Should there be actions taken to improve or even control immodest dress at mass?

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As my father used to say about people who wouldn’t go to mass because they didn’t like the priest: “At Judgment God won’t ask who said the mass [or what were you wearing]. He’ll just ask were you there.”
 
I believe that we, as Catholics, have become very lax in allowing the extremely casual clothing our parishioners wear to church. I often wonder if they would attend a special occasion in such attire. To my it shows a lack of respect to our Lord and the Eucharist. I agree also that our non-Catholic friends show much more respect when they attend their services. :o
 
I grew up in the sixties when everyone dressed modestly for Mass, seems times have changed starting in the early seventies as I recall and most pastors said the same thing that it’s better to have them at Mass withour proper attire then to not have them at all. My response to this would be thus: Would a female lawyer go to court dressed in a halter top and a thong? Would a baseball player or a soccer player go to the game dressed in a suit? Would you go to your cousin’s wedding in shorts and a tee shirt? Probably not. Why? It would be considered inappropriate and a bit rude. You would get stared at and maybe even admonished by others at the event. So why do people dress the way they do to Mass? Because they don’t get stared at and admonished, in fact they get praised the fact that they’re even there at all. Back in the sixties many people would get upset with the new fashionable clothes people wore to Mass and admonish them as show-offs and trying to be snobbish. Is it so different today? Even though the people wear jeans, shorts and other somewhat suggestive clothing it is expensive designer clothes so they are still showing off and putting themselves on parade and being snobbish. A little piety, respect and reverence at Mass never hurt anyone and they might actually sit up and pay attention to the worship and messages in the sermon if they weren’t all just trying to show off what they bought at the mall this week. Maybe if the message from the pulpit was to remind the congregation why they are there and that they are not putting on a show and that they should devote one hour per week worshipping our Lord rather than their new clothes they might actually get it. Do I find it a distraction when people come to Mass inappropriately dressed? Not as much as I used to. And why? Because I know why I’m there and maybe just maybe by my example they might also get the message.
 
BrokerMichelle said:
This actually came up in our family this past Sunday. We were staying with my in-laws and the kids had left their “good” clothes at another house. I chose to keep the kids home from church. They are 3 teenagers and the girls only had shorts and t-shirts to wear. Was I right in staying home and missing mass? Or should I have let them go dressed immodestly???
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Sounds like your kids failed to plan ahead in one area but not the other. After all, they didn’t forget the shorts and t-shirts they needed for their visit at the in-laws. I wonder why? They seem to know how to do ‘some’ planning ahead. Also. your question suggests YOU stayed home yourself as well. If so, NO you were not right in staying home yourself, assuming you yourself planned ahead and had church clothes on hand. That would definitely send a wrong message to the teenagers about irresponsibility in a very important area of thier lives.
 
Michael96 said:
I think there are two sides to this one:
  1. I agree that standard of dress is important (I was surprised when I converted to Catholicism how casually people dressed compared to the Methodist Church I had come from). I would like to see more modest dress.
  2. But it really is better that somone comes to church with shorts (or whatever) than they don’t come at all.
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If the person cares more about her shorts than about the Eucharist, perhaps she’s not in a fit condition to receive it in the first place.
 
Lief_Erikson said:
If the person cares more about her shorts than about the Eucharist, perhaps she’s not in a fit condition to receive it in the first place.
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AMEN to that!!! The lines at confession are non-existent compared to the lines receiving the Eucharist!!!
 
As a rule, our society is challenged these days when it comes to understanding appropriate attire for given situations. This is evidenced by work place dress codes, uniforms and SMODs in public schools, and colleges needing to set standards of dress for students during internships or work like environments.

I grew up understanding the difference between “serious” school clothes, “hearty” play clothes, and “reverent” church clothes. I decided it was important to convey those lessons to my own children and I am pleased to find that they are not challenged when faced with making the decisions about what to wear when. Unfortunately, many of my peers were not granted the strictness of my parents (in part due to the Dr. Spock generation of giving in to the child), and therefore we, as a whole, have not grasped the concept in order to pass it along.

Fortunately, enough of society is concerned with the need to dress appropriately that children are learning it despite their parent’s shortcomings.

In the business world it is referred to as modeling, in the faith world it is called witnessing. Whatever you chose to call it, do what you feel is right and others will learn through their exposure to your good example.
 
dessert said:
I don’t wear immodest dress anywhere now. It has been about a year since I went back to skirts and dresses of appropriate length and will not go back. I gave 60 + pairs of pants and jeans to goodwill. I am more happy than ever, don’t even have to worry about it. To the Muslims, they look a bit like nuns but that is ok too. 🙂
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Pants are not inherently immodest. The Vatican permits women to enter St. Peter’s Basilica dressed in pants.
 
You should dress reasonably nice. I say reasonably not in the sense of sorta nice, but rather you should dress nice with out going to unreasonable lengths. If you just returned to town from a trip and do not have time to go home then throw on what every you have. It should be nice, but more importantly you go then to wear something nice. When you have the oppritunity to wear nicer clothes do it, but when you dont still go.
 
I would definitely say to go, but stay in the back, especially if the clothes are too tight or short.

And please don’t volunteer to be EMHC. The hard decision would be whether or not to receive under those circumstances.

Lux
 
Havnt read what everyone has posted since there are a ton of pages. So this is a bit of an aside, but here I go:

If priests want to increase modest dress at his parish he should turn down the thermostat. In the summer this will cost more, and in the winter save money. Fr. John Trijilio of Catholicism for Dummies fame does this at his parish. Also post suggestive signs at church doors like “Speak Softly, Act Reverently, Dress Modestly.” should help. Turning down the thermostat wont make people dress nice, but it should reduce cleavege, shorts (on both men and woman) etc. From here the Pastor must encourage dressing nice first and only discourage dressing poorly as a subscript. But again turning down the thermostat to 65 or even lower (costs allowing) will cause people to put on more clothes.

Just my :twocents:
 
EasterJoy said:
I was thinking about this today…
If a person cannot make it to Sunday Mass properly dressed, is their obligations dispensed with?
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I say that it is better to go to Mass dressed in less than ideal clothing and have your entire parish complain about it on the Catholic Answers Liturgy Forum than it is to miss Mass.
 
Lief_Erikson said:
If the person cares more about her shorts than about the Eucharist, perhaps she’s not in a fit condition to receive it in the first place.
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That’s true. I’m somewhat guilty in that respect, as well. I don’t go to Confession as frequently as is recommended (once a month).
 
Lief_Erikson said:
Yeah, but a lot of women’s pants nowadays are really low cut at the waistline.
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But not all of them, and in fact the lowest waistlines are going out of style. High waists are in as far as high fashion is concerned. And with the styles now, it’s very easy to purchase long shirts or tunics to cover even the low waistlines.

I hope you’re not jumping on the “all women’s pants are immodest and immoral” bandwagon.
 
Not only is dressing immodestly tempting others to sin, but isn’t also disrespectful to our creator and savior our Lord Jesus Christ. Dressing modestly must start in the home and be encouraged in Sunday school.

Brendan
 
BrokerMichelle said:
This actually came up in our family this past Sunday. We were staying with my in-laws and the kids had left their “good” clothes at another house. I chose to keep the kids home from church. They are 3 teenagers and the girls only had shorts and t-shirts to wear. Was I right in staying home and missing mass? Or should I have let them go dressed immodestly???
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I would have dragged mine to Church and allowed them to feel embarrassed, but that’s me. I think going, which we are gravely obligated to do, is more important that how we are dressed.

While we were evacuated for Katrina, I took the family to Mass at a small parish nearby my parents’ home. One Sunday I sat behind a child who was maybe a little yougner than my oldest–a preteen. She was in her PJ’s and her hair had obviously not been combed since she rolled out of bed. Being at a small and quite conservative parish, she definitely stood out, even to us visitors. I had to laugh when I imagined what the conversation in that house must have been like that morning. She didn’t want to get out of bed and go to Church. Apparently she lost the argument. I also noticed that over the next several weeks, that family was always at least 10 minutes early and the same child was dressed impeccably.
 
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Salaam/peace
BrokerMichelle said:
… They are 3 teenagers and the girls only had shorts and t-shirts to wear.
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Did not read the whole thread …looks like some or many Christians think one needs to wear modest dress only when s/he is going to Church .

I am curious …Is not there any dress code for Christians ? Are women allowed to wear shorts & t shirts outside home and church ?
 
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