Standing/kneeling When Receiving Holy Communion

[holly.o]

According to the Adaptations to the General Instructions of the Roman Missal for the United States:


[quote]The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, [b]by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm[/b].[/quote]


So... what is the "proper catechesis" for this norm? How is standing seen as more reverent than kneeling, and why would that be unique to the United States?

I don't have an answer for this, especially as the norm for reception of the Body and Blood of Our Lord under the form of bread is still on the tongue - which, to me, seems a lot less awkward when one kneels rather than stands, not to mention what seems to be an obvious difference in reverence indicated by posture. There is the fact that it would be a little bit more difficult to distribute Holy Communion to those kneeling without the presence of an altar rail, which is now absent in most American Catholic churches... but this can't be the actual reason for this adaptation (I hope not), so what is it?

Just wondering...

[Brother Adam]

Remember that norm is not the same thing as law - one can disregard a norm without a special dispensation for good reason (Recognizing your state as a miserable sinner approaching, unworthily, before Almighty God in the Most Holy and August Sacrament of the Altar would count as a good reason). What such pastoral catechesis would be (other than that we are conceding to a stubborn and prideful people), I am not sure. The only reason most of my colleagues in the faith do not kneel unless it is provided for us (such as in an extraordinary form Mass) is because the bishops have asked us, for better or worse, to stand. That in itself is an act of humility. I cannot speak specifically to the reasons they asked the Holy See to make our norm to receive standing. Perhaps someone else here knows more. I can say that the norm was established in a liturgically strange time when many failed experiments in the liturgy reigned supreme. There is reason to hope though - we see the pattern of the Holy Father to ask everyone to receive from him on the tongue by kneeling cropping up in more and more places.