I once knew someone who had thought that my first name was "Chris". He called me Chris when we were first introduced (though I know I said my name was "Chori"), and then continued with the habit. I thought it was kind of funny, so I just let it go at first. After a bit, though, it got annoying so I realized I needed to correct him. When I told him that I was not "Chris" he was so embarrassed he could not stop apologizing. I laughed and said it was no big deal, and did not want him to worry about it. Story done; right? Wrong.
Because I waited to tell him (actually months after we met), he formed the habit of calling me Chris, and thus could not easily break the habit, even after he knew it was incorrect. Have you ever tried to change a habit that was strongly formed and found that it seems impossible to break? There is something like that in the Mass, but since it is still not widely known that it is incorrect, most Catholic laymen do not know they are supposed to stop. Now I presume you are terribly curious; here goes...
Do you (assuming you are a layman), raise your hands during the Our Father? Did you know that you are not supposed to do so? It is a big error (big, as in how many people fell into it). Here is the simplified and short version of the whole thing. The US Bishops requested permission from Rome to have people raise their hands during the Our Father; this was done to eliminate the people holding hands at that time (which is even worse). They were denied this permission because the raised hands (called "orans") is limited only to the priest, and is not supposed to be done by the laity. The problem was that the denial was poorly communicated, and thus many thought therefore that permission was given (and that was 20 years ago). Here is link (and here) that might be helpful.
Hence: a request, a denial, and then a lack of communication; all these led to the practice becoming ingrained as a habit, and the US Bishops have not made it clear what the status is. There are even some Bishops today who were not yet consecrated as a Bishop back when this all happened, so they are completely unaware of the circumstances (though you can easily look it up!). Ignorance seems to be the primary reason why this has continued to occur. I seriously doubt that there is anyone who knows it is wrong and who chooses to continue it because he thinks that he is wiser than the Church. Some might be thinking, "but the Bishop told us to do it". I commend your desire to submit to the Bishop; the problem is, even a Bishop is wrong to order you to do something that the Holy Father did not allow.
The reason why the Church denied the request by the US Bishops is not crucial, but it will help us to see better what is going on in the Mass. Of course, I cannot presume that I know perfectly what was in the minds of those who made the decision, but I think that our own Church teachings will help us. The "orans" position (hands held up, about shoulder height, palms facing forward) is specifically reserved for the priest, and has pretty much always been so. It is a symbol that signifies many things, but specifically points to the one who is leading the prayers for the people and has thus always been reserved for the Bishop or Priest who is leading Mass. The proper position of the hands for the laity (for the majority of Church history) has always been holding them in front of one's chest, palms facing each other. Rome did not appear to want to go against that traditional practice, and thus she said "no" to the request.
So then, are we speaking about a horrible grave sin that will make the Church crumble if not dealt with? No. But it is a habit that has formed, and many of those who even know that it is not supposed to happen have found it hard to break. Yet, this is a wonderful example of what our spiritual life is like. We will often form habits that lead us to greater and greater sin. Then, we get so used to those habits that we justify them as "the way I do it" and fail to examine them in light of God's commandments. Because of this danger, we should be regularly examining ourselves so that we make sure we are walking a life of faithfulness (either in our spiritual devotions, or our practice of the liturgy). How about some healthy self-examination this week?
