Sunday, April 08, 2018

'Please stand!'

No other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) Last Saturday evening, during an anticipated Mass I attended at Redemptorist Church, I had this experience when I took Holy Communion from the hands of the priest-mass celebrant. When I knelt before the Cup containing the consecrated Hosts held by the hands of this priest, he told me, "Please stand!" I had but to obey and stand to take the Sacred Host on the tongue. And I left to return to my seat to kneel and consume the Sacred Host. Why should the priest have to command me to stand? He must understand that I kneel not in his person but to the Living Host he was holding. Acts 10: 25-26 says: As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself." I came to take Holy Communion of the Living Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ in the form of a round Blessed Host the mass-celebrant priest was holding. I knelt to worship Christ and not the priest! This incident was the second time that happened to me at the Redemptorist Church. The first one was with an American priest belonging to the Redemptorist congregation. Same thing happened, the priest said to me as I knelt down to take Holy Communion: "Please stand!" I obeyed, stood up and took the Sacred Host on my tongue. Had I sinned when I obeyed the priest? Not at all because I was just obeying the priest's command. It was the priest who sinned because it was him who commanded me to stand before (or disrespect) the Very Presence of the Lord in the Blessed Host. If I hear again the Masses he will be officiating, knowing he would make me stand again to take Holy Communion, this time I will be guilty of the sacrilege of the priest. So every time I saw he was the priest who was to officiate the Mass I was to attend, what I do is leave the Church, lest we both sin. Something worse happened before the occurrence of these two incidents, it happened during Holy Communion in the Mass officiated by an American priest in the Church in Babak, Samal. As I knelt down with both hands clasped, he would not allow me to take the Sacred Host on my tongue. He wanted to place the Host on my palm from which I was to take the Host. As I was reluctant at first, he bypassed me to distribute the Hosts to those lining after me then returned with a gesture pointing to his palm. I obeyed finally but I have not been attending his Masses again. 

Postscript: Who is speaking against the Truth of Christ? Kneeling while taking Holy Communion on the tongue has been practiced since the time closer to Apostolic times. Standing while taking Holy Communion is practiced only in the present times so distant to Apostolic times. In regards to the Pentecost, why should there be second Pentecost when the Holy Spirit has already come as happened at the Upper Room? We hardly get it. The Pentecost at the Upper Room has the power and impact to the Apostles and first believers when it came. The same power and impact will come again -- this time, to the world -- that's why, it's called the second Pentecost. It is not the Holy Spirit per se Who will come again because It has already come. Even before the First Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was one of the Three Persons Who created the universe. What will come again in our time is the power and the impact of the Holy Spirit similar to the First Pentecost. As far as the Douay-Rheims Bible is concerned, it is a safer English translation of the Holy Bible than new translations coming out in the market today.

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