Attitudes toward gum at Mass

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I suppose throat lozenges could be classified as “medicine” but if a person has a sore throat, I would expect him to stay home, or at least take the medicine before coming into the Church.

I have seen/heard people rustling a lozenge out of its wrapper during Mass, and while it’s a bit distracting, it doesn’t happen often enough to cause consternation - it seems as though most people “get” that we only suck on throat lozenges if there is absolutely no other alternative, so I’m very willing to assume that a sore throat simply snuck up on these people, unexpectedly.
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I’ve finally caved in and brought cough drops to Mass. I have bad respiratory problems year round, allergies, asthma, a constant runny nose/chronic sinus infection. It all flares up from September to February. I get into coughing fits (those horrible dry ones with the little itch in the back of your throat). I actually had to leave Mass and stand outside I was coughing so hard…and someone came out to check on me because they heard it clear from inside the building! :o

A little cough drop can go a long way. But I take the wrappers off before Mass.
 
mercygate said:
Gum, coffee and cigarettes all break the fast. I like puzzleannie’s idea to use cleaning the gum off the pews as a Lenten project!
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Although I hate smoking, cigarettes do not break the fast. No where does it state that -I challange you to come up with Church documents that say cigarette smoking breaks the fast. ALthough refraining from smoking would be preferable, even if you don’t like it you can’t make up your own rules about what breaks the fast and what doesn’t.
 
hasikelee said:
I actually had to leave Mass and stand outside I was coughing so hard…and someone came out to check on me because they heard it clear from inside the building! :o
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My buddy! My Pal! We need a club of our own. The president can be the person who has needed to exit the building the most times.

Sorry about that cough. 😦
 
here’s an answer that’s similar to JAkin’s, but different:

ewtn.com/vexperts/showresult.asp?RecNum=444940&Forums=0&Experts=0&Days=2005&Author=&Keyword=gum&pgnu=2&groupnum=0&record_bookmark=96&ORDER_BY_TXT=ORDER+BY+ID+DESC&start_at=

"Coffee does break the Eucharistic fast, except for a priest who must celebrate multiple Masses, in which case he may drink something between them.

Chewing gum, per se, doesn’t break the fast, but bring your spittoon, as swallowing the juices, whether laden with sugar or artificial sweetener, is eating, just as drinking a sugary sports drink would be. Yes, the pastor should inform his people that fasting for one hour is not, after all, so rigorous, that a person in ordinary health can’t do it.

By the way, in the Catholic moral theology tradition, a person who breaks the fast, even accidentally, may not receive Holy Communion. A priest could dispense on a case by case basis, but telling a whole parish they may do so routinely is not a dispensation, it is changing the law of the fast for that parish."
 
rayne89 said:
Although I hate smoking, cigarettes do not break the fast. No where does it state that -I challange you to come up with Church documents that say cigarette smoking breaks the fast. ALthough refraining from smoking would be preferable, even if you don’t like it you can’t make up your own rules about what breaks the fast and what doesn’t.
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I have seen it. I could take me a couple of days to locate the document but I didn’t make it up!
 
Damascus said:
Cigs do not break the fast.
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OK. Where is that specified? I know I saw the opposite (but won’t be able to look for a day or two).

We can just go back and forth with “Does too!” “Does not!” but that’s kind of pointless.
 
One thing to keep in mind, regarding our priests, is that they are not required to fast before every Mass, but only before the first Mass that they say, of the day.

So even if smoking or drinking coffee breaks the fast (and I’m inclined to think that they do) your priest can get away with it, because he has probably already said Mass once already that day - at least, in charity we will presume so. 😉

We, though, are required to fast for one hour before receiving Holy Communion, and it’s also a good idea (especially those of us who are catechists, or if we are highly visible in the parish for whatever reason), even if we’re not receiving Holy Communion at this particular Mass, to set an example for others and not be seen eating something, or smoking, or drinking coffee in the moments before Mass begins, because I can’t count the number of times I’ve overheard a child or even a parent say, “Well, Mrs. McRae does that, so it must be okay.” :eek: A sobering reminder to be at my best at all times, and never do anything that I wouldn’t want others to imitate.
 
jmcrae said:
One thing to keep in mind, regarding our priests, is that they are not required to fast before every Mass, but only before the first Mass that they say, of the day.

So even if smoking or drinking coffee breaks the fast (and I’m inclined to think that they do) your priest can get away with it, because he has probably already said Mass once already that day - at least, in charity we will presume so. 😉

We, though, are required to fast for one hour before receiving Holy Communion, and it’s also a good idea (especially those of us who are catechists, or if we are highly visible in the parish for whatever reason), even if we’re not receiving Holy Communion at this particular Mass, to set an example for others and not be seen eating something, or smoking, or drinking coffee in the moments before Mass begins, because I can’t count the number of times I’ve overheard a child or even a parent say, “Well, Mrs. McRae does that, so it must be okay.” :eek: A sobering reminder to be at my best at all times, and never do anything that I wouldn’t want others to imitate.
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Until someone shows me a church document that clearly states that smoking breaks the fast I will not stop having my smoke before mass…the only thing as per Canon 919 we are to refrain from is food and drink with the exception of water and medicine!
 
mercygate said:
OK. Where is that specified? I know I saw the opposite (but won’t be able to look for a day or two).

We can just go back and forth with “Does too!” “Does not!” but that’s kind of pointless.
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They are not food or drink…hence they do not break the fast!
 
mercygate said:
OK. Where is that specified? I know I saw the opposite (but won’t be able to look for a day or two).

We can just go back and forth with “Does too!” “Does not!” but that’s kind of pointless.
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You most likely got that from reading a thread on this forum. There have been many disscusions on this one here.

I cant show you a document that specifys cigs DONT break the fast because none of the documents have lists on “things you think break the fast but really dont”

Its not even a sin to smoke. I know, I had a hard time with that one too.
 
Karin said:
Until someone shows me a church document that clearly states that smoking breaks the fast I will not stop having my smoke before mass…the only thing as per Canon 919 we are to refrain from is food and drink with the exception of water and medicine!
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I’ll let you off, on one condition - please don’t smoke inside the Church! 😉
 
I read in the ask the apologist forum that gum was OK. But not to chew it during Mass. I quit smoking some time ago…I aquired the gum chewing habit…sugarless. I chew gum but not during Mass, if I am chewing gum before Mass I always remove it before entering the church. It is a respect. Certain places like Mass and class rooms you don’t chew gum. I never heard that you don’t chew gum at all in public. If that is the case I’m certainly in trouble! :o
 
jmcrae said:
I’m astounded recently at the number of people who chew gum at Mass. I’m just wondering what people’s attitudes here are.

(I was brought up that you don’t chew gum in public, and I’ve always assumed that it was included as part of the fast before receiving Holy Communion. Am I wrong about that?)
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I don’t think chewing gum in public is wrong. When it comes to chewing gum at Mass, I think it’s very disrespectful. :tsktsk:
 
Damascus said:
Its not even a sin to smoke.
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It can be a sin, but as in many cases, the determination of this is between an individual and his or her confessor.

The Catechism states:
**2290 **The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine…

**2291 **The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense…
I may be wrong, but I suspect nobody will find an official reference stating that smoking breaks the Eucharistic fast. There are a lot of historical references to alcohol but not tobacco (which may also reflect the culture at various points in recent history). However, in some people’s cases, smoking may represent a gravely sinful act and would therefore preclude them from receiving Holy Communion.

Now, to present another interesting argument (and to keep this post on topic), I wonder if a person amidst a struggle to break their addiction to nicotine is in violation of the fast if they use gum designed for that purpose. In other words, does such a product constitue medicine for that individual? :hmmm:
 
msproule said:
Now, to present another interesting argument (and to keep this post on topic), I wonder if a person amidst a struggle to break their addiction to nicotine is in violation of the fast if they use gum designed for that purpose. In other words, does such a product constitue medicine for that individual? :hmmm:
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I would think yes…but they could use the patch so they are not breaking their fast by chewing gum!
 
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