Shorts at Mass??

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Love_Divine said:
Familiarity builds contempt. When we become too familiar with someone, we get too casual and lose the respect they deserve. The same is true with God. A perfect example would communion in the hand.
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Familiarity does not bring contempt. I’m not sure where in the world that idea came from. When we become familiar with someone, we become more and more respectful of them as a person, because we experience their affections and appreciate their strengths. Do you not respect those you love the most? Is your respect reserved only for far off figure heads of power and wealth? That power and wealth is nothing. As far as our lives go, the queen might as well be a drawing in a book and not a real person at all. We don’t know her and she doesn’t know us. What IS real is God’s love and grace. You get those from a relationship with God and you can’t have a relationship without familiarity. Why do you think he reveals himself to us in the ways he does? The Son could have stayed in heaven and watched us from afar, but He chose to become one with us in flesh. Doesn’t that suggest that He wants familiarity? When he commands us to eat his Body and Blood, doesn’t that suggest a want for communion with us? There are an infinate number of devotions one can observe to bring oneself closer to God and if wearing fancy clothes is one that works for you, I say, go for it. However, if you find it is an occasion to sin because you are comparing yourself to the outward appearance of others, I say, avoid it and show your love and respect in some other way. We know from Corinthians that pride is poison to genuine love.
 
Love_Divine said:
Familiarity builds contempt. When we become too familiar with someone, we get too casual and lose the respect they deserve. The same is true with God. A perfect example would communion in the hand.
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No, familiarity builds understanding. It only builds contempt if that was the original intent or if you find out that a person is less than you “expected” (and if anyone comes to the second conclusion about God, then they certainly have not become familiar with Him, they’ve simply substituted their own version of Him).

And what do you mean exactly by “get too casual”? Is it too casual, say, if you’re not kneeling while praying? Do I have to have to be wearing “Sunday best” while praying? How about pyjamas, what if I’m listening to Christian music at the same time? What if I pray through music (praise and worship)? What if the song is by Hillsong (I know, it’s random, but it’s who I’m listening to right now)? Does my prayer have to be completely formal or can I just bounce ideas off God or just spend time with God in adoration?

All of these would represent some form of casual.

Also, CITH has been debated to death. Suffice to say, the Vatican approves it. No other facts are important.
 
Love_Divine said:
Familiarity builds contempt. When we become too familiar with someone, we get too casual and lose the respect they deserve. The same is true with God. A perfect example would communion in the hand.
Click to expand...
What exactly does shorts at Mass have to do with CITH? Except your own personal agenda:shrug:
 
The whole topic of “appropriate” dress at mass seems a bit shallow to some extent to me. On the one hand as a lay leader and serving in one of the roles in mass, EM, Lector, Cantor, Sacristan, Ministers of Hospitality, Acolytes, or some other role it is important to dress more conservatively. On the other hand, though i cannot proclaim to have the mind of Christ, somehow getting hung up on the exterior package of a person’s dress at church seems to indicate to me that perhaps they are not oriented well to be so easily distracted by such mundane things. There are extremes to be sure but, when I served in the military and we had mass out on bivouac we really didn’t care much about how anybody was dressed, or smelled, or what not. We knew why we were there. Isn’t the ‘show’ of dress another kind of idolatry. We don’t know the condition of the hearts and minds of the person standing next to us, let alone someone we barely know. Most of the folks I know don’t go overboard concerning dress at church and I live in place that is very hot most of the year. If I’m distracted by another person’s expression of clothing, then I tend to look at myself and ask myself the question; am in the right frame of mind here? Do I recognize the Christ presence in those gathered around me? In the eyes of the homeless man who just walked in sobbing quietly wearing rags? Or the family who is going out to celebrate at a family gathering right after mass? Do you get it?
 
curlycool89 said:
Not at the Stampede they didn’t. Even William was in jeans.

And? The whole point of faith is to develop a relationship with God. Faith cannot exist in any real form without relationship. It is why we are Christians. We have a God who became one of us in all things but sin, and who suffered and died for love of us.

Theology behind sin only makes sense within a relationship with God, who is our Heavenly Father.
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I wish to seek God of course and be as close as we can be too Him. But familiarity can so easily create contempt and if you feel “too home” our too used to it, one could easily loose some of that respect that God truly deserves.

That i have based on mistakes done before in other ways and i wish not to repeat them.
 
There are quite tasteful ways to wear shorts and look perfectly dressed up. A tucked in polo, for example. Times change, after all, and the meaning of what is and is not appropriate/dressed up does as well. What some people consider dressed up now, would not have been 60-80 years ago.

Furthermore, while I think it’s perfectly appropriate to judge particular clothing, I think it is more difficult to judge particular people that wear them. For example, there might be a family that only owns raggedy jeans, so shorts are actually more dressed up. Maybe the person’s not actually Catholic (at least they’re there). I’ve been humbled too many times by talking to people about what they wear to Mass to make judgements on particular people.

And let’s get real, the only ‘appropriate’ thing to wear at Mass would be the most formal outfit you own for reception of Christ! Obviously that’s not going to happen, and I doubt God would want that to happen. Just like the best posture for Mass is really prostrated on the floor in front of God! That, too, is not going to happen. It intefers with our worship of God in that we become too worried about the clothes, or posture, instead of the why and the worship.

Basically, I think there’s a balance.
 
Let’s go back to our mindset when we enter God’s house. Do we think “What will people think of me the way I’m dressed”? Should we not think “Am I dressed in a way that is most pleasing to my God”?

Our pattern can be at least in part similar to God’s chosen people whom He called out of a careless pagan world to be special to Him. In their travels through the desert with the tent of meeting, the Levites (I believe) had to change clothes before they went into God’s presence. This says something to me. When I pick out my clothes for mass, the selection can be part of my prayer of preparation. It’s a private prayer and it works changes in me.

Now as I’m picking out my clothes, I often recite to myself: “Worship the Lord in holy attire.” 1 Cr. 16: 29., and this truly influences how I dress.

Woops! My prayer isn’t private anymore!
 
Love_Divine said:
The Vatican tolerates it to permit the indult at the moment.
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If it is licit, then it is licit. There’s not such thing as stages of licitness. So there’s no real point in nit-picking. If you don’t like it, then fine. You can’t tell people off about doing something the Vatican has declared licit.
 
It goes without saying that we must always give our best to God. This includes not just dress, but reverence, prayer and participation. To do anything less is to deny God his due. It is never enough to “just show up”. So we must begin with proper preparation including wearing our Sunday best.
 
bmadamsberry said:
There are quite tasteful ways to wear shorts and look perfectly dressed up. A tucked in polo, for example. Times change, after all, and the meaning of what is and is not appropriate/dressed up does as well. What some people consider dressed up now, would not have been 60-80 years ago.

Furthermore, while I think it’s perfectly appropriate to judge particular clothing, I think it is more difficult to judge particular people that wear them. For example, there might be a family that only owns raggedy jeans, so shorts are actually more dressed up. Maybe the person’s not actually Catholic (at least they’re there). I’ve been humbled too many times by talking to people about what they wear to Mass to make judgements on particular people.

And let’s get real, the only ‘appropriate’ thing to wear at Mass would be the most formal outfit you own for reception of Christ! Obviously that’s not going to happen, and I doubt God would want that to happen. Just like the best posture for Mass is really prostrated on the floor in front of God! That, too, is not going to happen. It intefers with our worship of God in that we become too worried about the clothes, or posture, instead of the why and the worship.

Basically, I think there’s a balance.
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This post and number 423 are both amazing. Very well put - IMO should be read by everyone before making judgments on others based on attire.
 
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