The following comes from a June 9 posting by Monsingor Charles Pope of the archdiocese of Washington DC.
Consider the scene. The bishop has taken his place at the entrance to the sanctuary. He is prepared to confirm some twenty young people. It is a sacred moment; a Sacrament is to be conferred. The parents are in deep prayer thanking the Holy Spirit, who is about to confirm their children for their mission … oops, they’re not!
Actually, they are fumbling with their cell phone cameras. Some are scrambling up the side aisle to “get the shot.” Others are holding their phones up in the air to capture blurry, crooked shots. The tussling continues in the side aisle as parents muscle to get in place for “the shot.” If “the shot” is gotten—success! If not, “Woe is me!” Never mind that a Sacrament has actually been offered and received; the point was “the shot,” the “photo-op.”
Consider another scene. It is First Holy Communion. Again, the children are assembled. This time the parents have been informed that a single parishioner has been engaged to take shots, and are asked if they would they please refrain from amateur photography. This is to little avail. “Who does that deacon think he is telling me to refrain, denying me the shot?” The cell phones still stick up in the air. Even worse, the parish photographer sends quick word via the altar server, “Could Father please slow down a bit in giving the children Communion? It is difficult to get a good shot at the current pace.” After the Mass, the photographer brings two children up with him; could Father perhaps “re-stage” the Communion moment for these two since, in the quick (normal) pace of giving Communion, their shots came out poorly. “You see, the autofocus wasn’t able to keep up. Look how blurry they are, Father.”
It would seem the picture is the point.
I have seen it with tourists as well. I live just up the street from the U.S. Capitol and it is fascinating to watch the tourists go by on the buses. Many of them are so busy taking a picture of the Capitol (a picture they could easily find in a book or on the Internet) that I wonder if they ever see the Capitol with their own eyes.
The picture is the point.
Actually, I would contend that it is NOT the point. Real life and actual experience are the point. Further, in the Liturgy, the worship and praise of God, the experience of His love, and attentiveness to His Word are the point. Cameras, more often than not, cause us to miss the point. We get the shot but miss the experience. Almost a total loss if you ask me.
At weddings in my parish, we speak to the congregation at the start and urge them to put away all cameras. We assure the worried crowd that John and Mary have engaged the services of a capable professional photographer who will be able to record the moment quite well. “What John and Mary could use most from you now are your prayers for them and your expressed gratitude to God, who is the author of this moment.” Yes, we assure them, now is the time for prayer, worship, and joyful awareness of what God is doing.
Most professional photographers are in fact professional and respectful and know how to stay background and not become a part of the ceremony but rather to record it discreetly. It is rare that I have trouble with them. Videographers still have a way to go as a group, but there are many who I would say are indeed professional.
Pastorally it would seem appropriate to accept that photos are important to people and to make reasonable accommodations for them. For major events such as weddings, Confirmations, First Communions, and Easter Vigils, it seems right that we should insist that if photos are desired a professional be hired. This helps keep things discreet and permits family and others to experience the sacred moments more prayerfully. Infant Baptisms are a little more “homespun” and it would seem that the pastor should speak with family members about limiting the number of amateur photographers and be clear about where they should stand.
That said, I have no photos of my own Baptism, First Communion, or Confirmation. And yet somehow, I have managed to survive this (terrible) lack of “the shot” quite well. Frankly, in the days I received these Sacraments, photos of the individual moment were simply not done in the parishes I attended. Some parishes did have provisions for pictures in those days. The photo at the upper [left] is of Cardinal O’Boyle at St. Cyprian’s in Washington D.C. in 1957. But as for me, though I do have a photo of me when I was on my way to Church for my First Communion, there is no photo of me kneeling at the rail. And I am alive and well. There are surely photos of my ordination. But, I will add, the Basilica and the Archdiocese were very clear as to the parameters. Only two professional photographers were allowed (my uncle was one of them), and the place where they worked was carefully delineated.
Hence pastoral provisions are likely necessary in these “visual times,” to allow some photos. Yet as St. Paul says regarding the Liturgy, But let all things be done decently, and according to order (1 Cor 14:40).
A final reiteration: remember, the photo is not the moment. The moment is the moment, and the experience is the experience. A photo is just a bunch of pixels, lots of 0′s and 1′s recorded by a mindless machine and then printed or displayed by another mindless machine. A picture is no substitute for the actual experience, the actual prayer, the actual worship that can and should take place at every sacred moment and at every sacred liturgy.
To read the entire posting, click here.
When I received my First Holy Communion, as well as when I was confirmed, NO pictures were allowed in church. There was a group picture taken after Mass outside. The same was true when my younger siblings made their First Communion and were confirmed. After I was ordained, at one parish, the newly married couple stood in front of the tabernacle, and the groom was posed holding a football, as if he were ready to pass it. Many in the parish were furious, but the pastor did NOTHING! In fact, the pastor reprehanded everyone who called him up, or spoke to him about this horrible disrespect for God’s house. During several of the Novus Ordo Masses that I said previously, cell phones went off, and some were answered. Because of all the changes made by Vatican II, there is hardly any respect in Catholic Churches today. The way men and women dress is terrible. When belief in the Divine Presence is downplayed, the result is NO respect, because the House of God has become the house of men.
Father Karl – When I was much younger, I was far less attached to material things than I am now. I was much more then among the Franciscan zeal. I lived among some Catholics who had just gotten married. I poo pooed (how does one spell that) their attachment to these material goods. I felt myself more holy than my roommates. Until they shared with me how much each of their friends had sacrificed in order to share with this married couple the fruits of their labor. They gave it up for my roommate, to show how important she was to them and how important her wedding was to her. I was so wrong in belittling my roommate in this way, even though I had thought I was doing the Lord’s work.
So, I share this in the hopes that you may understand that your picture of the world, like mine, might need to be brought into greater focus in the future.
More finger wagging from the professor of tolerance
Much of the focus of the current day is on ‘me’, Father, not on what is proper, due, appropriate, expected, etc. So the sacrifice of not overriding anything for the greater good or due reverence is often completely dismissed if it is even thought about at all. That said, I’d say more than a house of ‘men’ the Church along with everything else seems to be inclined to be the house of ‘me’.
Well we are living different times now, we are a spoiled generation. We have tons of electronics and such, so knowing the reality yes expect people to want to photo this and photo (hey the sacrament is so important, that it is a priority for people to want to so eagerly want to add a snap shot to their collection, at least they are taking shots of that instead of just their other stuff) but I am one who does not mind if our parish priests remind their lay faithful to please wait for an appropriate time to take that shot! : )
If my grammy was alive, she would not appreciate pictures be taken in the church but since she was a reasonable woman of wisdom and wit, she would understand probably say “well at least they are not taking shots at inappropriate stuff”. Keep the photographer’s eye’s fixed on good and holy occasions. tee hee.
A little discipline goes a long way though, waiting for the appropriate time won’t hurt anyone either. We still need to practice respect! My grammy would advocate virtue. In the 70’s, when I was just a little one, I vaguely remember visiting my grandma, grammy…..she lived so poorly, she didn’t have a toilet, they had sort of like an outhouse. Boy did I felt like I was gonna fall in, sure missed the good modern toilets. Potty training wasn’t fun in her house, tee hee. : ) Surely as I got older, as the years went by, my grandma finally afforded a better toilet. We still had to get a bucket of water still to have it flushed. LOL Yup she lived in the country in a small pueblo in Mexico. She didn’t have a washer nor a dryer either. At that time, we didn’t either here in the US because we lived in an apartment and my mum had to use those public laundry mats.
Again, Monsingor Charles Pope “educates” the flock. Yes, such a spoiled generation. When will the clergy proclaim that Our Lord is the “point” of it all? Such disruption, such lack of love and reverence for Our Lord.
For instance, this past Sunday, yes, it was Father’s Day–but most importantly it was the Solemnity
of The Most Holy Trinity! Teach about it! Praise Him! Glorify Him!–ignore Him? no no no