I like what your friend said. I think that is a true sign of humility. I am afraid that sometimes we (including me) care that we LOOK humble to others. I use imissal and an app for morning and evening prayers I am sure someone has thought I was texting.(which I only do in response to family members and that rarely and never at Mass I am no good at texting
Quite true! For most of us I would think turning the phone off should not be an issue. Even in an emergency, eg house on fire, family member taken to hospital etc recieving a text or call during mass is not going to change those circumstances nor enable us to do something to change the outcome.
I think if you had an ongoing emergency prior to mass or were expecting a loved one to die you would be able to forego your Sungay obligation. When my mother was dying from leukimia and was in her last hours I did miss a Sunday mass (she passed away that morning) and my priest and bishop did not see a problem with having done so.
Sadly, some people’s lives are in a near constant state of chaos. I have a church friend who has one serverely mentally-handicapped daugher, a suicidal son, an absent husband, and a dying mom, all going on sinutaneously. If she waited for a opportune time to go to Mass, she would never go, and an hour spent in the presence of Christ is the only peace she gets. I’m sure she doesn’t turn her cell phone off though, in case she gets one of “those calls”.
True often enough, although if I found out during Mass I would want to leave to attend to the relative or the burnt down house. As for musicians lining up their next gig or finding a replacement or whatnot - well, to me that doesn’t rate as anywhere near important enough to be texting during Mass about it. The world is not going to screech to a grinding halt if someone has the wrong hymn number or one musician (or even all the musicians) are absent
I don’t know if you were responding to my using the word “Business”…but if you were, perhaps you missed my “business”
I agree, I think that cell phones have over-inflated our own feelings of self-importance. I remember when they didn’t exist. If you were in Church and your family had a crisis they got a hold of you on your home phone and left an answering machine message that you got when you came home. Everyone cites doctors, etc, but how many of us REALLY need the cell phone? Lock it in your car and one hour later you can check it and return calls. If there is an emergency I need the grace that Mass can give me. I hate phones, and 99% of the time my ringer is off. I just check it a few times a day and good enough.
I don’t have a problem with accessing spiritual resources on a phone, and after a few Sundays I would probably make the connection that this is what you’re doing, but the first time I saw it, it would be a major distraction. It would probably occupy my attention for most of the Mass. Now I have an obligation to focus on the Mass and not be watching my neighbor, but per St. Paul my neighbor also has an obligation to not put stumbling blocks in my path. I would humbly propose you contemplate switching to resources in book form out of respect for the weakness of others.
