Have we become too casual in our approach to the Mass?

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I personally know lukewarm people in my family. They think it’s OK to skip mass etc and don’t care about what they wear. I have seen this in many other people I know too, I have also seen a great amount of reverence. It really depends on the parish.
 
Unfortunately, when the Mass was simplified, a lot of the helps that reinforce the truths of the Mass were taken away. Not everyone has a strong enough faith to do without them.

Take them to an “extraordinary form” Mass (ie the Latin Mass before the simplifications) and the rite will communicate to them better and more explicitly about what is going on, what is believed, etc.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
It depends on what you mean by “casual”.
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For me, it’s reverence for the blessed sacrament. Nonchalantly walking past the tabernacle without so much as a nod, let alone a genuflect; irreverent distribution by “extraordinary” (read “ordinary”, as in, every mass) ministers, as if they’re handing out candies; notices after communion instead of before the homily (as if we had not just imbibed the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and our God), almost complete absence of prayer by the faithful before and after mass, etc.

The Eucharist is not pizza and beers with our mates. It’s the source and summit of our Christian life.
 
I would say Catholics are too casual but way more reverent than most protestant denominations. But I would need more details on what your friend was referencing.

Is it that we don’t raise our hands and jam out to an electric guitar?
 
sj1611 said:
The Eucharist is not pizza and beers with our mates. It’s the source and summit of our Christian life.
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Of the converts I know they all say the Eucharist (and Truth) as the reason for conversion. Oddly, no one mentioned donuts.
 
Lifeisbeautiful3 said:
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ontheway1:
Reverence - deep respect for someone or something
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Do you deeply respect others only while in a coat and tie or can you also deeply respect people while in ath-leisure wear?
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Jesus probably doesn’t really care about our clothes.
But God also really doesn’t need to hear our prayers either. And yet we still know that we should bring our prayers to him.
So while clothes may not matter in the grand scheme of things, we should give the best of ourselves to God at mass. That means making an effort to be reverent and wear our best.

It’s also a slippery slope. Become lax in dress and pretty soon you lose all reverence. Look at many Eucharistic ministers now days. Wearing jeans and a tshirt.

I don’t know maybe i was raised differently. I wear slacks and a nice shirt to work. What does it say if I dress better for work than Church?
 
Jeans and a t-shirt for a Eucharistic minister doesn’t imply a lack of respect or reverence.

I wear a suit to work every day, but wouldn’t wear that to Sunday mass, well… ever. I would for a wedding based on the bride/groom’s wishes. Likewise for a funeral. In both cases, it would be to adhere to social norms and so as not to offend. That said, if an invitation suggested a Hawaiian shirt, that’s what I’d wear.

I’ve read that church should be an emergency room for sinners, not a museum for saints. When we dissuade people from being in communion because of their attire… well, we’ve lost before we’ve met their needs.
 
Lifeisbeautiful3 said:
Jeans and a t-shirt for a Eucharistic minister doesn’t imply a lack of respect or reverence.

I wear a suit to work every day, but wouldn’t wear that to Sunday mass, well… ever. I would for a wedding based on the bride/groom’s wishes. Likewise for a funeral. In both cases, it would be to adhere to social norms and so as not to offend. That said, if an invitation suggested a Hawaiian shirt, that’s what I’d wear.

I’ve read that church should be an emergency room for sinners, not a museum for saints. When we dissuade people from being in communion because of their attire… well, we’ve lost before we’ve met their needs.
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Example A your honor.
 
Lifeisbeautiful3 said:
I’ve read that church should be an emergency room for sinners, not a museum for saints. When we dissuade people from being in communion because of their attire… well, we’ve lost before we’ve met their needs.
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Its not for sinners. Its for Christ and us showing remembrance of his sacrifice for our sins and us doing our best to remember the ultimate sacrifice he paid for us. Its not about us, our comforts, our needs, etc. Its about us doing our best (which will always come up short) of showing eternal gratitude to Him for laying down his life for us.
 
ontheway1 said:
You have no trouble understanding the need to dress up when going to a job interview. This is showing respect.
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Everyone has a different idea of what “dressing up” means.

To some, a woman is only dressed up if she is wearing a dress, hose, and dress shoes.

For me, I am dressed up if I’m wearing a pair of slacks that are not blue jeans, and a t-shirt that doesn’t have a sports team on it. I wear tennis shoes everywhere, even to play piano at a concert (or organ shoes if I am playing the organ, but only to play–not to walk in–for me, they’re too painful to walk in.)

I only own one wearable dress, and I wear it over black leggings because I’m self-conscious about my arthritic knee, and I’m not able to wear dress shoes because of my deformed foot.

I’m also rather overweight (about 50 pounds), and although many large women dress very fashionably in the latest “plus size” fashions, I am uncomfortable showing too much of my flabby arms, and I don’t want to wear anything that “shows my curves.” To me, it’s fat, and everyone can see that it’s fat, and I’m ashamed of my weakness around food. Also, it doesn’t help that my arthritic knee and deformed foot make it impossible for me to walk more than a few minutes before I need to sit down.

I could go on, but what I’m telling you is that you have no business judging what others wear. There are reasons why people dress the way they do. I’ve tried in this post to be brutally honest about why my idea of “dressing up” probably doesn’t match your idea of dressing up. Other people have even more compelling reasons to dress a certain way (e.g., people who wear bladder control garments under their clothing may not feel comfortable in “dress” clothes).

My dear father-in-law has multiple disabilities due to three back surgeries (botched, IMO) and a bad knee, as well as hearing loss and macular degeneration. His idea of dressing up is a pair of very baggy slacks (which are easy for him to pull up and fasten) and a long, tunic-like Western Wear shirt which is also easy for him to put on. The stores where he used to buy his suits (Sears, KMart, Carson-Pirie Scott, etc.) have all closed down in our area, and the “trendy” stores do not have suits that fit an old man with a lot of disabilities who doesn’t want to spend a lot of money because he’s pretty certain he will die soon.

Please have some mercy.

As for kids coming in soccer outfits–you have no idea what a witness these kids are to the others on their teams when they tell their coach, “I’m going to attend Mass, but I’ll be back in time for the game.” This is so rare in sports teams! And don’t try to tell anyone that they shouldn’t be on a sports team that competes on a Sunday! WHEN ELSE are they supposed to compete?! During school? And when else would the parents be free to come to the game? AND for many kids, sports are a means to earn a scholarship to college–I have several friends who couldn’t afford college, but their kids earned scholarships through their soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball, or gymnastics.
 
Dear OP when you mentioned the 60s and how everyone knew how to dress for Mass I think we need to acknowledge the huge changes in society in the last 50+ years. Up to the 60s it was normal for everyone to wear hats. Women even wore gloves at formal events. Clearly dress codes have gone through a radical change.

Also as an immigrant I would like to point out that America is a very informal society. It’s not good or bad it’s just the way the culture is. When I was working in international business I needed to warn Germans for example, that if they called a business and “Dave” answered or “Sue” called you back when you had a question, Dave or Sue might be the CEO. German culture is still very formal in certain respects and will have formal titles and introductions. In comparison Americans are extremely casual and also are not hung up on titles. Clothes won’t help you either as the CEO may also wear Jean’s and t-shirt, especially in IT. But of course the outside clothes and lack of titles has no bearing on the intelligence and experience of the individual you are interacting with. Therefore I would emphasize that they should always be respectful to everyone they interacted with because that person could be a key decision maker.

I think we have to be very careful when making assumptions.

I am much casual at Mass these days for example as I am recovering from a cancer I had last year, so need to wear comfortable clothes.
 
EXCELLENT! Especially the comments about IT companies. So true! In fact, the proper “casualness” is kind of difficult to achieve, making “casual dress” the “New Dressiness!”

And when people come to interview in our hospital lab, they do NOT wear suits and dress shoes! Yucko!

And spot-on about the informality of American culture. Titles? We respect them when used in other countries, but we’re very proud that our President is “Mr. Trump” and that’s it.
 
ontheway1 said:
Many don’t even know there is such a thing. If they did, why would they behave so …casually, in front of GOD ALMIGHTY.
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It is sad…and yet it is a beginning,they are there at the mass.There is always hope they will have a conversion of heart and really understand what is taking place.
Much better they are there than not there.
Part of the Divine Mercy novena we pray for lukewarm souls and we need to often.
In the mass I try and remember to pray for all of us attending ,especially at the Consacration.
 
It’s actually a valid concern.

There have been MANY atheists, theist non-Christians, and Protestants who have argued that if Jesus was really present in the Eurcharst, like we claim, then they would wear the best cloths and bow on the floor like Muslims do to venerate and worship God literally being present.

So they use look at our dress, our actions, etc and say things like, “Why should I join a religion where it is obvious that most the members don’t believe what the Church teaches.”

Gandhi actually said something similar. He said, “ If it weren’t for Christians, I’d be a Christian.”

My point: non-Christians often judge Christianity (and esp the Catholic Church) by what they perceive as hypocritical and/or contradictory behavior.

Also, non-Christians (especially) do not understand the familiar relationship that Christians have with God. They view it as a very formal (King to subject type relationship). So our family-like relationship with God at Mass can SOMETIMES can send an unintended message that we really don’t believe in the real presence.

So while I don’t 100% agree with the OP, I do understand his point full heartedly.

God Bless
 
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LumineDiei said:
Do you really think that by wearing evening gowns and tuxedos to Mass, along with bowing on the ground, will get more people to join the Catholic Church? No, it would just give them more anti-Catholic fodder to throw our way. “Oh look at those holier than thou Catholics, making a show of their fancy clothes and postures”.
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NO, I do not think that. If you read my post, I was giving credence to the theory, but I was NOT agreeing with it.
 
LumineDiei said:
Probably because the Christians he had encountered were acting more like Pharisees and less like Jesus.
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Ghandi wanted to attend a Church but church he tried to attend only allowed high caste Indians and white to attend.

So he swore off all Christianity because the unchristian behavior of one congregation.

NOTE: I have NO idea if it was Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant.
 
joyfulandactive said:
we need to acknowledge the huge changes in society in the last 50+ years
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joyfulandactive said:
German culture is still very formal in certain respects and will have formal titles and introductions. In comparison Americans are extremely casual and also are not hung up on titles.
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Forget the last 50 years. German culture has undergone immense change in the past 5 years, taking in close to 2 million refugees from cultures which are also not “formal about titles and introductions”
 
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