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"Because of this, God
greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him
the name which is above
every name, that
at the name
of Jesus every knee
should bend,
of those in heaven and
on earth and under the
earth"
Saint Paul to the Philippians
2.9-10
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But
we no longer so much as bow our
heads upon hearing His Name
... let alone bend our knee
as we pass before Him in the Most
Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
There was a time when, in a mix
of many people, one could always
distinguish the Catholics among
them. We see vestiges of this at
Mass and almost exclusively
among the elderly. They bow their
heads, however slightly, even imperceptibly,
upon hearing the name, "Jesus".
Every time.
No matter how often and carelessly
the Name is uttered by the priest
or deacon as any other name
upon Earth still the heads
bow, reflexively, instinctively,
from a life past, an age past, when
"the Name" was sacred ... and understood
as "the Sacred Name". It derived
not from a generation past, but
from centuries past, millennia past,
where it was recognized that one
could not always kneel upon hearing
the Sacred Name, but the head ...
and the neck ... could always bow
before it.
The Prologue in Heaven
"They were former days", you say.
Yes ... but from days more ancient
still, the days from which the source
and substance of our very Faith
derives, days where a continuity
existed and still exists
between Heaven above and Earth below,
ancient days in which we hear the
words of Saint Paul echoed through
the ages:
In the Old Testament:
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Be converted to me,
and you shall be saved,
all ye ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there
is no other. I have
sworn by myself, the
word of justice shall
go out of my mouth,
and shall not return:
For every knee
shall be bowed to me.
Isaiah 45.22-24
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... and in the New:
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"Every creature, which
is in heaven, and on
the earth, and under
the earth, and such
as are in the sea, and
all that are in them:
I heard all saying:
To him that sitteth
on the throne, and to
the Lamb, benediction,
and honour, and glory,
and power, for ever
and ever. And the four
living creatures said:
Amen. And the four and
twenty ancients
fell down on their
faces, and adored him
that liveth
for ever and ever.
Apocalypse 5.13-14
"Dost thou believe in
the Son of God? He answered,
and said: Who is he,
Lord, that I may believe
in him? And Jesus said
to him: Thou hast both
seen him; and it is
he that talketh with
thee. And he said: I
believe, Lord.
And falling down,
he adored him."
Saint John 9.35-38
"Peter saw, he
fell down at Jesus'
knees, saying:
Depart from me, for
I am a sinful man, O
Lord."
Saint
Luke 5.8
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And for every
subsequent generation ...
but ours.
We are, after
all, too wise ... too sophisticated.
We are not blind beggars and
we are not simple fishermen.
We are not children.
Indeed. Each
of them entered the Kingdom
of Heaven.
So tell me ...
since you are neither blind,
nor simple fishermen, nor children,
how do you propose to
enter into the Kingdom of God?
They fell to
their knees before God, and
you ... you will do what? Is
your pride so overweening that
you will bring your full height
to the face of God? Will you
stride proudly through the Gates
of Heaven?
You are a fool!
The arrogant
have ever been an affront to
God. Mary herself tells us that,"He
hath scattered the proud in
the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty
from their seat, and hath exalted
the humble."
1
Are you greater than Mary, Mother
of God? Greater than Saint Peter?
Will you make yourself to be
even greater than Christ Himself
Who,
"fell upon his face, praying"
2 to His Heavenly
Father in the Garden of Gethsemane?
And still, when next
you pass Him by Jesus
Christ really and truly present
in the Most Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar and
every single day thereafter,
you will not so much as acknowledge
Him with the bend of your knee
... nor His Sacred Name with a nod
of your head.
Instead of repenting
of this arrogance, and learning
from Christ Who tells us that He
Himself is humble
3 you
celebrate! ... most
often yourselves proclaiming in
song, in smug assurance, that
you "are
God's people" "and the light
of the world" even as you fail
to recognize Him
Who stands before you ... Whom on
Good Friday we had crucified with
our sins.
Why do you find this so difficult?
Because to bend your knee you must
first bend your will ...
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1
Saint Luke, 1.51-52
2 Saint Matthew, 26.39
3 Saint Matthew, 11.29
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