Refreshments during Mass?

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I am seeing this disturbing (to grouchy old me anyway) trend of more and more people bringing water bottles and other insulated cups right with them to Mass. It started out a few years ago with all of the choir members bringing water bottles with them; which I could sorta understand. But, then the readers started bringing water, including one lady who routinely shows up with a 44 Oz. Big Gulp mug with a handle.

I am now noticing more and more regular parishoners coming in with their water bottles and cushions like they are going to a Lakers game.

I know you can receive water and medicine by mouth right up to receiving the Eucharist, but this seems so disrespectful to me.

I just don’t know what I will see next at Mass. Maybe a peanut and hot dog vendor going up and down the aisles.
 
Maybe people need water for health reasons. Or because of a dry mouth? Who knows? You could ask the Priest.
 
Unless your know each and every parishoner’s personal health history, I wouldn’t assume that the water isn’t a necessity. Or even the cushions for that matter. I have a friend that has MS, carries a cushion, but she looks as healthy as I do.
 
This is one probable explanation as to why so many more parishioners (especially children) get up to go to the restroom during Mass instead of going beforehand or holding it until after Mass. In our parish, there is a drinking fountain near the restrooms, but people still bring those bottles as it they were about to die of thirst, then leave them under the pews when they leave.
 
People bring a personal water vessel is no where near the same as a hot dog vendor in the aisles.

I would probably personally ignore it. If it “gets out of hand” with distractions, I would talk to the priest, but in the mean time, I’m happy that those people are there at all.
 
RedSparklyShoes said:
People bring a personal water vessel is no where near the same as a hot dog vendor in the aisles.

I would probably personally ignore it. If it “gets out of hand” with distractions, I would talk to the priest, but in the mean time, I’m happy that those people are there at all.
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Great point. I would freak out if there was a hotdog vendor in Mass! 😃
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
This is one probable explanation as to why so many more parishioners (especially children) get up to go to the restroom during Mass instead of going beforehand or holding it until after Mass. In our parish, there is a drinking fountain near the restrooms, but people still bring those bottles as it they were about to die of thirst, then leave them under the pews when they leave.
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Sometimes children will refuse to go pee until they absolutely have too. So you ask them before you go someplace, they say they don’t have to go or that they already went and then later they suddenly announce they have to go pee.:banghead: This is loads of fun if you are someplace there isn’t a restroom.

I have seen people bring bottles of water into Mass. Sometimes they are very, very old. At my previous parish we were admonished not to bring water in during Mass. I will confess that in my days as an Evangelical I went to a church where we brought in coffee or hot chocolate to sip during the service. It occurred to me later that that just reinforced the worship as entertainment mentality that we seemed to have at that particular church. Also some punk spilled his coffee/hot chocolate mixture near my purse.:mad:
 
I guess my feeling is that I couldn’t believe it either the first time I saw somebody in the choir with a water bottle. I have been around the Catholic Church for a long time and had never seen this before.
Even though the priest probably told them they could do it for their own comfort, I think that a little suffering on Christ’s behalf never hurt anybody. It seems like in this day and age, everybody thinks the rules of the Church have to change to suit our needs, not us change to do what the Church demands of us. Fasting for one hour or going without water shouldn’t hurt any of us, no matter what we think our ailment is.
Just my opinion!
 
jim6918 said:
I am seeing this disturbing (to grouchy old me anyway) trend of more and more people bringing water bottles and other insulated cups right with them to Mass.
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It will probably disturb you more to know that we (readers/cantors/priest) don’t even have to bring a water bottle in. We keep little 8 oz water bottles in a dorm fridge right in the sacristy!

Oh the horror. :rolleyes:

They are not “refreshments”. They are available if someone has a necessity. I, as a reader have had several occasions in which my throat got dry, or I got a tickle/cough, and the water helped correct the situation before I read.

I don’t know why everyone assumes bad motives on the part of everyone else. Perhaps those with coughs and such would prefer having a small water bottle nearby rather than erupting into a coughing fit during the middle of mass out of consideration to others. Assume the best, in charity.
 
I have mixed opinions on this. As an anxiety sufferer sometimes I get really hot and anxious during mass. During a particularly difficult time I went through a couple of years back I did take a bottle in with me. I wonder if readers do it for the same reasons? I think it may be worth being a little more forgiving of people. I think a clear water bottle is acceptable.
 
Well said, Ke, well said! 👍
1ke said:
It will probably disturb you more to know that we (readers/cantors/priest) don’t even have to bring a water bottle in. We keep little 8 oz water bottles in a dorm fridge right in the sacristy!

Oh the horror. :rolleyes:

They are not “refreshments”. They are available if someone has a necessity. I, as a reader have had several occasions in which my throat got dry, or I got a tickle/cough, and the water helped correct the situation before I read.

I don’t know why everyone assumes bad motives on the part of everyone else. Perhaps those with coughs and such would prefer having a small water bottle nearby rather than erupting into a coughing fit during the middle of mass out of consideration to others. Assume the best, in charity.
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Justkid, have you ever sung with a choir? Sometimes a sip of water is necessary if you want sound to actually come out of your mouth.🤷
justkid said:
I guess my feeling is that I couldn’t believe it either the first time I saw somebody in the choir with a water bottle. I have been around the Catholic Church for a long time and had never seen this before.
Even though the priest probably told them they could do it for their own comfort, I think that a little suffering on Christ’s behalf never hurt anybody. It seems like in this day and age, everybody thinks the rules of the Church have to change to suit our needs, not us change to do what the Church demands of us. Fasting for one hour or going without water shouldn’t hurt any of us, no matter what we think our ailment is.
Just my opinion!
Click to expand...
 
justkid said:
I guess my feeling is that I couldn’t believe it either the first time I saw somebody in the choir with a water bottle. I have been around the Catholic Church for a long time and had never seen this before.
Even though the priest probably told them they could do it for their own comfort, I think that a little suffering on Christ’s behalf never hurt anybody. It seems like in this day and age, everybody thinks the rules of the Church have to change to suit our needs, not us change to do what the Church demands of us. Fasting for one hour or going without water shouldn’t hurt any of us, no matter what we think our ailment is.
Just my opinion!
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As others said, there could be legitimate reasons from person to person, although it sounds like a social phenomenon where you are. The Big Gulp certainly seems unnecessary.
 
jim6918 said:
I am seeing this disturbing (to grouchy old me anyway) trend of more and more people bringing water bottles and other insulated cups right with them to Mass. It started out a few years ago with all of the choir members bringing water bottles with them; which I could sorta understand. But, then the readers started bringing water, including one lady who routinely shows up with a 44 Oz. Big Gulp mug with a handle.

I am now noticing more and more regular parishoners coming in with their water bottles and cushions like they are going to a Lakers game.

I know you can receive water and medicine by mouth right up to receiving the Eucharist, but this seems so disrespectful to me.

I just don’t know what I will see next at Mass. Maybe a peanut and hot dog vendor going up and down the aisles.
Click to expand...
 
Another reason why someone may bring a water bottle is very warm or hot weather. :)🙂 And water is not (useally) a ‘refreshment’. 🙂
 
I am in the choir, I am a cantor, I was a choir director for 13 years, and I am a lector. I do not take a water bottle into Mass. If I get a dry throat, so be it. If that is really the worst possible sacrifice I am called to make while at the foot of our Lord’s cross and receiving his physical body into my own, then I am a pretty lucky gal.

Perhaps for medical reasons, a bottle of water is allowable.

Because you sing and get a dry throat, nope.
 
Ophelia23 said:
Perhaps for medical reasons, a bottle of water is allowable.

Because you sing and get a dry throat, nope.
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In absence of any actual Church document forbidding water inside the nave or sanctuary, I think what we have here is an opinion.
 
1ke said:
In absence of any actual Church document forbidding water inside the nave or sanctuary, I think what we have here is an opinion.
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It is absolutely an opinion! I would never claim it to be anything else.
 
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