Cellular phones during Mass

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alessandro

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Fr. George Rutler published this short admonishment in the parish bulletin this week:
“An increasing number of individuals, especially during weekday Masses, ignore the notices in the narthex about turning off cellular telephones. More than one or two have even been seen answering them. It is unlikely that such individuals read the parish bulletin or would remember what is written, but it behooves the faithful to remind these visitors that their interruptions are offensive and that anyone who withdraws during the Sacred Liturgy to speak on a device should not return and attempt to receive Communion. Distractions during Mass are venial sins, but willful distractions are more serious. At the opera, offenders are removed. Unlike the theatre, the House of God is sacred, and this notice is gentler than what is prescribed in many other public spaces.”
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Not to mention people who show up to Mass dressed as if they’re going to the beach or a nightclub.
 
Hooray for Fr. George Rutler!!! I wonder if we can borrow that for our bulletin! It hasn’t been a huge issue, as we make an announcement at the beginning of Mass.
 
Always leave mine (and hubby’s) in our Jeep before going into the church. There is a time and place for phone calls - mass is not one of them. 😃
 
I once had professors in grad school say that they will fail students who repeatedly let their cell phones interrupt the class. Not to put it on vibrate seems like willful selfishness to me. Yes, you may be uncomfortable wearing the phone in whatever way you need to so that you sense the vibration, but better that than “Midnight Sonata” or “Charge of the Light Brigade” blaring every five minutes.
 
I can understand an honest mistake, where someone forgot either that they had a cell phone or that it was turned on. But if it rings, the proper response is to immediately turn it OFF, not to answer it!!
 
It’s really disturbing to me that people can’t turn their phone off or even set it to vibrate for an hour. The church only asks for one hour the whole week. And it’s to benefite them! I also find it very rude. Even if they don’t care to hear the mass others do. And it’s not just a ring anymore we have to deal with the ringtome songs too.
Sorry, I just came back from mass and it really bugs me.
😃
 
at mass last week a woman had her cell phone go off with the tune ‘I was made for loving you baby’ (Kiss) - not once but twice because she didn’t turn it off properly the first time

eeeek !
 
Only time I could see would be for medical personal on call ect…
Then, I’m sure they set to vibrate 👍
 
I know a guy who set the alarm on his watch for one (1) hour after the worship service was to begin. So, if the service ran longer, “Beep-beep, Beep-beep.” I told him if he was that busy, maybe he needed to re-examine his priorities.

“Who the h___ are you?” he said.

“Well, I’m just a guy who’s listening for an alarm to go off. But, not yours, the Lord’s!”

He hasn’t spoken since, but I don’t hear the alarm anymore!
 
What I can’t believe is that people can’t live without their cellphones for one hour!! Honestly, unless you are medical personel on call, waiting for an organ translplant, or have a dying family member, you are NOT that important!! Leave it in the car. You friends can call you later. Sheesh.
 
We had cell phone issues until our priest put a stop to it. Before Mass, he came up front, pulled his phone out of his pocket. He joked about worrying that it would go off while he was saying Mass and made a big deal about turning it off. Kind of silly, but it worked! Now the only cell phones we hear belong to visitors, and it’s rare that they go off.

I don’t know why people would leave them on. When I was a kid, my friend’s mom was an x-ray tech at the local hospital. When she was on call, she’d leave her pager on vibrate and have it sitting on top of her purse so she could see it. I remember her leaving Mass a couple of times b/c she got paged, but she didn’t have to disturb the rest of the congregation to do it.
 
Unless people are emergency services workers or medical personnel (with the phones set to “vibrate”), they should turn the darned things off. Before cell phones were invented, they managed to get through an hour-long Mass without blabbing on the phone, right? :rolleyes:

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