EPISTLES

In an interview uploaded on December 28, 2025, titled “The Cost of Playing Jesus in The Chosen,” Father Mike Schmitz sits down with actor Jonathan Roumie to discuss the profound spiritual weight of portraying Christ.

Their wide-ranging conversation covers the filming of the Crucifixion for Season 6, the physical and emotional toll of the role, and how it has deepened Roumie’s own faith.

A highlight of the discussion is Roumie’s personal conviction toward greater Eucharistic reverence. He recounts how, moved by the Holy Spirit, he began receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling—a practice that led to a “disorienting” encounter with a pastor who, embodying a modernist resistance to traditional piety, ordered him to stand.

Roumie shares the vital role his spiritual director played in navigating this conflict, encouraging him to stand firm in his convictions.

Emboldened, Roumie describes “doubling down” on his right to receive reverently, despite the anxiety of potential public confrontation.

The segment concludes with Fr. Mike firmly validating Roumie’s stance, explicitly confirming that receiving on the tongue while kneeling is an absolute right of every Catholic. This firm endorsement directly contradicts the priest’s actions, framing the act not as “doing whatever one wants,” but as a legitimate and holy expression of faith.

Jonathan Roumie & Fr. Mike Schmitz on Holy Communion Kneeling and on the Tongue — Interview Excerpt

Jonathan Roumie: “In the last year, I started feeling convicted to give more reverence to Christ in the Eucharist, and I started receiving on my knees and on the tongue, which I hadn’t before.

I just kept feeling the Holy Spirit like, ‘No, you should do that.’ It was a little disorienting at first. I went to a church, and I received on my knees, and the priest wanted me to get up. I waited for a second and then I got up.

I finished Mass and I left. I had a conversation with my spiritual director; I’m like, ‘Is that permissible?’ He’s like, ‘Probably wasn’t the best thing for him to do. He shouldn’t do that.’

I talked to the priest afterwards and I said, ‘Let me ask you, why did you make me stand up?’ He’s like, ‘Well, if I allowed you to do that, then anybody can just do whatever they want.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but isn’t it the more reverential form to receive?’ He’s like, ‘Yes, but we have to do things a certain way.’ I said, ‘Okay.’

So I left and then I talked to my spiritual director and I then was now reinvested and I doubled down. I was a little nervous going to other places. I’m like, ‘What if that happens again?’ People know who I am and the unknown is a source of anxiety, even going to Mass for me, just like, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen.’

But I doubled down on it and now I’m prepared to just wait as long as I need to until somebody concedes, because I’m not going anywhere.”

Father Mike Schmitz: “It is your right as a Catholic. It’s your right to receive on your knees on the tongue as a Catholic.”

Magisterial Teaching on Communion on the Tongue While Kneeling

General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM)

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal makes clear that how a person receives Holy Communion involves personal choice. GIRM no. 160 states that the communicant may receive either on the tongue or in the hand, at the communicant’s discretion. Even where standing is the usual posture, kneeling remains a legitimate option.

The faithful are not permitted to take the consecrated bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them from one to another. The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.

When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each communicant. When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of reverence is also made before receiving the Precious Blood.

Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004)

The Vatican document Redemptionis Sacramentum explicitly protects this right. It states that Holy Communion may be received either kneeling or standing, and that it is not lawful to deny Communion to a member of the faithful solely because they choose to kneel. This clarification was issued to prevent abuses and safeguard the rights of the faithful.

[91.] In distributing Holy Communion it is to be remembered that “sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them”. Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. Therefore, it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing.

[92.] Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her. However, special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful.