Dear Parishioners,

WHEN DO WE SIT????

A HUMBLE REMINDER…… Most recently and after a lot of visitation to parishes, our Bishop Perez, mandated a new posture for our diocese that IHM has adopted. It is the STANDING POSTURE (if you are able) while all are receiving Holy Communion.

STANDING
From the earliest days of the church, this posture has been understood as the stance of those who have risen with Christ and seek the things which are above. By baptism we have all been given a fuller share in the life of God and the posture of standing is an acknowledgement of this wonderful gift. Standing is a sign of respect and honor, so we stand as the celebrant who represents Christ, enters and leaves the assembly. We stand when we address God in the various prayers of the Mass; we assume our full stature before God, not in pride, but in humble gratitude for the marvelous things God has done in creating and redeeming each one of us. We stand for the proclamation of the Gospel which recalls the words and deeds of the Lord. The bishops of the United States have chosen standing as the normative posture to be observed for the reception of communion. (GIRM 160)

So, basically, when the LAST person has received Holy Communion up front around the altar, then it becomes a sitting or kneeling posture for the congregation while the altar is cleared and the purification of the vessels are done.

KNEELING
In the early Church, kneeling signified penance. So thoroughly was kneeling identified with penance that the early Christians were forbidden to kneel on Sundays and during the Easter season, when the prevailing spirit of the Liturgy was one of joy and thanksgiving. In the Middle Ages, kneeling came to signify homage, and more recently this posture has come to signify adoration, especially before the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It is for this reason that the bishops of this country have chosen the posture of kneeling during the entire Eucharistic Prayer.

SITTING
Sitting is the posture of listening and meditation, so the assembly sits for the pre-Gospel readings and the homily and may also sit for the period of mediation following Communion. All should strive to assume a seated posture during the Mass that is attentive rather than merely at rest.

Many blessings,
Father Jim