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Father Dan’s bulletin column for October 4, 2020

WHY ARE WE NOW KNEELING AFTER THE OF GOD?

Perhaps you have noticed that right after we sing the “Lamb of God”, we are now asking parishioners to kneel while the priest lifts the Eucharistic host and says to the people, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”

And then together with the priest, the people respond, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” In recent years at St. Leonard, many parishioners at weekday Masses have knelt at this part of the , while most parishioners at weekend Masses have stood for this part. With the resuming of the in-person Mass obligation, now is a good time to standardize what we do in accordance with church teaching.

The church document that governs the Mass is called “The General Instruction of the Roman Missal”. Paragraph 43 of this document discusses our body postures during Mass since our body is part of our worship. Kneeling is a symbol of adoration, and so the document states that “The faithful kneel after the (Lamb of God) unless the Diocesan determines otherwise.” (par. 43)

The Archbishop of Milwaukee has not mandated that we stand, and so the default is that the people should kneel at this part of the Mass. This change also leaves us kneeling in worship as we wait for our turn to come forward to receive the . This is the typical practice at most parishes.

Why does this matter? We believe the liturgy we celebrate here on earth is a participation in the heavenly liturgy. The last book of the Bible – the – describes the worship in heaven. When the Lamb of God () is presented before the throne of heaven, everyone falls down in worship before him (Rev 5:1-14). As we kneel, we acknowledge that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist, and we kneel down in worship before Him because Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.