Lector - bow to altar or tabernacle?

[Elzee]

JC Nixon:

Personally, when I am Sacristan and setting up for Mass, I do a profound bow every time I pass the Tabernacle. But during Mass, I am obedient to the request of our Pastor.

Why do you make a profound bow (before Mass) towards the tabernacle instead of genuflecting? Thank you!

 

[John_Lilburne]

JC Nixon:

Much is left not only to the discretion of the Bishop in the Diocese, but also to the parish priest.

The priest and bishop do not decide what the correct postures and gestures are. They should teach what is in the liturgical books.

To change the gestures requires a decision of the Conference of Bishops and approval from the Vatican. From the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):

1. It is up to the Conferences of Bishops to decide on the adaptations indicated in this General Instruction and in the Order of Mass and, once their decisions have been accorded the recognitio of the Apostolic See, to introduce them into the Missal itself. These adaptations include

 - The gestures and posture of the faithful (cf. no. 43 above); 
 - The gestures of veneration toward the altar and the Book of the Gospels (cf. no. 273 above); ...