Enough with the cell phones

[JW10631]

Well…
I´m one of those who forgets to leave the cell phone in the car - my car has over 160,000 miles on it and I’m bringing my cell phone.

Then, I often forget to turn it off before Mass starts. A pleasant reminder, like they do at my mother’s parish, is a big help.

 

[anamchara]

I’m not so sure about the interference theory. I work in a hospital in an ICU and last year we were told we could allow visitors and patients to use cell phones… I guess it was proven that it didn’t interfere with the monitoring systems. It was so nice not to have to be the ‘cell phone police’ anymore.

Well a pilot friend went with me to see dh in the play and I asked him and he said that’s why on flights we have you turn them off.

But regardless, I think it is a good idea for other reasons besides be disruptive. If we can get rid of worldly things before Mass it does help us focus even more.

 

[Sarabande]

I was an usher at a Holy Thursday Mass about 5 years ago. A 20 something person walked in, sat down in a pew with sort of an anxious look on her face. Out comes the cell phone – a drug of choice today! As an usher I told her to put it away or to step outside. She looked at me like I had the plague. Ain’t times just great?

I agree, if she was using the cell phone as a “drug of choice”, then it was ridiculous for her to pull it out. Was she actually going to start talking on it? I wouldn’t be surprised if she was, as I’ve seen a lot of lack of respect during mass before. But to give the benefit of the doubt and to not assume the worse of her just because she was some kid, I hope she wasn’t being anxious over something really serious and had pulled it out as a nervous reaction. Sometimes when I become worried about someone and come to church to pray for healing, I tend to figet with everything - whatever is in my purse - rosary, glasses, cell phone, wallet, music books.

 

[Sarabande]

And how would either (no matter what they are) be more important than you staying focused on the Mass until the end?

For most situations I would agree, but if you are responsible for the life of another and no one else is covering for you, there isn’t anything wrong to have a silent pager or cell phone on you. It’s the same thing as a person having a heart attack during the mass. Any medical professional at mass would not ignore this person’s life to focus on the Mass till the end. They would be right there to make sure the person doesn’t die. Life threatening emergencies don’t happen often, but if someone is in a situation where it would be more of a common occurrence (whether as a medical professional or a caregiver to your parent/sibling/child), it’s good to have these things to help, especially when you don’t have the coverage.

 

[Cat]

Several times during various Masses, I’ve seen people collapse. Doctors and other medical personnel jumped up from their seats, even during the actual Communion, and rushed to help the stricken person.

In fact, our priest quietly asked people (while we were kneeling after receiving the Lord) to pray for the person and his/her caregivers.

Did these people do something sinful?

This happens a lot in a parish with a lot of older people. Not just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing.

The Lord always asked us to place people first, even if it broke “the rules.”

 

[water]

Several times during various Masses, I’ve seen people collapse. Doctors and other medical personnel jumped up from their seats, even during the actual Communion, and rushed to help the stricken person.

In fact, our priest quietly asked people (while we were kneeling after receiving the Lord) to pray for the person and his/her caregivers.

Did these people do something sinful?

This happens a lot in a parish with a lot of older people. Not just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing.

The Lord always asked us to place people first, even if it broke “the rules.”

Yup, sometime we think we should focus on the Mass and let the sick deal with themselves. How could this be?

 

[bluerose]

My husband used to be on-call for the city’s maintenance dept. He always set his phone (or pager, before they got cell phones) on vibrate and he just HATED taking it into Mass. It never went off, which was great because having to go answer a call meant taking me and our son with him (we lived twenty miles out of town and couldn’t afford that much gas to be taking two vehicles to church–besides, his emergencies were usually a traffic light going out or the scoreboard not working at the ball field during a weekend tournament… real life-or-death stuff ) He was thrilled when he could finally give up the on-call.

With the city DPS across the street from the church, we often get police, firefighters and paramedics coming to Mass when they pull the weekend shift. Never heard any of their pagers go off nor had any of them ever leave during any Mass I’ve attended there in 19 years. Once we asked one of the firefighters how he does it (no calls during Mass) and he shrugged and said (very seriously), “Oh, I just ask the Blessed Mother to take my calls for me while I’m at Mass. She’s never let me down!”

So I know they’re needed for emergencies, but, like “emergency” credit cards, it seems once some people get a cell phone, EVERYthing is an emergency. My sister is one of those cell phone “junkies” that can’t leave the house without it. The last time she came up to visit (she lives about 100 miles away) we went out for a day of shopping and lunch, just the two of us… and her cell phone. Oh, at least this time she didn’t have it glued to her ear, talking to someone else. This time she tried to carry on a conversation with me while texting someone else. It was a special day. The last time we attended Mass together, just before Mass started, she pulled her phone out of her purse and started texting her friends to tell them that she wouldn’t be available for the next hour because she was at Mass and would have her phone off!

And before you ask, she’s 38, not 13!

 

[Sarabande]

Several times during various Masses, I’ve seen people collapse. Doctors and other medical personnel jumped up from their seats, even during the actual Communion, and rushed to help the stricken person.

In fact, our priest quietly asked people (while we were kneeling after receiving the Lord) to pray for the person and his/her caregivers.

Did these people do something sinful?

This happens a lot in a parish with a lot of older people. Not just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing.

The Lord always asked us to place people first, even if it broke “the rules.”

I agree with you, Cat. A woman sitting in front of my parents’ pew had a heart attack, so both my father and mother attended to her while another woman took her cell phone out to call 911. Her life was saved. Were those people attending this woman doing something wrong by not focusing on the mass? Should they have just sat by her while she suffered, focused on the mass, and prayed that she would be healed or that God would take her to heaven? The priest at that mass also asked for the rest of the congregation to say a prayer for this woman. Should someone’s aging parent or a patient was home or in the hospital and had an emergency and the person got beeped or vibrated because no one else was there to help, I would hope that this person would do exactly what they would do if the emergency happened at the church. Of course, there are certainly abuses of the cell phone, and as someone else mentioned, some people do turn everything into an emergency, but there are very legitimate reasons to have one on vibrate or silent? My father also hates having them on, but he also believes it is a God-send because he can respond much more quickly to emergencies than in the past and possibly help save a life.

 

[Yes]

I agree, if she was using the cell phone as a “drug of choice”, then it was ridiculous for her to pull it out. Was she actually going to start talking on it? I wouldn’t be surprised if she was, as I’ve seen a lot of lack of respect during mass before. But to give the benefit of the doubt and to not assume the worse of her just because she was some kid, I hope she wasn’t being anxious over something really serious and had pulled it out as a nervous reaction. Sometimes when I become worried about someone and come to church to pray for healing, I tend to figet with everything - whatever is in my purse - rosary, glasses, cell phone, wallet, music books.

This was a few minutes before Mass. She dialed and said “Just thought I would check in” as I was walking towards here, and people were turning in their pews to see what she was doing.

 

[Yes]

How did people attend the Mass before the time of crackberries, cell phones, pagers and yes, telephones?

 

[Sarabande]

This was a few minutes before Mass. She dialed and said “Just thought I would check in” as I was walking towards here, and people were turning in their pews to see what she was doing.

Now, that’s ridiculous. She could have “checked in” after mass or even in the car before mass.

 

[Sheeniac]

I just think it’s easier to leave it in the glove compartment or at home…now, if you have plans after church…then maybe leave it in the car. or turn it off before entering. either way…what’s an hour without a cell, ya know?

Or you can be like me and always have your cell phone out of charge

 

[water]

I have my phone on all the time as long as it disturb anyone or interfere with audio system. Thanks for the vibration feature.

 

[Sarabande]

How did people attend the Mass before the time of crackberries, cell phones, pagers and yes, telephones?

That’s really not the point. It has nothing to do with what people did when we didn’t have these kinds of modern devices. We can joke about it, as my family does, but it isn’t the point. It’s about how we, as a society, uses and deals with the newer technology, whether it is in medicine, science, engineering, etc. There are people who misuse these things, but it doesn’t mean we should live like someone in the 18th century or set our standards to that of a “3rd world” country.

As much as I fantasize about living in the 18th and 19th centuries, (I actually do 18th century reenactments for Revolutionary War - British and American sides - and am a huge history buff with those two centuries as well as the Tudor period) the more I read and learn about history, those weren’t the good old days. When I think about the high level of infant mortality rates and women dying during childbirth (four of my great-great aunts were buried along with their infants due to complications during childbirth), urinary tract infections with no antibiotics to quell the pain or stop it from becoming septic, TB, deaths or other life-long problems that could have been prevented if the doctor had been there sooner, or if they had better medicines, etc., I’m very thankful that we have these modern gadgets, medicines, tools, etc. to help aid in this kind of prevention.

Some parts of history is very appealing - extremely appealing for me - especially with the simplicity of life. Of course people did attend mass without these modern gadgets. People did survive, although life expectancy rates were much lower than it is today. most children died before they reached adulthood.

Most of us certainly do not need to have those things while at mass, because most of us do not have to deal with situations that are life-threatening. I’m in total agreement about that.
BUT Some people do. Of course, we could just ban them for even people who are caregivers of lovedones or are medical professionals. We could tell them, “If your loved-one/patient dies or suffers some severe complication because you are at mass and have no one else to care for them, it’s God’s will.” I wouldn’t want to be the person on the receiving end or the loved one of the ill person who had an emergency. “Sorry, Ms. Such-and-Such, your doctor/the EMTs, etc. couldn’t come right away to help prevent your husband’s death because they were at mass and wouldn’t check their page. It’s God’s will.” In previous centuries, that type of outlook would have been fine, because we didn’t have modern technology to help prevent death, to contact a person quickly or at least lesson the pain. But now we have all that. Why deny the use of it for those kinds of emergencies?

 

[Cat]

Thank you, Sarabande. A voice of reason.

There are a million things that can distract us during Mass. I know a lot of you hate the Jack T. Chick tracts, but one of the tracts has a very thought-provoking picture of a young man sitting in church, and all around him, demons are making other people “distract him.” They poke a baby to make it cry, they tempt an older person to “talk loudly” (you know how some elderly people can’t hear, so they talk loud). It’s funny, but it’s true.

Do you’all want to know what distracts me most in Mass? Seeing someone I know and I’m friends with.

Yes! All the way through Mass, I think about what we’re going to say to each other after Mass, and should we go out to eat togehter, or maybe set up an appointment to have lunch together sometime, and do I have my kids’ pictures with me and did her kid ever graduate/get married, and boy, she sure has lost weight how did she do it …

OK–I demand that ALL the people I am friends with STAY AWAY from the Masses that I attend so I won’t be distracted by them!

 

[Cat]

Cell phones actually don’t distract me much 'cause I’m used to the phone going off all day at work.

You know what else distracts me immensely? The temperature of the sanctuary. I’m a “hot” person and I hate being hot. If the AC isn’t on, I roast. I sweat, I chafe, and I fume!

Another distraction–perfume. Oh, I hate it when someone wears a strong perfume. I can’t even think straight for sneezing.

Another distraction–a sunbeam. If it’s shining on me, I can’t concentrate. I have to squirm out of its path.

And children–not babies, but beautiful children. I find myself watching them and remembering my own kids and before I know it, we’re all lining up to go up for Holy Communion and I realize that I haven’t paid the least attention to Mass.

My point-we’re all distracted by something. I think I and maybe some of you need to work on ourselves, developing our interior life and inner calm so that we aren’t distracted by friends, temperature, perfume, sunbeams, children, and everything else.

 

[valient_Lucy]

For those who bring their cell phones into Mass:

I sincerely doubt that every cell phone ring that I hear at Mass is a life-threating situation unfolding. For one hour, pretty please, turn your cell phones off or leave them out in the car. Please, don’t wait until you get inside the sanctuary to turn them off. We don’t need to hear the cute little power-off music that they play. Nor do we need to hear the volume-down tone 5 times while you adjust the volume. The music ministry doesn’t need your cell phone’s assistance.

If you need to be that close to a cell phone that you cannot go one hour without responding to a phone call, put the phone on vibrate, and leave the sanctuary before answering the phone.

Honestly, how in the world did we function as a society just 10 years ago without these phones?

Every time a cell phone goes off in Mass, I remember learning about how the Puritans had Church Watchmen who would walk around the church with a pole with a wooden knob on one end. If someone fell asleep or talked during the service, the Church Watchmen would rap them on the head with the wooden knob. I occasionally wish we would give the ushers wooden sticks to whack people on the head if their cell phone rings.

 

[RosalieM]

Here is what one of our priests wrote in last Sunday’s bulletin:

“Cell Phones Vs. Bible”

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?

This is something to make you go …hmmm…where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing…unlike our cell phone, we don’t ever have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

 

[Yes]

That’s really not the point. It has nothing to do with what people did when we didn’t have these kinds of modern devices. We can joke about it, as my family does, but it isn’t the point. It’s about how we, as a society, uses and deals with the newer technology, whether it is in medicine, science, engineering, etc. There are people who misuse these things, but it doesn’t mean we should live like someone in the 18th century or set our standards to that of a “3rd world” country.

As much as I fantasize about living in the 18th and 19th centuries, (I actually do 18th century reenactments for Revolutionary War - British and American sides - and am a huge history buff with those two centuries as well as the Tudor period) the more I read and learn about history, those weren’t the good old days. When I think about the high level of infant mortality rates and women dying during childbirth (four of my great-great aunts were buried along with their infants due to complications during childbirth), urinary tract infections with no antibiotics to quell the pain or stop it from becoming septic, TB, deaths or other life-long problems that could have been prevented if the doctor had been there sooner, or if they had better medicines, etc., I’m very thankful that we have these modern gadgets, medicines, tools, etc. to help aid in this kind of prevention.

Some parts of history is very appealing - extremely appealing for me - especially with the simplicity of life. Of course people did attend mass without these modern gadgets. People did survive, although life expectancy rates were much lower than it is today. most children died before they reached adulthood.

Most of us certainly do not need to have those things while at mass, because most of us do not have to deal with situations that are life-threatening. I’m in total agreement about that.
BUT Some people do. Of course, we could just ban them for even people who are caregivers of lovedones or are medical professionals. We could tell them, “If your loved-one/patient dies or suffers some severe complication because you are at mass and have no one else to care for them, it’s God’s will.” I wouldn’t want to be the person on the receiving end or the loved one of the ill person who had an emergency. “Sorry, Ms. Such-and-Such, your doctor/the EMTs, etc. couldn’t come right away to help prevent your husband’s death because they were at mass and wouldn’t check their page. It’s God’s will.” In previous centuries, that type of outlook would have been fine, because we didn’t have modern technology to help prevent death, to contact a person quickly or at least lesson the pain. But now we have all that. Why deny the use of it for those kinds of emergencies?

So how did doctors, firefighters, police, etc. attend Mass before the advent of the telephone, crackberries, cell phones and pagers? I’d still like to know…

 

[jmcrae]

So how did doctors, firefighters, police, etc. attend Mass before the advent of the telephone, crackberries, cell phones and pagers? I’d still like to know…

They didn’t. They even slept at work.

If you watch old action movies from the 1970s, you sometimes see emergency workers being called out of bed in a little cubby hole at their job site - they had to stay there 24 hours a day over the weekend, in case anything happened - that’s why they always look so tired. Some fire stations and hospitals even still have little bedrooms in them today, although that’s becoming a lot less common.