[PJ] Pope Francis would prefer that you let your smart phone be dumb during Mass.Catholic News Agency reports that the pontiff admonished a general audience on Wednesday, reminding them that the priest tells us to "lift up our hearts," and not to "lift up our phones," to take pictures.
Upon first reading this, I sympathized with picture-takers. After all, many of the people attending Mass when Pope Francis is the celebrant are having a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Then I remembered a simpler, pre-smartphone time when I got to go to a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in the late 1980s. I was there with several relatives and friends and I don't remember ever having seen a picture from the Mass. I know that some of us had cameras with us. What I don't remember is whether we simply avoided using the cameras during Mass out of respect or if we were instructed not to do so.
Small confession here: a couple of years ago while serving has a hospitality minister (my parish's fancy way of saying "usher") during midnight Mass I was guilty of trying to take pictures of the beautifully decorated church and the crowd from the vestibule, and I wasn't even seeing the pope.
While Pope Francis was making a very specific point, there is a broader concern with being attentive during Mass that I have some personal experience with lately. As many know, I have recently been dealing with a faith struggle that I've chronicled on this site. As I have begun returning to Mass, I deliberately chose to go to a different parish of my own precisely to avoid distractions.
I've been at my parish for twenty years and have been a volunteer there almost that entire time. While it is still my favorite parish, going to Mass there can be fraught with distractions as I know so many people and often end up helping out with various things. I do still love all of that, but during this difficult time I simply wanted to go to Mass and just be present.