Before the Blade, a Joke

The following is from a very well-written article by Fr. Paul Scalia, called "The Church Militant, or the Church Belligerent."

St. Philip Neri provides another example. He had a great devotion to no less a firebrand than Savonarola. Yet as much as he shared that reformer’s zeal, he adopted much different—and ultimately much more effective—means. (So, let's get this straight - you can want reform, genuine reform, of the liturgy, but you don't need to go schismatic. You don't need to go schismatic to either end of the spectrum - Spiritus Christi or SSPX.) Songs, jokes, picnics, even pranks were his weapons (Sort of like the occaisional JibJab video or witty retort). Today we know St. Philip as the Apostle of Rome and the Apostle of joy. St. Thomas More, who opposed Henry VIII’s usurpation of Church authority so staunchly, displayed a similar joy (note, his brother martyr St. John Fisher is our patron). Indeed, he was known for his sense of humor right to the end, joking with his executioner at the scaffold. We find no bitterness or rancor in these warriors. Now even if we cannot imitate their humor, we ought at least to strive for their joy. (What greater joy is there than seeing a cut-out head of Bishop Clark doing liturgical dance to Halle, Halle, Halle?)

The only reason I bring this up is because some people, a couple priests, and some friends have suggested that we're too "bitter," "wounded," "stale," "angry," "vindictive," etc . . . ad infinitem. I think all we're doing is finding an outlet in rhetoric and humor rather than seething hatred and penetrating insensitivity.

I know this was random, but you can just file this under the heading, "For Future Reference" or "It Needed to Be Said."

The Beauty of Proper Liturgy

I think that sometimes we get mired down in the "nitty-gritty" of the liturgy, be it NO or TLM. In reality, it's one of the most simple things in all of Creation.

We can only experience God in the flesh, literally, through His Blessed Sacrament. There is no other way. Why not show an ounce of respect? Why not bow in deference to the wonder? How can one, with clear conscience and mind, stand and put on a spectacular which removes the majesty of the Creator and gives it most unjustly to the Created?

We are unworthy creatures, each and every one of us. There are no exceptions. Priests, nuns, deacons, bishops, lay women, lay men. We are all unworthy in the eyes of Our Lord. Is it not wise, then, to acknowledge our inferiority and render due reverence to the Blessed Sacrament? If we don't, we compound our sinfulness exponentially. Come to God as you are, and do so without reservation or air of self-importance. The Mass is not about us. It is not about the priest. It is about God.

Let's return to that realization, shall we?

While We're In the Mood

So long as we're already in the presidential mood, I thought I should post this little gen of conservative creativity. Nod of the miter, again, to Sr. Emily.

A teacher asked her 6th grade class how many of them were Obama fans.
Not really knowing what an Obama fan is, but wanting to be liked by the teacher, all the kids raised their hands except for Little Johnny.
The teacher asked Little Johnny why he has decided to be different... again.

Little Johnny said, "Because I'm not an Obama fan."

The teacher asked, "Why aren't you a fan of Obama?" Johnny said, "Because I'm a Republican."

The teacher asked him why he's a Republican. Little Johnny answered, "Well, my Mom's a Republican and my Dad's a Republican, so I'm a Republican."

Annoyed by this answer, the teacher asked, "If your mom were a moron and your dad were an idiot, what would that make you?"

With a big smile, Little Johnny replied, "That would make me an Obama fan."

Photo Caption Contest

What sayest thou?

"On Eagle's Wings" - Not a Responsorial Psalm

Perhaps I have missed that section in the Bible which includes trite folk songs as the Word of God. After all, Vice President Biden, a noble and obedient son of the Church, had this piece performed as the Responsorial Psalm at his mother's funeral.

I will try to be more observant in the future.

Also, I was surprised to have missed that addition to the rubrics which permits the priest to preface the Gospel with his own words. It is the word of God - I thought no further explanation was necessary? Especially when this Mass, a Mass of Resurrection, was celebrated in the presence of Speaker Pelosi and Vice President Biden. Then again, I must lay my humble understanding of Church matters and Latin Rite Liturgy at their feet, in deference to their great honors and reputations as defenders of the faith.

It was particularly noble that the concelebrant at the celebration omitted the name of the Pope during the Eucharistic Prayer, and that the phrase "look not on our sins, but on the faith of Your Church" was changed to "look not on your sins, but on the faith of Your people." We must remember to be inclusive, mustn't we?


 Also, I was pleased beyond measure to see Vice President receive Communion - it's not right to cut someone off from the sacrament due to the exercise of God-given free will. I certainly hope all the other so-called "lapsed Catholics" received Communion, too, because that way we can all celebrate together as one community of friends and one big, happy, Christian family!

Yeah. Right.

Vice President Biden: "Thank God for the seal of the confessional - you guys (the priests) know too much about us (the politicians at the funeral)."    




(Photo from the funeral of Sen. Ted Kennedy)

Interdict Notice - Fantasy-Induced Depression

I was browsing the headlines on CNN this morning, and was struck with the absolute lunacy in the video below. Basically, there is an emerging phenomenon of "Avatar blues," with people who watch James Cameron's "Avatar" becoming clinically depressed and suicidal. The whole thing is just so sad, and so pathetic. I am not saying people who are depressed are pathetic - no. I am saying that people who get depressed because they're not living in a fantasy fairy land need to wake up and "get real." I mean, really? You're depressed because you're not an alien? We'll pray for you, oh poor, pitiable child of God.

(Please note, "fantasy fairy land" does not mean San Francisco during Gay Pride Week.)

Former Rochester priest dies

Father Enrique Rueda was an incardinated priest in the Rochester diocese. He was an extremely holy and devout priest. He would not compromise the teachings of the Church. After reading through the article,you all can pretty much figure how the DoR handled Father Rueda. I"m not privy to each and every happening, but I have the general overall picture. It wasn't good. Please pray for the repose of his soul and pray even harder for our diocese and those who administer it.

http://remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/2010-ryan-rueda-rip.htm

Well, At Least There Was No Rainbow Thong

Sometimes I wonder why priests, who hitherto have been solid and liturgically noble, stray into the grey waters of progressive "community worship." Now, like always, I should like to point out that we are not "attacking the character of a priest." No, that would be sinful. What we are doing is exposing liturgical improprieties that make one doubt the efficacy of contemporary worship.

While perusing the photo galleries of various parishes who are known bastions of heterodoxy, I decided that I should seek out a parish which has always been sitting on the side lines, quietly refraining from "picking a side." I have visited this parish from time to time, and find it quite charming. Which parish is this?

St. Margaret Mary in Irondequoit.

I decided to examine the photos from their folder entitled: "Special Visitor at 9:30am Mass." I thought to myself, "Oh, maybe the bishop came to say Mass, or maybe some retired priest of note visited." Well, the fellow who visited was most certainly not a priest. He was, however, a bishop of great renown- St. Nicholas aka "Santa Claus." The following photos are from the SMM website:

When I saw these, I tried to defend the pastor of this parish, Fr. Timothy Horan. Scenarios I concocted included: maybe it was after the final blessing, and he asked everyone to sit down, maybe this man was an uninvited guest, maybe I'm just delusional, and this didn't really happen.

I tend to doubt very much these notions. I would like to mention, though, that (sans the Santa suit) this would be an ideal (?) dialogue homily. Let's not get into the debate about its validity or place in the Mass. (I think we all feel the same way.) There are many children present, the priest is visibly in charge, and there is no doubt that the lay homilist (dressed-up priest?) is eminently qualified to talk to the people and ring the sleigh bells he is holding in his hand.

So, still shaking from this unwelcome discovery, I decided to click on their Midnight Mass photo gallery. "How can you mess up a Midnight Mass?"

By having a woman in a red, satin-esque robe prancing up the aisle leading the procession:

Let's have a chat about liturgical dancers, shall we?

From Cardinal Arinze, via YouTube:

Satan's Day-Job

He works at Walgreens.

I was asked to order prints of some illuminated altar cards for a friend who wishes to start saying the Latin Mass. So I went to Walgreens' website, uploaded the three altar cards, and ordered one 8X10 print, the center card with the Gloria, the Creed, and prayers relating to the consecration, and two 5X7 prints with the Last Gospel ( . . . et verbum caro factum est) and the "Lavabo."

The total came to 6.66.

If anyone cares to see the altar cards, they can be found here.

New Pope Pius XII Prayer Card

Cleansing Fire has for sale a beautiful prayer card at zazzle.com. Please consider purchasing some, as the profits will benefit the cause of orthodoxy in the Diocese of Rochester.

Click here to view the new prayer card!

Don't Be Confused

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it."

So said Edward R. Murrow about the role and duty of the citizen. The same is absolutely true for us here. We have been accused of many things, you and I, among them "subversion," "cruelty," "lacking for charity," "unfair," "mean," "hateful," "vengeful," and some which I don't care to recall. Our defense of Truth and Tradition, and our utilization of humor and light-heartedness within it, is just that: defense. Remember, we are the party against whom many grievances have been declared. Many blame us for our stiffness, our unyielding attitudes regarding women priests, lay preaching, improvised prayers, blessings conferred by the laity. However, we are not unyielding through our will alone. No, we are steadfast in our beliefs because the Church was founded by God, given to wise men and women to care for, and has come to us, blemished at times, through the centuries.

Our dissent is not sedition. No, our dissent is akin to that of the persecuted English Catholics under the reign of the Protestant monarchs of the Tudor dynasty. We cling to our faith, our Catholic heritage, and in so doing, cling to the keys to heaven. For they were not given to anyone save St. Peter, and as is said, "ubi petrus, ibi ecclesia." "Where Peter, there the Church." We are compelled by a love of the sacred - not a love for the profane. We place our hope in God, not in man. We follow the pope, the bishop of bishops, the servant of servants, for he alone is the successor to St. Peter. If one denies what he says, and does so with purposeful and wrathful intent, he cuts onself of from the Blessed Sacrament and the Communion of Saints. For how can one acknowledge "One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church" when one denies the will of Her supreme head?

One cannot.

For this reason we follow the pope. Yes, we do answer to our bishop, but not when he enters into open schism (or private schism, for that matter) with Rome. The norms of this diocese do not, have not, and never will trump the norms from Rome. For though the Church is catholic, universal, it is also One and Apostolic. To err is to create a church separate from that of Our Lord. To defy the teachings of the Holy Mother Church, as promulgated by the Supreme Pontiff is to turn one's back on the Apostolic Tradition of Her existence.

All Tradition exists for a reason. It is not arbitrary, nor is it outdated. There are those who boldly declare, "the Church changes - it's part of reality." Yes, the Church does change. However, it does so only because of man's infidelity to Truth and to a love of the sacred. Anything tinged with man's involvement is tinged, inescapably, with man's imperfection. There is no escaping it. But as Catholics, as Christians, we profess that God is God. That is the end of the matter - He does not change. He is, and will be forever, world without end. God does not change, only the sinful nature of human kind does. Why do we continue to fight amongst each other regarding the liturgy, prayer, inclusivity, and the nature of the sacraments when we have the most absolute of answers? God does not change, and through a simple progression of logic, one can easily and confidently state that the substance, the "stuff" of the sacraments, does not change, for they are extensions of the Divine. The manifestations, the physical presentations of the sacraments may change, but must always change for the better.

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty." We are dissenting, yes, but just as the Catholics dissented when Martin Luther gave birth to his heretical sedition. Our dissent is conceived, not out of a carnal lust for self-promotion as is that of the liberals, but out of a love for Our Lord and His Church. We are loyal sons and daughters of God - remember that the next time you see a lay preacher spreading his or her deceitful venom of heterodoxy. Remember that the next time you encounter a woman or a married man masquerading as a valid and licit Catholic priest. We have a duty, as Catholics, as Christians, as believers in the One True God, to oppose infidelity to the Lord and to defend His honor as we would our own. For what honor have we when we forget to render honor to Him who is the source of all honor, of all glory, and of all majesty?

None.

"Beating the Dead Terrorist Horse"

The following comes from the National Review Online.

Beating the Dead Terrorist Horse
September 11 taught us many lessons. To our peril, we have forgotten them.

By Victor Davis Hanson

Most of the current acrimony over counterterrorism is stale. The debate is simply a rehash of issues that were discussed and, in fact, resolved early last decade.

Let us review them one more time.

MOST TERRORISTS ARE NOT POOR AND DOWNTRODDEN
September 11 taught us that a Mohammed Atta or a Khalid Sheikh Mohammed does not commit mass murder out of hunger, want, illiteracy, or Western oppression.

No doubt Middle Eastern poverty contributes to religious violence. But the poor in Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen are no more impoverished than those in the slums of São Paulo, Mexico City, Ho Chi Minh City, or Johannesburg. And the latter, despite their frequent claims against the West, do not feel a need to murder in mass in the name of their particular religion.

A Major Nidal Hasan or an Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab wishes to kill Westerners not because he is poor or even on behalf of the poor, but rather out of a warped sense of pride, hurt, and anger.

Such passions derive from a radical religious creed that insists that comparative failure in the modern Middle East is not self-induced — much less a product of fundamentalism, anti-Enlightenment thinking, autocracy, gender apartheid, tribalism, corruption, and statism. Instead the fact that there is no longer an intercontinental caliphate of rich and powerful believers is due to some sort of contemporary Jewish or Western oppression.

The wealthier, better educated, and more Westernized the radical Muslim, often the greater the sense of shame, alienation, and anger that he and his religion are not shown proper deference. We knew all that in 2001, but have apparently forgotten it during eight years of relative calm.

Hasan hated American soldiers not because our system had discriminated against him, much less because of “secondary post-traumatic-stress syndrome,” or any of the other wacky excuses that followed his crime. Instead, in part he sensed that the American military had bent over backwards for him and accommodated his extremism — and was therefore, in his own distorted worldview, weak, decadent, and deserving of what he would dish out.

THERAPY IS NO ANSWER
Radical Islam’s anger is irrational. It is not predicated on the degree of outreach shown by the United States. A contrite and compliant Jimmy Carter, after all, prompted the creation of the slur “The Great Satan.” The year 2009 saw the greatest number of foiled terrorist plots against America since 9/11. Indeed, one-third of all such attempts in the last eight years happened last year — the time of the Obama Al Arabiya interview, the Cairo speech, the bowing to Saudi royals, the promises to close Guantanamo Bay, and the ritual trashing of the Bush anti-terrorism policies.

We need not be gratuitously rude. There surely is a role for sober diplomacy and soft speech. But the degree to which radical Islam will be aggressive toward the West hinges a lot on what it imagines will be our reaction — in terms both of military responses, and of the sense of confidence we project about our own civilization.

Islamists, after all, ignore past American help to, and support for, Islamic peoples in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Indonesia, Iraq, Kosovo, Kuwait, and Somalia — only to pay far more deference to the Chinese and Russians, who have systematically oppressed and often butchered fellow Muslims. Apparently, Dr. Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden would rather recommend reading by Noam Chomsky and Jimmy Carter than offend Vladimir Putin and earn another Grozny.

The rest of the article can be found here. It is definitely worth reading, as is almost everything from the National Review.

Christmas Children's Mass Update

You may recall that I reported on the less-than-sane Christmas Eve children's Mass. Click here if you don't.

Well, I was emailed some more information regarding the festivities.

So what's new, you ask? The pageant was not a production on the part of the children. The adults and the administration played the prominent roles. The female lay administraitor (not a typo) played the role of the Blessed Virgin, and dressed the part, too. The sacramental minister dressed up as St. Joseph. After the pageant, the administraitor gave the "homily," still vested in alb and Marian costume.

And in the words of this informant, "omg, like, the children's choir was pathetic. There were only, like, 6 kids, and they weren't even that good. It was all the choir director! I mean, really - that's pathetic."

Conservatives Play To Win

Nod of the miter to Sr. Emily for sharing this video.

The Abandoned Chapel in Mt. Hope Cemetery

I had heard people talk of the simple splendor and hidden majesty of "that old chapel in the cemetery." Well, when waiting for a train back to Albany, I decided to trek down to Mt. Hope Cemetery and explore the old chapel. I was exceedingly thrilled that the lock on the front door of the chapel was broken, so I was easily able to squeeze into the building. It was undeniably transcendent.

I have 90 more photos of the interior, so please don't hesitate to ask for them. Just email cleansingfire@live.com. Feel free to ask questions in the comment box. The background of the building is rooted in Rochester history. When the cemetery was growing, the city decided that a more permanent chapel should be erected, to replace the smaller one which had begun to show its age. This was in the later-half of the 1800's. The chapel was used to funerals and memorial services until the 70's, I am told, when it was just left to rot. However, the president's stimulus package sent a hefty sum of money to the City of Rochester to restore (not renovate, restore) the chapel to its former glory.

It's So Cold . . .

Oh, That's Right, Because Islam is the Religion of Peace

By SARAH El DEEB, Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press Writer – 31 mins ago

CAIRO – Three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers in southern Egyptian as they left a midnight Mass for Coptic Christmas, killing at least seven people in a drive-by shooting, the church bishop and security officials said.
Egypt's Interior Ministry said the attack Wednesday just before midnight was suspected as retaliation for the November rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man in the same town. The statement said witnesses have identified the lead attacker.
The attack took place in the town of Nag Hamadi in Qena province, about 40 miles from the famous ancient ruins of Luxor. A local security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that seven were dead and three seriously wounded.
Bishop Kirollos of the Nag Hamadi Diocese told The Associated Press six male churchgoers and one security guard were killed. He said he had left St. John's church just minutes before the attack.
"A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door. By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine gun shots," he said in a telephone interview. He said he saw five bodies lying on the ground when he first looked at the site of the shooting, about 600 yards where he was.
The bishop said he was concerned about violence on the eve of Coptic Christmas, which falls on Thursday, because of previous threats following the rape of the 12-year-old girl in November.
He got a message on his mobile phone saying: "It is your turn."
"I did nothing with it. My faithful were also receiving threats in the streets, some shouting at them: 'We will not let you have festivities,'" he said.
Because of the threats, he said he ended his Christmas Mass one hour early.
He said Muslim residents of Nag Hamadi and neighboring villages rioted for five days in November and torched and damaged Christian properties in the area after the rape.
"For days, I had expected something to happen on Christmas day," he said. The bishop said police have now asked him to stay at home for fear of further violence.
Qena is one of Egypt's poorest and most conservative areas.
Christians, mostly Coptic, account for about 10 percent of Egypt's predominantly Muslim population. As Islamic conservatism gains ground, Christians have increasingly complained about discrimination by the Muslim majority.
Clashes between Muslims and Christians are not uncommon in southern Egypt and in recent years have begun seeping into the capital. An Amnesty International report said sectarian attacks on the Coptic Christian community, comprising between 6 million and 8 million people in Egypt, increased in the year 2008. Sporadic clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims left eight people dead.
Vendetta killing is also common among southern Egyptians, and is usually over land or family disputes.
The bishop said he had an idea of who the attackers were, calling them "Muslim radicals."
"It is all religious now. This is a religious war about how they can finish off the Christians in Egypt," he said.

Please note, this is all in reference to MILITANT ISLAM, not plain, everyday Islam.

It's Not That Difficult

The whole furor over the new translation of the Holy Mass is really without basis. The liberals are screaming that we're rushing into reform (God loves irony), but they don't even realize that "the most progressive among us is he who realizes we're on the wrong path, turns around, and goes back from whence he came." The new translation is simply addressing glaring errors in translation. That's it!

For example:

The original Latin from the Mass was (and is) "et cum spiritu tuo." That does not mean, "And also with you." The words, literally and without self-interpretation are "And" "With" "Spirit" "Your." This, obviously, turns to "And with your spirit."

Another example:

From the creed which is recited (chanted?) at Mass: "consubstantialem patri, per quem omnia facta sunt." Literally, it should be "consubstantial with the father, from whom all was made." Of course, "one in being with" carries the same meaning, but it's not the accurate translation. It's not what the prayer really says. Isn't it obvious that we should pray the prayers of the Church, and not some poor Latin scholar who decided we couldn't handle the real translation?

If you look at the French language Mass, it has retained much of the beauty and sophistication of Latin, even though it's in the vernacular. Indeed, instead of keeping "amen," the French say (and have said for centuries) "ainsi-soit-il." Literally, this means, "thus it is," or "thus let it be." This goes back, all the way to the original meaning of "amen."

Why is it that people oppose the new language of the Mass? Is it because it attempts to raise the liturgy from off the dung hill onto which so many leftists, communists, atheists, and nominal Catholics have cast it? Is it because we can't bear to translate "fratres," "brothers," as it ought to be? It doesn't mean, "brothers and sisters." It means "brethren," pure and simple.

(St. Jerome - translator of the Bible from Greek, Hebrew into Latin)

Anyone who opposes the will of the English-speaking bishops regarding this translation is guilty of sedition against the Holy Catholic Church. It is the will of the bishops, plural, who almost unanimously passed this. For forty years, orthodox-minded Catholics have been subjugated by those who imposed political and gender-based agendas onto the Holy Mother Church. She has begun to shake these fetters of error off, and look at the filth that rains down with the shattered links of liberalism. Nothing but lies and a hatred of the Truth. The pope says "yes," - that's good enough for me.

"As for me and my house, we shall follow the Lord."

Fertilization and the Good Sister

Many people may remember the infamous quote from Rochester personality Sr. Joan Sobala SSJ, "Let them fertilize other parishes." Well, the fertilization gets more complete with each passing month. I was blessed to be in attendance at Our Lady of Victory for the Midnight Mass - the spectacle was grand. Standing room only, and of that not a whole lot was open. I would wager that the Little French Church was well over capacity that night. For the various Christmas Masses, I would humbly guess that there were approximately 800 people over the 24 hours of Christmas Masses. Even the Holy Day Mass on January 1 was packed, according to a most reliable source. Well, in this past week's bulletin, Our Lady of Victory disclosed the amount of its Christmas collection: over $14,000. I assumed, with soul brimming with Christian charity, that the "disgruntled parishes" would be about the same, what with the hordes of the faithful (who become faithful only at Christmas and Easter) bolstering the ranks of every parish in the nation. Oh, I was woefully wrong.

The statistics for the Christmas week for the Our Lady of Lourdes+St. Anne cluster are below. Note that Our Lady of Lourdes had a Christmas collection of about $10,000. Note also that this parish is in a much better area than Our Lady of Victory, whose downtown presence is located conveniently between a news store with more pornographic publications than newspapers, and a burned-out shell of Rochester's former Catholic glory, St. Joseph's. This doesn't include the occaisional vagrant, drug-addict, prostitute, or transsexual child of God. (I hope I'm not over-selling the parish.) Our Lady of Lourdes, in "old Brighton," is in a bubble of economic prosperity which, evidently, has been cleft in 'tween by the combating views of orthodoxy and heterodoxy.

Now for St. Anne - the attendance, though about 100 more than Our Lady of Lourdes, contibuted to a Christmas collection of only $7,330. That is half the amount of Our Lady of Victory, in terms of monetary sacrifice. If any of you remember the days of Fr. Lioi, you will recall that the collection at Christmas was vastly more than that pitiful amount.

Over the past two years, countless numbers of refugees from this cluster and others like it have ended up in the safe presence of Our Lady, made manifest in Our Lady of Victory-St. Joseph's, St. Stanislaus, St. Boniface, and even the monasteries of the Carmelites on Jefferson Road and the Trappists in Piffard. Truly, Our Lady smiles on those whom she has picked to be her own. There are those who assert, and perhaps correctly, that some these communities exist only because of bitterness, pain, anger, and resentment. "They aren't natural." Perhaps one should consider that there is no other recourse.

Let us recall the words of Shakespeare from the "Saint Crispen's Day soliloquoy," from his play Henry V:

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here.

Acknowledge Your God, and Kneel Before Him

To kneel is to subject oneself to a higher power. For instance, one kneels when knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Why, then, are people hesitant to kneel before Our God present in the Most Blessed Sacrament? Is there a sense of shame? "Why should I kneel in front of other people and in front of this piece of bread?"

To kneel is to pray. The simple posture states in such sublime majesty the mystery of Creation. We, the created, have the ability to kill God, the Ultimate Creator. How is this possible? Why is this possible? We who kneel before the Lord are separated only by time from those who knelt beside the cross to nail Our Lord's hands to the instrument of His death and our most unworthily received redemption.

To kneel is to admit powerlessness. We surrender ourselves to Him with our posture of undeniable humility and weakness. There is no guilt complex, no hang-up or psychological fetter. There is, however, faith. This faith is only made manifest through humility. How can one approach the Throne of the Lamb on equal terms with the Creator? Does a well-behaved child address his parents as "Bob" and "Meredith?" No, he or she does not. A child learns at the feet of his or her parents - not from a position of dominance, of power, or of authority of any kind. The child depends on the parent just as we depend on the saving grace of Jesus.

To kneel is to confess a belief in something more important than oneself. When we kneel we leave behind us our earthly baggage. At least, we should. That's what Confession is for, after all. There is no reason to focus on anything but Our Lord when we present ourselves to Him. He is all, and we are nothing save the manifestation of His will. He wills us to exist - not the other way around. We do not invent God to soothe our wounded identities. No, we discover God through adversity, and through this discovery pray more faithfully.

To kneel is to show honor to God and to His Most Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary. If we approach the altar with familiarity, with a sense of casualness, we drive another sword into the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She was wounded enough in her earthly life, seeing her Son beaten, crucified, speared. She need not see His ultimate gift of Himself, the Eucharist, go unappreciated.

To kneel is to embrace Tradition and loyalty. Without Tradition, we would be as so many "Bible-thumping" Christians who cling to the shallow notions of self-importance in the eyes of God. We matter to God, yes. But we are not nearly as important as we think ourselves to be. Can one honestly declare without hesitation that he is something special? Can one approach Divinity through one's earthly life? Yes, one may live a saintly life. But you can only do this through a complete renunciation of your own will and the will of those who may seek to hold you from your ultimate joy - the Blessed Sacrament. Love God. Love Him through His Word, His Church, and the Tradition which started with Jesus Christ Himself. Tradition is not without reason to purpose. It has evolved to its current state slowly, with tender respect and love, and without the politicization of every facet of faith itself.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. - Ephesians 3:14-21