Take a bow.

At every Sunday eucharistic liturgy, Catholics recite the Nicene Creed. Many of us have memorized the Creed and do not use worship aids. It is easy, therefore, to miss the direction printed in the middle of the Creed. It asks us to bow during the lines on the Incarnation: ". . . by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man."

Laypeople's gestures at Mass never seemed important when I was a child. In fact, nothing about the laity, including their presence, was crucial to the Mass in those days. In 1960 I was 8 years old and the organist for summer weekday Masses. I sat in the choir loft with my back to the altar. The priest stood at the altar with his back to me. We sang prayers and responses to each other's backs in Latin. Often I was the only active layperson at Mass. It was a lonely experience.

The Second Vatican Council changed all that. In The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the bishops stated that "Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church.... Therefore liturgical services pertain to the whole body of the Church." The document encouraged active participation by the people in prayer and song and "by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes." It called for the congregation to join the priest in the recital of the Creed as an opportunity for the people "to respond and give assent to the word of God which they have heard."

In 1970, following the council's directives, Pope Paul VI made sweeping and detailed changes to the Mass. Everything about the people was given importance, even their posture. The pope said in General Instruction on the Roman Missal, "A common posture, observed by all, is a sign of the unity of the assembly and its sense of community. It both expresses and fosters the inner spirit and purpose of those who take part in it." He called for all participants, not just the priest, to bow during the recital of the Creed.

Catholics are accustomed to assuming a variety of positions in eucharistic liturgies. Each position is intended to signify a different spiritual attitude. Sitting conveys learning, standing symbolizes readiness to serve, and kneeling indicates adoration. Moreover, as Paul VI noted, our posture goes further than expressing an inner spirit. It helps to foster the inner feelings behind the expression.

Gestures that were once universal may lose their significance to people who no longer understand their implications or who come from a culture in which the gesture is not used. When gestures lose meaning, they are likely to fade away in public celebrations of faith. For example, bowing has become nearly extinct during U.S. Masses because that gesture is rarely used here.

When I attended Mass in Hong Kong with a Filipino congregation, their common gesture of greeting, a bow, was used during the sign of peace. It became clear that bowing conveyed respect toward the person who received the bow. It also seemed to engender and reinforce the feeling of respect in the person who made the bow.

Returning home, I noticed in a missalette the instruction to bow and began doing so during the Incarnation portion of the Creed. I thought this great gesture of God's son should be acknowledged by a small gesture of my own. Christ's taking on of human nature is the pivotal point in history for all Christians. Saint Paul refers to it as "taking the form of a slave" (Phil. 2:7). The assumption of human nature by one who possesses the powers and attributes of divinity must indeed feel like slavery.

Love and compassion for us motivated Jesus when he chose to participate in our earthly life as a human. Many Christians are moved to tears when they realize the sacrifice this required. They are awed by the fact that a divine being would choose to become one of them. Because of his choice, they have a deep respect for Jesus. Bowing when the Incarnation is recalled is a sign and reinforcement of that respect.

I still provide music at Mass, but now I play a keyboard and sit in the front. The priest and I still sing prayers and responses, but now they are in English, to each other's face, and together with many other people.

For one brief moment during the Creed, I am again the sole lay participant at Mass, but it no longer causes a feeling of loneliness. My recognition of the divine love that compelled Christ to assume humanity increases my awareness of unity with all people. That certainly deserves a bow.

By Mary Ann Perga, an attorney and freelance writer in rural Wisconsin and a featured columnist in the Superior Catholic Herald.