Grateful Giving During Lent

Lent has now begun. It is a time of repentance and conversion and second chances. In the book of Jonah, the prophet is sent to preach to the king of Nineveh and warn him that his people’s wickedness will result in the destruction of their city by God. The king and the residents of Assyria’s capital city hear God’s message and put on sackcloth, fast from food and drink, sit in ashes, and turn away from sin. “When God saw by their actions how they turned away from their evil way, he repented of the evil he had threatened to do to them…” And it wasn’t just the Ninevites who got a second chance in that story: Jonah, reluctant to preach God’s message to Israel’s enemy, ended up in the belly of a great fish, but was given another opportunity to do God’s will.

Like Jonah, we are called to act according to the will of God. Many of us made resolutions on January 1^st to begin the new secular year. Those resolutions probably included things like exercising more, losing weight, quitting smoking, and generally participating in activities that are healthier for our bodies. All of those are worthy endeavors, and are in line with the teaching that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

Lent is a time in the liturgical year, the Church year, when we make similar resolutions – but for spiritual reasons. During this penitential season, the faithful generally commit to a form of fasting or give up certain types of luxury. Many of us stop going out to eat or eliminate unproductive activities, like playing Angry Birds on our iPhones and iPads. This desert environment in our lives is reflected in the environment in our churches: Roman Catholic and even some Protestant churches remove flowers from the altar, while statues are often veiled in purple fabrics in pious observance of Lent.

But a legitimate alternative to “giving up” something is to do something – actions that conform to one of the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. You will see the blue “Divine Opportunities” posters in every building in our church, letting us know that in giving of our time, the difference we make in the lives of our brothers and sisters in need is divine. As you consider the actions you will be taking for the next forty days, make it your personal Lenten mission to discern your gifts and then find a way to grow spiritually by investing your time and talent.

Ash Wednesday

It seems as though the joy of the Christmas season just ended, and already Lent is looming. Ash Wednesday arrives and hits us squarely between the eyes, forcing us to face our own mortality and sinfulness.

At Mass on Wednesday, we will hear Scripture readings that are urgent and vivid. The Prophet Joel tells us that God wants us to return to Him with our whole hearts and to acknowledge our sinfulness with fasting and weeping and mourning. In the Gospel reading, Jesus reminds us that our fasting, our prayers, and our almsgiving are important ways to atone for our sinfulness, but only when we do so humbly, in a way that only God sees what we’re doing: Jesus criticizes pious displays, not pious actions.

We have ashes rubbed into our foreheads, ashes from the palms that we waved last year on Palm Sunday. It’s a tough day, but take heart! This is one religious day that won’t fall into the clutches of retailers. There aren’t any Hallmark cards celebrating sin and suffering, or shop windows decked out with sackcloth and ashes.

On Ash Wednesday, we come to church to kneel, to pray, and to ask God’s forgiveness, surrounded by other sinners. Church tradition sets aside Ash Wednesday as a particular day to address sin and death. We are all sinners, no better and no worse than our brothers and sisters. This is a day to acknowledge that, to ponder our mortality, and repent.

Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about death. But death is the great equalizer. In death there are no presidents of corporations, no maintenance workers, no one percent versus ninety-nine percent. All of us are in the hands of our loving God – that's it. The trinkets of this world – honor, wealth, pleasure and power – are but dust and ashes. When we remember “to dust we shall return,” we recall that we are made for more than the here and now. We are made for life with God – now and forever.

Ash Wednesday is the gateway to Lent. We have forty days or so to open ourselves up to God and examine ourselves in the presence of the One who created us, knows us, and loves us. We are dust, but with God’s grace we can learn to live this life more fully, embrace our sinfulness, and allow God to transform us.

Ash Wednesday and the six weeks of Lent that follow give us an opportunity – once again – to turn away from sin, and follow the gospel.

Kneeling

Over the past few weeks, we have talked about standing, sitting, genuflecting, and bowing in church, especially during Mass. These are not random postures chosen by individual parishioners or even by the local parishes. The place to find direction for the various postures at Mass is the General Instruction of the Roman Missal or GIRM, which is issued for the entire Roman Catholic Church.

When it comes to kneeling, the GIRM instructs that the faithful “should kneel at the consecration unless prevented by lack of space, the number of people present, or some other good reason.”

According to this directive, the only time we would kneel at Mass is during the consecration. However, the GIRM goes on to say that the local bishops’ conferences may adapt these postures. Here in America, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops added the following directive: that the assembly should kneel not just for the consecration but for the entire Eucharistic Prayer, from after the Holy, Holy to after the Great Amen.

Some people find standing during the Eucharistic Prayer to be a prayerful posture that makes a powerful statement of faith. Others see kneeling as a sign of deep respect for the action of the prayer and the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Both postures have historical precedence, so neither posture is irreverent.

While pews and kneelers in churches are relatively new, kneeling itself is found in Scripture . In the Old Testament, King Solomon dedicated the temple he built for the Lord, "kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards Heaven.” Daniel opening the windows in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem … knelt down three times a day, and adored and gave thanks before his God..." Kneeling and praying got Daniel thrown into the lions’ den, but he was saved by the Lord.

Kneeling is also found in the New Testament. At the Agony in the Garden, Luke tells us, Jesus withdrew “about a stone's throw from (the disciples) and kneeling, he prayed…” In the book of Acts, Peter kneels to pray before the lifeless body of the disciple Tabitha, and she is returned to life. And Paul, after giving a farewell speech to one of the churches in Asia, “knelt down and prayed with them all.”

Kneeling, like bowing, is associated with reverence, submission and respect, especially if one kneels before a person who is standing or sitting: the kneeling position renders a person defenseless and unable to flee. For this reason we assume this position signaling our submission to and dependence on God.

Bowing

When passing in front of the tabernacle, it is appropriate to genuflect, since Jesus is present in the tabernacle. Before sitting in a pew, we genuflect toward the tabernacle, and again when we leave our celebration to share the Gospel message.

When moving past the altar before and during Mass, however, a different gesture is required. The gesture of respect for the altar differs from that of the tabernacle. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, or GIRM, tells us that "A genuflection indicates adoration ... while a bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them."

In the liturgy, we bow to the altar table, we bow at words in the creed, we bow to each other, and we bow to the Body and Blood of Christ.

Why do we bow to the altar table? In that gesture, without words, we admit our dependence on it. Just as God humbled Himself to share in our humanity, we humble ourselves in recognition of the sacrifice made for our sins. In the opening procession, when they have arrived at the sanctuary, the Priest, the Deacon, and the ministers reverence the altar with a profound bow and a kiss, actions which are repeated at the end of Mass.

We also bow at words. In the Nicene Creed, we bow as we recite the words, “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” We revere and respect the great mystery of the Incarnation, that God became one of us.

We bow to each other on occasion. When a priest or deacon incenses us, he bows to us, and we bow in return.

Finally, we bow to the Body and Blood of Christ. The GIRM suggests that we show some sign of reverence for the holy food and drink that we are about to share, and so, before the Eucharistic Minister greets us, we bow. We bow low so that God can raise us, nourished, united to Christ and to each other.

How do we bow? Standing up straight, arms at our side or folded or crossed in front of our chests, we bend at the waist. A truly reverent bow bends so that the upper half of our body is almost parallel to the ground. We bend slowly, gracefully, without looking up. Then, just as slowly and gracefully, we rise, to stand upright again to face the object of our bow.

Bowing is more than just a ritual gesture. It is a way of understanding and expressing how to live in right relationship with God and with one another.

Sitting

You just sat down, a movement that is part of our liturgy. Sitting in this assembly is not like sitting in a movie theater or in front of the television or computer after a day’s work. It isn’t sitting to relax or be entertained. While sitting can certainly be a restful posture, it is also a receptive posture.

We sit primarily to hear the Word of God proclaimed and then explained. We sit to let silence wash over us as we pray and reflect. Little by little, this posture teaches us how to listen and what to listen for. This sitting makes us a contemplative people, a people who can keep prayer inside us even in the busy-ness of our daily living.

When we sit during the liturgy, it allows us to listen more attentively, or reflect in silence without the distraction of bearing all our weight on our two feet. Sitting is good for those tasks. However, it has major drawbacks in that we can let it become the posture of an audience, and that is something we are not. As the People of God and the Body of Christ, we are called to be active participants in the Mass, not casual observers.

For most of the history of the Church, the first fifteen hundred years, people did not sit. Pews were extremely rare. In most medieval churches, people stood or sat on the floor, with sometimes a narrow bench around the edge of the building for seating. Eastern Orthodox churches never got around to having pews – today in Russia and Greece, worshippers still stand.

Pews were only widely used after the Reformation, and that makes sense when we understand that in Protestant congregations, the sermon – not the Eucharist – was the “main event.” As pews were introduced, they were a mixed blessing. In many churches, they indicated one’s place in society, ranked according to social standing. The rich would have large grand stalls at the front and anyone who sat in the wrong one would find himself in trouble.

Most churches now have pews for sitting and kneelers for kneeling, and sitting and kneeling are now part of our liturgy. Even so, standing is our basic posture. In the book of Exodus, God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites to eat the Passover meal “with your loins girt, sandals on your feet, and your staff in hand,” ready to leave Egypt for the Promised Land. Like the Israelites, we are on a journey, sharing the banquet at this table. We are on our feet, ready to go out into the world and spread the Good News of the Resurrection

Standing

§ You are in a courtroom and the judge or jury enters.

§ At the beginning of a ball game, the band plays the national anthem.

§ You are sitting in a restaurant and an old high school buddy comes over to your table to say hello.

What posture do you assume? You stand: for the judge, for the Star-Spangled Banner, for the friend. It isn’t just habit and it isn’t just emotion, but habit and emotion have something to do with it. And it isn’t just something mandated by Scripture, although we are told in the book of Leviticus to “Stand in the presence of the aged, (and) show respect for the old…”

Standing doesn’t have just one meaning: respect, say, or attention. It varies depending on the circumstances. At Sunday Mass, we stand to enter into the liturgy. We stand to listen to the narrative of Jesus’ life, the Gospel. We stand to profess the Creed. We are on our feet again when we are urged by the presider to lift up our hearts and give thanks to the Lord our God. We stand and move forward to receive Communion, and we stand to leave, to “go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” For us, these are the moments that call for a posture that is engaged, ready to act, a posture that manifests respect and shows attention to the matter at hand.

Think of how we use the notion of “standing” in our expressions. We say that a person stands on their own two feet. We stand up to be counted. We stand by each other. In an old Latin expression, ancient Christians called themselves the circumstantes. This word means ''those standing nearby'' and refers to the ancient posture of liturgical prayer. This posture, from the earliest days of the Church, has been understood as the stance of those who are risen with Christ and seek the things that are above. When we stand for prayer, as we are able, we assume our full stature before God, not in pride, but in humble gratitude for the marvelous thing God has done in creating and redeeming each one of us. By Baptism we have been given a share in the life of God, and the posture of standing is an acknowledgment of this wonderful gift. That is how early Christians saw themselves: as people of the Resurrection, standing around the altar.

Standing is about respect, about attention, about readiness. It is our way of telling God, without words, that we love Him, that we are listening to His word, and that we are ready to do His will.

Genuflecting

Tim Tebow is a quarterback for the Denver Broncos and an evangelical Christian. Lately he has been in the news because he drops to one knee and prays after a touchdown or special play, presumably in thanksgiving to God. This posture, which looks like genuflecting, has been called “tebowing,” and it became front page news when the Broncos began winning in the final minutes of a game.

For those of us who participate in specific gestures and postures as part of our practice of religion, this is a good time to ask questions about what we do: questions like Why do we do this? And When and where did this start?

A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together with spoken words. Before children can even form words, they are able to communicate non-verbally and make a connection between non-verbal actions and words and feelings. This is why making the sign of the cross or bowing can elicit feelings of awe and reverence, even in young children.

From early times, genuflection, which is bending at least one knee to the ground, was a gesture of deep respect for a superior. In the third century B.C., Alexander the Great introduced a form of genuflection into his court, a gesture already in use in Persia. In medieval Europe, respect for a king or noble was demonstrated by going down on one knee. Nowadays, on television and in movies in western cultures like ours, genuflection can be seen during a proposal of marriage. The custom of proposing on one knee goes back to the days of knighthood and chivalry when it was customary for a knight to dip his knee in a show of servitude to his lady and await an indication of her favor.

The Latin word genuflectio, from which the English word is derived, originally meant kneeling rather than the dropping to one knee and immediately rising that became customary in the Middle Ages.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal defines when genuflecting is appropriate: "A genuflection, made by bending the right knee to the ground, signifies adoration, and therefore it is reserved for the Most Blessed Sacrament, as well as for the Holy Cross from the solemn adoration during the liturgical celebration on Good Friday until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”

Gestures and postures like genuflecting can help us cultivate a proper reverence toward Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and help us remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Additionally, if we have the information to explain why we do what we do, they can also be tools for evangelizing others.