On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
What’s with all the standing up, sitting down, and kneeling during Mass, especially during communion?
The posture during Mass can vary by country. In the United States, we stand to signify honor—when our celebrant enters and leaves, when the Gospel is read, and when we pray as a community. We kneel to show our awareness of sin through the Eucharistic Prayer. We sit to listen and to think about what we’re hearing—during the pre-Gospel readings, for example— and also during the offertory.
If all that’s too much to remember, simply do what the person next to you or in front of you does.
