Why do we kneel

[larigige]

Question 1: My brother asked me why Catholics kneel in front of statues when it is prohibited in the book of Exodus?

Question 2: He also claimed that Catholics sacrifice Christ at every mass and that this is wrong because at the cross before dying Jesus said “It is finished”

 

[matthew1624]

“The Son of God in the human nature which he united to himself redeemed man and
transformed him into a new creation by overcoming death through his own death
and resurrection (Gal 6:15, 2 Cor 5:17). For by giving his spirit he mystically
established as his body his brethren gathered from all nations. In that body
the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe; for through the
sacraments they are joined in a mysterious yet real way to the Christ who
suffered and is glorified.”

Therefore “Our Saviour at the Last Supper on the night when he was betrayed
instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood so that he might
perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries till his coming.
He thus entrusted to the Church, his beloved spouse, a memorial of his death and
resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal
meal in which Christ is eaten, the mind filled with grace and a pledge of future
glory given to us.”

Hence the Mass, the Lord’s Supper, is at the same time and inseparably:

• a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated;
• a memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, who said “do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19);
• a sacred banquet in which, through the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the People of God share the benefits of the paschal sacrifice, renew the New Covenant which God has made with man once for all through the Blood of Christ, and in faith and hope foreshadow and anticipate the eschatological banquet in the kingdom of the Father, proclaiming the Lord’s death “till his coming.”

…continued on next post

 

[matthew1624]

continued from above…

In the Mass, therefore, the sacrifice and sacred meal belong to the same mystery
– so much so that they are linked by the closest bond. For in the sacrifice of
the Mass Our Lord is immolated when “he begins to be present sacramentally as
the spiritual food of the faithful under the appearances of bread and wine.” It
was for this purpose that Christ entrusted this sacrifice to the Church, that
the faithful might share in it both spiritually, by faith and charity, and
sacramentally, through the banquet of Holy Communion. Participation in the
Lord’s Supper is always communion with Christ offering himself for us as a
sacrifice to the Father.

The celebration of the Eucharist which takes place at Mass is the action not
only of Christ, but also of the Church. For in it Christ perpetuates in an
unbloody manner the sacrifice offered on the cross, offering himself to the
Father for the world’s salvation through the ministry of priests. The Church,
the spouse and minister of Christ, performs together with him the role of priest
and victim, offers him to the Father and at the same time makes a total offering
of herself together with him.

Consequently, the eucharistic sacrifice is the source and summit of the whole of
the Church’s worship and of the Christian life.

Source - Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery (Eucharisticum Mysterium, Vatican II, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Document

Hope this helps…God Bless…

 

[mayra_hart]

this are some answers to your questions : 1) for me when we catholics kneel we are showing respect to god, similar to the same wayone treats royalty. christ is royalty of the highest order. catholics do not worship pictures, statues, and relics in the sense with which evangelicals use the word worship. that is evident in catholic literature. catholics use physical reminders to focus their souls on worship of god. god alone must be the ultimate object of all worship. 2) is the mass really a sacrifice? protestants reject the catholic teaching on the holy sacrifice of the mass for two reasons. they claim the mass violates many passages in hebrews which tell us jesus was only sacrifice once, and that, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (heb9:22,25,28, 10:11–12). they think catholics teach jesus is sacrified again at every mass. they cite cathechisms which teach that in mass jesus is offered in an unbloody manner. the catholic church teaches that the one, all sufficient, bloody sacrifice of jesus at calvary is made present at each mass in an unbloody manner. christ is not re-sacrifice at each mass;rather the mass re-presents the one sacrifice of calvary. thus,the efficacy of the mass comes entirely from the one, bloody sacrifice of calvary. the mass, also known as the lord’s supper or the eucharist, repeats what happened at the last supper. at the last supper our lord turned bread into his body, and said that this body would be offered up ( sacrificed) for us. he turned wine into his blood, and said that this blood would be shed (sacrificed) for us. clearly, at the last supper, jesus made his future sacrifice at calvary present. he then commanded his disciples to repeat this mystery. in 1 cor 11:26, st. paul tells us that in the celebration of the eucharist we " proclaim the lord’s death until he comes." thus, the last supper, which made the sacrifice of calvary present,will continue to be repeated in the mass until the end of time. in this way, christ’s once -for-all sacrifice will be made present to the faithful until the end of time.

 

[Church_Militant]

Most all Christians kneel in prayer, though some like to stand. It has always been a sign of humilty and submission. It sounds to me like your brother is using what’s called “iconoclasm” on you. The Iconoclasts were a heresy that was condemned by the church centuries ago. IN fact, (lemme look this up here),

“It was first seen in Christianity in the eighth century when the wicked Emperor Leo the Isaurian, influenced by the new religion Islam (emphasis mine) founded in AD 622, began attacking the use of statues and icons in the Church. In the Second Council of Nicea in AD 787, the Church condemned this heresy. It did not resurface in Christianity until the Reformation.”

All that is from a great booklet that you can get from San Juan Catholic Seminars called Beginning Apologetics 1 and it’ll set you back $5.95 plus $4.00 shipping & handling, but is one of the best resources for answering all the wild stuff people say about the Faith. This particular one is sort of general booklet that covers most of the stuff you might be asked about. It’s VERY good. They have a web site: catholicapologetics.com/ and you can order it there.

Also there is a great tract right here on the Ca site that deals w/all this too. You can always print it up and read it then give it to him to read then eat with a side order of crow.
catholic.com/library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp

I took the liberty of looking at all your other posts and you seem to be a young Catholic who is really catchin’ it from a Prot brother.
I know it can be rough, but try to be patient w/him. They of our own household are often the ones we fail to show love for the most Don’t feel like ya gotta have all the answers and if he stumps ya w/something tell him to hold that thought & come see this site where I’m pretty sure that there is a tract dealin’ w/whatever he’s sayin’ about Catholicism. From your posts, it appears that he is using the fairly standard anti-Catholic topics to attack.

I wish I had a nickle for every time I’ve had some non-Catholic (well intentioned or not) jump my case about what they mistakenly think that webelieve. So it was really a blessing when I ran across this cool saying from a very wise and eloquent bishop of ours, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. He said **“Few people in America hate the Catholic religion, but there are many who hate what they mistakenly believe is the Catholic religion—and if what they hate really were the Catholic religion, Catholics would hate it too.” ** And he’s absolutely right. If any of the trash people talk about the Catholic Church was really true even Catholics would hate it…but it’s not, so don’t let your bro or anyone else rattle your cage about being Catholic. It’s ALL been said before and there is a good answer for every one of those attacks. Most of it you can find right here on this site.

If all else fails, or you don’t know where to look on here hit the Ask An Apologist forum and they’ll hook you up with the answers that you need. Okay? Above all else, do your dead level best to live a good life so that (1) You live like Jesus commands us to live. (Love as He has loved us) and go to Heaven and (2) your brother & everyone else can see what a difference being a Catholic has made in your life. That’s called “bearing good fruit” and the book of James (and other passages) gets into that pretty deep. It’s very important because the whole world knows that “talk is cheap” and all the answers in the world don’t mean diddly if you’re just like everybody else. Finally…NEVER fail to pray for your brother and all those around you. We can’t “save” anyone or even convince them of the truth…but the Holy Spirit can, and it’s His job…not ours.

Okay…I’ve yakked my head off on this but I hope & pray that I’ve been of some help. Feel free to PM me if you need to talk or just want prayer. You’re in all my prayers from now on, so hang in there.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.

 

[Maccabees]

What is amazing about the Beginning Apologetics 1
booklet that Church Militant recommended is that in this very think book that cost around six dollars it answers about 75 percent of the questions evangelicals and fundamentalist ask catholics. Of course Mormons and Jehovahs witnesses have a whole new set of objections and they offer 2 books to counter those.
The other 25 percent requires deeper study but its amazing how the same questions a catholic gets asked over and over again are in this simple and inexpenisve book.
Like the good book says there is nothing new under the sun. There is nothing new evangelicals have trumpted against us in the 500 years since the reformation.

 

[Makerteacher]

Church Militant:

All that is from a great booklet that you can get from San Juan Catholic Seminars called Beginning Apologetics 1 and it’ll set you back $5.95 plus $4.00 shipping & handling, but is one of the best resources for answering all the wild stuff people say about the Faith. This particular one is sort of general booklet that covers most of the stuff you might be asked about. It’s VERY good. They have a web site: catholicapologetics.com/ and you can order it there.
.

A strong second recommendation for this series. It is FABULOUS! I use it in teaching my 8th grade religion courses. More than worth the money, and written in very plain everyday language, but offering you also extensive “backup” research if you hit some intellectual who wants things worded that way and has accusations you need to respond to.