P
Peeps
Guest
I apologize that I didn’t make myself clear.
What I was trying to say in my post, but apparently failed to make clear is that we generally have little or no control over the extraneous noise in church. We can “shush” people gently or with more force ,but chances are good that within a few minutes, those people will probably start chatting again, or perhaps different people will start chatting. Or the musicians will have a run-through or young children will start fussing.
You can wish with all your heart that someone or something would stop all this noise! Over the years here on CAF, people have suggested all kinds of noise-stopping ideas–shushing people, notices in the bulletin, signs outside of the nave reminding people to keep silent in the nave, a digital display in the nave running constantly that says, “Thank you for keeping silent. Thank you for…”, the priest making an announcement reminding people to be silent (which he would have to do at every Mass every week), better teaching in the parish school, reminders in email and regular mail about etiquette in the nave, the ushers tapping people on the shoulder and putting their finger to their lips to request silence, attending the EF of Mass instead of the OF, etc.
I know this it hard to hear and accept, but none of these work. Nothing works.
What I’m trying to suggest is to stop stressing over something that you or anyone else can’t stop, and instead, try to make the best of it by using it as an opportunity to try to learn to pray and praise in any situation, and this will help you not only in the nave before and after Mass, but also out in the very noisy world.
What’s the alternative? Stewing in the pew, working yourself up, being frustrated, not praying because you can’t concentrate on God, resenting people who aren’t quiet…this is a frustrating way to live.
There’s a very old saying “For every evil under the sun, there is a remedy, or there is none. If there is a remedy, try to find it. If there is not, never mind it.”
I hope something in this post is helpful to you as you are attending Mass.
What I was trying to say in my post, but apparently failed to make clear is that we generally have little or no control over the extraneous noise in church. We can “shush” people gently or with more force ,but chances are good that within a few minutes, those people will probably start chatting again, or perhaps different people will start chatting. Or the musicians will have a run-through or young children will start fussing.
You can wish with all your heart that someone or something would stop all this noise! Over the years here on CAF, people have suggested all kinds of noise-stopping ideas–shushing people, notices in the bulletin, signs outside of the nave reminding people to keep silent in the nave, a digital display in the nave running constantly that says, “Thank you for keeping silent. Thank you for…”, the priest making an announcement reminding people to be silent (which he would have to do at every Mass every week), better teaching in the parish school, reminders in email and regular mail about etiquette in the nave, the ushers tapping people on the shoulder and putting their finger to their lips to request silence, attending the EF of Mass instead of the OF, etc.
I know this it hard to hear and accept, but none of these work. Nothing works.
What I’m trying to suggest is to stop stressing over something that you or anyone else can’t stop, and instead, try to make the best of it by using it as an opportunity to try to learn to pray and praise in any situation, and this will help you not only in the nave before and after Mass, but also out in the very noisy world.
What’s the alternative? Stewing in the pew, working yourself up, being frustrated, not praying because you can’t concentrate on God, resenting people who aren’t quiet…this is a frustrating way to live.
There’s a very old saying “For every evil under the sun, there is a remedy, or there is none. If there is a remedy, try to find it. If there is not, never mind it.”
I hope something in this post is helpful to you as you are attending Mass.
