Kneeling before we accept communion

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Laity assisting those who wish to kneel sounds very reverent and loving. I wonder if that has ever happened. An old man comes up for Communion, and he kneels. His knees begin to buckle, but behind him are three or four parishioners who grab him and assist him to his knees. As he receives the Eucharist and rises, they help raise him up and walk him out of the line. I guess I’m just in the Christmas spirit or something.
 
CilladeRoma said:
In my small parish Church, if someone kneels abruptly, there is going to be a collision. Our Pastor has asked that for the few who desire to receive kneeling, they be the last to come up. It has never been a problem.
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I hear people bring this up a lot, but I’ve never seen a collision happen. My fiance and I both kneel for Communion when we attend Latin Rite liturgies, and all of my Latin family genuflects before receiving. I can’t recall a single occasion where people even came close to bumping into each other.

If someone is so visually challenged that they can’t see when the person in front of them is kneeling, they probably should probably make arrangements for the priest to take the Eucharist to them in the pew.
 
CilladeRoma said:
The US Bishops have said the standing is the normative posture.
If someone wants to go against the norm, the onus is on them to make sure they are not disrupting and/or putting anyone else in jeopardy.

In my small parish Church, if someone kneels abruptly, there is going to be a collision. Our Pastor has asked that for the few who desire to receive kneeling, they be the last to come up. It has never been a problem.
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Again you’re making my point for me. The argument is not about the benefit of kneeling or the meaning behind it, but instead those who wish to kneel are “going against the norm…”

I understand that each parish is designed differently, so maybe asking “the few” who wish to kneel at your parish is a perfect solution, I don’t know if that would work at a larger parish, where the number who kneel is much greater.

And maybe I’m not understanding your situation correctly, but I don’t see how collisions in the communion line are even a thing. Think of how often we stand in line for everyday situations. We stand in line at the grocery stores, at fast food restaurants, banks, restrooms at times, and a host of other places. I think if we can be respectful to those in front of us at McDonald’s, who just turned around with their tray of food by not rushing up to the counter to place our order; I’m sure we can find a way to patiently wait for the person in front of us to kneel and rise for Holy Communion.
 
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How is the ostracizing anyone?

The normative posture, declared by the US Bishops, who have the authority to make such norms is to receive standing.
If someone wants to do something different, it is up to them to make sure they are not cause disruption or jeopardy to anyone else.

I get bumped all the time standing in lines, in the grocery store, at the bank, people just don’t always pay attention.
 
I don’t want to quote what you said again, but what you were seeming to say was that kneelers are an inconvenience. I’m sure that would make anyone who wanted to kneel for communion feel unwanted, and ultimately, refrain from going for the Eucharist for fear of “putting anyone else in jeopardy”.
 
It’s not necessarily inconsistent. Standing vs kneeling isn’t strictly an EF vs OF issue. There are churches that still use the altar rail in the OF Mass.
 
CapitalistCatholic said:
I’m sure that would make anyone who wanted to kneel for communion feel unwanted, and ultimately, refrain from going for the Eucharist for fear of “putting anyone else in jeopardy”.
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IRL, I can’t see this happening.
In fact, the few who kneel at my parish were very happy to oblige the Pastor’s request.

I am not saying that if you want to kneel you shouldn’t, I am just saying that since the NORM is to stand, anyone who wants to do something different needs to be aware of others around them who may not be aware that they are going to do something out of the norm.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why this is so difficult for some people to understand.
 
YourNameHere said:
Rather than a simple bow, I believe that we should kneel on one knee before we accept the sacrament. We are accepting Jesus Christ. Should we not kneel before our Lord and Savior?
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Put it this way. He won’t smite those who stand before him. He will honour those who simply follow the legitimate directives of the shepherds who govern in his name.

One can be pious, but it will do no good if it leads one to become obnoxious.

That said, I do genuflect because I prefer to do so. The difference is that I do ont give the evil eye to those who receive standing, as the bishops have set as the norm.
 
I beleive that there is not enough reverence shown when receiving Communion these days. I think that the proper position to receive Jesus is kneeling. Having said that The USCCB has a document which says that the norm in the US is to receive standing with a bow as a sign of reverence. This of course can be modified by the local bishop or counsel of bishops.

Also, as my pastor pointed out to me, and has been noted in this thread, in crowded conditions kneeling can cause others to trip with untold consequences. I stand for communion as my pastor has asked me to and we are called to be obedient. There are a couple other churches that my wife and I attend occasionally where kneeling is the norm or optional and there I kneel.

I am, by the way, over 65 and use a cane. It helps me get up from a kneeling position (or genuflecting, etc) but I will continue to kneel when receiving our Lord when ever possible until I no longer can.

Just my 2 cents.

Patrick
AMDG
 
Y’all are lucky. All the parishes except for about two or three in my diocese don’t have altar rails. Even worse, one of them has a weird floating crucifix about 10ft above the altar.
 
twf said:
It’s not necessarily inconsistent. Standing vs kneeling isn’t strictly an EF vs OF issue.
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You are misunderstanding my point I think.

The OP said that masses said in Latin are not more reverent than those said in the vernacular. Both are valid masses so both should hold the same reverence according to the OP.

The OP then said that kneeling is more reverent than standing. Both are valid forms of receiving therefore both should hold the same reverence but the OP says that they don’t.

This is clearly an inconsistent position.
 
I am over 65 with bad knees. One of the things that makes me most anxious is someone offering to help me get up off my knees. People who think they are helping can hurt knees hips and backs so four burly guys coming up to help me would have me in an absolute state of panic.
 
Even though kneeling at the rail is the norm at my parish, no one is going to give you any flack for standing at the rail. There are also designated pews for folks who can’t walk up.
 
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Fair enough. I think one is more solemn than the other, but not necessarily more reverent. An OF Mass celebrated with chant, incense, and Latin is more solemn than an OF Mass celebrated with Praise & Worship music, no incense, and no Latin… doesn’t mean it isn’t reverent…but the Church has always recognized licit degrees of “solemnity” in liturgy. Perhaps that’s how the OP should look at it, rather than making a judgment as to the degree of “reverence” (which is subjective).
 
Kima said:
The finest form of respect, humility, and reverence is shown by kneeling.
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I think this statement is part of the problem. When one puts forward their personal preferences as the best/finest/most reverent form, you instantly lose credibility. The quality of one’s gestures is not measured by an objective standard… in other words, one manner is not better than another. In fact, there are multiple completely Church sanctioned ways for people to receive communion…

Where the trouble starts is when people start judging others for not being reverent enough or not doing a specific gesture or not being properly disposed.

Why not simply say that ‘I prefer to receive kneeling’ or ‘I prefer to receive standing’ because of ‘insert reason’ here… Instead this topic of conversation seems to always deteriorate in to this way is better than that… seems like senseless bickering to me
 
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