From where I stand…
You would be amazed by the things I can see from the sanctuary during Mass, whether I am standing at the ambo or behind the altar!
While preaching, it can be helpful to detect a look of recognition or, alternatively, a look of confusion on the faces of those who are listening attentively to my homily. Sometimes, there are even looks of recognition which, at the same time, express disapproval for what I am saying. That’s fine, my mission is not to please people, but to please God. Sometimes, that means delivering a message which may not be popular. After the recent death of Mother Angelica, the foundress of the EWTN television and radio network, I saw an old interview that she gave to Morley Safer on 60 Minutes. Near the end of the interview, Safer asked Mother how she accounted for ratings. She laughed a little, and said, “I don’t worry about ratings. I don’t need to!” Safer was a little perplexed and said, “of course you do, you’re on television.” “No,” she insisted, “you need to worry about ratings, I don’t! I simply do what God calls me to do...Jesus never worried about ratings, in fact, people often left when he said something they didn’t like.” If my preaching confuses, then I would like to know that so I can clarify. If my preaching challenges, then I ask you to consider carefully and prayerfully why you find the message challenging. On many levels, the Gospel challenges the world and those in it, especially us who would be disciples of Jesus, to move beyond the status quo or the comfort of accepted societal norms and live in a way so as to be witnesses to Truth, even when popular notions are content with merely existing “in harmony” and without making value statements about the choices and actions of others. If you feel that my preaching is inconsistent with Scripture or with the teaching of the Church—as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, please bring that to my attention so that I may be corrected.
When standing behind the altar, my “audience” effectively shifts as I am no longer addressing the faithful, but instead leading the people in celebrating the Sacred Mysteries which are directed to God, our Almighty Father. When I was in the seminary, I discovered that some priests preferred the traditional posture of prayer facing the altar (and an image of Christ), together with the people, rather than standing behind the altar as if his words were addressed to the faithful kneeling the pews. Long before I ever was a priest, I conceded that I could understand why a priest would prefer this, because it would be less distracting as he offered the Prayers to the Father. One of my classmates thought it odd that I would suggest that the faithful should be a distraction but all these years later, even though I stand behind the altar Sunday after Sunday, facing the assembly, I have received confirmation that this is a most challenging way to offer prayers which are clearly addressed to God. To add to this distraction, our parish church has floor-to-ceiling glass doors which give a panoramic sweep of the front lawn, Shady Lane Drive and the neighbors open garage for the entire time I am offering the Eucharistic Prayer!
I recently had an opportunity to attend the Sunday Mass for our local Anglican Ordinariate parish—this is a Catholic parish of converts from the Anglican churches which has permission to use a special set of English prayers which are derived from the Book of Common Prayer — and one thing that I noticed immediately is that the priest, when celebrating the Mass, faced the altar, as if he were leading the people in prayer to the Father. Some of the younger priests in our diocese have begun doing likewise, and it is in accord with the Roman Missal. I think this is something that we should prayerfully consider, even if it would require a little more information, and an openness to a greater understanding of this traditional practice in the prayer of the Church and the celebration of Holy Mass.
-Fr. Joseph Totton