Should I genuflect to a pyx when it is close by?

[Tim_Cleveland]

I will be starting the RCIA process next Monday and am very excited! In my journey so far, I have come to love the holy Eucharist and recognize it as the Real Presence of our Lord. As such, I go out of my way to show proper respect by genuflecting in adoration when I am in the close proximity to a tabernacle. I even do this if I am walking down a street and walk in front of a Catholic church where the Eucharist is almost certainly in repose.

My question is: Should I genuflect to a pyx when it comes near to me during Mass? In our diocese, we stand during the distribution of Communion. Very often, an extraordinary minister will carry some of the hosts in a pyx very close to me. Within just a few feet really, presumably to take it to the choir loft for distribution there. Is it proper or expected that I genuflect to it?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Since a pyx is a tiny container meant to hold hosts that are taken to the homebound, I assume that the container you see being used for distribution at Mass is a larger container that holds a number of hosts and is meant for use at Mass. If so, that container is called a ciborium.

You may indeed genuflect when our eucharistic Lord passes by. Your reverence for our Lord in the Eucharist may inspire those about you to act similarly. In earlier times such marks of reverence that you describe were more common. Men would lift their hats when passing by Catholic churches, people of all ages would instinctively hush in the presence of the Eucharist. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is even reported to have taught his horse to kneel briefly when they passed a church. To recover such enthusiastic love for our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament would be a great blessing. It can also be an evangelistic moment if people ask you why you are genuflecting and you can say to them, “Jesus is here!”