Is it Wrong to Call or Text Someone

[Katie1723]

Are we so attached to those little technological marvels that we can’t give 1 hour to the Lord?? There is nothing that can’t wait one hour for. Ya know, there was a time not too long ago, where we weren’t so self important and we got a message on those outdated things known as answering machines. Now we are joined at the hip(or ear) to a little piece of plastic.
I know it’ll never happen, but I just wish once, if a phone was heard during Mass, the priest would say " If that isn’t Jesus Christ, you had better turn it off"

Kathy

 

[Lisa44]

Ok, this is one thing that makes me want to turn around and smack someone over the head.
Why do people bring their cell phones into Mass, and then not even turn off the ringer?

There should be a law against bringing cell phones into Mass. My step daughter always looks at me when a cell phone goes off, like she is wondering if I am going to slap someone.

I want to, Lord knows I want to.

Oh well, do other people here have a similar reaction? And has your Church banned cell phones?

 

[jpjd]

There is NOTHING so important that it requires interrupting a person’s worship at Mass, with the exception that the person you are calling is the ONLY person who can save someone who is in danger of death.

And since that scenario is highly unlikely, then there really is NO reason to call someone during Mass.

I don’t know why everyone has such an urgent need to connect these days. It seems like a sin of pride to me.

 

[peregrinator_it]

Ya know, there was a time not too long ago, where we weren’t so self important and we got a message on those outdated things known as answering machines. Now we are joined at the hip(or ear) to a little piece of plastic.

You are right (and I wholeheartedly agree) that no one, except medical personell, needs to be accessible during Mass. And no one should take his attention away from Mass to tend to his cell phone. There’s no reason to expect a response from someone during Mass or during the time directly before & after (when the person is probably praying.)

And I would NEVER wear a bluetooth into the church building. Yeesh! Happy to say I have not seen that one…

But, increasingly these days, people don’t have land lines. I don’t. My cell is my answering machine, my alarm clock, and important element of self-defense as I live in a bad area and don’t own a car. Especially for the last reason, the phone goes where I go, even to church (and boy, was I glad of it coming home after Holy Thursday Mass in the dark … .)

However, all cell phones come with a “Silent” mode and just because the phone’s with me does not mean I’m accessible during Mass.

 

[Katie1723]

What happened to the “off” button? If there is an emergency, or someone is in danger of dying, or any other excuse you have, then you ought to be sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. If you come to church, you are there for a reason ( I hope) and cell phones have no place in the Lord’s house.

Kathy

 

[peregrinator_it]

What happened to the “off” button? If there is an emergency, or someone is in danger of dying, or any other excuse you have, then you ought to be sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. If you come to church, you are there for a reason ( I hope) and cell phones have no place in the Lord’s house.

Kathy

Can’t speak for everyone of course, but my el cheapo phone & service is more likely to reject messages if turned off. I never, ever check it in church and it goes on silent when I turn the alarm off on Sunday morning. I only check it after I have left the church.

I’m more likely to remember to put it on silent in the am (it’s also my timepiece-- so I want it for the trip there) than to remember to turn it off entirely before going into church.

Also, for me, as a matter of practicality, it’s worth being able to pick up messages before I get home. The church I sing at is about 45 mins (via feet & public transport) from where I live. So if I need to do something for my sister (for example) on the way home, it’s good to know before I start the journey.

And, I said, I’m darn glad I had it and it was turned on on Holy Thursday. Had a narsty suspicious car start following me as I was walking home…

 

[peregrinator_it]

I have to say, the phone would come with me less often, if I or any of my friends at all out here, had a car. However, car-less-ness necessitates a higher level of planning and communication in order to get ordinary things done. (We discovered, in trying to plan Easter dinner and the shopping for it, that in fact no one in our circle of local friends has a car…)

That, and it’s really good to be able to text someone saying “I’m leaving now. If you don’t hear from me in an hour, call the cops.”

 

[Digitonomy]

There is NOTHING so important that it requires interrupting a person’s worship at Mass, with the exception that the person you are calling is the ONLY person who can save someone who is in danger of death.

Basically true.

jpjd:

And since that scenario is highly unlikely, then there really is NO reason to call someone during Mass.

I think your logic is flawed. If a person is responsible about his cell phone, in the way that puzzleannie and peregrinator it have described, calling a person at mass to remind him to pick up a gallon of milk, or for whatever other reason, is not interrupting his worship.