Checking e-mails during mass

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estesbob

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I will have to admit that I’ve had a very hard time adjusting to our pastor since he was assigned or our church about 18 months ago. On one hand he is very spiritual but on the other hand he does a lot of things that aggravate me. He has a tendency to Adlib during the during Mass, not only before the readings but even during the Eucharistic prayer, stopping to make comments and once even inviting the congregation to come up on the altar to see how beautiful the stained-glass window of St. Michael looked with the sun streaming through it. Once even decided, that since he was trying to learn Spanish, he would say the Eucharistic prayer in Spanish. I have, over the last 18 months, made peace with this and no longer get as upset as I used to.

Today, however, he pushed me over the edge. Right after the Sanctus he pulled his blackberry out of his pocket and checked his e-mails before proceeding with the Eucharistic prayer. I have kept trying to come up with some reason why he would’ve done this-but I can’t, At first I thought perhaps he had that days mass intentions on it but that turned out not to be the case then I wondered if maybe he had a another version of the Eucharistic prayer on it but that also turned out not to be the case. I cannot for the life of me come up with a scenario where there was an e-mail important enough that he would have to have checked for it in the middle of mass . I am not one to complain to the pastor about every perceived error in the signing of Mass but have decided that if he does this again I’m going to have to approach him.
 
Wow. I don’t blame you for getting frustrated. I would write a letter to the bishop. Soon. This is pretty serious!

PS. If he wants to try the Eucharistic Prayer in another language, he should try latin! LOL! 😃

Seriously through, the EP in latin is really beautiful. I’ve only heard it twice, but I wish it was more common.
 
Truly disgusting. Not to sound sanctimonious, but I am so glad I was introduced to the Latin Mass when I was 16 (35 now) and never looked back.
 
Unless he explicitlly said “hold on a second, folks, I need to check my email” you do NOT know that he was checking his email.

About saying the Eucharistic prayer in Spanish. If there are spanish speakers in the congregation, that could be totally legitimate. I was once in a parish with a Polish priest who was just learning English and also knew French (better than English). He would rotate through these languages. It was legitmate even though not one person spoke Polish or French.

Regarding the phone:
  1. he could of realized he accidently left his phone on his person and reached to turn it off.
  2. he could of purpusly been carrying it but decided it would be better to turn it off.
  3. he could of been waiting on an important text about a sick parishoner
  4. he could of been checking his memo on how many “to go” eucharist’s he needed
  5. he could be having a bad time and needed the lovely reminder someone sent him. One of the churches I go to just sent a priest to rehabilitation for alchoholism. You often never know what priests are suffering.
  6. how do you know it wasn’t the intentions? Perhaps he just needed to remember the last name or what sister or who died or how long ago.
 
I consider myself a pretty laid-back and easy-going person when it comes to the mass (as I am sure many people here will testify to to their utter frustration!)

So know that when I say that ALL of his actions are completely out of line, it’s pretty serious!

I’d be going to his head, or to the bishop. He shouldn’t be doing any of these things. Unless the mass is designated for spanish-speakers or bilingual, he needs to say the prayer in the common language (english in this case). He needs to keep people in their seats out of reverence for the mass. He needs to NOT CHECK HIS EMAILS during mass.
 
Whitacre_Girl said:
I’d be going to his head, or to the bishop. He shouldn’t be doing any of these things. Unless the mass is designated for spanish-speakers or bilingual, **he needs to say the prayer in the common language (english in this case). **He needs to keep people in their seats out of reverence for the mass. He needs to NOT CHECK HIS EMAILS during mass.
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snort If you’re anywhere in the south (west, central and east), California, NYC or now even Boston it seems as if Spanish is just as much a common language. Bilbords are now from 10%-25% in Spanish only…it is rare to see a sign that is not bilingual.
 
purplesunshine said:
Unless he explicitlly said “hold on a second, folks, I need to check my email” you do NOT know that he was checking his email.

About saying the Eucharistic prayer in Spanish. If there are spanish speakers in the congregation, that could be totally legitimate. I was once in a parish with a Polish priest who was just learning English and also knew French (better than English). He would rotate through these languages. It was legitmate even though not one person spoke Polish or French.

Regarding the phone:
  1. he could of realized he accidently left his phone on his person and reached to turn it off.
  2. he could of purpusly been carrying it but decided it would be better to turn it off.
  3. he could of been waiting on an important text about a sick parishoner
  4. he could of been checking his memo on how many “to go” eucharist’s he needed
  5. he could be having a bad time and needed the lovely reminder someone sent him. One of the churches I go to just sent a priest to rehabilitation for alchoholism. You often never know what priests are suffering.
  6. how do you know it wasn’t the intentions? Perhaps he just needed to remember the last name or what sister or who died or how long ago.
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Which is exactly why I said I was not going to make an issue out of it unless you get it again. It was not a matter of trying to turn it off since he stared at it for over a minute while pushing buttons and then laid it down on the altar next to the chalice. I am giving the benefit of the doubt. I still it is very strange, however.
 
estesbob said:
Which is exactly why I said I was not going to make an issue out of it unless you get it again. It was not a matter of trying to turn it off since he stared at it for over a minute while pushing buttons and then laid it down on the altar next to the chalice. I am giving the benefit of the doubt. I still it is very strange, however.
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Well, that makes it sound even more like he was getting the Mass intention. How do you know he wasn’t?
 
baltobetsy said:
Well, that makes it sound even more like he was getting the Mass intention. How do you know he wasn’t?
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Because he always keeps a list of the intentions on a tablet on the right-hand side of the altar and at this mass, as always, he referred to this list when he gave the intentions. Perhaps you’re right-perhaps it was totally innocuous but I’ll have to again state it was very strange to have a priest stop right before the Eucharistic prayer and stare at his Blackberry for over a minute
 
HCC said:
Truly disgusting. Not to sound sanctimonious, but I am so glad I was introduced to the Latin Mass when I was 16 (35 now) and never looked back.
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The Latin Mass prevents priests from checking their emails on their BB?
 
ConstantineTG said:
The Latin Mass prevents priests from checking their emails on their BB?
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ANY Mass should be enough to prevent a priest or anyone else from checking a blackberry or any other such device. It’s bad when a congregant does this. It’s 1000 times worse when a celebrating priest does it.
 
After reading purple sunshine’s post and thinking about the incident some more I really do think he was turning the Blackberry off. I recall about two weeks ago I had left mine on and when I turned it it off I stared at the screen in until it went dark to make sure it had really been turned off. Th more I think about it the more I think this is exactly what he was doing. I will have to admit that my pettiness about other things he has done probably colored my opinion of this.
 
estesbob said:
After reading purple sunshine’s post and thinking about the incident some more I really do think he was turning the Blackberry off. I recall about two weeks ago I had left mine on and when I turned it it off I stared at the screen in until it went dark to make sure it had really been turned off. Th more I think about it the more I think this is exactly what he was doing. I will have to admit that my pettiness about other things he has done probably colored my opinion of this.
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Estesbob,

Don’t worry. I just have reasons for definding priests who aren’t openly against the church. I think this is a VERY tough time to be a priest, a very lonely time, indeed. I don’t like Adlibing…but I have known too many good priests who were just old men too stubborn to wear glasses and getting older so getting forgetfull…so they adlibed. But they were good, spiritual men, too.

I have also know priests who determinly tear the mass apart to have it “their” way. This didn’t seem like the case.

About the window. It probably wasn’t appropriate to interrupt Mass. But there is so precious little beauty these days. The church I go to Daily Mass for has clear windows…I appreciate the beauty of the trees…BUT when I’m in a church with beautiful stained-glass windows…sometimes I’m almost reduced to tears as they glitter…JUST HEAVENLY. I don’t think that every once in a while it’s horrible to notice this. His action may have been wrong…but his intent was good.

Remember, there is someone who is activly trying to get your heart and mind off of Mass, especally when you know that for the most part this priest is a good guy. Reject these little things and say, “God, this annoys me but I offer my annoyance for YOUR glory.” there’s nothing that the devil hates more than having what he tries to do turned into praise for God.
 
purplesunshine said:
Remember, there is someone who is activly trying to get your heart and mind off of Mass, especally when you know that for the most part this priest is a good guy. Reject these little things and say, “God, this annoys me but I offer my annoyance for YOUR glory.” there’s nothing that the devil hates more than having what he tries to do turned into praise for God.
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I have thought this myself. I keep asking myself why all these little things are upsetting me and came to the conclusion, like you did, that Satan was trying to turn me away from daily mass. I get to hold our Lord and Savior in my hand every morning and follow his admonition to eat his body and that is what I need to concentrate on.
 
malphono said:
ANY Mass should be enough to prevent a priest or anyone else from checking a blackberry or any other such device. It’s bad when a congregant does this. It’s 1000 times worse when a celebrating priest does it.
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Thats what I figured 😉
 
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