Is my priest correct?

[MusicallyDan]

I love my priest, he reaches out to the youth (I’m 21 and have seen his works on spiking an interest in the Catholic faith to our young ones) and has interesting homilies. I canter at my church when I am home from college and I’ve noticed something had changed since I’ve been in college. I have been bowing at the waist and only taking the Eucharist by mouth since I have been reading about the fall of traditional ways of the Church. I have been bowing because there are no kneelers to receive Communion and if I knelt to the ground, I would believe I would be a distraction from those meditating on the Eucharist during this time. Anyways, when I came back from college, I cantered at the Mass, and when I lined up by the Eucharistic Ministers, I bowed and received by tongue like always. Right after Communion my priest exclaimed how to just bow at the head, not the waist. And I had a strange feeling he was leaning towards me when he was saying this. I felt odd and singled-out. Is my way of receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus wrong? I want to give the highest respect to Him, if I can’t bow and can’t kneel, and only do a simple nod, I feel it is not enough.

Confused college kid trying to do the right thing.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

160 …When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each communicant.

So, yes, your priest is correct that the GIRM calls for only a bow of the head. When a bow at the waist is prescribed in the GIRM it is called a “profound bow.” However, the priest also could have handled the situation in a different manner so as to avoid making you feel singled out. You should be commended for your love of our Lord in the Eucharist.