Perpetual Adoration, shorts, miniskirts, flipflops

  • Thread starter Thread starter L_piperatus
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Seeker1961 said:
Don’t take what happens here on a daily basis as the prevailing attitude of Catholics you will meet at your parish-even the clergy. CAF is leans very much to the conservative side-and yes, some of the discussions here do wander into something that sounds the gospel reading about the Pharisee and the sinner mentioned upthread. “Oh thank you Lord that I am not one of those evil people who wear shorts or sleeveless dresses to church!!”

However, you will find discussions here that are very deep and philosophical, that delve deeply into scripture and Sacred Tradition. And you will find some excellent answers to your questions about theology and spirituality. Stick with those topics and stay away from these types of threads about clothing, music…and “proper behavior”.
Click to expand...
👍
 
DebChris said:
The fact that people are coming to adoration is more important than what they are wearing.
My parish in the Middle East has an adoration chapel. Everybody is expected to remove shoes before entering the chapel. This goes back to Exodus in which God told Moses to remove his sandals as he neared the burning bush, “for this is holy ground.” I almost always remove my shoes when praying.
Click to expand...
Simply Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
 
There are definitely limits, and these limits are related to the cultural background, and location of the chapel. In addition, it is related to the cultural idea of “dress modestly” of the parishioners.

I am not one to be scandalized easily by what other parishioners wear, but I remember one time I saw this attractive young girl about 22 or 23 years old. She was wearing a t-shirt, and small translucent shorts. I could see her undergarments, and worst the color of the undergarment!. I was scandalized by this. I saw her as I walked by to enter the Church. Luckily, the next time I saw her during communion she was wearing a skirt on top of the small shorts. I am glad that perhaps someone said something to her? not sure who or when did it happen, but I am glad that she realized that this is definitely beyond the limit.

I think a good rule of thumb is that we must dress to avoid distracting and scandalizing others. Avoid overdressing, and underdressing. Don’t wear costumes, or bring accessories that are distracting. Don’t reveal too much your body, and so on.
 
What is an accurate definition for “scandal” and “scandalizing” in the context of the Catholic Church?

Scandalizing doesn’t mean “shocking” or “upsetting” it means inducing one to sin.

If someone’s dress scandalized a person it caused them to commit sin.

It’s not just the skin that is seen, it’s the nature of the skin that is seen that causes "one to sin - eg, lustful thoughts, adultery of the heart.
 
We can not always predict how another person will respond to what we wear.
I deal with more sexual advances when I wear my grey suit than when wearing anything else. The length of the skirt is well below the knee. There is no slit, and the jacket length is past the elbows. The blouses I wear with this suit all have mandarin style collars. When I wear it to Mass, I also wear a Pashmina.
 
A number of years ago, at about 4 am, I stopped in our parish perpetual adoration chapel to pray for my sister and the repose of her 42 year old husband’s soul. I had just come from taking my sister to the rehab facility where her husband had just passed away.
I have no clue what I was wearing, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what I would wear to Mass since I had lept out of bed and grabbed whatever was closest when she called about midnight to say that he had died.
I hope no one remembers what I had on!
With that said, when I go for adoration (planned) I dress as if I were going to Mass.
 
h(name removed by moderator)forlife said:
A number of years ago, at about 4 am, I stopped in our parish perpetual adoration chapel to pray for my sister and the repose of her 42 year old husband’s soul. I had just come from taking my sister to the rehab facility where her husband had just passed away.
I have no clue what I was wearing, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what I would wear to Mass since I had lept out of bed and grabbed whatever was closest when she called about midnight to say that he had died.
I hope no one remembers what I had on!
With that said, when I go for adoration (planned) I dress as if I were going to Mass.
Click to expand...
Thank you for providing perspective! And my sympathies for your loss of a brother-in-law.
 
triumphguy said:
What is an accurate definition for “scandal” and “scandalizing” in the context of the Catholic Church?

Scandalizing doesn’t mean “shocking” or “upsetting” it means inducing one to sin.

If someone’s dress scandalized a person it caused them to commit sin.

It’s not just the skin that is seen, it’s the nature of the skin that is seen that causes "one to sin - eg, lustful thoughts, adultery of the heart.
Click to expand...
The definition depends on the accepted morality, but the way I used the word “scandalize” was not connected with causation (or inducing or successful persuasion) to commit sin. How is scandalizing connected with leading others to commit sin?. All personal sins are consented. In fact, sins must be consented. There is no I saw THIS and it led me to sin. There is temptation, but the sinner CONSENTS for it to be a sin.

All sins are consented with the exception of the original sin.
 
I wasn’t really commenting on your use of the word, rather it led me to look up scandalize in the Catechism.

Scandalize there means induce others to sin, even if they already have a prediliction for that particular sin.

So it’s not “immodest” dress that we should warn against but scandalous dress that causes us to sin.

“Immodest” dress - points the finger at the other. They are dressing like… blah blah blah.

“Scandalous” dress - points the finger at our own sinfulness too. When they dress like that I feel lust.

It’s more honest.
 
triumphguy said:
I wasn’t really commenting on your use of the word, rather it led me to look up scandalize in the Catechism.

Scandalize there means induce others to sin, even if they already have a prediliction for that particular sin.

So it’s not “immodest” dress that we should warn against but scandalous dress that causes us to sin.

“Immodest” dress - points the finger at the other. They are dressing like… blah blah blah.

“Scandalous” dress - points the finger at our own sinfulness too. When they dress like that I feel lust.

It’s more honest.
Click to expand...
Very good point. I cannot disagree with this. Obviously, I felt uncomfortable when I saw her. I am a male, and I don’t expect to be able to see undergarments of a female, especially at Mass. I did feel tempted because of what I saw. I am glad that I am used to praying every time right before Mass starts.
 
I still say we should show dressed decently and modestly the best we know how for things like Adoration and Confession. We should try to step up the level of being dressed up for Mass no matter the day of the week with the same level of dressing decent & modest. No one is saying dress to the nines especially in the heat waves and summer heat, but we can still look decent & modest but yet be comfortable.

Father Dominic’s homily, I do wish that mainly younger people listen and get something from it. I also think their parents should pay attention as well as some of them must not care. I see too many kids and teens coming to Mass looking better dressed to play in the yard. It does not take much effort to at least put on a knee length pair of shorts and a modest yet appropriate short sleeve shirt with a pair of non flop flop sandals - that applies to both genders and all ages.
 
I would not expect anybody to wear clothing for daily Mass or adoration than he or she is wearing for the day. Daily Mass in most parishes is offered either early in the morning for thsoe headed to work, or early evening for those getting off work. It might also be offered at noon. An office worker might be dressed in suit and tie while a construction worker would be in jeans and a T-shirt and wearing work boots.
 
I thought I should put a little of my (name removed by moderator)ut on this thread.

I understand Daily Mass and Adoration for it is during the week and you might be at class and notice you can catch the 10am Mass on Monday and you were are wearing a pair of blue jeans, nice top, and flips-flops (which I had done many times during my college years and what made me silly was I took off my flip-flops or shoes of any kind during Daily Mass because of Moses when God spoke first to him in the Burning Bush).

But, I am not wearing tight jeans or cut-up for that matter, but a nice pair of jeans and a modesty shirt and pair of flip-flops.

I think what people need to do when they even decide to wear anything is ask this:** Jesus, would I wear this if I saw you face to face?** See how many people would be embarrassed to answer they would wear the miniskirt.
 
People dressing immodestly in an always-open perpetual adoration chapel doesn’t surprise me. In fact, I was walking by a Catholic church today and there was a wedding going on. The bridal party was all wearing dresses that went well over the knees, almost to the bum, and the entire top was exposed, including cleavage.

If people can’t show respect for a major thing like holy matrimony, why on earth would it surprise anyone if they wear miniskirts during unstructured open time?

(I don’t care if people wear dress clothes, but I do think people should at least refrain from wearing overly sexualised clothes, particularly in mass.)
triumphguy said:
So it’s not “immodest” dress that we should warn against but scandalous dress that causes us to sin.

“Immodest” dress - points the finger at the other. They are dressing like… blah blah blah.

“Scandalous” dress - points the finger at our own sinfulness too. When they dress like that I feel lust.
Click to expand...
But doesn’t immodest dress cause scandal? Isn’t that the whole point of modesty? (Well, that and the fact that modesty means practising temperance, showing respect for yourself and for your privacy, and having the self-esteem and self-worth to realise that you don’t need to show your bum cheeks and cleavage to all passers-by in order to feel attractive, important, and wanted.)
 
SgtSchultz said:
People dressing immodestly in an always-open perpetual adoration chapel doesn’t surprise me. In fact, I was walking by a Catholic church today and there was a wedding going on. The bridal party was all wearing dresses that went well over the knees, almost to the bum, and the entire top was exposed, including cleavage.

If people can’t show respect for a major thing like holy matrimony, why on earth would it surprise anyone if they wear miniskirts during unstructured open time?

(I don’t care if people wear dress clothes, but I do think people should at least refrain from wearing overly sexualised clothes, particularly in mass.)

But doesn’t immodest dress cause scandal? Isn’t that the whole point of modesty? (Well, that and the fact that modesty means practising temperance, showing respect for yourself and for your privacy, and having the self-esteem and self-worth to realise that you don’t need to show your bum cheeks and cleavage to all passers-by in order to feel attractive, important, and wanted.)
Click to expand...
The problem is too many people you will encounter can’t agree on what modesty is. They bury all modesty under the big SUBJECTIVE tent.

At least the Vatican has a dress code, and for a reason, I’ll stick with that.
 
johnnyjones said:
They bury all modesty under the big SUBJECTIVE tent.
Click to expand...


N.B., these folks are inappropriately dressed for big tent Christianity. In fact, I believe they are not wearing any clothes at all! This is, of course, immodest – especially in a tent.
 
L_piperatus said:
Folks, is this now considered acceptable?

Six other people attended with me. Three men were wearing shorts, one woman a miniskirt, and two other women wore shorts. In other words, every single person I met at Perpetual Adoration, wore shorts or miniskirt. Guys also typically wear flipflops and remove those flipflops while sitting inside the chapel.

Does the Church approve of this?
Click to expand...
this disturbs me, not to mention I feel like every mass I go too - at least 1 person will have a cell phone ringing

even after BEFORE mass starts they give a friendly reminder to turn off your cell phones!

GRRRRRRR
 
If Jesus returned right now I wouldn’t take the time to change out of my shorts and polo. I wouldn’t want anything to slow me down in getting to wherever He was.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top