Thought I'd Seen Everything at Mass...

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FickleFreckled

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At Mass today I sat in our small chapel off the altar area instead of the main church. The chapel is usually full of parents with small children, so I expect the occasional cookie and coloring books. Behind me sat a mom and three girls; the youngest couldn’t have been less than 8, the oldest looked to be maybe 14. During the homily the oldest begins rummaging in her purse, messing around with a very crackly bag. Finally she opens it and…starts munching. Then another of the girls begins to munch. I looked around at the mom, and one of the girls shushed the one with the noisy bag. Mom glared at me. They kept eating, slurping and crunching candy. I’d decided to remind them about the fast before Communion when they grabbed their purses and headed to Communion before I could say anything. I’d forgotten that the chapel starts with the back row. They left from there, didn’t return. It can’t even be blamed strictly on ignorance of Catholicism; you’d think any normal person would have the good sense and respect not to eat during any church service. It blew me away. Has anyone else seen this at Mass? How can people be that disrespectful?!
 
Whenever I see such people at Mass, I think to myself- at least they are here whereas some of my (adult children) no longer attend Mass. So I say a little prayer for my own and for them.
 
was a little late this morning for RCIA because I stayed to clean up crackers–whole and crumbs, at least 20 of them, from 3 pews (baptisms yesterday, am guessing lots of families with small children and uncatechized on church etiquette). Also picked up an empty snack size bag of cheetohs, a half-full bottle of sprite (with cap on, thank goodness), quantities of used tissue, and a wad of gum off the windowsill on the way out.
 
Yikes, puzzleannie - I hope it’s not a peculiarly Texas thing! The crackers and stuff for small children is one thing, but cheetos and sprite???
 
I can top yours Fricklefreckled… once during mass I sat in the chapel area which also doubled as a sort of “cry room” behind a Dad and his son of maybe 8 yrs. old. I was 😊 to see the boy playing a hand held game-boy (electronic game) but imagine my :eek: when I saw him pass it to the Dad for HIS turn. Seriously… during the mass!
 
Yikes again…I wasn’t defaming Texas; I’m in Texas too!

Maybe I’ve just been lucky not to have seen this before now. They were treating the Mass like Monday Night at the Movies.
 
I thought I had seen everything until I found a crossword puzzle book in the adoration chapel last month. Someone couldn’t figure out how to spend an hour with Christ.
 
one time i saw two teenage s sitting in the way back listening to an ipod during the whole mass and doing a little dancing. then once communion came, they put the ipod down, went recieved Jesus as if He was nothing and went back to listening to music. then the parents up front met up with them after mass and they left. :mad:
 
FickleFreckled said:
…you’d think any normal person would have the good sense and respect not to eat during any church service. It blew me away. Has anyone else seen this at Mass? How can people be that disrespectful?!
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People can do anything and nothing surprises me anymore either. Just common courtesy not to mention an understanding of what the Mass is. It is sad…teachccd 😦
 
This lack of reverence in the House of our Lord greatly saddens me. I can only hope that such actions will someday come to mind and cause a positive suffering and sorrow for them and subsequent repentance. In the future it may be these such actions that bring them closer to our Lord. We can only pray.

In my Church today everyone was quiet and reverent with the exception of one small child. The mother did everything possible to quiet the child. I hope this helps you to know this is probably not a common practice.

Merry Christmas :christmastree1:

Rubyt
 
zab said:
Whenever I see such people at Mass, I think to myself- at least they are here whereas some of my (adult children) no longer attend Mass. So I say a little prayer for my own and for them.
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Yes, and although I do agree on one hand (as my daughter often gave that response when I questioned her attire for Mass).

It is definitely a double edged sword. How far do you allow them to go? If they abuse someone can we say it’s better than killing them?

Much of the ill-manners is a direct response to the eating everywhere, which is so common today----My daughter has an anxiety attack, if she takes the kids out without the trunkload of snacks & drinks.

Lux
 
FickleFreckled said:
Yikes, puzzleannie - I hope it’s not a peculiarly Texas thing! The crackers and stuff for small children is one thing, but cheetos and sprite???
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DD goes to a church in suburban Cleveland which is only 10 years old, in an affluent neighborhood, cost $10 million to build, it is beautiful, upholstered chairs with kneelers instead of pews, carpet under the seats (to cut down on noise, not in the aisles and walkways), nursery, cry room adjacent, changing room and lounge for nursing mothers, RE classrooms, meeting rooms–their cleaning bill is astronomical and they are always making announcements reminding folks it is a church, not golden corral, and there is no eating in the church and definitely not while Mass is going on.
 
benedictgal said:
Thank you for that defense!

At least on board an airplane, the stewardesses make you clean up your mess before you land. 🤷
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And the ones that do it best, I might add, are Southwest.

I used to live in Texas. Some of the poorest churches in Texas had the most respect for God and their parish churches, and were cleaned to a high gloss I didn’t see in such carpeted places as the North side of San Antonio, or the North side of Chicago for that matter.
 
I sat behind a couple of boys who had to be in 5th or 6th grade who were both playing with electronic, hand-held Game Boys. One of them accidently hit the volume button and the thing made noise. The parents shushed them, and they went on playing - until communion when they went forward and received, then returned to their seats and continued playing. I was just heartsick.
 
At least they are at mass. The parents are doing something right.

We are not to judge ignorance. That’s up to God.

For all we know, these kids could be going to Confession and praying regularly. Or perhaps these kids are not taking it seriously now, but if people in the church remain kind and compassionate towards them, their warm church experiences will bring them closer to God in time.
 
In the past 15 years, I’ve been in 3 different parishes, 2 affluent and the present one in an older, “downwardly-mobile” suburb. I also attend the Cathedral sometimes. I’ve seen the usual stuff, little kids with food to keep them quiet, cell phones going off, teenagers in skimpy clothes, but have never seen the snacking, video games, iPods or any of that you’re talking about. It’s probably a good thing because I have a mouth and it sometimes runs before I can stop it. I emailed the pastor asking if he could clarify the rules for fasting, etc. during a homily, but what would you all do? Keep your mouth shut or say something to the person?
 
FickleFreckled said:
Yikes again…I wasn’t defaming Texas; I’m in Texas too!

Maybe I’ve just been lucky not to have seen this before now. They were treating the Mass like Monday Night at the Movies.
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Same thing at the Church I used to attend for 7:00 a.m. Mass in East Harlem. Monday morning, the place was a total trash bin.
 
FickleFreckled said:
In the past 15 years, I’ve been in 3 different parishes, 2 affluent and the present one in an older, “downwardly-mobile” suburb. I also attend the Cathedral sometimes. I’ve seen the usual stuff, little kids with food to keep them quiet, cell phones going off, teenagers in skimpy clothes, but have never seen the snacking, video games, iPods or any of that you’re talking about. It’s probably a good thing because I have a mouth and it sometimes runs before I can stop it. I emailed the pastor asking if he could clarify the rules for fasting, etc. during a homily, but what would you all do? Keep your mouth shut or say something to the person?
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In my case it’s what have I done…I say (usually after Mass), “you know Mass is not a place to …(whatever disrespect they exhibit).” I do let alot of things go to a point but blatent disrepect diserves acknowledgement. We can go on saying that we should be glad that they are there. So ,then, if that is the case would it be o.k. for a couple of teenagers to make out during the homily? I mean, come on, there is a time and a place and parents of small ones need to lead by example. If the little ones need snacks to keep them busy, I have no problem with that. But as kids get to school age they should be taught what the Mass is and the immense respect the Mass deserves.

Aside from kids, I see adults talking through the Eucaristic Prayer and many other parts of the Mass. What do we expect from our kids when we cannot sit still for one hour? I’m almost fifty years old and I remember when Mass was not a source of entertainment but a time when one gave the ultimate reverence during the holiest event given to humankind. Now, it seems, anything goes. I guess proper attire and respect left with the chapel veils…teachccd 😦
 
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