Is it OK to listen to an MP3 player prior to Mass and afterwards as well?

[Brendan_64]

Stay focused on the subject at hand: “Is it OK to listen to an MP3 player prior to Mass and afterwards as well?”

People introduce extraneous matters into a conversation and all if does is confuse matters. There is no “connection.”

You asked me a question whether it was OK to go to a particular Mass elsewhere because a person like the reverence there. I gave you my answer, it doesn’t fit with your viewpoint, therefore you deem it to be irrelevant.

If you don’t want answers to questions other than the one you posed when you started this thread, then don’t ask them.

If you only want answers that fit with your own opinions, then perhaps you ought to start a thread for only yourself, You could ask all the questions you like and answer them yourself. You have all the answers anyway, so why ask people other than yourself?

 

[Urn]

You asked me a question whether it was OK to go to a particular Mass elsewhere because a person like the reverence there. I gave you my answer, it doesn’t fit with your viewpoint, therefore you deem it to be irrelevant.

If you don’t want answers to questions other than the one you posed when you started this thread, then don’t ask them.

If you only want answers that fit with your own opinions, then perhaps you ought to start a thread for only yourself, You could ask all the questions you like and answer them yourself. You have all the answers anyway, so why ask people other than yourself?

You did indeed give me an answer. Then you added a bunch of extraneous information.

I started this thread really for two reasons. First I started it immediately after considering the idea of using an MP3 player as described and wondered about other peoples’ experiences. Perhaps in that sense I should have waited. Second though, I honestly wanted to know if there was possibly a concern that I had not thought about?

As described, my use of an MP3 player does not impinge upon my taking part in the Mass. Didn’t some realize that from how I asked the question? “Is it OK to listen to an MP3 player prior to Mass and afterwards as well?”

It’s quite obvious that it would be preferable if people acted with better manners at my parish (and thousands upon thousands of others.) Why focus on that though? It hasn’t changed in my parish in over 40 years and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

The time before Mass is not a penitent time! It should be a time to settle, focus and prepare. Why expend the effort (which can be great at times) to ignore rude people when that energy can be used to focus on settling one’s mind, reading the readings and otherwise preparing for the Mass?

 

[Zachary]

You did indeed give me an answer. Then you added a bunch of extraneous information.

I started this thread really for two reasons. First I started it immediately after considering the idea of using an MP3 player as described and wondered about other peoples’ experiences. Perhaps in that sense I should have waited. Second though, I honestly wanted to know if there was possibly a concern that I had not thought about?

As described, my use of an MP3 player does not impinge upon my taking part in the Mass. Didn’t some realize that from how I asked the question? “Is it OK to listen to an MP3 player prior to Mass and afterwards as well?”

It’s quite obvious that it would be preferable if people acted with better manners at my parish (and thousands upon thousands of others.) Why focus on that though? It hasn’t changed in my parish in over 40 years and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

The time before Mass is not a penitent time! It should be a time to settle, focus and prepare. Why expend the effort (which can be great at times) to ignore rude people when that energy can be used to focus on settling one’s mind, reading the readings and otherwise preparing for the Mass?

Because as Jesus made his way to Calvary with people jeering, cursing, spitting, insulting Him…

No one is accusing you of misusing the time before or after Mass. We simply offer a word of caution. Just as you’ve judged others, so will others infer things about your intentions.

 

[bmadamsberry]

But it’s not about what we each, as individuals, need or want from the Mass. Can we not abandon our own individual needs and wants for 1 hour on a Sunday? Can we not simply accept that we are part of the Body of Christ, as one, and enter Mass in the spirit of a community of believers without focusing on what we perceive our own individual needs to be? Sure, not everyone at Mass will act in the way we would like them to, but they are part of us and we are part of them, we are one. One Body of Christ represented by a rag-bag of humanity with all its differences, and all its flaws.

The main problem with what you just said is that it implies that Mass is not about our needs. I would say that Mass provides and does many things, one of which is providing us a time of spiritual renewal before we begin another week in the secular world. “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves,” but that doesn’t mean that our sole focus must always be at every Mass upon a collective us.

 

[Aramis]

The thread really highlights in a very practical way just how good and how bad advice can be from different individuals.

First; as I defined from the very beginning, I would be listening to music BEFORE and AFTER and NOT during the celebration of the Mass. The music will not impinge upon my participation in the Mass in any way whatsoever. It’s almost as if some intentionally ignored that point.

Second; yes it would most definitely be better if people acted with good manners and didn’t make so much unnecessary noise at Mass. That comment not only goes without saying, it’s a non-starter in this case. I have absolutely no way in which to influence people to act with better manners, nor do I have any means to pressure my pastor to clean things up. It just ain’t gonna happen and focusing on that does nothing but derail the discourse.

Third; the 20-30 minutes before Mass isn’t meant to be my personal Via Dolorosa each Sunday. It’s not a good thing to mortify myself each week by allowing myself to be exposed to an audio/visual cilice each Sunday. This is a time for me to relax, focus, read the readings and prepare to take part in the Mass.

Fourth; Some people need to stop and think before offering a response based only on emotion, because it has not been done that way before or because they have the need/desire to control others. Critical thinking plays an important part in this one.

The mass begins when the first person shows up for it with intent to pray.

The use of the MP3 player within the sanctuary is itself prone to cause distraction for others; further, it’s an inherently selfish practice.

Yes, there’s an issue with the talking… but that doesn’t excuse you making equally bad and selfish choices.

 

[Brendan_64]

that doesn’t mean that our sole focus must always be at every Mass upon a collective us.

The prime focus at every Mass should be a collective us. We are there in communion with others, Christ is present amongst us collectively.Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. The ‘collective us’ is the point of it all. The Body of Christ does not exist within one individual. The point of Christian worship is not to focus on individual spiritual improvement, but to look to those around us, because that is where Christ is. If we look at another during Mass and think, “You buffoon”, then perhaps we are missing the point completely. Do we not shake hands with each other during the sign of peace because by doing so we are greeting Christ, we are in effect shaking hands with Christ?

To view the Mass primarily as somewhere where** I** can get my spiritual needs met, is individualistic and is wrong. The Church is not a service provider. To attend a Mass in a certain parish on a regular basis (not just as an occasional visitor) yet play no part in life of the parish there is using that parish and that church, for one’s own ends, is also wrong.

 

[Urn]

The mass begins when the first person shows up for it with intent to pray.

The use of the MP3 player within the sanctuary is itself prone to cause distraction for others; further, it’s an inherently selfish practice.

Yes, there’s an issue with the talking… but that doesn’t excuse you making equally bad and selfish choices.

The Mass never ends. That said it begins with the greeting “In the name of the Father…”

I would not use ear buds in the sanctuary. I use them in the nave of the church.

Nothing bad/selfish about using the MP3 player as I outlined. I would agree that it’s unfortunate that it can make such a huge positive contribution, but that’s just the way it is.

 

[Urn]

The prime focus at every Mass should be a collective us. We are there in communion with others, Christ is present amongst us collectively.Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”. The ‘collective us’ is the point of it all. The Body of Christ does not exist within one individual. The point of Christian worship is not to focus on individual spiritual improvement, but to look to those around us, because that is where Christ is. If we look at another during Mass and think, “You buffoon”, then perhaps we are missing the point completely. Do we not shake hands with each other during the sign of peace because by doing so we are greeting Christ, we are in effect shaking hands with Christ?

I don’t wear the ear buds during the celebration of the Mass.

To view the Mass primarily as somewhere where** I** can get my spiritual needs met, is individualistic and is wrong. The Church is not a service provider. To attend a Mass in a certain parish on a regular basis (not just as an occasional visitor) yet play no part in life of the parish there is using that parish and that church, for one’s own ends, is also wrong.

My parish has pretty much become just that. People have been treated so poorly for so long that they (those that still attend Mass that is) have become fairly hardened. They satisfy their Mass obligations, they’ll show up for a funeral or wedding now and then and that’s about it. About the only people that attend the parish picnic are the insiders who have done such a devastating job in alienating so many people.

 

[Cat]

I don’t wear the ear buds during the celebration of the Mass.

My parish has pretty much become just that. People have been treated so poorly for so long that they (those that still attend Mass that is) have become fairly hardened. They satisfy their Mass obligations, they’ll show up for a funeral or wedding now and then and that’s about it. About the only people that attend the parish picnic are the insiders who have done such a devastating job in alienating so many people.

It sounds to me like you have given up on your parish. Have* you* considered trying to become an agent of good change? Would* you *be the one to begin treating people “richly” and “bringing love back” into the parish so that people lose their hardness?

People are so lonely today, in spite of all the innovations that supposedly make it easier for us to communicate with each other. I’m guessing that one reason why people chat before and after Mass at your parish is that they’re lonesome and they crave human contact and friendship, and they figure that “church” is a safe place to meet people. Forgive them, please. Perhaps someday you will be alone and lonely.

And yes, it’s possible to be lonely even if you have a family. It’s especially possible for young women with children to be lonely and desperately seeking someone to talk to who isn’t a child. Again, forgive these people. Be forbearing, as Philippians 4:5 says.

There are much worse things than talking in the nave before Mass. Think about the churches overseas and even here in the U.S. where shooters have entered churches and opened fire, or terrorists have entered churches and arrested people. That is true evil. Chatting before Mass in the nave is just childish human failing. Most of the chatters would be shocked if someone mentioned that they are being irreverent before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, because they do not INTEND to be rude. They’ve just gotten careless. Forgive them.

If you have to use an MP3 player to be able to compose yourself before or after Mass, I don’t think that’s wrong, and like I said earlier, we’ll see more and more of this in the coming months. It’s the future, and it’s here now.

But before you enter the nave, and after you have left the nave, make sure that you are in in a sanguine mindset that reaches out and touches others and attempts to demonstrate the Love of Christ to them.

I mentioned this before in a previous post. Be nice to people. Introduce yourself to them, ask them about themselves. Once you do this and get to know people and their circumstances and learn to love them with Christ’s love, you’ll find it easier to put up with their inadequacies and faults.

And if they truly are rude or thoughtless, a good friend like you will hopefully eventually (after many months, not after just one meeting) be able to have a little chat with them and help them to improve their behavior. That’s what friends do for each other–help each other.

Just yesterday–I’m serious!–I had an appointment at my parish, and as I was going in, a woman came out. I have been harboring unfriendly thoughts against this woman for several months for various reasons (her behavior before and after Mass–she isolates herself from everyone and doesn’t seem very pleasant).

Well, there she was, on the path right in front of me. Partly because of this thread and partly because of Father’s homily yesterday (about complaining), I greeted the woman in a positive way and asked her a friendly and encouraging question about her children.

My goodness, she turned out to be the sweetest, friendliest woman! We had a lovely conversation, and she was very nice, and I think I’ll probably speak to her again in the future instead of judging her as “rude” because she doesn’t act the way I think women should act before and after Mass.

You may not think you can make a lot of difference, but you would be surprised. Don’t give up! Reach out to others and begin with the rudest, noisiest person. And don’t worry about it if that person doesn’t seem to have anything in common with you. You might not end up best friends who do everything together, but at least you will each be “church friends” with each other, and that makes attending Mass even more wonderful–when you know and love those who are there with you.

I hope this post is helpful to you and others.