Cell Phones at Mass!

[Phemie]

It happens at Mass, at plays, at dinners, at weddings, at funerals, etc., etc.,…it’s part of modern life. C’est la vie. The worst part is almost all of us have been guilty of it once or twice mea culpa

I carry a cell but use it so infrequently that I often forget I have it with me. It went off during the Consecration one Saturday and I wanted to go through the floor. I tried and tried to turn it off but couldn’t and it suddenly occured to me that the keys were locked. Eventually I accepted the call, without saying anything, and then was able to log off.

To add insult to injury it was a wrong number.

 

[SMHW]

We lived for many years without them surgically attached to our bodies. Would it hurt us to throw it in the glove compartment during Mass?

I suspect that most people set up a routine of carrying around their cell phone in their purse or pocket just like they carry around their wallet/ID cards/payment methods. Otherwise they would lose them. (Remember for many people a cell phone is their ONLY phone.) Could they leave it in the car? Probably. But if they do they may forget where it is.

 

[Phemie]

On a funny note, the announcement used last year was to “turn off all cell phones and pagers.” Somebody finally told the church hierachy that pagers, in large part, didn’t exist any more. Went the way of the telex. Oh well.

I work the box office at a theatre and I get pagers left with me all the time. That’s what our local hospital staff use because cell phone service is not available in many areas. I know the anesthesiologist was our organist and it wasn’t rare for him to get paged while at Mass and we had to finish singing a capella.

 

[promethius]

I wonder why we all feel like we even have to bring our cell phones into Mass. They are like security blankets now, myself included.

We lived for many years without them surgically attached to our bodies. Would it hurt us to throw it in the glove compartment during Mass?

There are few things I detest more than cell phones, to the point where many people I know joke that I am a Luddite. But seriously, turn the thing off. The world can wait for an hour or so.
Grrrr…:banghead:

I know the case is rare, but for those who are in the world of working for national security and are deemed “mission essential personnel”, they HAVE to have their phones on them. I have two choices: go to mass with my phone, or skip mass. Generally, however, I have my phone on vibrate beside me in the pew (I can’t feel the vibration, unfortunately, so I need it out)… so try to have a little charity where phones are concerned because some of us literally cannot be removed from our phone for an hour to hour and a half. There are also people awaiting medical results of family members in surgery, etc, who might have need of a phone. Charity should be our guide here.

As another poster said, the embarrassment alone is generally enough of a punishment for the offender, and I’m going to be willing to bet that the reason the OP references a phone going off twice is that the person hit an external button to “ignore” the first call, which is the way 99% of modern phones function, but then did not pull out the phone to actually silence it before the person called back.

I have noticed that people are bringing bottled water to drink during Mass also.

Another case where charity should be the first judge: the person may have had a cold/cough and needed the water bottle to make it through mass without hacking through the whole thing.

 

[pismopal]

Seems to happen more often than not and to compound the disturbance the person’s phone will go off more than once. I am not being funny here…if people are not smart enough to know how to operate a cel phone they should leave it in the car somewhere. If there is some kind of dire emergency poised to happen…go to the crying room.

 

[garn9173]

Don’t know why, but the people at my parish are pretty good about turning them off. There’s always a statement made at the beginning about turning off or muting cell phones, an adult should be with minors at all times, and don’t leave until after the last song, etc. etc. etc.

On a funny note, the announcement used last year was to “turn off all cell phones and pagers.” Somebody finally told the church hierachy that pagers, in large part, didn’t exist any more. Went the way of the telex. Oh well.

Voulnteer firefighters carry pagers with them.

 

[LiveforChrist]

It does bug my when cell phones go off at mass. But the other day, the priest was talking about listening to God in his homily, and a cell phone went off. So the priest hears it and says: “I’ll bet that’s not God calling. Well, I can’t be positive but I’m pretty sure.” It seems like every time a phone goes off, the priest makes a joke about it.

 

[Joe_5859]

I suspect that most people set up a routine of carrying around their cell phone in their purse or pocket just like they carry around their wallet/ID cards/payment methods. Otherwise they would lose them. (Remember for many people a cell phone is their ONLY phone.) Could they leave it in the car? Probably. But if they do they may forget where it is.

Indeed. Also, some of us are paranoid about leaving electronic devices in their cars, especially in the cold weather. I don’t even like to leave CDs in the CD player. There’s no way I’d leave my phone in my car.

 

[Serap]

On Sunday, I was at Mass and some nincompoop’s phone rang loudly during the readings. I thought (s)he had shut it off or put it on vibrate after the first occurrence and then it happened again during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The cell phone was so loud and distracting that I and a few others missed one of the responses!

Anybody else had something like this happen at Mass? What did you do about it? I don’t normally attend the parish where this occurred so I don’t know the person whose phone rang and didn’t feel comfortable speaking to them about it.

Maybe God was calling

 

[jimrob]

We often get phones ringing during Mass - usually with very inappropriate ringtones. There seems to be a section of society whose life depends upon being able to carry on a perpetual conversation. I have known the priest’s phone to ring during Mass.

I rarely take my phone to church and if I do I keep it switched off. However, just in case, I have set the ring tone to a rather beautiful setting of Psalm 90 by Telemann. Burn him at once - that’s Protestant music

 

[zab]

Maybe God was calling

LOL
That reminds me of when I used to help my husband change the lights in church. We used to have the old system where he had to climp up in the attack above and use a crank to lower the cable of each light so I could change the bulb below. Well, we used walkie talkies to communicate more easily. Sometimes people would walk into church when I was sitting in the pew waiting for my husband to get in position. I would be sitting in the pew wearing my head phone with an antena so I could listen to “the man above”.

 

[sedonaman]

…Another case where charity should be the first judge: the person may have had a cold/cough and needed the water bottle to make it through mass without hacking through the whole thing.

Oh, yeah? Well, guess what. There are two drinking fountains, one in the entrance and the other in the parish center. If someone is that ill, he should avail himself of a seat convenient to those locations instead of down in front where everyone can see him. Then again, if he is as ill as you described, he should have stayed home and not come to spread it around. EWTN has Masses all day long for the home-bound.

 

[promethius]

Oh, yeah? Well, guess what. There are two drinking fountains, one in the entrance and the other in the parish center. If someone is that ill, he should avail himself of a seat convenient to those locations instead of down in front where everyone can see him.

Again, charity should be the judge here: the last time I went to mass with a cough was Easter Vigil and I was sitting with the family of a catechumen (becoming catholic). That means up front.

There are a multitude of other reasons why a person might be called on to sit towards the front of the church.

Then again, if he is as ill as you described, he should have stayed home and not come to spread it around. EWTN has Masses all day long for the home-bound.

FYI: for most diseases, after symptoms have been around a few days, the person is no longer contagious. A person is MOST contagious before symptoms show up.

HOWEVER, with that example above of having to go to mass while having a cough, bringing a water bottle, and having to sit up front: I had a cough because I had just returned from Afghanistan and had dry coughing due to dust in leftover in my lungs. I was not contagious and had I been able to sit in the back I would have been up and down probably 15-20 times during the mass. When I returned, I spent dang near 4 months with a water bottle in hand and some form of mint, cough drop, or other losenge in mouth at all times I was awake.

It shames me to think that I caused someone some unfair judgements, but there are reasons for a lot of things that you and others simply cannot know. And since you cannot know them, you should not be judging people with the harsh assumption (actually, the Catechism forbids this). Simply pray for the person that whatever reason they felt they needed a water bottle during mass might be removed from them.

 

[Phemie]

Oh, yeah? Well, guess what. There are two drinking fountains, one in the entrance and the other in the parish center. If someone is that ill, he should avail himself of a seat convenient to those locations instead of down in front where everyone can see him. Then again, if he is as ill as you described, he should have stayed home and not come to spread it around. EWTN has Masses all day long for the home-bound.

Granted, she was a special case, but one woman in our drama group had been treated for cancer and needed water with her at all times because her saliva glands had been damaged by chemo. She carried a water bottle on her hip whereever she went. We just don’t know what is wrong with people. DH takes a bottle of water with him whenever he’s singing in the choir. He may not need to use it but it’s certainly less distracting if he sips from it as needed than it would be to have him leave the choir each time.

 

[christofirst]

At the Christmas Vigil Mass (packed house) at our parish, our priest’s cell phone rang out just as was starting the homily. He joked it must have been God calling.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

But that does happen in our parish. Inspite of constant reminders to silence cell phones and pagers. Usually it’s people who don’t know how to turn it off.

That’s one I’ve never seen. Phones do ring occasionally, but no one answers them in church. If someone sneeks off to return a call, I’ve never noticed.

 

[Kerry77]

I suspect that most people set up a routine of carrying around their cell phone in their purse or pocket just like they carry around their wallet/ID cards/payment methods. Otherwise they would lose them. (Remember for many people a cell phone is their ONLY phone.) Could they leave it in the car? Probably. But if they do they may forget where it is.

Well, we managed to go to Mass for milennia with having our own personal phone with us. Seems like a small thing to remember

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Oh, yeah? Well, guess what. There are two drinking fountains, one in the entrance and the other in the parish center. If someone is that ill, he should avail himself of a seat convenient to those locations instead of down in front where everyone can see him. Then again, if he is as ill as you described, he should have stayed home and not come to spread it around. EWTN has Masses all day long for the home-bound.

Not the same.

I’m sure some people are judging me as I sit busy with my cell before Mass begins. I have a Bible, the changes to the Missal, iPieta, a Rosary, Divine Mercy, and other apps. Plus, sometimes I write down the details of a penance if it strikes me that way.

Let them judge.

 

[sedonaman]

Well, we managed to go to Mass for milennia with having our own personal phone with us. Seems like a small thing to remember

Mega

I still say that people with special needs, like an emergency responder, should sit in the back and go outside to answer their phone, instead of moving the focus of the Mass from the altar to himself.

“Once liberal tolerance rather than traditional morality becomes our guiding principle, we must ultimately tolerate the presence of evil.”

 

[promethius]

Mega

I still say that people with special needs, like an emergency responder, should sit in the back and go outside to answer their phone, instead of moving the focus of the Mass from the altar to himself.

I can agree with that, and that’s one of the reasons I usually sit in the latter third of the church… and you’ll never catch me answering my phone in the nave.

“Once liberal tolerance rather than traditional morality becomes our guiding principle, we must ultimately tolerate the presence of evil.”

I don’t think anyone is advocating “liberal tolerance” so much as charity in regarding the actions of others (which is what the catechism demands in the section of instruction on avoiding “rash judgement”). If someone appears to be a repeat offender and we know that seemingly rude behaviors are the norm rather than the exception, then the catechism teaches that we are to approach these people and ask them their motivation before assuming the worst. The catechism does not teach tolerance of irreverance, but it does teach a measured, reasonable, and charitable approach.