66 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
66 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
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<p>Some time ago I was at the bar with some of my friends, and the topic
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came up about signs of reverence during the Mass, in particular kneeling
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in order to receive Communion, and the importance of receiving Communion
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on the tongue (as opposed to on the hand). It was at this point that I
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explained my usual bit about both the facilitation of sacrilege to the
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Holiest of Sacraments when Communion in the hand is made common-place,
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but also the possible scandal that can occur for an observer who may be
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doubting the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I suspect,
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however, that my explanations did little good and were not too
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convincing. Not because there was any flaw in my reasoning, nor because
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my friend was incapable of understanding it, but because I had
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completely missed what he was truly asking: why is reverence to
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authority - in particular the highest authority which is Jesus Christ -
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so important? In particular, he had asked about <i>physical</i>
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reverence. I will go over this here, although I hope to have the chance
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to bring it up to him as well sometime in the near future.</p>
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<p>To start, I would like to make some semantic clarifications with
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regards to the term "reverence". Reverence is always something that is
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demonstrated outwardly, because on its own it is not a feeling as
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respect is, but rather it is the outward demonstration of respect. Hence
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I do not enjoy referring to <i>physical</i> reverence, since reverence
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is in itself <i>physical</i> in the sense that it is always demonstrated
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outwardly. This is true not only in English (the language in which I am
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writing this article), but also in Spanish (the language in which I was
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speaking with this friend). Therefore, reverence is always a display of
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respect, but not the respect itself.</p>
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<p>So why then must we demonstrate respect outwardly? Why must we
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<i>revere</i> our authorities, and most importantly the highest of all
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authorities, Jesus Christ? Especially in the case of Jesus, does He not
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know of our respect for Him that we hold in our hearts? Why does He need
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us to show Him reverence?</p>
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<p>To answer this, I'd say it's important to ask why we outwardly
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demonstrate any kind of emotion. For it is not only respect that we
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should demonstrate outwardly. Take love as an example. When we truly
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love someone - parents, siblings, children, one's spouse, friends, etc.
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- it is of no doubt to anyone that we should show our love in a physical
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manner; we embrace them, we kiss them, we hold their hands through tough
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times, and we throw our arms around their shoulder, we give them kind
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words of encouragement or words of correction when they make mistakes.
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Why? Does a mother not know that her child loves her? Do children not
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know they are loved by their parents? It is because our feelings are
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worth nothing if not expressed in our words and our actions. And even
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the tiniest of gestures of affection can make the biggest
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difference.</p>
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<p>So returning to the topic of reverence, we must show reverence for
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our Lord because, just like love, our respect for Him is worth nothing
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if we keep it to ourselves. He knows what we hold in our hearts, but if
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that is truly what we hold for Him, then we should be looking for every
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excuse to show Him those feelings, whether in private or in public, in
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small or big ways.</p>
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<p>Therefore, every time you go to a church, or pray a Rosary, or the
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Liturgy of the Hours, or in any way address our Lord, take a bow, take a
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kneel. Show Him and all those around you that Christ is the Lord and
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deserving of the highest reverence, above that of any king, for He is
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King of kings. All nations, all creatures, all authorities shall bow
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down before Him. And perhaps most importantly, when during the Mass you
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go up to receive the Holiest of Sacraments, the Corpus Christi, if there
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is nothing impeding you, kneel to receive our Lord. Whether or not you
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receive Communion on the tongue, you can always receive Him
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kneeling.</p>
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