It’s difficult to find a quiet place anymore. Retail stores feature pulsing club music. There are televisions in every waiting room – doctor, dentist, even auto mechanic – and even screens in taxis and elevators.

There’s no escaping the noise, not even in church. Church used to be a place of quiet, mindful reflection. Those arriving at church early knew to be quiet. It was understood that some were praying or at least engaging in the type of solemn reflection that probably drew them to a house of worship in the first place.

Not today. Enter a church 10 or 15 minutes before a service begins and it feels like you’re waiting for a concert or theater production to begin. There’s non-stop chatter. People are scrolling through their phones, checking social media, perhaps sending a few texts.

Before mass begins, a lector will make a few announcements, including a plea to silence all electronic devices. This never works. Inevitably during the mass someone’s phone will go off, usually during one of the most solemn points of the service and usually with the loudest, most obnoxious ring tone. And it’s often a phone belonging to a woman, who must scramble to retrieve the phone from the depths of her bag to silence it. Thus, the phone rings five or six times before it’s turned off.

Is there nowhere we can escape digital disruption? A Catholic mass, like the ones I attend, lasts roughly an hour, usually 50 minutes or so. Are we so digitally addicted that we can’t leave the phone in the car? Unless you’re an on-call physician, is there any possible emergency that can’t wait an hour?

Back when those hideous Bluetooth earpieces were fashionable – thankfully we moved away that – I knew a guy who would wear one in church. I always wondered if he planned to take calls during the service. I’ve sat next to people who text and scroll through social media feeds during mass.

Look, church isn’t for everyone. I’ve gone through periods, especially in recent years, where my attendance has been sporadic. But if you’re going to make the commitment to go, shouldn’t it be a time of prayerful reflection, a time to pause from the chaos of daily life and be mindful?

When 24/7 digital use became an issue a decade or so ago, priests used to address it. A few even called out the offenders. But now, like so much rude behavior involving phones – phones used at restaurants, movies, on airplanes, etc. – priests have resigned themselves to having disruptions in mass. I know they must do a slow burn at the altar, pausing while someone digs the phone out.

No doubt the priests are praying that people can somehow become more mindful – at least for the one hour they’re in church.