Rerun (kneeling at Consecration 2)
Father Mateo (76776.306@compuserve.com)
30 Jan 96 01:21:51 EST
Friday 6-30-95 13:21
From: Father Mateo
To: Gregg Baumgartner
Subject: kneeling at Consecration (2)
12:
"Each one should also remember that he is responsible for the common
good of the whole Church. The *priest as minister*, as celebrant, as
the one who presides over the eucharistic assembly of the faithful,
should have a special *sense of the common good of the Church*, which
he represents through his ministry, but to which he must also be
subordinate, according to a correct discipline of faith. He cannot
consider himself a 'proprietor' who can make free use of the
liturgical text and of the sacred rite as if it were his own
property, in such a way as to stamp it with his own arbitrary
personal style. At times this latter might seem more effective, and
it may better correspond to subjective piety; nevertheless,
objectively it is always a betrayal of that union which should find
its proper expression in the sacrament of unity."
Although standing at prayer is certainly approved, kneeling and
genuflection may be considered to have a solider scriptural
foundation. We are to bend our knees at Jesus' Name (Phil 2:10)--so
how much more before His Real Presence in the Eucharist, at the
Consecration and thereafter, and particularly at Holy Communion.
In Jesus' presence, people almost by instinct knew they should kneel
(Matt. 8:2, 9:18, 15:25, 17:14, 20:20; Mark 1:40, 10:17). So
kneeling was a favored posture of prayer for New Testament Christians
(Acts 9:40, 20:36, 21:5; Eph 3:14).
Nowadays, we Catholics are enjoying a revival of interest in and
study of the Bible. We should be consistent and let the Bible guide
even our bodily worship: "Come, let us *bow down* in worship; let us
*kneel* before the Lord who made us, for He is our God" (Ps 95:6-7).
In this regard, the instruction "Inaestimabile Donum" says in section
27:
"Most of the difficulties encountered in putting into practice the
reform of the Liturgy and especially the reform of the Mass stem from
the fact that neither priests nor faithful have perhaps been
sufficiently aware of the theological and spiritual reasons for which
the changes have been made, in accordance with the principles laid
down by the Council.... Without an adequate biblical training,
priests will not be able to present to the faithful the meaning of
the Liturgy as an enactment, in signs, of the history of salvation."
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
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