Journey in a Broken World:Watching theatre, and the mass

(Journey in a Broken World)

Article by Marc Aupiais

I'm still wearing my suit. This evening I went to an evening at Wits, a Theater evening where an acquaintance was to sing. Wits is the nickname of The University of The Witwaterssrand. The English being "White Water's" and something.

The performance was interesting- I of course viewed a noisy group behind me with a glance every now and then to quiet down out of respect. Notice how the audience is quiet while the singers sing or actors act- we have such respect for actors and actresses, we wear suits, or casual clothes that aren't quite so casual- and observe customs- how much more should we be so- when watching as God warps time- so that we witness again his crucifixion in absolute clarity and reality- the intuitive sense angels and saints around them as the sensitive watch this event- and our heart beats faster as we rise for communion.

We should be enthralled- God calls the mass a mystery- what we should not forget is the utter utterness of what we are present at and what all loyalty must be amazed by is the invisible truth of what occurs. For this we do not talk, nor focus on banal things, we do not clap, we should not take communion on the hand, but on the tongue- as Mother Church asks us to, we do not hold hands in the our father- we are watching someone we love die- there is a place for community- it is called the sign of peace. We are watching someone die for us- and eating their living flesh- let us respect the occasion- dress appropriately- and certainly not be embarrassed to show the right body language. It is the disrespectful in theater, in mass, and those who do not treat situations as one prudently should- who show up their ignorance, and banal actions, or simply negligence, or unknowingness. Sacrilege is called such- because it is not obvious to the intuitively challenged.

What we witness is bread and wine no longer existing, but appearing to- and in intuition we know- it is body, blood, soul and divinity we are feasting on- of a living being.

Let us respect him who lets us eat him- let us respect God in the mass!