Dress Code??

[lizaanne]

I haven’t attended mass in a long time and am not currently a member of a parish.
While looking online at local area Churches to join, I came across one with a dress code.

Can you please provide the link to this parish? I am surprised to find a parish that requires that all women and girls cover their heads. I personally don’t have a problem with that, but I’m really surprised that there is one out there that does that.

~Liza

 

[Ray98362]

Can you please provide the link to this parish? I am surprised to find a parish that requires that all women and girls cover their heads. I personally don’t have a problem with that, but I’m really surprised that there is one out there that does that.

~Liza

Hi Liza, actually I left the link out intentionally as I didn’t want to insult any parishoners that might attend there. However the 2 posts that mention the Sedevacanists hit it right on the head. I wasn’t aware they were sedevacanists and I definitely appreciate that (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[choy]

for me as long as people dress decently, then its fine

decently means no rock band t-shirts (like AC/DC, Metallica, you know what i mean)
no revealing clothing especially for women
no tank tops
no short shorts

 

[lizaanne]

Hi Liza, actually I left the link out intentionally as I didn’t want to insult any parishoners that might attend there. However the 2 posts that mention the Sedevacanists hit it right on the head. I wasn’t aware they were sedevacanists and I definitely appreciate that (name removed by moderator)ut.

Gotcha

~Liza

 

[Nathan_Wagar]

“Your authority argument is lame. The priest does not have the authority to tell you what to wear. If he tries, the problem is his. No where does the Church teach that we have to obey everything a priest tells us.”

No, we are to obey those over us, period. There is no “dress code” stipulation. Your comment is ridiculous. What it boils down to is if you go to that parish, wear a suit. Or don’t go there.

 

[Contrabass101]

Hey guys,

In terms of what to wear and the appropriate level of respectfulness, do you think there is a difference between Sunday Mass and every-day masses?

I usually wear a suit at Sunday masses, but is relatively dressed down on weekdays. Of course, the presence of Christ is equally real at both times, but it almost seems to me, that dressing up every day would be a little too much… that it would give too much importance to the clothes in some way.

Any thoughts?

 

[Nathan_Wagar]

Honestly, at my parish, I wear some dress slacks and a tucked-in collared shirt. I think it’s a nice balance for either one. You have to remember though, Jesus doesn’t change from Sunday to Monday. That really is my main point, that I think people lose sight of, is that you are receiving and dining with Christ. Whether it is high mass at 9 AM or the service at 12:30 everybody else goes to, it’s the same Jesus. I’m not sure why some would dress more or less casually based off of the day…

 

[tjm190]

“Your authority argument is lame. The priest does not have the authority to tell you what to wear. If he tries, the problem is his. No where does the Church teach that we have to obey everything a priest tells us.”

No, we are to obey those over us, period. There is no “dress code” stipulation. Your comment is ridiculous. What it boils down to is if you go to that parish, wear a suit. Or don’t go there.

Nobody is saying you should disregard the priests choices- if my friend demands everyone that enters his house wears a red hat, then everyone who does should do so. However, that would make my friend seem rather irrational- especially if he wished to create an open enviornment.

What we are discussing is whether or not such dress codes are appropriate- and whether or now the priest should enforce this dress code by turning people away.

 

[Nathan_Wagar]

I understand that. What I am saying is that, since the people now know the dress code ahead of time, they would technically be keeping themselves away by not merely wearing the appropriate clothing. And nowhere in the post did it say anybody would be turned away that I am aware of. Honestly though, there isn’t much life left in this thread…

 

[jrsmith]

Point 1: We are temples of the Holy Spirit

Point 2: We are worshipping the Only True God, in a Temple where He is present.

Point 3: We are to offer our bodies as “Living Sacrifices”

I think we should all look to the book of Malachi for the final say:

Mal 1:8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that no evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil? Present that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.

The point that this verse makes is that the external is just as important as the internal. We should do our best to worship God by wearing the nicest clothes that we can. If we would dress up in a suit for a friends wedding, or to visit the Queen / King of a foreign land, why not wear a suit / dress / equivalent clothing for your culture (e.g. sari) to Mass?

Otherwise, as Malachi says, “Mal 1:10 Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”

p.s. and just so some crazy person doesn’t take what I said out of context, if a person is blind it doesn’t mean that their prayer won’t be heard, or that God will reject them. We can only offer back what God has given us.

 

[garysibio]

“Your authority argument is lame. The priest does not have the authority to tell you what to wear. If he tries, the problem is his. No where does the Church teach that we have to obey everything a priest tells us.”

No, we are to obey those over us, period. There is no “dress code” stipulation. Your comment is ridiculous. What it boils down to is if you go to that parish, wear a suit. Or don’t go there.

I don’t know where you are getting this nonsense from. Where does it say we are to obey anyone as if they had absolute authority? Was Paul wrong for telling of Peter for behaving improperly or should he have just buckled under and done things Peter’s way because Peter was the pope?

 

[garysibio]

Nobody is saying you should disregard the priests choices- if my friend demands everyone that enters his house wears a red hat, then everyone who does should do so. However, that would make my friend seem rather irrational- especially if he wished to create an open enviornment.

What we are discussing is whether or not such dress codes are appropriate- and whether or now the priest should enforce this dress code by turning people away.

Actually, if the priest is saying that you can’t come to Mass unless you are wearing a suit or a dress than I am saying to disobey him. He has no authority to make that demand. The comparison to entering a friend’s house is invalid. If you don’t go to your friend’s house, you are not committing a mortal sin.

 

[garysibio]

I understand that. What I am saying is that, since the people now know the dress code ahead of time, they would technically be keeping themselves away by not merely wearing the appropriate clothing. And nowhere in the post did it say anybody would be turned away that I am aware of. Honestly though, there isn’t much life left in this thread…

Don’t blame the people for this priest’s arrogance.

 

[clmowry]

Actually, if the priest is saying that you can’t come to Mass unless you are wearing a suit or a dress than I am saying to disobey him. He has no authority to make that demand. The comparison to entering a friend’s house is invalid. If you don’t go to your friend’s house, you are not committing a mortal sin.

You really want to stick with this one.

If I were to say try and attend your church wearing nothing but a neon orange thong, would no one have the “authority” to tell me I cannot come to chruch dressed that way?

Chuck

 

[garysibio]

You really want to stick with this one.

If I were to say try and attend your church wearing nothing but a neon orange thong, would no one have the “authority” to tell me I cannot come to chruch dressed that way?

Chuck

No, Chuck, I would love to see it die. But people just keep posting ridiculous comments.

 

[clmowry]

No, Chuck, I would love to see it die. But people just keep posting ridiculous comments.

The problem is or course that “ridiculous” is in the eye of the beholder.

To some people wearing a 6 inch long hip hugging mini skirt to church is reasonable.

To others wearing jeans is not.

Hopefully everyone can agree that a 42 year old red-haired freckled man in a neon orange thong is ridiculous (well maybe not in San Francisco).

That said, I think the Pastor of any Church should have the authority to establish a “reasonable” dress code for his (her) congregation.

Now defining reasonable and actually enforcing a dress code, those become rather difficult things to do without offending someone.

Our 11:00AM Mass is almost entirely folks in Suits, Slacks and Dresses.

Our 5:00PM Life Teen mass is almost entirely folks in Jeans.

And I would say for the most part everyone dresses “reasonably.”

We don’t have an official dress code, but at the beginning of every summer we get a series of announcements pointing out that Texas heat does not excuse one from dressing with appropriate modesty. That usually gets most dress code issues “covered.”

But periodically, one of the Clergy will need to quietly pull aside a young lady and point out that though their dress may be quite attractive it is much more appropriate for a night club than Mass or that a young man doesn’t really need to wear his jeans so low that we all get to see the pattern on his Calvin Klein boxers.

Chuck

 

[DanteAlighieri]

If you don’t like 1 Sam, and I don’t think I took it out of context, how about James 2:1-7 -

1 My brothers, [1] show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

One of the most faithful and orthodox Catholic priests I ever talked to, he passed away in the mid-90s, was a nudist and used to say Mass and perform wedding at the resort he belonged to.

How about we just stop making judgments about people based on the way we are dressed. I don’t care what our culture says. Our culture now thinks that marriage is temporary, sex outside of marriage is no big deal and a woman should be free to kill her unborn baby.

I think you missed my point. It’s not that dressing nicely earns you favor; it’s that dressing nicely is a traditional means of showing respect in certain circumstances. Thus, for most people, to deliberately avoid dressing respectfully constitutes a disregard of propriety, and thus a show of disrespect.

Imagine going to a job interview in a tank top and flip flops. There is a reason you won’t get that job – you come across as unconcerned and, at worst, disrespectful.

Peace,
Dante

 

[adriancombe]

I guess we just need to agree to disagree then. I don’t approve of anything that would make a worshipper unwelcome at a Church.

The flip side of this of course is that in fact, many worshippers in Catholic Masses today feel unwelcome because of the immodesty of certain fellow worshippers. At times, it seems impossible to look even in the general direction of such a person, while at the same time, seemingly, charity ostensibly requires one to offer the ‘sign of peace’ to the same.

I recommend googling to see what actions St. Pio of Pietrelcina took in regards to immodesty at Mass.

 

[Ray98362]

This is like the post that will never die…
I simply wanted to know if it had become common practice for parishes to require men to wear suits and women to wear dresses to mass. I thought that was a tad excessive and I received the answer to my question many many posts ago.

 

[ruthycantfail]

Whilst I feel that this church is going a bit over the top - Vatican 2 removed the need for chapel veils etc - I do feel that you should make an effort to dress smartly. This doesn’t have to mean a full suit a
d tie, but should be fresh clean cloths that are also modest enough. I am sick of seeing girls, and even ladies, not able to genuflect because thier skirt is so short that if they did the priest would get more than he bargained for. Mass is not the time for vanity or drawing attention to yourself; it is a time for prayer and reflection, not a fashion parade.