Kneeling before the Lord

May 26, 2023 - Friday, Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab

Psalm 103 speaks about the love of God manifested in the forgiveness of sins, healing, prosperity and renewal. We hear that God’s steadfast love is “as high as the heavens are above the earth” and he removes our iniquities “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps 103:11-12). This truth is a valid reason to bless the Lord’s holy name.

The Hebrew verb “bless” carries an association with kneeling. The psalmist blesses or kneels before the Lord in response to all God's benefits. He tells himself to recognise that the Lord was good to him. In Hebrew, the answer to the greeting, “how are you?” is “blessed is the Name”, which means that “all is well”. The word “name” refers to the mysterious and unpronounceable name of the Lord revealed in the book of Exodus (see Ex 6:2-3). In my country, you can still find regions where people greet each other with the phrase, “May Jesus Christ be praised”.

But the psalmist also tells God’s angels to bless the Lord, to kneel before him. The ancient Christian legend says that God created the angels to serve and worship him. Then, he granted them a vision of what was about to happen, namely the creation of humankind and the incarnation of Christ. And God commanded the angels to worship Christ and serve the people. In the Letter to the Hebrews we read that when the Father brought his firstborn Son into the world, he said: “Let all God's angels worship him” (Heb 1:6). Then, a few verses later, the author explains that the angles are ministering spirits “sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14).

But, the legend continues that the most beautiful angel, Lucifer, which means “light-bearer”, refused to obey God’s command by openly stating: “I will not serve”. And so he was cast out from Heaven together with the angels that followed him (see Rev 12:7-9). Saint Augustine commented on that story saying: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels”. The one who can kneel before God and His Christ acknowledge their indebtedness to God for his two most precious gifts: the gift of life and the gift of salvation. He created us and He recreated us through His Son’s saving passion and resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The letter to the Philippians says “that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10). And in the book of Revelation, those surrounding God’s throne fell before the Lamb of God (see Rev 5:8). We also kneel before our God but there are still many people in the world who neither bless God nor kneel before him. They either do not know all the benefits of God or refuse to worship and serve him. What can we do to reveal to them the love of God manifested in the forgiveness of sins and healing, prosperity and renewal?