Kneeling to recieve Communion

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No because he almost withheld commommuiniom from me until he realized I wasn’t getting up
 
Do you have any particular objection to standing and making a reverent bow? Genuinely curious - not challenging you.
 
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I firmly believe that if we truly think that Jesus is in the most Blessed sacrament, we should all be walking on our knees to receive him. I also think it’s sad that people receive Him in the hand. But I try to just focus on my own imperfections and unworthiness. I just think it’s silly that kneeling used to be the norm and now it’s not.
 
We don’t think it’s shameful, we are just following the directives of our Bishop’s, who have said the “normative” posture in the US is standing.
What angers people is the attitude that kneeling is somehow better and that because I choose not to, I am a “lukewarm Catholic”.
 
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The national Bishops conferences have been given the authority to determine posture at mass.

"In the United States, the body of Bishops determined that Communion should be received standing, and that a bow is the act of reverence made by those receiving. "

I wish the decision by our bishops had been kneeling. Unfortunately, it was not. Therefore, out of obedience to our bishops, I receive standing.
 
It’s possible that the priest gasped because of a past incident in which someone in the line tripped over a kneeling person ahead of them and was injured or frightened/upset.

Everyone always says that a kneeling person won’t be a tripping hazard to others.

Because of my arthritic knee (invisible to all but medical people who know that a knee shouldn’t look like mine!), I have some real balance issues. In the last month, I’ve stopped folding my hands together as I move forward in the Communion line because many times in the last year, I have lost my balance and had to reach out and grab a pew or the wall or even another person.

It doesn’t take much to cause me to lose my balance. I’ve fallen several times at home and been hurt badly enough to miss work.

So instead of concentrating on Jesus as I move forward in the line, I generally am watching out for anything that might pose a tripping hazard, and that includes someone in front of me dropping to their knees. Someday I will probably be thinking about the Lord Jesus and His Sacrifice and the Miracle Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament–and I’ll collide with the kneeling person and both of us will knock over the priest or the EMHC with the plate of Hosts–that’s a real fear of mine.

So perhaps something like this happened, hopefully not as horrible as I imagine, but enough to cause the priest to gasp when someone kneels during Holy Communion.

BTW, gasping is a reflex reaction that the priest didn’t choose to do to express any disapproval. When you drop something, you often gasp. If you see something unexpected (e.g., a deer outside your home in the suburbs), you gasp. When someone tells you, “Did you hear that so-and-so passed away?” you gasp. It’s just a natural startled reaction to something unexpected.

And your perception of his look as “nasty” might have been your interpretation. Some people just have a “disapproving” or “sour” look on their faces all the time.

But I still think that in the past, the priest might have witnessed or been involved with a fall or tripping when someone knelt during Holy Communion. Perhaps at that time, the parish requested that people not kneel for safety reasons, and the priest didn’t realize that you are not part of the parish.
 
With your balance issues, do you wish you could kneel at an altar rail? Maybe you are at a point where you could stay in a front pew to receive. That’s what happens at our parish with people who have mobility issues.
 
I probably should stay in a front pew. If’I’m playing piano or organ, that’s where I am anyway (our choir loft and instruments are at the front of our contemporary-architecture nave).

Kneeling of any kind really hurts my knee, even on a soft surface. A few weeks ago I was visiting a different parish, and out of politeness, I decided to kneel during Mass–and I paid dearly for it the next few days. I couldn’t even put weight on my knee–I had to use my crutch just to walk. It was very scary and painful.

I knew that I had done nothing else out of the ordinary to irritate my poor knee; e.g., taking a walk, being on my feet for an extended period of time, driving in a long traffic back-up (I drive a manual shift car and the clutch can be painful if I am using it a lot, such as in a traffic jam), etc.

The only thing I had done that I don’t normally do is kneel at Mass.

So now I am pretty much done with kneeling at Mass.

I happen to be one of those people who is NOT enhanced in my worship of God by postures, gestures, and body positions. I know that quite a few people, Protestants included, are greatly helped by bodily positions such as kneeling, but for me, it’s meaningless. I think this may be because I have played piano in church since I was a child, and while others were kneeling or raising their hands in praise–I was playing the soft, worshipful music. And we didn’t kneel in prayer by our beds–it’s just not something that Mom did or required us to do.

So at least I’m not being adversely affected by not kneeling. I just hope it’s not a stumbling block for others, especially since I don’t look “crippled.”
 
Vice versa brother. I really do mind my own business when I kneel for communion. I don’t scoff at people who stand and receive him in the hand, that is thier conscience. So why not stand or kneel as one wishes if both are permissible?
 
It’s the norm but did they state that’s the only way?
 
These things differently by region. Around here, it is fairly common to see people kneel or genuflect before receiving. I also think there are probably around 25% of the people receive on the tongue, if not more.
But we travel to the Midwest every year to see family. There it would be almost shocking to see someone kneel or genuflect. Indeed, almost no one receives on the tongue. Our family always receives on the tongue, and it never fails that a EMHC is taken by surprise when one of the kids doesn’t put out their hands, but opens their mouth and presents their tongue.
 
No, I copied exactly what they said. Now the Vatican has been clear that one cannot be denied for kneeling, but it is still within the realm of the bishops conference to specify the posture. Note: I am making no judgement against those who choose to kneel. I have considered it myself, but have decided it is a matter of obedience for me.
 
It’s not illicit.

The priest may have been surprised and made a face/ gasped because he wasn’t expecting it or maybe his rhythm in distributing Holy Communion was broken and he gasped trying not to drop the Host.

I’ve noticed that people who receive kneeling always seem to be watching for the priest’s reaction and take it very personally if the priest is anything but all smiles. If you’re going to do something different from the other people, you need to accept that not every priest is going to be used to people doing that. You were on a trip and it’s likely he has no one else in his parish who receives kneeling.
 
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Sister.

Yes, kneeling is always an option, but when in Rome.

My main issue was with the poster who calls into question my level of orthodoxy based on kneeling or not.

Its not the kneeling that angers people, it the the “holier than thou” attitude that often comes with kneeling that angers people.
 
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