Exciting Mass Announcement (at least for our parish)

This from our pastor's column in this week's church bulletin:

At the beginning of Advent we implemented a few changes at Mass. Following the distribution of the Eucharist, the remainder of the Body of Christ is returned to the altar where they are placed in the ciborium, and then taken to the tabernacle in the chapel. After purifying the chalice, I return to my chair and often wait until the Eucharist is out of the Church. I have noticed that once I sit down, everyone in the congregation immediately sits as well, which has been somewhat disruptive to the atmosphere of prayer and adoration at this time. Following communion our focus should be on the Lord Whom we have just received. My sitting down is not a ritual act, nor is it a signal to change position; it is merely a time to continue our prayerful adoration of Jesus. Please continue to pray in silent adoration even after I sit down after communion. (emphasis added)

This is really good news for a few reasons. First, it means that maybe there will be more than a handful of people still kneeling after Father sits down. Also, it signals that Father is willing to address things left untouched by his predecessor, who let this particular issue go untouched. Perhaps most importantly, I think it marks at least the beginning of a change from our parish's current aversion to silence of any kind ("Be still and know that I am God", anyone?). Of course, I know that this announcement won't deter our music ministry from playing 1...or 2...or 3...or 4 songs during and after communion, but the very fact that he used the phrase "silent adoration" is encouraging. Hopefully things will continue in this direction.