By David G. Bonagura, Jr., Crisis Magazine - From apostolic times until those halcyon days of the late 1960s, Mass was always offered with priest and people facing the same direction—ad orientem, to the east, from whence Christ is expected to come again… the re-presentation of Christ’s self-sacrifice on the cross reminds us that our Savior is also our Judge, and that we await the coming of Christ into our world so he can bring us up to his. And, theological meaning aside, having the priest and people face the Lord together is simply good manners: Why, when addressing prayers directly to God, should the priest be looking at someone else?