Promoting Disunity In The Church

The Gospel for today spoke of “...All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels...”. Our parish priest then shared a story about a little girl who walked into the church while he was praying. She saw him and quickly brought her hands to the prayer position, walked “military style” before the altar, and bowed. He said it was cute in her, but such overt piety wasn’t cute in adults. This, along with a couple of recent comments from our pastor about those who receive Communion kneeling and on the tongue, are not unified with the rest of the parish, show a lack of understanding and skewed perspective on both of their parts, or possibly a misunderstanding on my part. I understand why this misunderstanding occurs, and that’s why it is essential to clarify, at least for myself, why I do what I do inside and outside Mass.

Recent polls show that only a small percentage of Catholics who attend Mass weekly, which is a small percentage of those who identify as Catholics, believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Many people outside the Church do not know any Catholics, or if they do, they don’t know it because the Catholics they know keep it hidden.

So at Mass, I bow towards the celebrant as he processes in and keep my hands folded in a position of prayer, pointed toward the priest who is in persona Christi while celebrating the Mass. Whenever Christ’s name is mentioned, I bow my head to show reverence for Him as my Lord and God. After the general absolution, I make the sign of the cross as I do when absolved after Reconciliation. While the Gospel is being proclaimed, I orient my body towards the celebrant. At the name of Mary and Joseph, I bow my head out of respect for the mother and father of God. When we pray the Creed, I bow deeply when Christ's miraculous conception and birth are spoken of. During the Consecration, I bow my head deeply at the moment the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. I kneel to receive Eucharist on my tongue to show the most profound respect for Christ. At the end of Mass, I again bow as the priest processes out of the church.

I hope my explanation makes it evident that this has nothing to do with drawing attention to myself, though it does have the effect of drawing attention to me, especially from young kids. Kids and adults alike are reminded through the physicality with which I participate in the Mass that something special is happening. This is not a show or a symbol but something different. Something we should see as different and participate in as if it is different.

In The Screwtape Letters, the devil, speaking to his underling, tells him that it is good that people no longer kneel to pray. They think it makes no difference, but it does. We pray and participate in our words, thoughts, prayers, and bodies. I know this is a work of fiction, but I remember it striking me when I read it, so I live it in many different ways.

I do understand that this can have the effect of setting those of us who pray this way apart and making others uncomfortable. I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing, so long as that is not our intent. People need to be reminded that the Mass is a supernatural event, not just something to do to check off the obligation box on their Catholic to-do list, but that is what it has become to many. So we do what we do and are misunderstood because of it. So be it. God sees our hearts and knows the imperfect reasons behind what we do.

Human-written, AI Spell-Checked 3/3/21AD

Image from Mateus Campos Felipe at Unsplash.com