We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto Dept.

Modernity never fails to amaze me. And not in a good way. One of our local parishes found it necessary to print the following in the Sunday bulletin:

We have noticed again an increase in the use of cell phones during Church services as well as an increase in the use of phone games and other video games during Mass in the Church. We ask the parents to give a good example by teaching respect to their children during Mass. The Mass period is a sacred and prayerful period and other people are unjustly distracted by the noise of your cell phones or by the person in front playing video games while in Church. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL AND CONSIDERATE with the right of others to pray and worship in PEACE and SILENCE. Also a reminder that NO CHEWING GUM OR FOOD IS ALLOWED IN THE CHURCH. Thank you for helping us to make ______ a more conducive place for worship.

It's not a traditional chapel (did I need to mention that?) or even a church with a Summorum Pontificum once-a-week Mass but your basic N.O. parish trying to do the right thing so I won't embarrass them by mentioning them by name. I suspect it's a lost cause and not just because people playing video games in church are hardly likely to read the bulletin. But how do you instill reverence when your rubrics, music, and language are shouting that nothing terribly important is going on?