At mass this morning I had one of those moments where something becomes absolutely clear. The thing that became clear is that preist has to turn around and face liturgical east again.
Father Stanley, the priest saying the mass, is a friend of mine and good man and a good priest. Maybe it was because of that that everything was so clear to me. In the past, I've blamed individual priests for what I now see is a general problem. The priest's personality just intrudes too much on the mass when he faces the congregation.
Before the 8 AM service began there was a group saying the rosary. The leader of this group had a wireless microphone clipped to her collar so everyone could hear her. I'm not enthusiastic about these rosary sessions but sitting there it was impossible not to feel the special unity that came from everyone facing the altar and not facing some person on the altar. And I thought, mass should be like this.
And with wireless microphone packs there would be no challenge making this accessible to everyone. It's odd, I have no particular enthusiasm for the old order mass and I am quite comfortable with the Novus Ordo but the priest has to turn around. Has to! I'm quite sure the future of the church depends on this.
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