Question on iPhones during Mass

[phil19034]

So, Mr. Doe shouldn’t use a tool that is useful to him because someone else doesn’t want to parent their 8yo? Doesn’t make much sense to me. Whatever happened to, “I’m not raising Mr. Doe, I’m raising you and I said no.”

How about why is everyone so eager to get rid books? Why can’t our Parishes fill our pews with missals (and ideally permanent ones)?

Why do we have to use our iPhones for every single faset of our lives?

I use my iPhone for work, for pleasure, for Catholic Answers, sometimes for prayer, etc.

Do I really have to use it for mass too? Is it really too much to ask Parishes to place missels and Bibles in the pews?

 

[Peeps]

So are printed books.

 

[Sarcelle]

The text on a screen may be made much larger, at the cost of having very little text on the screen. My point stands. Larger text on screen requires much more manipulation.

My point also stands.

Better a few text on the screen that one can read versus a whole lot of text on the missal which one cannot read.

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

And the matter is that someone using their phone gives the impression they ar not attending Mass; so yes, they are giving the impression. It is on them; read the Gospels about giving scandal. According to you, Christ is wrong and it would be on the one scandalized. That is not how I read Christ’s words

That’s not how I read Christs words, and I think my reading is more in keeping with common sense; there’s an implicit understanding that thing scandalizing must actually be scandalous. If I decided that I was offended by people wearing blue neckties, I don’t think you’d be sinning by wearing one, because my offense taking is totally unreasonable. Similarly, you being a busybody who gets their feathers ruffled because someone is following the readings in some way other than your preferred way is unreasonable.

So I guess we’re at an impasse and you’ll just have to stay mad about it.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Ah, I well remember the "progressives’ who said that we shouldn’t be reading because the "Word"was to be proclaimed. Never mind that some obtain information by reading far better than by hearing.

Progressives? I didn’t realize it was a progressive thing. I thought it was actually the Church’s intention. I was always taught to read the readings before Mass to prepare, then listen attentively as they were proclaimed during liturgy because that was our proper posture. (Nothing wrong with following in the book, and I do whenever I can’t hear/understand the reader; just what I was taught.)

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Why can’t our Parishes fill our pews with missals (and ideally permanent ones)?

These aren’t cheap. Some parishes wouldn’t get them without a substantial donation or fund drive*. Then there’s the issue of storage space… not all pews have book racks in the back/underneath. Then, consider the additional maintenance and updating costs - things do change (slowly, but they do).

One of the two parishes where I go has about 20 subscription copies of the disposable seasonal missalettes at the entrances for the 750-800 in attendance because that’s what they’ve determined is reasonable for the budget.

*Consider GIA’s Worship IV which is somewhat standard around here. Pew copy with readings is $16.50 plus shipping. By the time you supply the seating capacity of the church (let’s say 900), that’s more than $15,000. That’s about a third of a staff position for an average parish in the Midwest. Not too much if everyone chipped in or bought their own, but considering we’re pulling teeth to get people to drop $2-5 in the collection… (and this book is Sunday readings only).

 

[Allegra]

You think that because some other guy uses a missal on his phone, then you have to too? Do you feel this way about people who bring their own paper missals too? There’s any number of reason people might want to use the Missal app. If you don’t want to, you do’t have to.

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

So, Mr. Doe shouldn’t use a tool that is useful to him because someone else doesn’t want to parent their 8yo? Doesn’t make much sense to me. Whatever happened to, “I’m not raising Mr. Doe, I’m raising you and I said no.”

 

[MagdalenaRita]

I can relate. I use the St. Joseph Missals also.

I also used to use the app for the LOTH and once accidentally hit the audio button while praying in a group and it took me a minute to turn it off, so I use the books for that also.

I just feel safer with a book that doesn’t have any surprises that can pop up.

 

[Sarcelle]

I can see why people use phones or tablets in church.

Personally speaking, I use the missal. My phone is silenced and in my purse.

 

[tafan2]

We were never taught that. I think you overstate that it was the Church’s intention. As to hearing the Word proclaimed, that phrase makes me wonder if it isn’t the root cause of such poor lecturing. Too many lectors are taught too read to slow, to make too much eye contact with the congregation, to use way too much intonation. It makes it impossible to follow along. People need to realize you are reading, not public speaking. Go listen to a few audio books. The people who produce those have gotten it down to a science (profits depend on it). Then compare to a typical lector at mass.

 

[CatholicFireman]

If somebody comes up to me and wags their finger, I’m going to charitably give them an earful. How about they worry about the humongous board in their eye rather than telling me that I shouldn’t follow the mass on my iPhone?

 

[CatholicFireman]

That last post was not supposed to be a reply to you. My mistake.

 

[PeterT]

We were never taught that. I think you overstate that it was the Church’s intention. As to hearing the Word proclaimed, that phrase makes me wonder if it isn’t the root cause of such poor lecturing. Too many lectors are taught too read to slow, to make too much eye contact with the congregation, to use way too much intonation. It makes it impossible to follow along. People need to realize you are reading, not public speaking. Go listen to a few audio books. The people who produce those have gotten it down to a science (profits depend on it). Then compare to a typical lector at mass.

You are so wrong about this. Proclaiming the Holy Scripture at Mass is a form of public speaking. The words of the Holy Bible from the most ancient times were written to be spoken, proclaimed, first in Jewish synagogues and temples and then at Christian churches.

It’s only in past three to four hundred years that more and more people became literate and learned how to read. The words from the lectionary are meant to be spoken and heard. Spoken with a clear voice and with enough inflection in one’s voice to convey the emotions attached to the sacred words.

Now a FEW lectors tend to go overboard on this and proclaim the words as if they were a character speaking their lines from a dramatic play. That’s TOO MUCH inflection, too much intonation, but thankfully that tends to be the rare exception. The bigger problem is with too many lectors who proclaim the Holy Scriptures in a monotone voice with poor enunciation of the words.

Pope Francis has also commented on this need for better lectors who proclaim the words of God in an effective manner:
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/find-good-readers-for-mass-pope-francis-says-75871

 

[otjm]

I was referencing either what you may have forgotten, or not experienced.

There was a somewhat widespread attempt to do away with missals, the idea being we needed not to read, but to listen. Given that some people learn by reading and do poorly at oral "teaching’, I will leave it there.

I am not making an attack on your process; in fact I take it one step further; my local Catholic radio station carries a half hour with Bishop Barron on Sunday morning at 7 a.m., the first half being a review of his last week homily and the second half being this week’s homily. I have heard a few priests do as well, but never any who do better.

 

[otjm]

I am not mad about anything or anyone. There have been posts in this thread commenting about children observing an adult on their phone. That in itself should be enough said.

As I noted - I have no problem with a tablet. Most parishes have missals available; I disagree with the OP that using a phone is easier.

 

[otjm]

And as I noted, the OP did not say they were unable to read the missal.

I have no problem with a pad, which is clearly larger and not a phone.

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

What is it about tablets that make them more suitable/appropriate than smartphones for use in the nave during Mass?

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

I disagree with the OP that using a phone is easier.

Not everyone has a tablet or prefers them to phones. It’s totally fine for you to have your preferences; the problem comes when you try to enforce your preference as some kind of universal norm and declare that people who don’t conform to your preferences are “scandalizing” you.

 

[Loud-living-dogma]

We were never taught that. I think you overstate that it was the Church’s intention…

Hmm - - found on the interwebs today:

**PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD**

1. The proclamation of the Word of God is truly a service to the Church. Lectors bring the living Word of God to the liturgical assembly. The ministry of the Word should, therefore, be treated seriously and with great dignity. (GIRM 55)
2. The Word of God is not merely read during the liturgy. It is proclaimed, yet not with theatrical show. Effective proclamation involves the delivery of the message with clarity, conviction and appropriate pace. It demands the ability to evoke faith in others by demonstrating one’s own faith. Proclamation is a special ministry which presupposes faith. It also rouses faith in those who hear the Word proclaimed. (LM Intro 55)
3. Ideally, the assembly should listen to the proclamation of the Scriptures and not read along in a missalette. In the act of communal listening, the worshippers experience not only unity among themselves but also the presence of Christ speaking to them through the Word. Pastors and lectors need, however, to be attentive to special needs of the hearing impaired. (LM Intro 7, 37)

https://www.rcbo.org/resource/guidelines-for-lectors/