body language

This past weekend I was invited to a Houston Texan football game. I went along with a priest friend of mine, who will remain nameless and two other dear dear friends.

We headed out Sunday morning to join 90,000 other so called football fans to Reliant Arena for some football. Now this friend, the priest, isn't known for his football Savy. He is not a student of the game. But he informed me that he was going to study up so that he would be ready for some football.

So ont he way up to Houston, I decided to quiz him, just to see what he learned. I asked questions that any fareweather fan would know.

For instance, who was Andre Johnsaon or Arian Foster. And he did not know either of them. In fact, I am certain he didn't know the difference between a safety and a tide end. I questioned his ability to tell the difference between the offense and defense.

He did know, however, the back up quarterback's name, TJ Yates. He knew htis becasue he read it in the paper that morning.

Needless to say, I was a bit suspicious as to whether or not he would actually enjoy the game.

But to my surprise, He seemed to really get in to the game. He was standing when he needed to stand; he was cheering when he needed to cheer; he was yelling when he needed to yell; he was even hihgh fiving peopel around him when the TExans did well.

I was amazed. At point, I even caught him doing the First DOwn Gesture with his hands.

He really immersed himself in the Ritual of the Arena asI call it. He let himself get carried away.

The more we immerse ourself in something, the more we get out of it. We have give in order to get. I was proud of him. If he would have just sat there like a stump on a log, he would have been bored out of his mind.

As it is with football, so it remains with worship. the more w eput ourselves into the worship experience the more we experience from it. This is what the Church ask when it tells us to be full, active and conscious in our particpation during the liturgy.

The Church offers aids for on how to involve ourselves. The church offers instructions on posture and gestures to enable worship to become a full body experience, a truly integrated experience where we worship with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Thus we live out what St. Paul speaks of when he invites us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

The postures and gestures are just as important as the words we speak.

Every part of our body is an expressive instrument of our soul. Our soul expresses itself in prayer through our body. Our body communicates what we believe.

Let us go back to the game for a moment. When we were headed toward our seats, the star spangled Banner staretd to eb sung. Instantly, everyone stopped in their tracks; whether they had a hot odog one hand and popcorn in the other, they stopped.

Hats were remobed and hands went to cover the chest as the hymn was sung.

Our bodies express a deeper meaning. Think about when we fold our hands or bow our head or bend a knee, instantly we are at prayer with our bodies long bore any words are ever used.

Go back to the liturgy. Think about the gestures and postures at Mass.

We have the catholic calesthetics: kneeling, sitting, standing.
Kneeling is a sign of humility; we make ourselves small before God.
Sitting is a posture of being receptive, we are open to God's word.
Standing is a posture of liberty, vigilance, and action. We are ready to respond and to live the invitation of Christ.

We fold our hands in prayer. Folding our hands in prayer is a sign of vulnerabilty. We are not defensive toward God, but vulnerable and willing to trust and entrust our life to him.

We genuflect when come into the church. Genflection is borrowed from the roman SOldiers who would genuflect to a superior as a sign of respect and honor. For us it is a profession of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist as we geneuflect to our superior. We genuflect to our superior officer. the king of kings, the Lord of Lords.

We strike our breast at the confiteor. Notice, I said strike and not brush or flick. We are not dusting off dandruff but striking ourselves. We strike ourselevs to hold ourselves accoutnable and to wake us up, to jar us awake and get us ready for the celebration of mercy that comes to us in the Eucharist.

We are instructed to Bow our Head at the names of Jesus, Mary and the Saint of the day. Here bowing our head is a way of acknowledging the holiness of them who have responed to Gods grace. We see Jesus and Mary and the Saints and recognize that grace as triumphant in the human heart and in history. How often in our life do we hear people misuse the name of JEsus. This is the name of above all names at which St. PAul says every head shall bow and every knee shall bend.

We Bow at the Creed at the "by the Holy Spirit incarnate of the virgin Mary" again to imitate with our bodies the movement of God who comes from heaven to earth. Our God is humble and we humbleourselves before him.

THe triple cross at the gospel where we mark our foreheads, lips, and heart with the cross as we say "GLory to You O Lord." We pray that the word of Christ will penetrate our minds and hearts so as to transform and purify our thoughts, words, and desires and actions. Don't we need the word of GOd to purify our thoughts, to infiltrate our words so that the goodness of God flows through what we speak, or enter into our hearts so as to purify our desires and thus direct our actions.

Then we come up for communion. We are instruct to make a throne out of our hands so as to receieve the gift of the Eucharist, or we receive in our mouth by opening wide and extending our tongue. Both cases, we come to receive the gift not take the gift. W emus extend to receive the gift that is offered by God. How often we are not attentive to the what we are doing.

ALl of this is meant to get us to immerse ourselves in the liturgy. We come to give ourselves whole and entire, body, heart, mind, soul. It is an integrated experience. Thus we can truly offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. What we do with th ebody in worship is meant to affect what we do with our bodies outside of worship.

Every part of the body is an expressive instrument of the osul. THe soul prays by expressing itself through the body. Our body communicates what we believe.

Thus our bodies are offered as a living sacrifice.

Our body language at worship is just as important as the words we speak.

Only then do we truly love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, soul, strength.