July 10th, 2022

Fifteenth Sunday in ordinary time

by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P.

—

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

 We are in the midst of summer and things are slow at the parish. There is not much to announce, so instead I’ll use this time to restart the Mass tidbits that I was writing before the pandemic. We had finished the physical structure of the church building, so I think we left off at the beginning of the Mass.

Mass tidbit: Genuflecting.

 When entering the church, usually for Mass, the first thing people do before sitting is genuflect to the tabernacle. We genuflect to the Lord present in the Eucharist, on our right knee. Traditionally, one genuflected on one’s left knee for royalty, and on one’s the right knee for God.

There is a candle near the tabernacle called a sanctuary lamp that lets people know that the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, is reserved in the tabernacle. When the sacrament is not in the tabernacle, mostly during Holy Week from after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday until the end of the Easter Vigil, we don’t genuflect when entering the church because Jesus is not present in the tabernacle, instead simply bowing to the altar. When the Eucharist is present, then we genuflect when entering or exiting the church, usually just before sitting in a pew or upon leaving the pew.

Additionally, it is common when having already genuflected to bow when crossing in front of the tabernacle or altar. You can see the priests and servers bowing when crossing the altar during Mass. They only genuflect when entering or leaving the church, and otherwise only bow when crossing in front of the altar or tabernacle.

 Have a blessed week,

Fr. Boniface