Perpetual Adoration, shorts, miniskirts, flipflops

[DebChris]

I always carry a change of clothes in my trunk if I think I’m going to the church.

Not everybody is blessed with a vehicle. Many people carry only what fits in their pockets, such as a wallet for identification and house keys. Because it is recommended for security, especially in the Middle East, I also carry my cell phone. Of course, the phone is put on silence when I enter Church. As mentioned earlier in the thread, often the person going to adoration or daily Mass does so while on the way to or from somewhere else or doing something else. It could be at the beginning or end of a hard day’s labor. It could be vacation. It may even be that the person who had no thought of going to Church finds himself or herself drawn to the church while merely passing by. And of course, modesty is encouraged regardless of daily activity.
While I may wear a headcovering during Mass and Adoration, I do not expect others to do likewise or even have the same idea of modesty as I. Local custom often determines this. The dress code for a college or vacation town will be different from a Middle Eastern country in which women cover head to toe. On a side note, I like the announcement on the city bus regarding temperature. The bus driver cannot make everybody happy so riders are encouraged to dress accordingly. If cold put on more clothes. If hot, take them off “within reason.” It is accepted that people will dress for the season.

 

[Pilgrim1701]

However I do not have the purity of heart to look at another human and judge them by their appearance or their clothes.

http://www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/Images/076_CommunionBareBrested03.jpgNeither did this guy…

First off, I think your interpretation of that scripture is missing something. If you interpret it 100% literally, you may have a point. Realistically, Jesus was commenting on the states of our souls and not of our dress. Look, I didn’t put up the post to say that people should come to church dressed as Playboy Playmates. The point I was trying to make was that we should not be judging the appearance of others who come to church. We do not know anything about them. Still we should be glad they are there. It is those kinds of judgments that drive people away from church. Me, personally, I dress up very nice when I go to Mass/Adoration.

According to some here, you were not worthy to be in the presence of our Lord. How dare you be out of your home in anything short of what you would wear to meet the Pope, since you never know when you might stop in to spend time in adoration.
(Please, there is no reason that you should feel bad.)

This is a question about making bland, blanket statements, and jumping to conclusions and judgements…

I do not think that anybody on this thread has suggested that we should not dress modestly at all times, only that it is not our place to judge the spirituality of others based on outward appearance.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/17/article-1258672-08B6E526000005DC-132_233x401.jpg COULD NOT AGREE MORE!!!

I see this same kind of statement in all these dress threads…I wanna know where you all are going to church that ANYONE has shown up in a bikini?

I’d accept that it happened, somewhere, I’ve never seen it:shrug:

Sorry…couldnt help it but where do I get a skirt that covers both my knees and shoulders Would that be a burka?

LOL

Don’t show me 20 articles, just show me 1 infallible one. You do that, I will immediately eat crow and retract everything I have said before.

I saw a woman with a completely bare midriff, that’s pretty close…but of course it would be “offensive” to tell her anything.
.

Yes, yes it would…http://sspx.agenda.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/newguinea.jpg

Pfft…

A medical condition is in a different universe. I am speaking of every week, all year.

LOL, a lot of medical conditions are chronic, every week, all year round, every hour…

 

[Seeker1961]

Are you serious? You actually call people out about their attire to their faces? I wonder how many people have left that chapel never to return because of you.

I never thought I’d see the day where being disrespectful was the norm and those who were trying to hold to a standard—abusive and mean.

I saw a woman with a completely bare midriff, that’s pretty close…but of course it would be “offensive” to tell her anything.

I’ve seen pajamas, I’ve seen skirts so short that if you bent over nothing would be left to the imagination. I’ve seen it all, but heaven forbid we ask them nicely to please show respect when dressing for mass.

The fact is that it is simply not our place to address these issues. In almost every situation, that comes off badly. The Clothing Police are never a group that makes anyone feel welcome in Church.

I mentioned upthread that we had a group of women at our parish who anointed themselves the Clothes Police and that Father finally had to say something from the pulpit about it. He began by talking about proper dress for Mass and you could literally see them sitting up straighter and filling up with righteous joy because he agreed with them! And then, he turned to “those who choose to take it upon themselves to “admonish the sinner” by attacking them in the lobby before and after Mass”. He suggested that such folks spend their time after Mass in prayer over their pride instead of trying to find another person who “is a “bigger sinner” than you are” so “you can make yourself feel better”. Then he read the story of the Publican and the Sinner to end his comments.

To their credit-most of them took the criticism and changed their attitude-but one woman took her righteous indignation and left. She made a lot of noise about how “liberal” Father was and how she needed to find a “real Catholic Church”. Very sad-because I’m sure there will never be a church that is good enough for her.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Actually my daughter in law isn’t Catholic and asked what was appropriate to wear and I told her. What’s wrong with that?

Your dil isn’t a stranger and she asked you. The difference is going up to someone you don’t know and interrupting them in prayer to tell them you don’t like what they have on.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I saw a woman with a completely bare midriff, that’s pretty close…but of course it would be “offensive” to tell her anything.

I’ve seen pajamas, I’ve seen skirts so short that if you bent over nothing would be left to the imagination. I’ve seen it all, but heaven forbid we ask them nicely to please show respect when dressing for mass.

I’m sure Father saw them too. If people regularly dress like this in your parish, then ask him to say something. Offer to write a bulletin insert or to have Vatican-like signs made for in front of your church.

If you actually know the person in question (know their name and a few things about them), then you can say something. Politely and discretely. If the person in question is a minor and you aren’t their CCD teacher or soemthing like that, it is probably best to say something to their parents.

I’ve seen plently of outfits like you describe - but at school, not church. The kids are scolded, made to wear baggy t-shirts or PE uniforms, sent home to change, etc. They come back in similar outfits the next week. The issue is that culture and fashion say that those sorts of stupid outfits are “in”. Many people really don’t know how to dress modestly or appropriately for church or really any function.

The latest “fashion” I’ve been seeing recently is to let your bra show. Not just your bra straps, but basically the whole thing. Grown women wearing dresses that are cut like a jumper, but without a shirt underneath- in public places. So not just strap, or a little bit low cut on the arm, but the part of the front of the bra too. And there are probably adventureous women wearing the same dress with no bra either.

 

[LightBound]

Your dil isn’t a stranger and she asked you. The difference is going up to someone you don’t know and interrupting them in prayer to tell them you don’t like what they have on.

Exactly!

 

[LightBound]

I’m sure Father saw them too. If people regularly dress like this in your parish, then ask him to say something. Offer to write a bulletin insert or to have Vatican-like signs made for in front of your church.

If you actually know the person in question (know their name and a few things about them), then you can say something. Politely and discretely. If the person in question is a minor and you aren’t their CCD teacher or soemthing like that, it is probably best to say something to their parents.

 

[LightBound]

I guess I’m a little offended at the attitudes of some people on here who have posted, with a fair amount of pride, how they deemed themselves the fashion police and told strangers at church/adoration how they were supposed to dress. There’s something quite prideful and arrogant about doing that and then going onto to CAF to brag about it instead of speaking with the pastor and getting a sign put up outside adoration (such as the Vatican stick-people sign) or having a notice ran for several weeks in the bulletin on dressing modestly.

 

[DebChris]

Sorry…couldnt help it but where do I get a skirt that covers both my knees and shoulders Would that be a burka?

Actually it’s a mumu. They wear them in Hawaii.

 

[Rejoice_Always]

Actually it’s a mumu. They wear them in Hawaii.

Hawaiian attire is not CAF-approved. :dts:

 

[anp1215]

Are you serious? You actually call people out about their attire to their faces? I wonder how many people have left that chapel never to return because of you.

I never thought I’d see the day where being disrespectful was the norm and those who were trying to hold to a standard—abusive and mean.

It is abusive and mean to take it upon yourself to tell a complete stranger that their attire is inappropriate. You have no idea who they are. You have no idea what their story is. You have no idea if their mother, father, son, daughter, best friend has just died (did you read Luna’s story upthread?). You have no idea if they are a prostitute that happened to stroll by the church and felt an enormous longing to come inside. You have no idea if they have never set foot in a church before. You have no idea if they have been away from the Church for 50 years and this is the first time they’ve had the courage to come back. You have no idea if they just ran away from an abusive home with nothing but the clothes on their back. You have no idea. None.

Actually my daughter in law isn’t Catholic and asked what was appropriate to wear and I told her. What’s wrong with that?

You don’t see the difference in telling a complete stranger and a family member who asked you?

Actually it’s a mumu. They wear them in Hawaii.

They wear them in my grandmother’s house. And by “they,” I mean my grandmother!

 

[Shannon46]

I’ve never known a church to have such a sloppy dress code allowing people to wear anything they want.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

I saw a woman with a completely bare midriff, that’s pretty close…but of course it would be “offensive” to tell her anything.

I’ve seen pajamas, I’ve seen skirts so short that if you bent over nothing would be left to the imagination. I’ve seen it all, but heaven forbid we ask them nicely to please show respect when dressing for mass.

hmmm…put a bare midriff right next to someone in a bikini…pretty sure there is a BIG difference…I’d put pictures but don’t want to post that much skin here on CAF…

I’ve seen a mini skirt that was pretty short…on someone who was wearing a headcovering…

But the question remains…who appointed you the clothing police? Posting in the bulletin and talking (kindly) with your priest is a much better way. Better yet…pray for these people…that’s the best concept yet!

 

[DebChris]

Hawaiian attire is not CAF-approved. :dts:

Muumuu History: When Victorian missionaries arrived in Hawaii in the 1800s, they demanded that the loincloth-wearing local Polynesians cover themselves up like good Christians. The compromise was the muumuu, made from endless, shapeless yards of vibrant floral fabric.

 

[hockeyfan]

And I think this is a lame way of having an “anything goes” attitude. Ask anyone on this planet, they KNOW how to dress for church. It’s not about the ones who are poor or homeless, this is about people who know full well how to dress.

Who said anything about “anything goes?” I used a Bible reading in my first post to warn people about how the thread was starting to sound. We are Christians! That means there is a inherent admission to our imperfections. So I put up this reading…

[BIBLEDRB]Luke 18:9-14[/BIBLEDRB]

Some people in this thread are starting to sound like the Pharisee. Look, I am not a big fan of dressing in Church inappropriately. We do need to act in context and with the knowledge that our actions affect the catholic (I intentionally used a lower case c) church. We can’t be like the Pharisee. Remember, in a later post I did point out how when I prepare the teenagers for doing the readings I give them a dress code. I even have pointed out that I have enforced it. I am not a anything goes guy! I do believe that there is a way to do things and this isn’t it.

 

[Rejoice_Always]

Muumuu History: When Victorian missionaries arrived in Hawaii in the 1800s, they demanded that the loincloth-wearing local Polynesians cover themselves up like good Christians. The compromise was the muumuu, made from endless, shapeless yards of vibrant floral fabric.

Wow! Very interesting!

Still … it ain’t CAF-approved. :dts:

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

Wow! Very interesting!

Still … it ain’t CAF-approved. :dts:

is it half-CAF or de-CAF?

 

[stinkcat_14]

I don’t think the church approves of it at all, but I try to not get wound up about it. I look at it this way. If you were told, right now, you were going to be introduced to the US president or the queen of Great Britain and to hurry up and get ready what would you wear? Shorts, flip flops, jeans???

If the Pope invites his gardener to take a break and have lunch with him, should the gardener turn the Pope down because he is not wearing a suit? Should he make the pope wait while he runs home and puts on a suit? Or should he not just come and spend some time with the pope?

 

[marytk]

the apostles and others tried to keep a lot of people away from Jesus. You know what for the most part they were right. That was a sinner’s house Jesus was going to. It was full of sinners (I bet some of the women weren’t dressed right" That blind man was making a racket and disturbing the peace. Maybe they wanted to hear Jesus and he was in the way. She was a Samaritan AND a woman and Jesus shouldn’t have been talking to her. Those kids wouldn’t sit still and insisted on seeing Jesus instead of sitting and waiting. The twelve and the Pharisees were right about those sinners.

Jesus came for sinners. They didn’t make themselves clean for him. He did it. When someone wanders into the Church we don’t want to push them away. FIRST we tell of the love and forgiveness of the Lord. In my life I have been a little surprised at what others consider “dressing up” . I imagine if someone comes from the party scene she might think that she is wearing a longer skirt,Do we reject her because it is an inch or two short by our standards? Let us pray for them instead.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

This T-shirt might be pushing it a little