— I WANTED TO SEND A CLEAR SIGNAL. I WANTED IT TO BE CLEAR: SOMETHING QUITE SPECIAL IS GOING ON HERE! HE IS HERE!, THE ONE BEFORE WHOM WE FALL TO OUR KNEES! PAY ATTENTION!..........
(Pope Benedict XVI explaining kneeling Communion to Peter Seewald)
Here the humble bishop tells EWTN's listeners in no uncertain terms: If you want to honor Jesus Christ, then get down on your knees! Kneel as you receive Holy Communion!
Unfortunately, this video does not include Holy Communion, though it would be hard to imagine that his Excellency's sermon fell on deaf ears!
It was hard to not to notice in EWTN's broadcast, the near total absence of Holy
Communion on the tongue. (Let alone kneeling...the Church where the installation took place had no Communion railing or sanctuary kneelers anyway!) So much for the Pope's invitation and humble example....it is ignored by the very people he rewards with nice assignments!
Thank God for Camden's Knights of Columbus! At least they refused the modern-anything-goes way of taking Communion.
I have noticed the KCs' reverence in Corpus Christi as well.
e.g. if both the Knights of Columbus and Knights of the Holy Sepulchre are present at a Mass,
The KC's--all-and-every-- receive on the tongue! [[many will kneel if a kneeler is present!!]] In contrast, the Holy Sepulchre guys, and their gals--despite their splendid wardrobes!--, mostly do Communion any-old-way. :-(
k.c. has featured Deacon Kandra before.....http://kneelingcatholic.blogspot.com/search?q=Kandra
...and not positively!!
Not that Deacon Kandra should care what my opinion of him is, but for what it is worth, I have a very high opinion of him! His 14 January article, quoted below -- [[Thanks again to Father Z for alerting us to Deacon Kandra's change of heart.]]-- is a blistering indictment of 'Communion-any-old-way'! Certainly k.c. in 400+ posts has never hit this nail so squarely!!!
It is time to revive the Don Camillo award!!!!......the winner is..............................................
>>>>>>>;Frankly, we should not only be humbled, but intimidated enough to ask ourselves if we are really spiritually ready to partake of the sacrament. Kneeling means you can't just go up and receive without knowing how it's properly done. It demands not only a sense of focus and purpose, but also something else, something that has eluded our worship for two generations.
It demands a sense of the sacred. It challenges us to kneel before wonder, and bow before grace. It insists that we not only fully understand what is happening, but that we fully appreciate the breathtaking generosity behind it. It asks us to be mindful of what "Eucharist" really means: thanksgiving.
I don't see that much today. It's gone. We need to reclaim it. Pope Benedict XVI seems to agree. He has decided he will only give communion at papal Masses to those who kneel and receive on the tongue. He was gently making a liturgical point. Are we paying attention?
After what I've seen, I agree with him. We need to get off our feet, and on our knees.
