I love technology and I love my laptop and I love Facebook (Twitter not so much) and I love my cell phone and I love my unlimited texting (I have two children in their 20's now and a 17 year old) and I love everything about it. And I envy my son's IPhone and desperately want my own and I have a feeling I would love the new IPad. And there are IPods and Nintendo DS and Wii and BlueRay and extra computers around this house.
Our home is not a cave.
But....this has gone too far, folks: Is He Saying Mass or Updating Facebook?
Like Mary, I also: "I tend to stick to an old-fashion missal and prayer book in church, or at the very least my monthly subscription to Magnificat..."
I am all for the Church following the times so as to reach the people. God bless Mother Angelica and Pope John Paul II for their insight and vision towards embracing technology and media. But the church also embraces tradition and speaks to us through the sights, scents, and songs of Mass.
There is something in the weight of a book, in the rustle of the pages, and the smell of the paperized wood that cannot be replaced with an IPad.
Next thing we know, the Sunday missals will be available on IPad and parishioners will be sitting in their pews with one on their lap doing God only knows what with it. There will be new meaning found in "At least I was there! in body if not in spirit."
Oh, indeed.
And I'll admit to being as weak as the next person.
I won't attempt to think of what the younger crowd will be doing. And to think we fretted over the days our toddlers tore a page in the missalettes.
Our home is not a cave.
But....this has gone too far, folks: Is He Saying Mass or Updating Facebook?
Like Mary, I also: "I tend to stick to an old-fashion missal and prayer book in church, or at the very least my monthly subscription to Magnificat..."
I am all for the Church following the times so as to reach the people. God bless Mother Angelica and Pope John Paul II for their insight and vision towards embracing technology and media. But the church also embraces tradition and speaks to us through the sights, scents, and songs of Mass.
There is something in the weight of a book, in the rustle of the pages, and the smell of the paperized wood that cannot be replaced with an IPad.
Next thing we know, the Sunday missals will be available on IPad and parishioners will be sitting in their pews with one on their lap doing God only knows what with it. There will be new meaning found in "At least I was there! in body if not in spirit."
Oh, indeed.
And I'll admit to being as weak as the next person.
I won't attempt to think of what the younger crowd will be doing. And to think we fretted over the days our toddlers tore a page in the missalettes.
I looooooove my iPad, but never thought of it being something I'd be using during Mass. And I have to agree with you--a weak person, such as I, might do something really dumb during Mass like check something on the Internet. (You know, something really important that you think you'll be long done with before Mass begins, but. . .) I'll continue to NOT use mine during Mass.
ReplyDeleteI don't have an Ipad, but I do you my iPhone extensively for prayers. Universalis is my most used "app," but I don't ever use it during Mass (even though it has Mass readings) because I don't want people to think I'm playing bejeweled blitz or something! LOL And I don't think it will be good when a day comes when people do use their iPads/Droids in Mass, even if they are using them for reading along. There's just too much fun stuff on there, and people are too prone to multi-task while on our gadgets.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can see some benefit in certain circumstances. Yesterday afternoon, my oldest dd and I bicycled up to our church for afternoon confession, and as she was a little nervous in the line, I had a chance to share with her my newest Catholic app find, http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/divine-mercy-guide/id357430643?mt=8. So the two of us together started to pray (silently) the Divine Mercy Chaplet. It was a graced moment made possible by technology. Now, the few people around us starting to arrive for the Sat. nite Mass might have been thinking I was showing her something goofy, but I knew it was okay.
I still wouldn't do it during Mass, though!