue, wear a chapel veil, pray the Rosary before Mass etc., etc.

The Catholic Faith has inspired countless martyrs to die for the Faith and some worry that doing the above might cause other Catholics to think of them as ‘more Catholic than the Pope’, ‘Catholic fundamentalists’, or numerous other insults we’ve heard for years ? !!

C’mon and show some backbone. Who cares what other Catholic think. Just do it.

I personally began receiving Holy Communion while kneeling probably 12-13 years ago. I think I may have been the only one at the Cathedral where I live who received kneeling at the time and I was never refused.

If you are refused, tell them while still kneeling that they can’t refuse you Communion. If they still refuse you, stand, return to the pew w/o receiving. If you receive while standing like they want you to do, they’ve won. After Mass, give the priest a copy of the relevent information that states you can’t be refused Holy Communion for kneeling. Assist at Mass the following week and repeat until they do give you Communion. Don’t let the litugical bullies get the better of you.
 
When people kneel to receive the Eucharist, they need to be conscious of what is going on around them. I once saw two people trip over each other – one of them being elderly and afterwards needed help being taken back to the pew because she was hurt in the fall.

Now, if the altar rail was brought back, that would solve the issue.
 
My spiritual director (the wife of a deacon at my parish - there are few priests in town, so she handles local spiritual direction) said that I should be cautious and not want to appear as if I am doing such (kneeling for Communion) for the sake of attention. She also mentioned her instinctive thinking that a particular woman who wears a veil (I’ve thought many times to go over and tell that woman how much I appreciate it, but I can never find her after Mass, she keeps to the corner of the church) is doing it for show.

I tried to use similar reasoning to what you gave in your post, but she countered with the “no man is an island” phrase that is often repeated around these parts. We disagree intensely on liturgical matters (which, for me are central in my spirituality), but she is an excellent advisor on prayer, I think. Both of us are converts.

It took a while for me to work up the courage to receive on the tongue, still more to kneel (and that’s only been twice so far). By now, of course, receiving in the hand is inconceivable, and I prefer to kneel (there are two communion lines; one with the priest, the other with the deacon, who is my spiritual director’s husband. Because I always sit on the left side, I end up in the deacon’s line. First time I kneeled, he paused, looked at me, confused, and then gave me the Host). It will take some time before standing for Communion is likewise inconceivable, if it ever does.
 
marthaferretti said:
If you are refused, tell them while still kneeling that they can’t refuse you Communion. If they still refuse you, stand, return to the pew w/o receiving. If you receive while standing like they want you to do, they’ve won.
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Although I definitely agree that one should not be refused Communion for kneeling, I’m afraid this part of your approach just doesn’t sit well with me. The Eucharist is not a weapon. It’s not about “winning”. I don’t see how one could endorse returning to the pew without receiving Our Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament simply because one did not get their way. To me, that seems a little catty and more than a little passive aggressive.

Certainly, one can attempt to educate the person after Mass on how one cannot be refused for kneeling. But I think that refusing to receive Communion unless it is one’s own terms will already lessen one’s credibility in their eyes. It will only encourage animosity.
 
This the the Catholic Church. Universal. We do things together.

There is no way to receive kneeling without creating a stir. I would have to ask why you feel compelled to do that. Do you feel everyone should, so you disrupt the line to show them? Or do you only feel that you should?

You are definitely making a statement - what is that statement? How do you* want *to appear to other Catholics?
 
If anyone wants my $.02, here it is.

I would much prefer kneeling to receive communion (always on the tongue) over standing. I feel that it shows a reverence that can be lacking when communion is received standing. Plus, there is this quote:
While current norms allow the faithful to receive the Eucharist in the hand while standing, Pope Benedict XVI has indicated a preference for the more traditional practice, said Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies.
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Kneeling and receiving Communion on the tongue highlights “the truth of the real presence (of Christ) in the Eucharist, helps the devotion of the faithful and introduces the sense of mystery more easily,” he said in a June 26 interview with the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
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That being said, I receive standing because the USCCB has made standing the norm (although I also think communion in the hand is their norm as well?) and I feel that I should obey them in this situation since they would have no authority over me if God did not allow it. I also feel that in my parish where there are few who receive kneeling, that I may become a distraction for the other parishioners and I very much do NOT want to take away from their perceptions of reception of the Body of Christ.

I know that it takes that first person doing it to begin the slow return of kneeling, but until I am sure that I am not doing it for the wrong reason (i.e. “God, I thank You that I am not like other people”).
 
I just started receiving communion on the tongue a few months ago, and have thought about kneeling as well. However, I don’t want it to be just for show.

As for all other acts of piety, it is very necessary to make sure there’s moderation. Anything more is from the evil one.
 
Hi,

I have always received Communion on the tongue since learning that I could do that back in oh 2004. As to kneeling, I know several people who do it. I have no problem kneeling, as I do it. I am conscious of what is going on around me in seeing that I do not trip anyone up, but at that moment it’s me and Jesus. And I wish to receive him kneeling because to me its a way of reverence. I guess it goes to personal perference and how comfortable one is kneeling in front of others.

I never think of what the others think of me, becuase at that moment again it’s not about them. And God knows the heart and that concerns me alone. I however do pray that others will focus more on God and recieving Eucharist more than what I am doing.

I have had others who have seen me and a few others kneel on a regular basis and they have started kneeling as well.

We are so conscious about distracting others by not kneeling, but what if not kneeling somehow lessened our experience of taking Eucharist? There’s a very fine line here.

God Bless.
 
PaulinVA said:
This the the Catholic Church. Universal. We do things together.

There is no way to receive kneeling without creating a stir. I would have to ask why you feel compelled to do that. Do you feel everyone should, so you disrupt the line to show them? Or do you only feel that you should?

You are definitely making a statement - what is that statement? How do you* want *to appear to other Catholics?
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It’s actually the proffered way of the Church to receive kneeling, and on the tongue.
 
PaulinVA said:
You are definitely making a statement - what is that statement? How do you* want *to appear to other Catholics?
Click to expand...
Hold on there, Paulin. Don’t take this to mean I condone their practices, but what about all those who want to use Communion as a political tool, such as refusing to give to certain politicians, cohabitation, etc? Do they talk about excommunication or going to Hell? No, just refuse to give communion to them. Is this not making a statement against Catholic theology?
 
ProVobis said:
Hold on there, Paulin. Don’t take this to mean I condone their practices, but what about all those who want to use Communion as a political tool, such as refusing to give to certain politicians, cohabitation, etc? Do they talk about excommunication or going to Hell? No, just refuse to give communion to them. Is this not making a statement against Catholic theology?
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I’m just asking what the motivation is. I agree that at times people politicize Holy Communion. I am just interested what the OP is trying to say, if anything.

I understand when you “just have to do something”. My parish does not have a Tabernacle in the church proper - it’s in a chapel. Well, to go in or out of the church, one must pass the chapel. The Tabernacle is totally visible through the glass doors. I genuflect when I pass; I try to keep out of people’s way when I do. I am appalled at the number of people (the majority) who do not genuflect. But, I do because I simply can not pass by without genuflecting.

If someone asked me why, I would say we are obligated to, I personnaly must genuflect, and so should you. If that’s what the OP is saying about kneeling, fine, I am just curious why.
 
I’m with you marthaferretti. So far I have never been refused Communion on the tongue while kneeling but I know people who have been denied.

Keep up the good fight.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Although I definitely agree that one should not be refused Communion for kneeling, I’m afraid this part of your approach just doesn’t sit well with me. The Eucharist is not a weapon. It’s not about “winning”. I don’t see how one could endorse returning to the pew without receiving Our Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament simply because one did not get their way. To me, that seems a little catty and more than a little passive aggressive.

Certainly, one can attempt to educate the person after Mass on how one cannot be refused for kneeling. But I think that refusing to receive Communion unless it is one’s own terms will already lessen one’s credibility in their eyes. It will only encourage animosity.
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👍
 
I think that’s a good point to make too. I was at a super liberal parish with all sorts of liturgical abuses and received kneeling. This was not the norm there so the priest was phased by it. I felt bad afterward & realized if there’s an overwhelming preponderance of such reception then “when in Rome…” The Eucharist oughtn’t ever be used to make a statement…then it no longer engenders communion but becomes a weapon. Never good in my book to pervert the point!
 
valoriuslobo said:
I think that’s a good point to make too. I was at a super liberal parish with all sorts of liturgical abuses and received kneeling. This was not the norm there so the priest was phased by it. I felt bad afterward & realized if there’s an overwhelming preponderance of such reception then “when in Rome…” The Eucharist oughtn’t ever be used to make a statement…then it no longer engenders communion but becomes a weapon. Never good in my book to pervert the point!
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Good point. Probably best to ask priest beforehand if he was fine with kneeling to receive. If I asked and he expressed concerns, I’d probably just receive on the tongue standing.

I don’t thing our Father in heaven would judge us harshly for receiving standing. Not when the Church says it’s Ok.
 
marthaferretti said:
I’ve read here and elsewhere about Catholics worried about how they’ll appear to other Catholics if they kneel for Holy Communion, receive Holy Communion on the tongue, wear a chapel veil, pray the Rosary before Mass etc., etc.

The Catholic Faith has inspired countless martyrs to die for the Faith and some worry that doing the above might cause other Catholics to think of them as ‘more Catholic than the Pope’, ‘Catholic fundamentalists’, or numerous other insults we’ve heard for years ? !!

C’mon and show some backbone. Who cares what other Catholic think. Just do it.

I personally began receiving Holy Communion while kneeling probably 12-13 years ago. I think I may have been the only one at the Cathedral where I live who received kneeling at the time and I was never refused.

If you are refused, tell them while still kneeling that they can’t refuse you Communion. If they still refuse you, stand, return to the pew w/o receiving. If you receive while standing like they want you to do, they’ve won. After Mass, give the priest a copy of the relevent information that states you can’t be refused Holy Communion for kneeling. Assist at Mass the following week and repeat until they do give you Communion. Don’t let the litugical bullies get the better of you.
Click to expand...
Mmmm…who is doing the bullying here?
 
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