By Sr. Ruth Battaglia CSA

We have heard the adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Similarly, it is true to say, "a gesture is worth a thousand words." And a common gesture, done fully and deliberately, is worth immeasurably more. Full and conscious gestures have a profound impact, expressing as well as strengthening what we mean and believe.

On one occasion when I was a high school religion teacher I participated in a youth rally in Salina, Kansas. In a dimly lit room everyone was holding a burning candle. As music played in the background, one young man in the center held high his candle. For what seemed a long while he was the only one. Gradually there were several more, until all in the room had silently lifted up their candle. Then, as if on cue, everyone stood, still in silence and with candles held high. Participating in that simple, reverent, common gesture touched me in way that still evokes feelings and conveys meaning when I recall it today. My heart was touched in a way that words could not express.

Gabe Huck and Gerald T. Chinchar in Liturgy with Style and Grace comment on this kind of experience: "When it is done wholeheartedly and well, ritual touches many layers of ourselves at once." "Symbols carry our meanings and beliefs…they intertwine themselves with our lives." "…what liturgy expresses in symbol is what ... people believe and mean to be the very heart of their existence." (p. 4)

An integral part of ritual is bodily movement. For Catholics, movement is a vital part of liturgy. Both the presider and the faithful do it. We genuflect, make the sign of the cross in various ways, kneel, stand, strike the breast, bow, and fold our hands. When these are made mechanically and without thought their meaning is greatly diminished, but if they are done with deliberateness and fullness their meaning is clear. "Common gesture in our worship involves each person, each whole person, body and mind and spirit, in the prayer. Common gesture is a way to manifest that this is the prayer and action of a church—the one body of Christ. Even more, common gesture in worship helps to bring this about." (Liturgy with Style and Grace, p. 16)

Each posture carries its own meaning: standing is a sign or respect and honor; kneeling is a sign of penitence, homage and adoration; sitting is the posture of listening and meditation; making the sign of the cross reminds of our redemption; striking our breast increases our awareness of sin; a bow signifies our profound respect and gratitude and a handclasp expresses that we are at peace with others.

Even when we feel lacking in faith or…"when our feelings do not match the invitation of Christ and his Church to worship…. the signs and symbols of worship can give bodily expression to faith as we celebrate. Our own faith is stimulated. We become one with others whose faith is similarly expressed. We rise above our own feelings to respond to God in prayer." (Music in Catholic Worship #5)

The new General Instruction on the Roman Missal emphasizes that in matters of gesture and posture " greater attention needs to be paid to what is laid down by liturgical laws and by the traditional practice of the Roman Rite, for the sake of the common spiritual good of the people of God rather than to personal inclination or arbitrary choice" (GIRM, no. 42). A lack of uniformity can serve as a sign of disunity or even as sense of individualism. The GIRM invites us to become more deliberate and more uniform in our gestures. When they are done well they will both express beyond words what we deeply mean and believe.