Come On Down !!!!!
Does it matter where you sit in church? I know, I know, there are psychological studies that show that those who sit in the front of class get better grades than those that sit in the back of class. And thinking along those same lines, those parishioners that sit in the front of church are more likely to volunteer and support the church than those who sit in the back.
This topic came up about a month or so ago when our pastor mentioned in his editorial in the weekly bulletin that those who sat in the balcony or the back should literally reconsider their position. I used to sit up to the left in the second row while my daughters were young, and then moved back to the back row when they went off to college. For a long time I sat there in the back with my mother and father. ('I was then able to hug my Mom at 'peace time.')
Father implied in one of his writings a little while ago that those who sit in the back and upstairs should only do so if there was not enough seating on the main floor. I thought about it and decided to get out of my 'rut' and change seats each week to see if where I sat affected my spirituality. Did changing seats make me more holy? (almost anything could make me more holy! ;-) ) Probably not, but I did become pretty enamored with the balcony seating. I had never actually sat up there before and actually fell in love with the view! Different from the usual floor seats. I could actually see the whole mass without having to look through anyone. And as I looked straight across, I become transfixed on gazing on the Lord walking off his cross. A beautiful site indeed!
The people in the balcony seats were just as warm and wonderful as the people that routinely sat in front and those in the back row.
I am writing about this now because more than a couple of people told me that people were asked to leave the balcony Sunday and sit up front. The reason given was that there were plenty of seats up front in the main section due to the inclement weather and the time change.
Those that usually sit there were quite surprised and some were a little offended. Should they have been?
posted by Karen @ 7:06 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Oh good grief not this again!
What matters where a person sits? Shopuldn't it matter more that people are in church at all?
I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the demeanor with which the request to move down was made. I assume we’re talking about adults choosing where they sit, not rowdy kids making noise in the balcony.
I guess I just don't think with all that is going on in the world, Jesus would be concerned about where people sit. Then again I think there's a good chance that Jesus wouldn't have Sunday worship in the format as it has come to be. In my opinion, where you sit should have to do with where you can find the peace to concentrate on scripture and prayer. For some, it may be the balcony. For others, it’s the front row, for others it may be beside (or maybe away from) their parents, cousins, or people they see all the time. Or it may be that they ultimately find that peace reading and reflecting on the word of God at home.
Seems to me that it matters a lot where the rest of the assembly is sitting when we talk about where to sit. Part of the whole point of mass is coming together to celebrate as community. It's difficult (it seems to me) to be community with those who are sitting further away. If the church is less crowded, and there are large spaces between the people, perhaps moving forward would be one solution to filling the gaps. If there are plenty of people in church and there are no gaps no matter where you sit, then any place is as good as any other. We all have our personal tastes.
I think the problem does come when we separate ourselves from the assembly. I'm not saying that people who sit in the back intend to do this. One can just as easily sit in those few front pews to avoid sitting with the assembly. Unlike prayer at home, mass is a public worship, not a private worship. It is meant to be prayed in community with others. To separate ourselves from that community in the worship spacially may tend to separate us from the worship of the community spiritually. I know I've done it from time to time myself.
The problem is that we have plenty of ways in our world to avoid people. We have text messaging, internet shopping, business, iPods and portable music players, cell phones, and plenty of things to distract us from people that we don't feel like being community with at the moment. It should not be this way in church. Sometimes it is just good for us to be community, to sit next to someone who isn't our best friend. Someone we wouldn't necessarily choose. There is great value in those people and coming into community with them. A value that we often miss in our society today.
It used to be that the people you hung around with are the people that lived around you. They would walk over from the neighborhood and the kids would play. Chances are, some of those people would be quite different than you and you would have to find a way to get along with them anyway.
These days, we don't have to get along with anybody if we don't want to. And somehow we find we have less close friends as every new generation appears. This is because we are losing the ability to learn how to live in community as we are created by God.
Let us make mass that special time to come together and worship as community. Whether it means sitting in the front or back, as long as we are sitting with other people.
I understand your perspective. I like to observe how things change, although I prefer to use the word “evolve”. You mentioned how things have changed and we don’t have to get along with anybody we don’t want to; I don’t think that is anything new . People have always found ways to avoid people they don’t want to deal with and we still have coworkers, classmates, colleagues, and family that we want to avoid sometimes. :) Physical space between people is cultural and I’ll stick out my neck and say that the there is a culture of “distance” built right into the culture of the Mass itself. It is traditionally a formal affair. Why should we be surprised that people may not choose to be close together when there has always been a staged distance between the celebrant, servers, etc.? (Although each celebrant puts his own personality into it.) Remember too that just because someone likes to have their personal physical space, it doesn’t mean they are cold or not willing to be a member of the community. Your writing made me think that maybe over the years, the reason many people attend Mass has changed. I would venture to guess that if people (aged 50 and younger) were asked why they attend mass, I think that nowadays they see it as more of a private worship time, than public. I’m not saying that’s the way it is supposed to be, just that it would be interesting to discuss. Maybe the building of a spiritual community is achieved differently today than in the past. Maybe instead of counting on the celebration of the Mass to build community, more service works, in and outside of the Catholic community can bring people together. Nothing brings people together more than a common cause and especially if that “cause” is helping someone out.
I posted above the post beginning with "Seems to me..."
It's certainly true that there have always been ways to avoid people. I think it's also true that for many mass has become a private thing. I just don't think that it's supposed to be. Not in how the Church teaches us about the liturgy, particularly after Vatican II anyway. I would love to see more community building in all areas of life, but I think that at the mass it is particularly important. The place where we come together to offer our sacrifices of ourselves as community together and participate in our salvation together. I think it's a shame that for many the community of the Church in general has slid from the center of the unity in the area to this thing that people sometimes do on Sundays.
Unity defined:
a balanced,
pleasing
or suitable arrangement
of parts
Seems to me we should work on the aspects of unity first. Has the transition of unity been pleasing?
No, it's been down-right painful.
Has it been balanced?
Depends on the location the person chooses to worship in (as well as where they sit at worship it seems).
Has it been a suitable arrangement of parts?
This won't happen until the powers that be accecpt that in the body of Christ we are many parts of one body. Just because the little toe is the farthest member from the head makes it no less signifigant, it still serves a purpose. One in which would make no sense if the nose demanded it re-locate in order to be closer to the head. If all the boby parts tried to relocate then everthing would be on the head where there would be no room; nothing could be accomplished.
Harmony perhaps is a better word.
If we only embraced our differences what beautiful music we could make.
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