Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has called on Sydney Catholics to deepen their reverence for the Eucharist through more frequent Mass attendance, Eucharistic adoration, and a renewed appreciation of kneeling in prayer. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
In a new pastoral letter for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, Archbishop Fisher says physical gestures of worship are not incidental to Catholic faith but express what believers hold in their hearts about Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
The letter, Adoring the Eucharistic Lord: “Let Us Kneel Before the God Who Made Us”, comes as Sydney prepares to host the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028 and follows the recent Sydney Synod, where delegates called for greater access to churches and opportunities for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
“Source and summit of the Christian life – so the Second Vatican Council described the Eucharist,” Archbishop Fisher writes.
“Under the simple signs of bread and wine, the Lord Jesus gives His flesh and blood, His body and soul, His humanity and divinity, everything He is, all given for us.”
The archbishop devotes much of the letter to explaining the significance of kneeling in Catholic worship, arguing that the posture is not a sign of humiliation but of reverence, gratitude, adoration and trust.
“Some people think kneeling is degrading, the grovelling of a slave,” he writes.
“Yet kneeling has a history for us.”
Drawing on examples from Scripture, Archbishop Fisher points to Moses before the burning bush, the Magi before the Christ Child, and numerous encounters with Jesus in the Gospels in which people knelt in worship, thanksgiving or supplication.
He also notes that kneeling has been a customary posture in Western Christianity for more than a millennium and remains part of the Church’s liturgical tradition today.
The pastoral letter arrives just weeks after Archbishop Fisher accepted a series of recommendations from the Sydney Synod, including proposals aimed at strengthening prayer, sacramental life and missionary outreach across the archdiocese.
In the letter, he references requests from Synod delegates for churches to remain open for longer periods and for increased opportunities for Eucharistic prayer.
The faithful are encouraged to attend Mass regularly, prepare well through the sacrament of confession, quiet prayer, and observance of the one-hour Eucharistic fast, spend time in adoration, participate in Benediction and Eucharistic processions, and carry the fruits of the Eucharist into daily life.
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Let us kneel before Christ, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP urges in feast day pastoral letter (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
