Is The Church Rediscovering Reverence?

Archbishop Fisher's call to kneel before the Eucharistic Lord raises a deeper question about continuity, worship and the future direction of Catholicism.

Sometimes just a modest pastoral intervention reveals a much deeper fault lines beneath the surface. Archbishop Anthony Fisher’s reflection on Eucharistic adoration, published on June 3rd, would seem to me to be one such moment. One might well think it is little more than an encouragement to recover the ancient Christian practice of kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. Yet beneath its pastoral simplicity lies a challenge that touches some of the most significant debates in contemporary Catholicism.

The purpose of this Pastoral Letter is to help to prepare the faithful of Sydney for the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028. In it, Archbishop Fisher invites Catholics to rediscover the meaning of adoration and the importance of bodily reverence before the Eucharistic Lord. His argument is disarmingly straightforward. Human beings do not worship with their minds alone. We worship with our bodies. The act of kneeling is not an optional devotional flourish but an outward expression of an inward reality. If Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, then reverence is not merely appropriate. It is inevitable. The fact that such a reminder should be necessary is itself worthy of reflection!