A number of years ago the Archbishop, through the Archdiocesan Worship Office, requested parishioners STAND during the distribution of Holy Communion until everyone had received. We have tried to implement that practice with some success. Now that more people are returning to Mass because of the relaxation of the pandemic guidelines it might be a good time to review what this is all about.

The Mass is a community prayer. We pray together as a community of faith. Holy Communion is not simply a personal prayer but also a corporate prayer; we receive the Lord individually as members of the Body of Christ. It is not just about “Jesus and me” but about “Jesus and all of us”. We are in communion with Him and also with the entire Mystical Body of Christ, our baptized brothers and sisters in Christ. So to emphasize our union with Christ and with His Mystical Body, the baptized, the Archbishop has requested we stand during the distribution of Communion until all have received. Another good reason for doing this is that we are actually supposed to be singing the Communion Hymn which is a prayer of the Mass. All of our hymns are prayers and not just an unimportant extra. Skipping our participation in praying the hymn is skipping a real part of the Mass.

 

I do personally like this practice since it helps prevent us from seeing our brothers and sisters attending Mass with us as “distractions.” People are not distractions. We do not get to heaven by ignoring people but by engaging them in faith. We are all created in God’s image. Jesus Himself, when praying to His Father described other people as Gifts from the Father born from above. Communion is just what the word means i.e. unity with Christ and with each other.

 

The original idea was to stand while everyone is receiving together but I have notice some people sit when the communion line is finished while others wait until the Blessed Sacrament is retired to the Tabernacle as a further sign of respect for the Lord’s special presence in the Eucharist.

 

None of this is meant to demean or lessen the importance of personal prayer. It is very important and necessary. There are many opportunities for personal and private prayer. Having received Communion does not mean Jesus disappears when communion is over. It means He is with us always throughout the day. As Catholics we are individuals in solidarity with each other, as Pope St. John Paul II would say. Receiving Communion is also an act of solidarity or serious commitment to the Gospel. The sacrament takes us far beyond our personal individuality into the Body of Christ.