I read a while ago a Roman complaint that celebrating facing the people put the celebrant in performance mode while facing the altar did not. Perhaps. It certainly could. From my experience, however, there is another point that could be made. Because people are watching our ceremony and piety could be better than if only God was. Now I am not at all equating the example of private porn above with the presiding at the altar here, but merely providing a radical example of how the fact that people are watching influences what we do.
If people are watching during the consecration, it could be an influence for a more pious and reverential posture and piety on the part of the one celebrating. For my part, having almost always had a free standing altar where I have served, I do not pay attention to the people who are watching, do not look at them, and have a small crucifix facing me to remind where I need to focus. That said, it is not possible to get away with anything when the congregation is watching -- not an irreverent act or forgetting something or even a spill. While this could certainly lead to a performance mode on the part of the celebrant, it could also force a man to clean up sloppy practice and to act with more integrity because the people are watching. I only wish we were as concerned with only God watching as we are others but we all know that this is true.
For what it is worth, I am not defending or posturing for either ad orientem or versus populum. I am not sure it matters all that much. What does matter is the reverence that befits the faith. It might be that knowing people are watching us will force us to do a better job of displaying that reverence that proceeds from faith. How we handle the holy things of God is not incidental but very important. Why would we be more careless with the things of God than our favorite possessions or grandma's china or a piece of art? Indeed. I will say this. If versus populum forces us to be better celebrants, that is a good outcome in the end. If knowing no one but God is watching allows us to be careless or thoughtless, then we have a bigger problem than reverence.
1 comment:
Someone, maybe Shakespeare, maybe not, coined the old adage that all people are actors. It is fascinating how the inner life and the outward appearance are often different, often at war too.. Like you said, there is a performative posture to all social intercourse and interactions. And then there is the private chambers of the human mind, which Freud separated into three intricate and related parts; the Id, the Ego, the SuperEgo.. At least that is what I learned in Psychology 101, back in 1965 in Junior College on Long Island. For a 20 year old student, this was a very basic but crucial introduction into how our minds work, in a fundamental way. I could see the Id, Ego, and SuperEgo plainly as interacting partners and opposing forces in my mental thoughts, spilling over into both rational, logical, and irrational behaviors. I know some do not like Freud’s hypothesis, and his theories, yet there is truth to be found in contemplating the battleground of our minds. When I coupled Freud’s ideas with God’s word on sin, I began to understand that it is all so very profound and our minds are an enigma. Thoughts travel through one’s head like a fast train on a chaotic track, with images, and lights, and stops along the way. Pleasant thoughts meet sinful thoughts, and joy and sorrow appear around each bend. And when we dig deeper into the fog of our minds, we poke the subconscious which we cannot know, but only feel. We do not know how some of our thoughts boarded the train, how they were fixed into our personalities. But one thing is certain, there will be no relief from thoughts and temptation until we are resurrected. If anything at all shows us that we need Christ, our Lord and Savior, to redeem us, it is found in the hidden places, where God sees us. Spiritual warfare begins and ends in the mind first, and Holy Writ reminds us to guard our hearts diligently. Soli Deo Gloria
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