Jeans...at mass?

[FenianMan]

usqueadmortem:

No, it is not appropriate to wear jeans at the Sacrifice of the Mass. One should be squeaky clean and dressed in their best attire, simply because to God is due our best. This is not to mention that the Old Testament perscribes your best cloths at Sunday (at that time Saturday) worship.
Would you wear jeans on a formal date or when you are trying to impress someone? Why would you give less to God then you give to a mortal human being?
If I was to kneel at the feet of Jesus Crucified, I would wear a tuxedo with a bow tie…much less jeans. The Mass is the representation of the Sacrifice of Calvary, and thus I owe it to my Saviour who died for me to dress well for him.
I know that most people wear jeans to Mass, but it has only become the practice in recent years, it is inapropriate, and it is part of the ongoing destruction of Western culture that has become so severe since the sixties.

Pax Domini,
Usque.

While I’d agree about the sixties bit, what is important here is context. I grew up in Iowa and I was surrounded both by day laborers and farmers. There are still a surprisingly large number of rural folk that attend daily Mass (if they’re fortunate enough to have a priest). These people usually come in the clothes of their labor, either because they’re on their way to work, coming from, or on their lunch break. This means that business people are there in suit and ties, farmers in coveralls and boots, and laborers in factor clothes (I’ve even seen mechanics come in coveralls and hankies). Now there have been times where I’ve seen farmers come in from the field (manure still on their boots, hands grimy and bodies smelly) and kneel quietly in the back and not present themselves for Holy Communion because they don’t feel presentable. That sort of piety is admirable, but it is patently obvious that someone in that place spiritually is in far better shape to be receiving Holy Communion then a teenager in the suburbs who has the clothes to wear (and the time to wear them) but simply doesn’t. This is different from the more relativistic “What’s dressed up for some people isn’t dressed up for others.” That can be true (as in the case of the selfsame farmers who wear their dress jeans (starched and pressed) to Mass on Sunday, but most often it’s about people simply conceiving of themselves as “casual.” What’s important is that one dresses contextually. St. Thomas talks about modesty in terms of not drawing attention to yourself, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t better and worse ways of dressing objectively.

 

[frdave20]

i usually wear jeans and, now that it is warmer, a t-shirt to daily Mass because I go straight to school afterwards… but on Sundays i wear khakis, or something similar, and a collared shirt – sometimes a sports jacket…

 

[ridesawhitehors]

FenianMan:

While I’d agree about the sixties bit, what is important here is context. I grew up in Iowa and I was surrounded both by day laborers and farmers. There are still a surprisingly large number of rural folk that attend daily Mass (if they’re fortunate enough to have a priest). These people usually come in the clothes of their labor, either because they’re on their way to work, coming from, or on their lunch break. This means that business people are there in suit and ties, farmers in coveralls and boots, and laborers in factor clothes (I’ve even seen mechanics come in coveralls and hankies). Now there have been times where I’ve seen farmers come in from the field (manure still on their boots, hands grimy and bodies smelly) and kneel quietly in the back and not present themselves for Holy Communion because they don’t feel presentable. That sort of piety is admirable, but it is patently obvious that someone in that place spiritually is in far better shape to be receiving Holy Communion then a teenager in the suburbs who has the clothes to wear (and the time to wear them) but simply doesn’t. This is different from the more relativistic “What’s dressed up for some people isn’t dressed up for others.” That can be true (as in the case of the selfsame farmers who wear their dress jeans (starched and pressed) to Mass on Sunday, but most often it’s about people simply conceiving of themselves as “casual.” What’s important is that one dresses contextually. St. Thomas talks about modesty in terms of not drawing attention to yourself, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t better and worse ways of dressing objectively.

Fenian ~
It is the same where I live. I live in a farm and ranch community and almost all our parish is involved in this rural life. Cowboys, cowgirls, farmers, and their families… it is common to see wranglers, boots, western jackets. Clean and tidy of course, but very much Sunday attire.
We have to realize what is common in one culture is not necesarily the norm for others I suppose. If you were to go to Mass in Nigeria for example, you would see a lot more skin there then you would in Yorba Linda or Tampa. ~ Peace

 

[benedictusoblat]

The poverty of a person’s dress should not be used to judge the nature of a person’s devotion at Holy Mass. The modesty of dress is another thing altogether.

In general a person should wear his or her very best clothes to Mass. What do we own nice clothes for, anyway? If we would dress nicely to visit the President at the White House, why would we not do even better to visit and receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament?

In this Internet age when just about everyone has a credit card you can buy VERY nice clothing on eBay for pennies on the dollar. If you can wear “off the rack” clothing, you can buy the finest suits in the world for a hundred dollars or so. The finest shoes, shirts and ties are also available for a very small investment. The benefit to buying them is that they last a long time and a very comfortable too!

As you might guess, I frequent ebay to buy all my “Sunday Best!” I don’t dress to impress anyone but God and myself and I hope I provide a good example of decorous dress.

I can’t say enough bad things about the impious and immodest dressers (especially young “ladies”) who cavort about in lowslung jeans revealing navels, hips, butt-cracks and thongs on their way up the aisle for Holy Communion. Their conduct is execrable and their parents should be flogged to allow them to even think of going to Mass dressed in the way they do.

Poverty and poor taste are never an excuse for immodesty which is yet another tool the devil uses to distract souls from the worship of Almighty God.

 

[Fortiterinre]

I am a stodgy Midwesterner who thinks khakis and a blazer is “casual,” so jeans are not my favorite, but I am also in a microscopic minority, so I don’t think there is a problem. Those of us who are daily Mass-goers usually dress a lot more casually then (or conversely, perhaps more formally than we do for Sunday if headed to the office). I can understand that it seems counter-intuitive to dress down for a Sunday Mass, but most of my fellow Rotarians who are in suits Monday through Friday are in polos on Sunday.

 

[chicago]

I think that there is a larger question of the philosophy of dress and what such expresses which underlies the question at some level.

 

[kamz]

Lucania:

I agree that this topic is going nowhere. It’s been talked to death and I let myself get right in there, again:banghead: ! It is an opinion like alot of topics on this forum. The problem is when some make judgements on those with the opposite opinion. Only God knows what is in someones elses heart, not us. So I will say ciao to the dress code/ dress up/down for Mass
Peace to all who participated in this.

:yup: :yup: :yup: :yup: :clapping: :clapping:

Amen to that, anyone out there feel the same???

 

[The_Vatican_Two]

One of our Eucharistic ministers had on jeans and a Ken Griffey Jr. shirt. I was wondering for a second if it was the real Ken Griffey Jr… but it wasn’t. Is he a Catholic? I know he went to a Catholic high school.

His birthday is the same day as Benedict XV, Nov. 21. Coincidence???

 

[Daniel_David]

tcraig:

I think jeans are inappropriate for most people. In the United States, it’s very rare that a person doesn’t have the money to buy at least one nice skirt or pair of khaki slacks. Most people who wear jeans to mass in the U.S. could easily substitute something slightly dressier without any financial inconvenience at all.

I believe that making an effort to dress nicely when going to mass on Sunday is important. We dress up for important functions. What could be more important than assisting at mass on Sunday?

As a former protestant, I never saw people dressed so casually and scantily for church until I joined the Catholic church.

I don’t know about anyone else but i usually end up paying MORE for jeans than khakis (which are made of cotton but dyed a different color and have a slightly tighter weave).
Does the fact that I pay more for jeans than khakis mean that I shouldn’t where my khakis to mass tcraig? Someone made the comment earlier about wearing the nicest you have (to paraphrase). I agree!

Yes, it is important to recognize that we are going to meet Jesus when we go to church! And it is important to not dress in such a way as to cause a distraction to others or bring attention to ourselves, but since we are being superficial I would have to say that I’ve seen men in suits that are threadbare, or too short(sleeves/legs) or have ties on that cause instant headaches when you look at them. I’ve seen hairstyles (and yes even hair pieces!) that are more disturbing than someone wearing a pair of clean Levi’s. Yet I do not take offence or say “tsk-tsk”. It just isn’t my call

1. If I am more focussed on what other people are wearing or what they look like, then i am not focused on what i need to be (and hey, I’m human this does happen from time to time)
2. If someone catches my eye, they catch my eye… for what ever reason (usually a woman I’m attracted to, regardless of how she is dressed). But guess what? I have control over how much attention i pay to this matter
3. I think what God is likely more concerned about is what kind of garment our soul is wearing. If I am wearing inappropiate clothing, then this is an issue that probably belies a deeper problem

 

[Daniel_David]

kamz:

Lucania:

I agree that this topic is going nowhere. It’s been talked to death and I let myself get right in there, again:banghead: ! It is an opinion like alot of topics on this forum. The problem is when some make judgements on those with the opposite opinion. Only God knows what is in someones elses heart, not us. So I will say ciao to the dress code/ dress up/down for Mass
Peace to all who participated in this.

Amen to that, anyone out there feel the same???

Yeah, but darn if it didn’t feel so good to vent!.. I mean express my opinion… uhmmmm, never mind

 

[Pisio]

chicago:

I think that there is a larger question of the philosophy of dress and what such expresses which underlies the question at some level.

I think that if God had a dress code I would not have been born naked…

 

[kamz]

Pisio:

I think that if God had a dress code I would not have been born naked…

RIGHT ON!!! :yup: :clapping: :dancing:

 

[kamz]

Daniel/David:

kamz:

Yeah, but darn if it didn’t feel so good to vent!.. I mean express my opinion… uhmmmm, never mind

Then express your opinion and leave it alone, but that is the problem with these posts, and there have been tons, …shorts for mass? jeans for mass? proper attire for mass? all of these have been posted at Catholic answers forums and all have gotten locked because people went beyond expressing an opinion, a personal opinion then turned into mud slinging and when a poster felt attacked they got mad, hurt, etc.
We are human and we get hurt and words can hurt and we forget that even on a message board, we can be stung by words.
All I’m suggesting to posters is that when you post, stop, think, will this cause someone pain? I’m sure I’m guilty of it myself and I’ve been truely sorry for it and I’ve had it done to me.

I don’t know what it is about this topic that can set people off, I think, people who are dressing for Mass and wearing jeans and feel just dandy (like myself) feel pretty cross, when lets say someone comes and posts that, we, maybe are being disrespectuful to God or those around us…etc.
How can someone state that if they don’t even know what is in our hearts or minds?

I’ve seen people get very hurt and it pains me and I just hope that people can keep their opinions to “as for me and my family” and not “and for you and yours too”

Peace Be With You

 

[msaenz]

kamz:

RIGHT ON!!! :yup: :clapping: :dancing:

What about priests? They have a certain type of dress when they are at Mass and when they are outside of the Mass. When they preside at Mass they where their stole and chasuble. Outside of mass they have their “casual look”. Why is it that they “dress up” at Mass? To show repect and reverance to Our Lord and Savior who appears under the form of bread and wine.
If the priest “dresses up” for the Lord, I think we should make an effort to dress up as well.

In Christ,
Michelle

 

[cainem]

to you people who find expensive clean designer jeans offensive, am i being disrespectful wearing my works uniform and clumpy boots to mass before i go to start my long sunday shift?

 

[Fox]

I used to wear plain white T shirt to church and jeans, now I wear a button shirt and jeans.

I really believe if it isn’t holey (no pun intended ), revealing, tastless, soiled or dirty, or the like, wear what you want, God is happy you came.

 

[chicago]

Pisio:

I think that if God had a dress code I would not have been born naked…

Touche!

But, tell me, are you nudist? (Or, perhaps, someone who wears only Hair?) Do you, at least sometimes, wear clothing? Why? And what does that clothing express? Do you ever wear different types of clothing? Some which might be (at least subjectively, to you) more casual or more formal? Why?

 

[kamz]

msaenz:

What about priests? They have a certain type of dress when they are at Mass and when they are outside of the Mass. When they preside at Mass they where their stole and chasuble. Outside of mass they have their “casual look”. Why is it that they “dress up” at Mass? To show repect and reverance to Our Lord and Savior who appears under the form of bread and wine.
If the priest “dresses up” for the Lord, I think we should make an effort to dress up as well.

In Christ,
Michelle

Michelle, its posts like yours that I’m speaking about, obviously, you choose to dress up for Mass in your way and others choose there way, why is it your business?? And don’t do the "what would you wear if you were meeting the pope, president, queen, hey, I told you, this same type of forum post has been done so many times I can’t get over it and yet it starts all over again and again people get touchy, touchy, touchy.
You wear what you want and keep your family in line with what you want and I’ll wear what I want and keep my family in check with what I want and we can both go to church, worship God, be just as good christians, regardless of if I’m wearing jeans and your wearing a dress, does it make you any better a christian? Please, don’t tell me it does…Jeans at mass? Answer: goodness, if your an adult, make your decision based on what you want and just go to mass, sadly, too many don’t go at all, just dress your body, cover it up, and get to Church and prasie the Lord

 

[Phoenix_7]

rcn:

Threads on “dress standards” never go anywhere.

For every person who posts about “Sunday best”, there is another to say “God doesn’t care what I’m wearing”.

Someone will say “jeans are inappropriate”, and someone else will say they’re fine.

And every litany of clothes that are deemed improper will be followed up by a request to mind your own business and stop keeping a tally of who’s wearing what.

This is doomed to argue around in circles. There is simply no right or wrong answer.

I think that right there is the best response. But to take it a step further, let me pose the following questions to you:
What is the point of wearing incredibly nice clothes to Mass? What is the point of wearing incredibly casual clothes to Mass?
If the point of wearing incredibly nice clothes is to impress everyone around you, then NO, you shouldn’t wear nice clothes to Mass. If the point of wearing incredibly nice clothes to Mass is to give your best to God, then YES, you can wear nice clothes. If the point of wearing casual clothes is to point out to everyone around you how little you care about the Mass, then NO, you shouldn’t wear casual clothes. If the point of wearing casual clothes is to honor God with your presence at Mass, then YES, you can wear casual clothes.

Folks, this entire topic goes with the old saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover” which incidently ties in with “Judge not, lest you be judged.”

Someone asked what you would wear if Jesus were celebrating the Mass. Two comments on that:

1. He is. As in the sacrament of confession, the priest is in persona Christi, in the Person of Christ. It is only through the power of Christ that the Bread and Wine become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
2. My patron saint at Confirmation, St. Dominic Savio, who died at the age of 15, was in class one day when the teacher asked his entire class this question: “What would you do if you knew Jesus would return in 24 hours?” Some students said they’d go to confession, others said they’d help the poor, others would go to Mass. Dominic answered simply, saying: “I would do exactly what I am doing right now.” When asked his reasoning, St. Dominic replied: “I would do what I am doing now because I know that I am doing exactly what Jesus wants me to be doing. Why shouldn’t I want to be doing that when He returns?”

I once asked my pastor (a convert to Catholicism, and priest for many years) if he would permit me to serve on the Altar in sandals. His response was “Well, they were good enough for the Savior at the Last Supper, so why not now?” Remember that when the Ultimate Sacrifice of the Cross was given, Our Lord had no clothes to wear. It doesn’t matter what you wear so much as why you are wearing it. Learn from the lesson of Samuel when he went to find David to anoint him king. God clearly said “I do not look at the outside, but at the heart!” Let that be the deciding factor, my brothers and sisters, and cease this petty squabble.

 

[Pisio]

chicago:

Touche!

But, tell me, are you nudist? (Or, perhaps, someone who wears only Hair?) Do you, at least sometimes, wear clothing? Why? And what does that clothing express? Do you ever wear different types of clothing? Some which might be (at least subjectively, to you) more casual or more formal? Why?

Trust me… I understand what you are saying.

I think though that we should worry more about what is going on on the inside of a person than what they protray externally. Where I am, we have so many transient parishoners on any given Sunday that there is no telling why they are there, and what is going on.

I travel a lot and my job requires me to carry tools, a computer, other hardware and documentation with me, and I have to bear in mind my job is very dirty. Often times, I have no room in my luggage for slacks and dress shoes. I have to get to Mass, so I go in what I have brought.

A good priest friend of mine tells a story of a young man with a cap on one Sunday. He asked the young man to remove it, and he turned to him and said: Father, you know, I just got out of radiation therapy, and I have lost all of my hair. Do you mind if I keep it on until a little grows back in?

You just never know why or what has caused them to wear what they are wearing…

Just remember, you can dress a sinner up in a suit, but he is still a sinner. How can we ever learn to accept each other as sinners, if we can not even accept what others are wearing? I think that ultimately, God wants us to be able to stand naked (spirtually) before Him and each other and say this is who I am… help me to be more like Christ.

In Christ,
Pisio

P.S.: I am not a nudist… very very bad visual!