Water Bottles durring Mass

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mercygate said:
If one were concentrating on what is happening on the altar, one would not be drinking water.
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If one were concentrating on what is happening on the altar, one would not notice someone drinking the water. 🙂

I’m so sorry…I couldn’t resist. (Please know I’m just trying to inject a little humor and sarcasism here.)
 
Jason_Hurd said:
Well, I’ll tell you what is a source of scandal to me, and that is the number of people on this thread who apparently are so easily distracted at Mass that they have the time and inclination to notice what their neighbors are doing. One’s attention should be solely on the celebrant or on one’s own prayers. What is with all this looking around and making note of what other people are doing? Is that why we come to church, to judge others in a misguided attempt to make ourselves feel superior? If your attention span is so weak that you cannot concentrate on the Mass because your neighbor’s behavior bothers you, then I suggest you see your doctor immediately, because you may have something medically wrong with you. Otherwise, we would all be well advised, for the welfare of our souls, to pay more attention to what’s going on at the altar and less to what is going on in the pews. It’s not hard if you really try.
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Well Said:clapping: , until I read your post, I was going to tell my eldery Mama with her oxygen tank to stay home from Mass with her water bottle because she might scandalized these superior, Holier than thou folks:rolleyes:
Unless you totally inside anothers head and know EXACTLY why he or she is doing something, learn to mind your own business and pay attention to the Mass, and leave the judgement of others to God.
 
boppaid said:
I don’t know why I’m debating this to death…I don’t even do it! :rotfl: I think it’s the principle that’s got me going! That, and the stress of having to take my state boards this weekend! EEK!
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Thanks for taking the day shift on this thread. 😉 I’ll ditto just about everything you said. Like you, I don’t drink water during mass. But I’m defending those who do because of the principle of the matter–it is simply not appropriate to strike out in anger or make assumptions about another person who has not chosen the same (optional) sacrifices of self-denial. “Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20

RobNY, thank you for providing our neighbors with that lovely quote from Dubay. Hopefully that seed will find some fertile ground in all our hearts and come to flower!
 
ktp said:
I am curious if there are ANY medical conditions that prevent a person from going a whole hour without water. If so, how do they sleep at night? They would have to set their alarm to be up every 30 or 45 minutes to have a drink. :confused: (
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Yes, an anxiety disorder, the one I mentioned earlier, and diabetes, as someone else mentioned. There are probably others.🙂
 
kim3260 said:
Well Said:clapping: , until I read your post, I was going to tell my eldery Mama with her oxygen tank to stay home from Mass with her water bottle because she might scandalized these superior, Holier than thou folks:rolleyes:
Unless you totally inside anothers head and know EXACTLY why he or she is doing something, learn to mind your own business and pay attention to the Mass, and leave the judgement of others to God.
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Take a deep breath here. This thread has largely addressed the matter of perfectly healthy people who were somehow deprived of basic training in civil public behavior.

It is highly unlikely that the first decade of the twenty-first century has seen an epidemic of diseases requiring instantaneous water-doses as therapy.

People over the age of 18 months, generallly speaking, are perfectly capable of going an hour without water. This is hardly a sacrifice or mortification of any kind.
 
mercygate said:
People over the age of 18 months, generallly speaking, are perfectly capable of going an hour without water. This is hardly a sacrifice or mortification of any kind.
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With all due respect, I must maintain that “capable” does not equal “morally required to do so.”

If I am ignorant regarding some official Church teaching on this issue, please do inform me.
 
I think a good bit of advice for singers is to come to Mass properly hydrated. It’s an endurance/vocal quality thing. If you find yourself constantly needing to guzzle water during Mass, consider tanking up gradually during the course of the morning. Skip the coffee and milk at breakfast and just have a glass of water instead. By all means, take a drink during Mass if you must, but if you’re properly hydrated when you show up, you most likely will not need to. 😃
 
CatholicNerd said:
I think a good bit of advice for singers is to come to Mass properly hydrated. It’s an endurance/vocal quality thing. If you find yourself constantly needing to guzzle water during Mass, consider tanking up gradually during the course of the morning. Skip the coffee and milk at breakfast and just have a glass of water instead. By all means, take a drink during Mass if you must, but if you’re properly hydrated when you show up, you most likely will not need to. 😃
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When I was an Episcopalian, the great summer feasts (St. Anthony, Corpus Christi, Assumption) could see the choir loft at over 100 degrees F. The liturgies were about 90 minutes, not counting the prep time beforehand. Somehow, we all made it through without water – even up there, where nobody in the congregation could see us.

If people are not sick, they can go a couple of hours without water: even the choir.
 
Some Diabetics NEED to drink water constantly. As long as there is a medical necessity, I have no problem with people drinking from water bottles during Mass.
 
JezuUfamTobie said:
With all due respect, I must maintain that “capable” does not equal “morally required to do so.”

If I am ignorant regarding some official Church teaching on this issue, please do inform me.
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For a person who is capable of “good” behavior to indulge in private satisfactions during a public event demeans his dignity as a human person. The dignity of the human person is a central tenet of Catholic social thought and runs all the way from the basic right to life, down to the details of social interaction.

It is the teaching of the Church that the end of man is “to know God, to love him, and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him in Heaven.”

For a normal, healthy person to be drinking water during Mass detracts from his active participation in the greatest means available to the Christian for approaching his eternal destiny.

Drinking water is a private indulgence not ordered toward full participation in the public offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
mercygate said:
For a person who is capable of “good” behavior to indulge in private satisfactions during a public event demeans his dignity as a human person. Drinking water is a private indulgence not ordered toward full participation in the public offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
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Just out of curiosity, who is setting the standard for this “good” behanvior? The church? I haven’t seen anything from them on this issue. Society? Does the Church require its people to conform to society?
 
boppaid said:
Just out of curiosity, who is setting the standard for this “good” behanvior? The church? I haven’t seen anything from them on this issue. Society? Does the Church require its people to conform to society?
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Furthermore, if drinking water during mass is bad, why would Canon 919 make a very specific exception to the communion fast, for water?

And if taking such a sip (not rudely guzzling) is not evil and in fact expressly permitted by Canon Law in the hour before receiving the Eucharist, why the huge fuss over what our neighbor is doing?

One can argue that is would be better to abstain from water, but in that case a gentle invitation for the water-drinkers to go the extra mile would be more appropriate than the kind of self-satisfied rant many of the posters have indulged in.
 
boppaid said:
Just out of curiosity, who is setting the standard for this “good” behanvior? The church? I haven’t seen anything from them on this issue. Society? Does the Church require its people to conform to society?
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The Vatican II document *Sacrosanctum Concilium *states:
**II. The Promotion of Liturgical Instruction and Active Participation **
  1. Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.
In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, this** full and active participation** by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else; for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit; and therefore pastors of souls must zealously strive to achieve it, by means of the necessary instruction, in all their pastoral work.
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According to canon law (#837):
Liturgical actions are not private but are celebrations of the Church itself as the ‘sacrament of unity’, that is, the holy people united and ordered under the Bishops. Accordingly, they concern the whole body of the Church, making it known and influencing it. They affect individual members of the Church in ways that vary according to orders, role and actual participation.
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The *unnecessary, *consumption of water during the sacred liturgy is a private act not ordered towards the sacrifice of the Mass that detracts from the unity signified by the liturgy and also dilutes participation according to our priestly service in the lay order in the Church.
 
No, I don’t think they should be allowed. Why should they? Can’t a person…unless there is a medical reason…be able to go for about an hour without a sip of something? I have seen a woman sip a can of coke at Mass before. Where would it end? Get a tad hungry and nibble on a Big Mac? Control…control…

:heart:Blyss
 
mercygate said:
It is highly unlikely that the first decade of the twenty-first century has seen an epidemic of diseases requiring instantaneous water-doses as therapy.

People over the age of 18 months, generallly speaking, are perfectly capable of going an hour without water. This is hardly a sacrifice or mortification of any kind.
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yes there is an epidedemic, you see decades ago she (my mama) and others would have just died without the medical means of today, also people are living with dieases that would have cut their quaulity of life short only a few years ago. They were confined to houses or even beds. We need to keep ourselves in check and not worry about what the next guy is doing. Some medical problems are not easily seen to the average person.

There is an epidedemic! It’s called judgement and pride, I see a little to much here.
 
kim3260 said:
yes there is an epidedemic, you see decades ago she (my mama) and others would have just died without the medical means of today, also people are living with dieases that would have cut their quaulity of life short only a few years ago. They were confined to houses or even beds. We need to keep ourselves in check and not worry about what the next guy is doing. Some medical problems are not easily seen to the average person.

There is an epidedemic! It’s called judgement and pride, I see a little to much here.
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The people toting water bottles for the most part are not in the category you mention. And you know it.

Judgment and pride? I’ll take my chances.
 
mercygate said:
**For a person who is capable of “good” behavior to indulge in private satisfactions during a public event demeans his dignity as a human person. ** The dignity of the human person is a central tenet of Catholic social thought and runs all the way from the basic right to life, down to the details of social interaction.

It is the teaching of the Church that the end of man is “to know God, to love him, and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him in Heaven.”

For a normal, healthy person to be drinking water during Mass detracts from his active participation in the greatest means available to the Christian for approaching his eternal destiny.

Drinking water is a private indulgence not ordered toward full participation in the public offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
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Thank you for putting it so eloquently. We’re talking about minimum standards for behavior in a formal situation here. Twenty years ago, it would never have occurred to any of us that taking water into Mass would be OK. Forty years ago, Sister would have slapped that bottle out of our hands.

Betsy
 
baltobetsy said:
Thank you for putting it so eloquently. We’re talking about minimum standards for behavior in a formal situation here. Twenty years ago, it would never have occurred to any of us that taking water into Mass would be OK. Forty years ago, Sister would have slapped that bottle out of our hands.

Betsy
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Thanks, Betsy. Welcome to the proud fellowship of the “pride and judgment” club.

Pride is my favorite sin!
 
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