Proper attire for mass for men?

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Before I moved I would wear “dress” shoes and pants, along with a nice button down shirt and my KoC lapel. Now that we are in between homes, staying with family until our new home closes, I only have one button up shirt, and no dress pants. So for daily mass I wear a polo shirt with jeans and sneakers. I should probably start wearing my button down shirt for Sunday but I definitely can’t wear it every morning.

My point is, there’s no point in trying to discern anything about the person at Mass by what they’re wearing. There’s a 1,001 reasons and situations why a person isn’t dressed to your standards. It’s not our business. By all means, advise your spouse and your children about proper dress to Mass. Set an example to the world by what you choose to wear. Otherwise, it’s the priest’s job to address any problems with a parishoners dress code.
 
Hmmm. I didn’t know anyone even paid attention to my clothing at Mass.
 
The Mass is the wedding feast of the Lord of Heaven and Earth to his bride, the Church. Keeping that in mind, I generally wear a suit and tie (yes, even in south Texas in the summer).
Just my $.02

Patrick
AMDG
 
pnewton said:
This is why dress should not be judged. All that should be taught is only what the Church teaches, and She does not teach fashion, but modest is taught, but it is taught along with a host of other moral formation issues.
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Dress can and should be judged according to Church teaching. It offends God, scandalizes one’s neighbor and hurts oneself when one dresses immodestly.

Even in the secular world, some establishments post signs like “Black tie required”, “No shirt/no pants/no shoes, no service.” and now in the light of the current crisis “No mask, no service” (and that’s no joke either - I got that from the sign posted at my favorite restaurant).
 
Margaret_Ann said:
Dress can and should be judged according to Church teaching.
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If what you say is true, then of instead of just stating this, you can show where the Church’s dress code is listed in the catechism, apart from modesty, which I explicitly mentioned.
Margaret_Ann said:
It offends God,
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No one here is the voice of God. He alone speaks for Himself.

As to scandal, that is one point that we might consider, but know that it means that those who are scandalized are by definition the one’s in need of Christian maturity. That is what St. Paul taught in First Corinthians. I did not think it right to look at priests as the weaker brothers in terms of theology and Christian growth.

So, where do you think the Church has taught dress code?
 
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phoage said:
The Mass is the wedding feast of the Lord of Heaven and Earth to his bride, the Church. Keeping that in mind, I generally wear a suit and tie (yes, even in south Texas in the summer).
Just my $.02
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Totally AWESOME post!!! That is a gem! 🙌

Can i post that on FB?
 
Then you did not read what I wrote, twice, where I explicitly excluded modesty, which has not been the topic or an issue on this thread. Modesty is not the same as fashion, and it does vary with culture. It is a lot more than dress, and dress is a lot more than modesty. Modesty is something we practice everywhere, not just a Mass.

That book is not the Church, whose teaching has evolved through the centuries and has never involved a snake being found in the rubble as a “sign”.
 
pnewton said:
Modesty is not the same as fashion, and it does vary with culture.
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It does vary with culture but let’s not go assuming every culture is correct in what they deem modest. As Christianity takes root in a culture it will blend in with some traditions and some traditions will have to go. It happened in Europe. Actually it never succeeded fully in Europe unfortunately, as Chesterton remarked somewhere. But we are seeing it in Africa, in the East, etc. Catholicism is universal, but it does not ask of the cultures of the earth that they stay exactly the same.
 
StudentMI said:
It does vary with culture but let’s not go assuming every culture is correct in what they deem modest.
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I’ll have to think about this. Can a culture be said to be correct or incorrect? I have never heard that type of adjective applied to a culture. A culture can be disordered. I guess your descriptor makes sense. Agreed. An immoral culture can exist, so adapting to culture is not without limits.
 
Be my guest, I did not originate the concept, I just repeated it.

Patrick
AMDG
 
In my opinion, we should dress for the occasion. While I see many attendees dressed casually, I prefer wearing a white shirt, dress pants, and shoes (as opposed to sneakers). We’re not going to a barbeque.
 
1cthlctrth said:
In my opinion, we should dress for the occasion.
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People (nearly) always dress for the occasion. If someone rejects the idea of dressing properly when going to church, this simply reflects their attitude toward this particular occassion; a wedding feast of the Lord, as someone stated here earlier.

IMO, Sunday Mass is not an occasion to dress down. That’s all.
 
Adamek said:
f someone rejects the idea of dressing properly when going to church, this simply reflects their attitude toward this particular occassion;
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It’s really not right to cast aspersions on people who don’t dress up to the same extent as you. Personally, I do dress up for Liturgy. But there are some in our congregation who do not, yet they are very active in the Church, attend Liturgy for every Holy Day, give of their time and treasure. Their attire does not negate any of this. We really have no place judging someone’s inner disposition.
 
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You respond to my general statement with particular examples of the people you know. I am not casting aspersions on any one, but this is how you read my comment.

We are living in a culture that values personal comfort above all.
Just imagine Christ or any of his apostles choosing personal comfort.

Church attendence is a community affair, not an individual activity. Those folks that feel no need to respect the occasion, and/or their fellow church attendees are making a choice and a statement, whether they think so or not.

We are not likely to find agreement on this, but we should ask ourselves about the reasons for our disagreement.
 
How would you dress if you were to meet the President?
Now how would you dress if you were going to God’s house in presence of His Angels and Saints? Of course at the same time you would be visiting your Father and your Doctor Who wouldn’t hold it against you if you just forgot to dress to impress because your needs overwhelmed you and you just missed Him and wanted to see Him.
So how would you dress if you were to visit God?
 
Adamek said:
Church attendence is a community affair, not an individual activity. Those folks that feel no need to respect the occasion, and/or their fellow church attendees are making a choice and a statement, whether they think so or not.

We are not likely to find agreement on this, but we should ask ourselves about the reasons for our disagreement.
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That is an aspersion. I am responding to exactly the words you are writing.

And no, we won’t find agreement because comments like the one I quoted to be very distasteful I’m bowing out of this conversation. Have a blessed day.
 
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