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.