AmericanPapist Comments
Agreed, agreed, agreed!
Few things make me see as deep a bloody red as cellphones ringing at Mass.
There's only one thing that makes me see an even deeper blood red, and that's when a second phone goes off 5 minutes later. Are people so obtuse that they don't get the hint when they hear the first one chime?
At what point has the best answer to abuse of technology been the institution of more technology? Seems to me that prudence (read: being more direct about the fact that it is somewhat shameful to let the phone go off in mass) might be a better remedy. It seems to me that non-natural entities can never stand in for moral judgment. Anyway, I'm assuming it is preferable to have a church that isn't passive-aggressive about these small things. It might be indicative of a church that's passive-aggressive about larger things. I'm also hoping that I'm taking this post way too seriously.
There's an "up" side to everything. In a recent homily, our priest told the following story. An Indian guru visited the Pope in the Vatican, and noticed a red phone on his desk. When the guru inquired what it was for, the Pope responded that it was a direct line to heaven. "Are the calls expensive?" the guru asked. "Very," replied the Pope. "It's long distance." A few years went by, and the Pope visited India. The guru proudly displayed the red phone on his desk. "Ah!" said the Pope. "And how much do you pay?" "Ten cents," replied the guru, with a smile. (Pause) "It's a local call....." And at that point, someone's cell phone began ringing in church. Needless to say, Father had to wait a while for the laughter to die down!
One time a few years ago when one of our Parish Priests was seated for the first reading, his pager went off. Presumably he was wearing the pager because he was on call for the hospital, and he probably forgot to set it on silent during the Mass. He quickly turned it off, and I think most folks in the congregation understood that it was a matter of necessity for him. Our current priest leaves his pager in the sacristy during Mass, which is of course to be preferred.
I agree that there is no excuse for a ringing cellphone during Mass, but I have had occasions when I had to keep my phone on silent because of a very ill and frail relative who was being transported to hospital while we were in church with the family. There are always possible family or medical emergencies for which, even at Mass, a person might need to be reached, but the phone should always be on silent.
Sure it is irritating, but accidents happen. People are absent-minded and over-scheduled, not deliberately inconsiderate.
I'd have no problem with a relaxation of the law for churches, though.
Nothing is more important when you are at Mass than the Mass itself.
Nothing.
And, plantlady, your pastor sounds like a syncretist. The joke is about an Irishman, not an Indian guru. ;)
Thomas ---
So a firefighter or paramedic who is "on call" cannot be called away from Mass to save a life?
I don't think that's right.
I was one of the lectors for Easter Vigil at our parish this year.
I was the leadoff batter, so my reading was Genesis 1. Around or about the fourth day, in a virtually totally darkened church -- off goes some jerk's cellphone
I was ready to chuck thunderbolts at that point. The pastor told me later I had a look to kill on my face.
So, yes, on with the cell phone jammers!
(And, surely, those in the emergency professions can get pagers that have a "vibrate" mode!)
Brassband, if a fireman is on duty he shouldn't be at Mass anyway. He should be ON DUTY. And when he is at Mass he should be at Mass.
As it was stated before, how on earth did the human race ever survive this long without cellphones to have us on call 24-7?
This might be a needless, unhelpful and rash comparison to make, but it came to mind and it might help get across my general take on this question:
"Would a fireman on duty take a phone call if he was in the middle of renewing the marriage bond with his wife (euphamistically speaking)?"
Now - *clearly* - the analogy fails in several ways, but it just serves to get across the point that there are some times in life when we have to sacrifice instant, total communication with the outside world and, well, I think Mass might just be one of those times.
Okay, let me have it. :)
I'm with Mike in that emergency personnel should be exempt. In small towns where fire departments and EMTs are comprised of volunteers who are called as needed, it's not as if they have a firehouse or whatever to spend time while on duty. I've had several relatives get called away from church to respond to a call, and they'd simply return for a later Mass. I'm usually aggravated by cell phones in church, and in class, and in other place where they're not appropriate, but I give a pass to those who volunteer their time to help those in need. I imagine others in the church are also understanding. Small towns are cool like that.
I was once at Mass and the priest's phone went off while he was giving his homily. He took the phone out of his pocket, checked who called, put it back in and continued on. I don't even think he bothered to apologize. The congregation and I got a good laugh out of it.
Whoops. I'm actually backing brassband here. Although I do agree with Mike that a relaxation of the law for churches wouldn't be a bad thing at all!
There are several physicians in our parish, and on occasion I see them reach for their phone during Mass, and quietly walk out. The point is, I NEVER hear their phones ring. It's called "vibrate".
Anybody who lets their phone RING during Mass should be summarily executed.
OK, so doctors and first responders who are on call have no business going to mass? Sorry, I disagree. Most cell phones anymore can be set to "vibrate only," but give a break to those who forget to set it. Maybe it's a bigger problem in some areas than it is here: I only rarely hear a cell phone ring at mass, and if it is silenced fairly quickly, it is FAR less annoying than the people behind me who are whispering loudly. Yeah, they're probably whispering about how "shameful" it was to let that cell phone ring!
Jamming technology would be a bad idea, even though it would be nice to make it through Mass without somebody's cell phone going off.
Those who need to be reached should set the phone to vibrate...this isn't the early 90s, I haven't seen a phone in a long time that doesn't have a vibrate option.
And while I'm all for showing charity to those who forget to switch the phone to vibrate (good) or turn it off (better), they have a responsibility to everyone else to press the 3 buttons needed to silence the phone before Mass. I set mine to "Flight Mode" if I have it with me, and make sure it's in silent mode (I have a PocketPC phone, so it can make noise even when the phone portion is off.)
I attend a good-sized church, and nearly every week somebody has forgotten to silence his phone.
Our choir director makes an announcement before each Mass. It's a simple reminder to turn off cell phones and pagers before Mass begins. It's not that hard to do and is way more charitable than condemning everyone who forgets to summary execution.
I'm a little disturbed by the attitude that doctors, police officers or other emergency personnel ought to skip Mass if there's any chance they'll be called away. It's on a par with a similar attitude I've encountered, that a mother with babies ought to stay at home rather than disturb the other parishioners with her presence, and that of her children. Perhaps no one who has the slightest propensity to become distracted at Mass ought to attend?
To be honest, I'm more likely to be distracted and seriously annoyed by the antics of a priest who sees the Mass as his personal plaything, ad-libbing and joking his way through the entire Holy Sacrifice, than I am because some unfortunate soul forgot to silence his cell phone.
Red, you bring up something that for me is far more irritating than cell phones going off: crying children. Parents, do the rest of us a favor and, when necessary, use the cry room that most parishes have. I find fussy children that parents won't/can't control to be a far greater nuisance to my participation in Mass than 10 seconds of cell phone ringing.
Summary execution, Dr. Peters?
Reminds me of the scene in "Blazing Saddles" where the guy got shot for chewing gum on line. As Gene Wilder said, "Boy, are you strict!"
Nathan...want to know something even MORE annoying than unruly children? A priest who believes ALL children who make the SLIGHTEST noise are unruly!
I was visiting a small parish, where a child in one of the front rows was making an occasional, joyful "squawk"--and every time he did, the priest would stop, MID-SENTENCE, and give the child the "evil eye," and would then start his last sentence over again. He was FAR more distracting than the child :)
lol. A retired priest back home would sometimes fill in at my parish, and he was like that. Kids started getting out of line, and he'd shut down until the kid quieted. He'd even pause when there was excessive coughing. I first found it really off-putting, but then when it got to where I realized I was being distracted by those things, I grew to appreciate it. The priest is a really nice guy, but not many people who haven't bothered to get to know him would agree because of his intolerance of noise-makers!
Funny movie, brassband. Better than most give it credit for. In fact...oops, cell phone going off. See you!
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