Matthew 16:13 ...he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Bishop says Catholics should kneel, receive communion on tongue
By Cindy WoodenCatholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS)
The reverence and awe of Catholics who truly believe they are receiving Jesus in the Eucharist should lead them to kneel and receive Communion on their tongues, said a bishop writing in the Vatican newspaper.
" If some nonbeliever arrived and observed such an act of adoration perhaps he, too, would ‘fall down and worship God, declaring, God is really in your midst,’"
wrote Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, quoting from the First Letter to the Corinthians. In a Jan. 8 article labeled a "historical-liturgical note," Bishop Schneider reviewed the writings of early church theologians about eucharistic reception and said the practice of laypeople receiving Communion on the tongue was the predominant custom by the sixth century.The article in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, appeared under the headline,
"The awareness of the greatness of the eucharistic mystery is demonstrated in a special way by the manner in which the body of the Lord is distributed and received," the bishop wrote."Like a nursing child in the arms of the one who nourishes him."
In addition to demonstrating true adoration by kneeling, he said, receiving Communion on the tongue also avoids concerns about people receiving the body of Christ with dirty hands or of losing particles of the Eucharist, concerns that make sense if people truly believe in the sacrament.
"Wouldn’t it correspond better to the deepest reality and truth about the consecrated bread if even today the faithful would kneel on the ground to receive it, opening their mouths like the prophet receiving the word of God and allowing themselves to be nourished like a child?"Bishop Schneider asked.
I TAKE potato chips out of my hand. My Lord and Savior should be something so different! In humility, I desire to RECEIVE Him on my tongue, kneeling.
3 comments:
Amen and amen!
How can one shake hands with other parishioners, scratch your head, wipe a toddlers nose, use a public restroom and then stretch out that same hand to receive the Precious Body of Christ? And still retain a sense of mystery, awe and reverence? If Christ appeared in my livingroom, I would fall on my face!
He is truly present at every single Mass!
Excellent reminder!
It would be something awesome to see if this practice came back into our US parishes....wow.
Kelly
Quite a few of us at my parish receive on the tongue; I think more people are coming back to the practice-a good sign. We are still very much the minority, but I also see reverence in receiving on the hand.
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