Have you accidentally genuflected when entering a building other than church?

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I was once stunned when I saw some family do it at a funeral home, some of whom even work for the Church.
 
CilladeRoma said:
If you are doing without thinking
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If someone is so focused on adoring the Lord every waking moment, I can easily see how such a mistake can occur. It’s not a matter of understanding or not understanding, but of intent and love. imo They have simply made a mistake and probably felt silly doing it.
 
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People who are tired can do some crazy things. A lot of people who are working or studying long hours or minding small children are sleep-deprived and may momentarily forget where they are. It happens.

Perhaps you haven’t made the mistake, but it’s not like everybody else who has made it is in need of emergency catechesis.

I know I have screwed up sometimes and genuflected towards the altar out of habit, not remembering I was in a church that had the tabernacle off to the side instead. It’s not because I didn’t realize I’m supposed to be reverencing Our Lord. I was tired or in a rush and I forgot.
 
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I get it, if it happens in a Church.

I have done the same, genuflecting to the Altar, not the tabernacle, or genuflecting to an empty tabernacle. I get all of that, and have done it myself- IN CHURCH!!

What I do not understand is how one can be so distracted that they would genuflect in a movie theater or concert hall. Neither of those places is remotely close to a Church setting, so I do not understand how/why the urge to do so would even be there.

I practice Ignatian spirituality, I believe that I can find “God in all things” and seek to see Jesus in others as well. I don’t go around genuflecting all the time. :woman_shrugging:t3:
 
I don’t even genuflect when I enter the church where I normally attend Mass.

Hint: the tabernacle is in a side chapel. I do genuflect when I enter the chapel.
 
Does entering Church mean entering Church or entering the pew because I don’t genuflect when I enter Church. I genuflect when enter my pew before Mass and when I exit the pew after Mass.
 
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CilladeRoma said:
I get it, if it happens in a Church.

I have done the same, genuflecting to the Altar, not the tabernacle, or genuflecting to an empty tabernacle. I get all of that, and have done it myself- IN CHURCH!!

What I do not understand is how one can be so distracted that they would genuflect in a movie theater or concert hall. Neither of those places is remotely close to a Church setting, so I do not understand how/why the urge to do so would even be there.

I practice Ignatian spirituality, I believe that I can find “God in all things” and seek to see Jesus in others as well. I don’t go around genuflecting all the time. :woman_shrugging:t3:
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If you’ve never been that tired and distracted then count your blessings. Please kindly do not take it as a reflection on other people that they are - life can be overwhelming at times. Do you look down on St Therese because she used to fall asleep in chapel while at prayers, and conclude that she was not fully focused on where she was and what she was doing? She certainly came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with what for her were the natural effects of fatigue.

One question - how often are you in Church? I think especially with someone like a priest, who may be in and out a dozen times a day, it may be a matter of muscle memory and Pavlovian conditioning, which can be hard to completely overcome.

Another question - do you kneel much in other situations? There are people who do - a cleaner might find themselves regularly kneeling to get to low shelves or pick up things off the floor, a daycare worker might be constantly kneeling to pick up toys - or children, and so on. Such people wouldn’t have so clear an association of bending a knee with church and only church.
 
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CilladeRoma said:
Genuflecting to anything else, for any reason, tells me that the action is not understood.
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Even if a large number of practicing Catholics who love the Lord tell you otherwise?

People get distracted. People move through life on autopilot. People are not always 100% engaged when they ought to be. I have been known to pray an entire rosary and not quite remember if I finished. I’ve been to Mass and not been able to tell you what the readings were about . Just the other day, my husband mentioned that we’d forgotten to pray before dinner, even though he had been there praying with the rest of us moments before. We’re all working toward perfection and perfect communion with our Lord. It is my dearest hope that God extends to me unending mercy for my distractedness, my laziness, and my lack of awareness of his presence. I pray that he forgives me for all the rote prayers I prayed when I couldn’t muster the feeling and for all the times that I have gone through the motions of a life of faith, even when I was struggling.

God knows that I understand the significance of genuflecting, even if you do not.

P. S. I don’t genuflect anymore at all because my knees just can’t handle it. I can get down, but I’m not sure I’ll make it back up. I went to Stations of the Cross during Lent and thought afterwards that it is a good thing I’m Byzantine because I can still bow. So if you ever see some person at Mass, young old or in between, who doesn’t kneel or genuflect, please extend that person the benefit of the doubt. And if you likewise see somebody walking into a movie theater make a quick little bob downward before entering the road, say a prayer for that tired, distracted individual who is likely a little embarrassed at what he or she just did because he or she knows exactly the significance of a genuflection.
 
LilyM said:
One question - how often are you in Church?
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Oh, since I work there, I’m every day and twice on Sunday.
LilyM said:
do you kneel much in other situations?
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Yup, all the time. Part of my job is cleaning.

I even discussed this with my boss (a priest) today and he feels the same way I do.
Genuglection is a specific form of adoration. If it has becomes so rote that one does it in a the movie theater or other non-Church venue this is something not right. Sorry if that offends, but…
 
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Sigh…

I get it, people are distracted. I,can understand if,these things happen IN CHURCH! I have done it myself.

I brought this thread up with some priest friends today. They all agree that genuflecting, OUTSIDE of Church, OUTSIDE of the context of Adoration, as a “rote” activity while doing “secular” things is a sympton if what many of them called “form over substance” and part of the problem in the US church today.

So funny how when one has a contrary opinion one is judgeing and prideful, but those who dislike the opinion can be as judgemental as they want. :roll_eyes:🤔
 
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CilladeRoma said:
If it has becomes so rote that one does it in a the movie theater or other non-Church venue this is something not right
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I attended a very dominating and legalistic cult for over 20 years. Now when I hear of things happening outside the box, going against the grain, swimming upstream, or otherwise happening in unexpected ways I view them with a sense of humor. Someone genuflecting in a movie theater strikes me as both funny and admirable. I pray I never become pridefully judgmental over such things as I get older, but will continue to enjoy the harmless foibles of humanity. 🙂
 
LilyM said:
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CilladeRoma:
There is a huge difference between fumbling a name while being watched by millions of people on tv during the most important day of your life and genuflecting to a movvie screen.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it. Genuflection is a very specific form of adoration. If you are doing without thinking entering non-sacred places, in my opinion, there is a terrible lack of understanding as to the purpose of the action.
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I have had an incident- only one in my 46 years - where I went to sign my name on a letter at work and literally could not remember how to spell it!
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Remember Basil Fawlty being so confounded in the presence of “aristocracy” that he couldn’t remember his own name, and had to ask his wife?!

I’ve had similar experiences. I was in a job interview and couldn’t recall the name of the project I’d been working on for five years!

Only in CAF could a light hearted sharing of our frailty be picked on as an “issue”… :roll_eyes:😂

What next - “Do I have to confess genuflecting in a theatre?”… :roll_eyes:
 
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The altar is traditionally genuflected toward during Mass whether a tabernacle is behind it or not.
 
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CilladeRoma said:
Sigh…

I get it, people are distracted. I,can understand if,these things happen IN CHURCH! I have done it myself.

I brought this thread up with some priest friends today. They all agree that genuflecting, OUTSIDE of Church, OUTSIDE of the context of Adoration, as a “rote” activity while doing “secular” things is a sympton if what many of them called “form over substance” and part of the problem in the US church today.

So funny how when one has a contrary opinion one is judgeing and prideful, but those who dislike the opinion can be as judgemental as they want. :roll_eyes:🤔
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But why do you feel that genuflecting wrongly IN church somehow isn’t as bad as genuflecting OUTSIDE? Surely in either case it is equally a sign of lack of attention and doing things by rote, and so equally something “not right”?
 
I’ve been going to Church nearly every day, for nearly two weeks. This week I almost genuflected at a traffic crossing and before entering the bus, respectively. 😂
 
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