Thoughts on live-streaming the Mass
A thought:
Live streaming is not new. I remember going to Mass at our local cathedral 10-15 years ago on a regular basis. My observation was that "being on TV" (for shut-ins) negatively affected many aspects of worship. I realized that a bunch of the oddities I noticed were due to having to accommodate -- and also to appeal to -- that "audience."
"Being on TV" creates a sense of unreality for those who happen to be in the physical space. The feeling is similar to talking to someone in a room with a large mirror. One can't help checking out one's profile... noticing the other person checking out his...
The choir and even organ console had been moved out of the choir loft and down to the right of the sanctuary. The cathedral has strange acoustics, but the choir loft works wonderfully for its purpose... now abandoned. Why? So that the cameras can include the singers in their panning shots. But singers are always better not seen (other than in opera, and God help us if we start thinking of Church as opera!)
The sermons were designed to be appreciated. But always pitched somewhere beyond the congregation's heads. It often seemed that there were invisible, unspoken footnotes. A certain joviality is cultivated... it's hard to imagine a sermon on The Four Last Things being deemed appropriate for such a purpose.
Streaming the Mass distorts it (as recording anything distorts that thing). Sometimes a video transmission is desirable, I suppose, but it will never be completely without an effect on what it is transmitting, where there is awareness of the transmission.
Any discussion of the technology of live-streaming needs to keep in mind the effect on the event itself.