Are shorts appropriate for mass?

[Fidelis]

RichT:

I have been in some parishes where anything less than a shirt and tie would be inappropriate, and in some where shorts were quite normal. I find this to be dictated by the local’s and what is considered normal for them.

It can be argued that shorts at Mass have become “considered normal” not because they are an accepted social norm, but because of the slovenliness of the wearers, their casual regard for the Mass, and the lack of internal fortitude of those who are in a position to inspire reverence for the Holy Mysteries. As I noted above, members of other churches in the Phoenix area don their “Sunday Best” for services. IMHO, it is not a “local” issue, but Catholics taking advantage of lax catechesis and misplaced notions of “inclusiveness.” Fr. Benedict Groeschel notes that in his years in the Bronx he noticed it was the poor who dressed in the most dignified way for church, even if they had to go to the second hand store to do it. Maybe we Catholics are too lazy, self-indulgent and rich for our own good.

 

[RichT]

Fidelis:

It can be argued that shorts at Mass have become “considered normal” not because they are an accepted social norm, but because of the slovenliness of the wearers, their casual regard for the Mass, and the lack of internal fortitude of those who are in a position to inspire reverence for the Holy Mysteries. As I noted above, members of other churches in the Phoenix area don their “Sunday Best” for services. IMHO, it is not a “local” issue, but Catholics taking advantage of lax catechesis and misplaced notions of “inclusiveness.” Fr. Benedict Groeschel notes that in his years in the Bronx he noticed it was the poor who dressed in the most dignified way for church, even if they had to go to the second hand store to do it. Maybe we Catholics are too lazy, self-indulgent and rich for our own good.

My point is simply that it is really not my place to worry about what other’s are wearing. I prefer to dress nicely for mass, as does my wife and children. I wear nicely pressed docker’s and a collared shirt. I use to be bothered by what others wore to mass, then one day I realized I was letting it interfere with my participation in mass. So I made a simple correction. I decided simply not to let it bother me anymore. End of story. My earlier post was simply meant to point out that some of us need to quit worrying so much about what others do.

 

[Fidelis]

RichT:

My point is simply that it is really not my place to worry about what other’s are wearing. I prefer to dress nicely for mass, as does my wife and children. I wear nicely pressed docker’s and a collared shirt. I use to be bothered by what others wore to mass, then one day I realized I was letting it interfere with my participation in mass. So I made a simple correction. I decided simply not to let it bother me anymore. End of story. My earlier post was simply meant to point out that some of us need to quit worrying so much about what others do.

For the record, I am not “bothered” either by what people wear to Mass (unless it is downright blasphemous - rare - or immodest - unfortunately not so rare). Once Mass starts, my business is to make sure me and my family are dressed appropriately and we participate reverently. My remarks were simply a commentary on whether I thought shorts were appropriate or not, which is what the poll was asking, and my personal reasons for believing so.

 

[Path]

Timidity:

Easy!

For me or my kids? no.

For anyone else: It’s none of my business.

Excellent!!! I think you understand what being a Christian is all about!

 

[pprimeau1976]

This comment has to do with more about some attitudes that I see in this thread:

“Whatsoever you do, to the least of my people, you do unto me.”

We are all very familiar with that phrase. When we see someone who may be wearing something that we consider “inappropriate” - messy hair, blue jeans, t-shirts, shorts - do we actually know who we are judging? Any homeless person could wear these inappropriate clothes.

I would hope that we can all reflect on Jesus’ words and think twice about who it actually is that we are judging.

 

[IrenkaJMJ]

pprimeau1976:

This comment has to do with more about some attitudes that I see in this thread:

“Whatsoever you do, to the least of my people, you do unto me.”

We are all very familiar with that phrase. When we see someone who may be wearing something that we consider “inappropriate” - messy hair, blue jeans, t-shirts, shorts - do we actually know who we are judging? Any homeless person could wear these inappropriate clothes.

I would hope that we can all reflect on Jesus’ words and think twice about who it actually is that we are judging.

And from the posts I’m seeing, the question wasn’t “What do you think of people who wear shorts to Mass?” It was simply, “Are shorts appropriate for mass?” That, IMHO, does not mean if one feels shorts are not appropriate for Mass, that one is "judging " anyone who wears them. The Pope, a few years ago, re-instituted a ban on shorts and sleeveless shirts in his diocese. Do we jump to the conclusion he is “judging” those who wear them?

 

[Tom]

larryo:

If you were going to meet the queen of England or the pope, would you wear shorts? Well, when you go to Mass, you are meeting the King of Kings, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It does not seem that shorts or miniskirts would be appropriate attire.

The Queen of England and the Pope have never seen me naked, God created me that way and I’ll be returning to Him that way, it doesn’t upset Him, it would upset the Queen and the Pope. I can’t hide anything from Jesus, He knows my heart and soul, and the Queen and Pope don’t even know my name. The point is God doesn’t care how I’m dressed, He isn’t impressed, and actually He would prefer that I not spend my money on “good” clothes while my poorer brothers go naked. How we dress at Mass has more to do with how we want our neighbor to feel about us than how we want God to feel about us. If you read my previous posts, you’ll know I’m not advocating sloppy or careless dress. I think we should dress as well as possible under the circumstances, however, the dress code is not what’s important. This is getting tedious so it is my last post on the subject.
May the peace and love of our Lord, Jesus the Christ, be with you all,
Tom

 

[puzzleannie]

I voted always, but I had better explain. I work with kids everyday, including Sunday, my regular “uniform” is a denim or twill jumper worn over T-shirt and bike shorts. I am too old and too fat to walk around town in shorts, which I only wear in the house or on my early morning rosary walk, or at Curves. so I can throw on a skirt or jumper and be ready for shopping, errands or Church. This is south Texas, we don’t get cool weather, over 100 for most of the summer, but nobody except little kids and anglos headed for the golf course wear shorts to Mass down here. While slacks for women is accepted back up north, down here women my age wear dresses or suits to church. I don’t know if it is because this is the south, or that Mexican culture is more respectful in general, but I do not feel comfortable in pants in Church any more. I wear long pants only for protection from plants and bugs while bird watching, way too hot here. For summer I have lite wt rayon/linen/cotton blend dresses, also worn over bike shorts (with a cotton slip?

 

[pprimeau1976]

IrenkaJMJ:

And from the posts I’m seeing, the question wasn’t “What do you think of people who wear shorts to Mass?” It was simply, “Are shorts appropriate for mass?” That, IMHO, does not mean if one feels shorts are not appropriate for Mass, that one is "judging " anyone who wears them. The Pope, a few years ago, re-instituted a ban on shorts and sleeveless shirts in his diocese. Do we jump to the conclusion he is “judging” those who wear them?

I never said the pope was judging, nor did I make any comments concerning the wording of the question. It is a valid question. I was just commenting on “some of the attitudes” that I saw in this thread. I did however, use shorts in my example, to which I probably should not have specifically listed that article of clothing.

Regardless of this, I do think that many people do “judge” people based on what they wear to Church. I know that I have at least once in my life. Granted, chances are, most people who do not look pleasant at mass, could polish themselves up a bit. But the bottom line is, it is God’s job to determine who can afford the jeans and who can afford the suit.

 

[alexaustralia]

No offence but I can’t believe how long this post has become over something so ridiculous as shorts. Fashions change through time and so does people’s views on what is appropriate or not. Come down under and have the shock of your lives. Now hopefully there is no confusion in terminology between your American and my Australian but we are talking about shorts that loosely go from your waist to about a bit below or above the knee, right?

We must remember that at mass we are presented to Christ in the Holy Eucharist AND at the end we TAKE HIM WITH US…IN US. We become his Temple, and so what made mass holy has now entered and made us holy. The first fruit one must bear in their faith in my opinion is not obedience but love. Yes you can make people into puppets and impose on them to follow rules but all you are doing is impeding an intimacy to develop. Let love take precedence, just as we must learn the appropriateness in expressing our love for others, so too we, through our love for God, will learn how to offer our hearts to Him. Through love we learn to be obedient, to listen to his counsel, to acknowledge or sinfulness, ask for forgiveness, to seek solitude and reverent silence, to present ourselves in sincerity and purity etc.

If I were to force atoms to be stuck together as to resemble a human body, doesn’t it seem ridiculous for me to think that as a result life will emerge? Then why do u think that by forcing people into resembling a good bride for Christ that that will lead to the soul to be alive with the Spirit of God.

Yes one must be respectful to others and not to allow the occasion for sin, either into our lives or the lives of others by dressing too sensually. However we are talking about shorts here. I agree that our focus should be on God during mass. Now if seeing a partial calf muscle breaks your concentration that severely I must say the problem is you and not the shorts. I want to make it clear that I am not talking about little miniskirts and tops so tight that it seems they are wearing practically nothing. Yes there are limits to the dress code so long as there are good reasons for it, mainly the intention behind dressing in such a manner. Now mind you I do not know how much a person would stand out over there (USA) wearing shorts to mass. If it would be like a woman not wearing their “veil” in Afghanistan then perhaps it is too much for your society to take in. But at least here in Oz it is nothing out of the ordinary and hence no one would take it as a sign of sensual provocation or lack of devotion to our Lord and Spouse. Ultimately I recognise that one is to do their outmost to please God and to demonstrate by all our faculties how appreciative we are for his saving grace and love.

Well it is getting late, so good night to you all and God bless

 

[Fidelis]

No offence but I can’t believe how long this post has become over something so ridiculous as shorts. Fashions change through time and so does people’s views on what is appropriate or not.

It is true that people’s views change on what is appropriate dress, however, the larger question is: have they really changed that much in larger society, or are we just selectively applying a lesser standard where we are able to get away with it (like at Mass)?

For example, I don’t know how it is in Australia, but here in the desert SW of the US, it is still inappropriate to wear shorts in the midst of a professional business day when meeting clients or giving presentations, what have you. What that says about the larger culture is that shorts are considered casual wear. Is the Mass any less important than a business meeting? For that matter, is Mass less important than other occasions where we wouldn’t think of wearing shorts (graduations, weddings, funerals, etc)? If there is any decorum in a culture at all, why shouldn’t it apply to the Mass?

If I were to force atoms to be stuck together as to resemble a human body, doesn’t it seem ridiculous for me to think that as a result life will emerge? Then why do u think that by forcing people into resembling a good bride for Christ that that will lead to the soul to be alive with the Spirit of God.

I think this analogy is a poor one because we are talking about attitudes, not physical construction. How much a person values something is evident in how much effort he is willing to expend to show it. If a man says he loves his wife but never bothers to give any evidence of it, he is a lazy, lying clod. If I go to your wedding at the cathedral unshaven, unshowered and dressed like I’m on my way to the beach, you would have a right to be put out. If my children see that I take a little extra effort to dress somewhat up for Mass, it will cultivate (not force, as you say) them into realizing that the Mass is more than just a trip to the beach-- we are going to meet the Lord of the universe, to worship him and recieve his own Body and Blood.

 

[workinprogress8]

Thanks for all your responses…
Since most of you said never, for very good reasons, I won’t wear shorts to mass this weekend.
Thanks again.

 

[alexaustralia]

I believe I was misunderstood. I agree that God deserves the best but the best thing to offer is our hearts .So why force people into appearing externally to love God just to give us a false sense of security into thinking we are all being good Catholics. We must welcome others for whom they are and be patient if they lack faith. And in fact we all lack devotion for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. We should be humble and admit that no matter what we do we can’t give what God deserves. What ever we give always fall short of what is needed. Only Christ’s perpetual sacrifice is worthy of receiving admiration from God.

Also it is better to portray the dos rather than the don’ts of our faith. For example, instead of saying, “don’t wear that skirt” we can rephrase the message and say “God has blessed you in grace, love your body. Respect it for God has given it great care and honour. Esteem what God has so lovingly created”.

We are all in a journey and we are all struggling so let us not discourage each other in our handicaps. If your love for God leads you not to wear casual clothes because you feel you are belittling your love for God then by all means don’t. But let us not treat people as wild animals to be tamed and forced into submission even for God. Rather than advocating rules let us focus our efforts in evangelising God’s love and until people realise God’s dignity let us be patient with their dress codes. What God wants is a contrite spirit. Better for me to dress in tacky garments, having others remark “there stands a sinful person” and be humbled; than dress up and having others think of me as a holy person for, God forbid, I may actually believe it and think myself better than my fellow companions. At the end God will look into our hearts and either be glad or displeased by what he sees, beyond that very little matters.

May we all express our love for God in our fullest!

Your brother in Christ,

Alex

 

[serenity]

I have been to many different churchs were the weather is typically hot and I have seen many people (men, women, children, young and old) wear shorts. While I personally have never worn them, my daughters and husband have. Our priest said shorts are NEVER ok to wear to mass. However, I have seen women/teens wear skirts SHORTER than shorts these people have worn. I think it’s a matter of taste and respect. I have seen young women wearing spaghetti strap dresses and in my opinion, it was more revealing than somebody wearing appropriate shorts.

 

[kamz]

I find that it is different for each person. I have to ask myself if it is right for me and my family and why are we wearing shorts to church that day, do I ever look at someone else and think (you sinner, your wearing shorts to church) um, no way, I’m going to church because I need Jesus and I need to be fed and when my mind is set on Jesus, everyone around me is just a brother and sister in Christ and I don’t even notice what they are wearing, I would never feel like I had the right to pass that type of judgement or say what one should or should not wear. Jesus spoke in robes and sandals and he welcomed all to him no matter what their attire was, he said come to me, he is not saying come to me only in fancy clothes, come to me, you are mine, he does not look at our clothes, as we are but a naked babe to him, he sees us inside, who knows if Jesus is even aware of our clothes, he knows our heart and our soul, this was debated several months ago and several times and each time the thread was closed as people felt the need to let others know what God would or would not want, but I don’t remeber anyone besides Jesus coming back from the dead so none of us really know what Jesus thinks of how we dress but we know that he knows the real us, the inside of us, what we are thinking, feeling, etc. as long as you are clean, your clothes are clean, your not distracting showing off your body on purpose, then don’t even worry, just come to church.

 

[Fidelis]

alexaustralia:

So why force people into appearing externally to love God just to give us a false sense of security into thinking we are all being good Catholics.

Aren’t you assigning motives to people for what their opinion is? How do you know this? It seems this is more judgemental than any objection to wearing shorts.

instead of saying, “don’t wear that skirt” we can rephrase the message and say “God has blessed you in grace, love your body. Respect it for God has given it great care and honour. Esteem what God has so lovingly created”.

By the time you say all this, Mass will be over. And the person you are talking to will have no idea what you said.

let us not treat people as wild animals to be tamed and forced into submission even for God.

How is it treating people like wild animals to expect a certain level of decorum at an important event? Is there even such a thing as decorum? Perhaps a wild animal *would * say no, but a reasonably civilized person would say yes. Even primitive tribes dress their very best for special occasions.

 

[Fidelis]

kamz:

Jesus spoke in robes and sandals and he welcomed all to him no matter what their attire was

Ah yes, I remember this one from the 60’s–I even tried it on my own parents. The answer is the same now as it was then. In Jesus’ time and culture, that was their idea of appropriate clothing Think Jesus would of walked into the temple in shorts?–I think not. He had too much respect for the temple --He even drove the moneychangers out because they showed no respect for Gods house.

That Jesus acknowledged the appropriateness of proper apparel was evident in his parable about the wedding guest:

Matthew 22:1-14
1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ 5 But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The parable of course is about standing before God in righteousness, but it is built on the understanding of his listeners that one should show for respect a special place and occasion, as we should also in God’s house at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

[kamz]

Fidelis:
I am not some teenager trying this on my parents, I’m 30 married with 4 children and sometimes in the hot summer of MN I wear dressy shorts to church as do my children and most everyone in my church in a small rural MN town and yep, even one of the nuns has worn shorts during the summer daily mass, maybe we are just a bunch of ole country hicks but I love my parish and I’m proud to be a part of it. No, shorts are not right for every situation but sitting in a non air conditioned church ready to pass out is not the greatest either. My own mother 62 years old goes to mass daily as she was brought up that way and during the week in summer months if she is not serving communion or communion wine she wears dressy shorts to mass. What disturbs me more is people who don’t come to church because they think they won’t fit in etc. because their clothes are not good enough and I have seen plenty of those situations. Again, it is always a personal decision and I personally feel that God does not care if we come to him naked as long as we come to him with a heart ready to serve. I think this is pointless, weather its shorts or too tight jeans, too tight dresses, it has to be up to a person and for anyone to sit and pass judgement really, what type of person are you? I don’t have time to do that, I need to worry about my own salvation and my families but then there are those who have time to tell you how you should or should not dress? I’m so glad I’m from my little community where everyone is just like me, I’d sure be out of place anywhere else.

 

[serenity]

kamz:

Fidelis:
I am not some teenager trying this on my parents, I’m 30 married with 4 children and sometimes in the hot summer of MN I wear dressy shorts to church as do my children and most everyone in my church in a small rural MN town and yep, even one of the nuns has worn shorts during the summer daily mass, maybe we are just a bunch of ole country hicks but I love my parish and I’m proud to be a part of it. No, shorts are not right for every situation but sitting in a non air conditioned church ready to pass out is not the greatest either. My own mother 62 years old goes to mass daily as she was brought up that way and during the week in summer months if she is not serving communion or communion wine she wears dressy shorts to mass. What disturbs me more is people who don’t come to church because they think they won’t fit in etc. because their clothes are not good enough and I have seen plenty of those situations. Again, it is always a personal decision and I personally feel that God does not care if we come to him naked as long as we come to him with a heart ready to serve. I think this is pointless, weather its shorts or too tight jeans, too tight dresses, it has to be up to a person and for anyone to sit and pass judgement really, what type of person are you? I don’t have time to do that, I need to worry about my own salvation and my families but then there are those who have time to tell you how you should or should not dress? I’m so glad I’m from my little community where everyone is just like me, I’d sure be out of place anywhere else.

Not speaking of the “shorts” issue, there have been times when I didn’t attend Sunday morning mass because all I had to wear were jeans and I didn’t feel “comfortable” standing next to someone all dressed up. I instead attended the Saturday or Life Teen Mass where I could feel more at ease.

Imagine all the people that cannot even afford jeans. Imagine the very people we are trying to help financially and they don’t go to mass because they can’t “dress up” for the occassion - that breaks my heart. I do feel we should always dress “modestly” to not give temptation or distraction to anyone.

The bottom line for me on this “wearing shorts” issue is if a woman can wear a dress or skirt, what in the world is the difference?

 

[Brad]

kamz:

Fidelis:
I am not some teenager trying this on my parents, I’m 30 married with 4 children and sometimes in the hot summer of MN I wear dressy shorts to church as do my children and most everyone in my church in a small rural MN town and yep, even one of the nuns has worn shorts during the summer daily mass, maybe we are just a bunch of ole country hicks but I love my parish and I’m proud to be a part of it. No, shorts are not right for every situation but sitting in a non air conditioned church ready to pass out is not the greatest either. My own mother 62 years old goes to mass daily as she was brought up that way and during the week in summer months if she is not serving communion or communion wine she wears dressy shorts to mass. What disturbs me more is people who don’t come to church because they think they won’t fit in etc. because their clothes are not good enough and I have seen plenty of those situations. Again, it is always a personal decision and I personally feel that God does not care if we come to him naked as long as we come to him with a heart ready to serve. I think this is pointless, weather its shorts or too tight jeans, too tight dresses, it has to be up to a person and for anyone to sit and pass judgement really, what type of person are you? I don’t have time to do that, I need to worry about my own salvation and my families but then there are those who have time to tell you how you should or should not dress? I’m so glad I’m from my little community where everyone is just like me, I’d sure be out of place anywhere else.

Jesus was probably a little uncomfortable dying on the cross.

When we go to mass, we enter into participation in the sacrifice at Calvary. We are not entering the comfort zone.

Most masses I know run about 45 minutes.

I have literally passed out from heat in Church before.

I will never wear shorts to Mass.

If there is one place to dress up, it is for Almighty God - not for Him maybe so much but for the example you set to others - this is important - I will wear my best clothing when I worship the Lord.
God is allowing my humble self to come into union with Him through His sacrifice and He created me. This is the most important thing I can do. If I do not dress up for the Lord, I might as well throw any good clothes that I have in the garbage.

If the heat is that bad, the church community can come together and find a way to move the air around through vents, fans, windows etc.