Of course they are trying to make a statement! They are saying: Look, Lord, here I am kneeling before your great presence and begging your forgiveness, and that you may nourish me in your love. I look to you as a child to a parent, a creature to a creator, a slave to a master. I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, and yet here you are, greeting me and giving me your very life.
Because, there is a hundred-and-one ways to be reverent, without making a statment in front of, and disrupting dozens or hundreds of others.
Once again, you’re presuming to judge based on a specific action. A person kneeling to receive communion may be making a statement, but we have no way of knowing that’s his or her intention. Only God knows that.
The same logic applies to those who defend said action. You don’t know that they AREN’T making a statement as to “how much more holy they are than those around them who participate in the horrible indult/US norm of receiving in the hand while standing…”
If we are all focused on the Eucharist then we should all look out for our neighbor and presume the best possible motives. Kneeling in a Catholic Church, especially to receive communion, is not a foreign happening in the Latin rite.
Why do you assign a “statement” to these people? Not only is it an authentic right it is a long tradition, well established.
The burden of proof is on those making accusations, not those defending the practice.The same logic applies to those who defend said action. You don’t know that they AREN’T making a statement as to “how much more holy they are than those around them who participate in the horrible indult/US norm of receiving in the hand while standing…”
The most holy and reverent people I have known in my lifetime are contrite and humble. They do not make statements. They do not bring attention to themselves. They pray rather than criticize.
They follow Christ’s admonition to do their good works and deeds quietly and privately so as not to bring attention to themselves…lest they lose their reward in Heaven because they’ve already received it here on earth.
How can you say all this? We are told to presume the best of others. When I see kneeling I am edified. I think how much better I should be.The same logic applies to those who defend said action. You don’t know that they AREN’T making a statement as to “how much more holy they are than those around them who participate in the horrible indult/US norm of receiving in the hand while standing…”
The most holy and reverent people I have known in my lifetime are contrite and humble. They do not make statements. They do not bring attention to themselves. They pray rather than criticize.
They follow Christ’s admonition to do their good works and deeds quietly and privately so as not to bring attention to themselves…lest they lose their reward in Heaven because they’ve already received it here on earth.
Quote=ethelzguy
I am not going to blame Ethylz or anyone else, but in general I think it is a gotcha game. People see others define themselves as traditional and then use the GIRM to yell gotcha you are being a cafeteria Catholic and so on.
Back a’cha.
No, it’s just unexpected. Have you ever had a child come to a dead halt in front of you when you’re moving forward in the communion line? I have, and were it not for being able to grab onto a pew I would have fallen on top of said child.
I keep wondering why people bring up “rights” in terms of the Mass. Demanding one’s rights seems a strange way of worshipping one who is meek and humble of heart. Humility is such a difficult virtue to attain. I think it’s easier to choose when to be humble. “I’ll show my humility by kneeling to receive communion” may be easier for some people than “I’ll show my humility by following the instructions of those who have authority over me.”
I don’t think the faithful have a right to kneel when receiving Holy Communion. They do have a right to receive on the tongue. In any case, when the Holy See has recognized that the faithful have a right, then in obedience the rest of us are required to respect that pronouncement. There is no lack of humility in “presuming” to do what the highest authorities in the Church have taught you that you are allowed to do. The lack of humility is when someone who is one knotch up from you decides that they know better than your bishop, or Rome.
Well, yes, it is not our business, but it certainly is the business of the bishop. As the catechism instructs, “liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the church.” The faithful do not have a right to each throw in their own little piece of pious chaos, in order to make the liturgy suit themselves. Still, when it is a minor thing, it is good to overlook it, as you suggest. I would hope others overlook my failures, well-meaning or not, in the same way.
No…I said I almost fell on a child who stopped suddenly. Just like an adult who does the same thing and ends up at the same height. You think you’re stepping forward when there’s a sudden obstacle.