For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, Verse 1
Until a few months ago, I had managed to slog through life without a smart phone. That’s right, I’m one of those Neanderthals lugging a cell phone that is, well, just a phone.
That is to say, I was. But pressured by friends and the tech-savvy culture that threatens to turn us all into androids, I succumbed and now sport an iPhone 4.
And I confess that I really like it. I can check email, surf the web, take photos, make movies, read books, watch videos and make cappuccino. Ok, just kidding about the last one.
But in additional to lots of useful and useless stuff on the phone, I have a couple Bibles, the Roman Missal and the entire Breviary. I have my library of favorite music, including Bocelli, Groban and the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi.
So for me, the time has come for a smart phone and I accept it with joy and gratitude.
However, there is a limit to technology and where it ought to intrude, even if it might make life a little simpler.
For example, some folks are suggesting that an iPhone or iPad could be used for the readings during the celebration of Mass. Such a suggestion pushes me back into the ranks of the Neanderthals – at least for this use of technology.
The book used during mass should be large, leather, engraved, illuminated, heavy and, frankly, quite beautiful. Were it possible, every parish should have something along the lines of the Book of Kells.
We’re talking about the word of God!
Can the word of God speak to me from my iPhone? I suppose so. But I think He deserves something with a bit more feel for a few thousand years of history.
