MONS BELL CALLS OUT CATHOLICS WHO KNEEL TO RECEIVE COMMUNION

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Minor elevation, mutual distraction

"Look at the minister dispensing the host(sic)." 

So, when Catholics at Holy Mass receive the Lord of Hosts - the Lord of the living and of the dead, our God Almighty - Monsignor David Bell of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Palmerston North declares we must not look at Him, He who "can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Mt 10:28). 

No, Mons Bell instructs us to look at the lay person speciously designated as 'Minister of the Eucharist', instead.

Monsignor David Bell

Says it all, really. That instruction from a monsignor in the cathedral newsletter Kotahi Ano tells us a great deal about why since the Second Vatican Council Mass attendance, reception of the Sacraments and even why priestly vocations have dropped off so dramatically. 

It's simply because the majority of Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist. That is blindingly obvious.

"For us as Catholics the Eucharist has a very central place and we hold it in great respect," writes the Monsignor.

WOT??? Respect? How about awe, Monsignor? You remind me of the Novus Ordo Catholic who was challenged for his practice of remaining seated (like so many others) throughout the Consecration. Could he not at least stand? No. Asked if he'd stand if God suddenly appeared on the altar, he said he would, he'd stand and bow as a gesture of respect. A convert, one who was raised Brethren, said that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

If God appeared on the altar we would all immediately fall prostrate, utterly overwhelmed with awe, with love and fear, either filial or servile depending on our state of grace or lack of it. But God does appear on the altar, and He allows Himself to be carried about and 'dispensed', like medicine perhaps, by unconsecrated hands.

" ... it (sic) is very dear to us as individuals and as a community." Just how do we show that It is very dear to us? Couldn't we at least give It a capital letter? Monsignor, you have locked our 'very dear' Eucharist away in utter solitude. And even if and when the cathedral is eventually unlocked, after this bout of lockdown lunacy is over, how many people will think It dear enough to visit, to talk to, to listen to, just to keep It company? How often is there anyone in that tucked-away-apologetically little room?

And there's that word, again. 'Communidy', as our socialist Prime Minister constantly invokes it. Before Vatican II, was 'community' a popular concept? Did we ever apply it to the Church? Before Vatican II the Body of Christ was composed of seeking salvation for their souls, but now we're a 'communidy' seeking togetherness and cups of tea and biscuits. And so-called vaccination. 

A major fundraiser for Ardern's election had links to the CCP

"When we are denied full participation in receiving the Eucharist because of the Covid-19 lockdown we sense a tremendous loss." Really? How do we sense that, Monsignor? Because of the fuss the NZ Conference of Bishops has kicked up about this ""unjust law (which) is no law at all", which debars your flock from participation of any kind, never mind full and active, in the Eucharist? 

"But it can also be a time when we reflect upon how we perceive our devotion around the Eucharist." It's actually how Our Lord perceives our devotion, not how we do, or even how you do, Monsignor, that matters, surely.

"I have mentioned in earlier articles about the need to genuflect before the Tabernacle as we take out Holy Communion or maybe just passing close by the Tabernacle." Unfortunate connotations of Kentucky Fried there, Monsignor. It's a question of exposing the Blessed Sacrament, not taking it out like getting a pound of butter out of the fridge.

"This is a good practice, but I also earlier remarked about the use of a genuflection or profound bow when we enter the Church for Mass." Indeed it's a good practice, but more than that, it's required practice, surely. 

"What I have said about readers and special ministers of the Eucharist etc. not having to continually bow as they move to take up their duties." They are NOT 'ministers of the Eucharist'; they're not even 'special'. They are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. The trouble is, they're not 'extraordinary' as they were supposed to be; they've become ordinary, even deadly ordinary, in the sense that they're not reserved as they should be only for those Masses when there is a genuine concern of prolonged delay over distributing (not 'dispensing') Holy Communion, or Masses where the Priest is incapable of distributing Communion himself.

The only Minister of the Eucharist is the Priest. You're blurring the essential distinction, Monsignor, between lay and ordained here. 

"The same applies when we as the congregation come forward to receive Our Lord at the time of Communion. The procedure recommended when Holy Communion was first taken in the hand (after Vatican 11) was, place your hand out in front of you with right hand under the left (vice versa if left handed), look at the minister dispensing the host (sic), respond to the words “The Body of Christ” with “Amen”, (which is an act of faith saying, “Yes, I do believe this is Christ’s Body”), step to the side, place the host in your mouth and if you wish, make a sign of the cross (optional). 

"Lex orandi", Monsignor, "lex credendi": we pray as we believe. It's tragically obvious from the way we pray - by receiving Our Lord in the hand and picking Him up, disregarding any Particles that fall to the floor to be trodden on and/or vacuumed up afterwards, that we do NOT believe. So that actually Communion in the hand is an eloquent demonstration of lex orandi, lex credendi. The way we are praying (in this context, receiving, saying 'Amen') shows that we do NOT believe that this is the God of Gods, the Lord of Lords, the Most High, the Almighty. 

"This allows us to concentrate on what we are doing – receiving the Body of Christ." Looking at Mrs So and So as she smiles a special smile and expects a smile in return, which is only good manners after all, allows us to concentrate on what we are doing, receiving the Body of Christ? We don't quite follow, Monsignor.

"Under levels 1 – 4 restrictions we have all been asked to receive Holy Communion on the hand." No, to be accurate, Monsignor, we've been TOLD to receive Holy Communion on the hand, and this in defiance of our unalienable right to receive on the tongue, which is the humble way to receive. Have you noticed, Monsignor, how many prayers, genuflections,and texts expressing or requesting the foundational virtue of humility have vanished from the Mass? Is that perhaps why now both Priest and people insist that they should stand instead of kneel, and take Communion in the hand (from a hand that's quite likely patted a succession of heads in the Communion queue)? 

Enough said

St Teresa of Jesus (Avila), Doctor of the Church, tells us that if we lack humility, the whole edifice of our faith life is doomed to totter and fall. She was speaking to individuals but it applies, Monsignor, also to the 'communidy' and we see the evidence of that only too plainly, not just in Mass counts etc, but in the tragic loss of the Church's moral authority, the respect she was held in once even by Hollywood movie moguls, for whom the Church's approval meant high ratings at the box office, and by Communism for whom the Church was once the greatest opposition but with whom the institutional Church is now hand-in-glove.

"Some people like to bow before receiving the Eucharist, others genuflect, & others kneel to receive – all good in themselves but are they distracting us from what we are doing, concentrating on the act of receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion? "

self-explanatory

When you say 'distracting us', Monsignor, do you mean that people who genuflect or kneel to receive are distracting other people, or distracting themselves? If they're distracting other people, then those other people need catechesis on what they're supposed to be doing themselves. Anyone who really believes that it is the Lord Whom they are about to receive will not be distracted by anyone else. And you cannot possibly know whether they are distracting themselves. Their action in genuflecting or kneeling is approved by centuries of Church tradition, so the act is good; and the inference that they distracting themselves is hardly evidence-based - is it, Monsignor? 

"Are we doing it because we think it is more devotional or respectful to do so?" I hardly think so." Pardon us, Monsignor? Catholics believe it is sinful to judge another's motivation. As has been famously - or infamously - asked, 'who are we to judge?' 

"I believe respect comes from doing things properly, doing what others do, & not being different."

This is beyond belief. 'Doing things properly' is usually not doing what others do. 'Doing what others do' is very likely doing as the world does, the world which crucified Our Lord and would again if it could. Did Jesus Christ Our Lord do what others did? Or was He 'different'? He was so 'different', He was crucified. 

"So, what is it saying to me about who I am?" Once again, with respect, Monsignor, it is what Christ is saying to me about who I am, that matters. 

"What message can it be giving to other people if I am acting differently?"  As long as the message we are giving to God is "I love You, I adore You, I bless You, I thank You and I glorify You", we hardly need bother our pretty heads about the message receiving Communion on the tongue can be giving to other people. With respect, again, Monsignor, we suggest that it's none of other people's business and they should get a life.

That's not meant facetiously: it's meant in all seriousness. They should get a life in Christ and they need holy priests to teach them how to get it. 

"Am I holier, more respectful than others?" Maybe not. Probably not. But at least we can make reparation and expiation to Our Lord for the offences against His Majesty in the Holy Eucharist by making ourselves, by going down on our knees to receive Him on the tongue, a butt of derision and condemnation- just as He was before Pilate.

"Our Lord had something to say to the Scribes & Pharisees about drawing attention to oneself "(Matt. 23:5) …

 "And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes "(Douay Rheims). Overlooking the syntax, we may point out that Our Lord was having something to say to His disciples, about the Scribes and Pharisees. And yes, there is the temptation to do things in order 'to be seen of men', and sin in so doing.

And repentance for that sin is perhaps in large part the reason why we fall on our knees before the Lord in Holy Communion, to beg His forgiveness. We can hardly help it, that we are seen by others. But Our Lord sees our hearts.

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