Vampire t-shirts at Mass

[WhollyRoamin]

In rebuilding, however, they shouldn’t overlook a flawed stone…
“The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone.”

I think you’re trying to be clever, but please do not compare some slackingly dressed kid to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

[BlessedMomof2]

I think you’re trying to be clever, but please do not compare some slackingly dressed kid to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In your opinion, he’s slackingly dressed. Perhaps if you opened your eyes you’d see Jesus instead.

Neither here nor there, because I wasn’t referring to the teenager. I was referring to the fact that in rebuilding the Church they not overlook Jesus in doing so.

 

[Monica37]

Just to add to the posts that mentioned the Mass is not about me. I agree that the attitude that God should be happy that I showed up at all is a dangerous road to travel.

I have a friend who is a lapsed Catholic. His attitude is just that. “Hey, I live near the Pope (he lives in Italy) and I go to Mass about once a year, that should be enough to show God I love him”. This is a guy who is in the army and if one of his soldiers showed up for physical training in cut offs and a bar t shirt and said, hey, at least I’m here, my friend would have him doing push ups for 3 days straight! When I confronted him on that (Mass attendance rather than clothes at that time) with the question would he want his soldiers to give him their very best or just the minimum requirement, he said the minimum! Now, I know him better than that and he is a Sergeant Major. You do not become a Sergeant Major by putting in minimal effort or accepting that from your soldiers.
In other words, it seems to me that we are in a mind set that we think God should accept whatever we are willing to give Him and be satisfied when no other place in our lives would we accept the bare minimum. You wouldn’t say, yeah, my child gets Ds and Fs, but hey, at least he goes to school. You wouldn’t say yeah, I sham all day at work, but my boss should just be happy I show up every day so he can pay me and on and on.

 

[WhollyRoamin]

Just to add to the posts that mentioned the Mass is not about me. I agree that the attitude that God should be happy that I showed up at all is a dangerous road to travel.

I have a friend who is a lapsed Catholic. His attitude is just that. “Hey, I live near the Pope (he lives in Italy) and I go to Mass about once a year, that should be enough to show God I love him”. This is a guy who is in the army and if one of his soldiers showed up for physical training in cut offs and a bar t shirt and said, hey, at least I’m here, my friend would have him doing push ups for 3 days straight! When I confronted him on that (Mass attendance rather than clothes at that time) with the question would he want his soldiers to give him their very best or just the minimum requirement, he said the minimum! Now, I know him better than that and he is a Sergeant Major. You do not become a Sergeant Major by putting in minimal effort or accepting that from your soldiers.
In other words, it seems to me that we are in a mind set that we think God should accept whatever we are willing to give Him and be satisfied when no other place in our lives would we accept the bare minimum. You wouldn’t say, yeah, my child gets Ds and Fs, but hey, at least he goes to school. You wouldn’t say yeah, I sham all day at work, but my boss should just be happy I show up every day so he can pay me and on and on.

 

[BlessedMomof2]

Just to add to the posts that mentioned the Mass is not about me. I agree that the attitude that God should be happy that I showed up at all is a dangerous road to travel.

I have a friend who is a lapsed Catholic. His attitude is just that. “Hey, I live near the Pope (he lives in Italy) and I go to Mass about once a year, that should be enough to show God I love him”. This is a guy who is in the army and if one of his soldiers showed up for physical training in cut offs and a bar t shirt and said, hey, at least I’m here, my friend would have him doing push ups for 3 days straight! When I confronted him on that (Mass attendance rather than clothes at that time) with the question would he want his soldiers to give him their very best or just the minimum requirement, he said the minimum! Now, I know him better than that and he is a Sergeant Major. You do not become a Sergeant Major by putting in minimal effort or accepting that from your soldiers.
In other words, it seems to me that we are in a mind set that we think God should accept whatever we are willing to give Him and be satisfied when no other place in our lives would we accept the bare minimum. You wouldn’t say, yeah, my child gets Ds and Fs, but hey, at least he goes to school. You wouldn’t say yeah, I sham all day at work, but my boss should just be happy I show up every day so he can pay me and on and on.

I think you’re trying to be clever, but please do not compare an SGM with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and

 

[jfmarm81]

I am 28 years old, and the father of one, with one on the way. I wanted to add my two sense to this thread. On this Good Friday, we reflect on the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for every one of us. The one who was both God and man suffered immeasureably for US, people who probably didn’t deserve to have that done for us. Jesus told us not to judge others, yet that is exactly what goes on every day. We have become so blind with the rules of how we should worship that we have forgotten the reason we worship.
This teenager in the vampire shirt was at church. He was worshipping God and Jesus. Perhaps he comes from a poor family and does not own any nice clothes. I knew many kids back in high school who came from such poor families, they did not own even a polo or khaki pants. Yet every week, many other Catholic teenagers sleep in, or go to lunch, and do not attend church. I know, because I was one of them. I was a lapse Catholic for the last 12 or so years.
My son attends church and he is not yet two. I will not force him into a dress code that will turn him away from church when he is older. Jesus Christ spent time with prostitutes, lepers, and tax collectors. The respect that we show God must come from within, not on how we dress. We cannot presume to know what others are thinking, and it is that type of holier than thou thinking that made me leave the church to begin with.
The lowly will enter the Kingdom of God, and instead of picking apart others and how they dress or worship, maybe all of us should look inside ourselves and see how lowly we have truly been. I think that Good Friday is an excellent time for this reflection. I’m not here to pick fights, I just wanted to post my thoughts. May God Bless You All, and thank you for taking the time to read what I had to write.

 

[NenaPR51]

I don’t know if this is the correct place to start this thread. I understand that vampires are pretty popular with young people, due to some movies. What I don’t like is seeing a t-shirt worn by a teen/young person that says, “I Run With Vampires”. I have only seen this once, but it was right up front in the front row at the left side of the altar. The dad was sitting right next to him. It was Palm Sunday, to boot. It’s pretty a pretty disgusting or at least mentally distracting thing to see during the liturgy of the eurcharist. If I talk to the priest about it, can the church request a dress code in their bulletin regarding shirts with writing? With so much political correctness these days, I don’t know if that is done anymore.

:thumbsup:CAROLOFTHEBELLS: I am with you. You get accussed of being judgemental but I say to you that you are not. I feel exactly the same way you do and it happens that I feel that way because I respect God and I remember that in the Bible times, people sometimes didn’t dare to enter the temple uncovered. We have lost all respect and decorum while we are at church. People show up wearing clothing that I would only wear at the beach or while relaxing in my back yard. We are NOT judgemental CAROL; we only want to enter the House of God and show Him respect.

 

[WhollyRoamin]

I am 28 years old, and the father of one, with one on the way. I wanted to add my two sense to this thread. On this Good Friday, we reflect on the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for every one of us. The one who was both God and man suffered immeasureably for US, people who probably didn’t deserve to have that done for us. Jesus told us not to judge others, yet that is exactly what goes on every day. We have become so blind with the rules of how we should worship that we have forgotten the reason we worship.
This teenager in the vampire shirt was at church. He was worshipping God and Jesus. Perhaps he comes from a poor family and does not own any nice clothes. I knew many kids back in high school who came from such poor families, they did not own even a polo or khaki pants. Yet every week, many other Catholic teenagers sleep in, or go to lunch, and do not attend church. I know, because I was one of them. I was a lapse Catholic for the last 12 or so years.
My son attends church and he is not yet two. I will not force him into a dress code that will turn him away from church when he is older. Jesus Christ spent time with prostitutes, lepers, and tax collectors. The respect that we show God must come from within, not on how we dress. We cannot presume to know what others are thinking, and it is that type of holier than thou thinking that made me leave the church to begin with.
The lowly will enter the Kingdom of God, and instead of picking apart others and how they dress or worship, maybe all of us should look inside ourselves and see how lowly we have truly been. I think that Good Friday is an excellent time for this reflection. I’m not here to pick fights, I just wanted to post my thoughts. May God Bless You All, and thank you for taking the time to read what I had to write.

Please set high standards for your young son. You clearly want the best for him in his relationship with the Almighty. It is not easy to be a Christian, don’t give him false expectations that Christ wants us to take the easy way in life.

 

[Cat]

Kindly, I think you missed the point. Chatter163’s comment was directed towards Orpheus2112’s comment of “At least I’m there. ” Chatter163 isn’t (necessarily) calling for the ushers to bar the door to keep people out. Rather, the poster is saying that Oprheus2112 needs to think about someone other than himself. Mass isn’t for us, it’s for Jesus.

Yes, I understood that.

But what exactly are Chatter163 and you saying? Are you saying that after Mass we should approach Orpheus2112 and tell him, “You need to think about someone other than yourself! It’s not enough just to be at Mass, you also have to dress appropriately.”

THAT’S what I’m asking! PRACTICAL ANSWERS, please! Yes, in our own circle, we can analyze the immature behavior of other people at Mass and condemn it. But WHAT, if anything, can and should we do about it?

As I said in my first post in this thread, I do NOT believe it is ever a good idea to approach a total stranger and comment on their apparel at Mass.

Do you disagree with me? Does Chatter 163 disagree with me?

I’m looking for an answer, please, an approach, a course of action. Thanks.

 

[Carlion]

On the one hand, I totally agree with the posters who favor the Sunday Best option, because Christ is our King and He’s present at the Mass. But on the other hand, I worry about churches instituting dress codes because it could keep away some of the people who most need to be there. Also, when I think of the apostles traveling with Jesus, I think of a ragtag band of guys chosen from all walks of life who simply picked up and left with the Lord, and probably didn’t give a care about what they were wearing.

I do see your point, though, Carol.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

As catholics, aren’t we all just vampires in some way? After all, we eat flesh and drink blood.

Buit we don’t do so in that way ​

Vampires are Christ-in-reverse AFAICS. Which would make a vampire tee-shirt about as inappropriate as can well be imagined - unless one were to have a tee-shirt glorifying satan or black magic

At least the kid is there. I sometimes wear my old Iron Maiden t-shirt to Mass.

At least I’m there.

 

[jw2lds2catholic]

I’m in my 40’s and I …um… have worn World of Warcraft shirts to Mass…generally for daily mass and will wear something else (polo/blouse) for Sunday’s. In fact, I just got back from stations of the cross in one. I bring/wear to Mass what Christ wants most: a broken and contrite heart - doesn’t matter what the clothes are as long as they are modest. During football season this one guy shows up every Sunday 7:30 am mass in his Cowboys jersey. Don’t have a problem. BTW - the WoW shirts are kind of inside jokes and anybody who doesn’t play the game will be like “what the ?? does that mean?” Maybe it’s because been a Mormon and a JW - I relish going to Church not ‘having’ to wear a dress – Go Team Edward

 

[WhollyRoamin]

Yes, I understood that.

But what exactly are Chatter163 and you saying? Are you saying that after Mass we should approach Orpheus2112 and tell him, “You need to think about someone other than yourself! It’s not enough just to be at Mass, you also have to dress appropriately.”

THAT’S what I’m asking! PRACTICAL ANSWERS, please! Yes, in our own circle, we can analyze the immature behavior of other people at Mass and condemn it. But WHAT, if anything, can and should we do about it?

As I said in my first post in this thread, I do NOT believe it is ever a good idea to approach a total stranger and comment on their apparel at Mass.

Do you disagree with me? Does Chatter 163 disagree with me?

I’m looking for an answer, please, an approach, a course of action. Thanks.

If I knew the kid, I’d ABSOLUTELY talk to him. If I knew his parents, I’d talk to them too. I didn’t know the kid, I wouldn’t say anything. That’s probably the wrong answer, but its the real one.

 

[WhollyRoamin]

I’m in my 40’s and I …um… have worn World of Warcraft shirts to Mass…generally for daily mass and will wear something else (polo/blouse) for Sunday’s. In fact, I just got back from stations of the cross in one. I bring/wear to Mass what Christ wants most: a broken and contrite heart - doesn’t matter what the clothes are as long as they are modest. During football season this one guy shows up every Sunday 7:30 am mass in his Cowboys jersey. Don’t have a problem. BTW - the WoW shirts are kind of inside jokes and anybody who doesn’t play the game will be like “what the ?? does that mean?” Maybe it’s because been a Mormon and a JW - I relish going to Church not ‘having’ to wear a dress – Go Team Edward

Please don’t wear t-shirts to Mass. It is not befitting the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

[Monica37]

I think you’re trying to be clever, but please do not compare an SGM with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and

I think you need to reread my post. I NEVER compared my friend to Jesus, in fact I was reprimanding because he expected to recieve more respect than he was willing to show Our Lord. Double check my post.

 

[Cat]

If I knew the kid, I’d ABSOLUTELY talk to him. If I knew his parents, I’d talk to them too. I didn’t know the kid, I wouldn’t say anything. That’s probably the wrong answer, but its the real one.

I agree that if you KNOW someone, and if you are in a position to speak with them, that’s fine. It’s good to care enough for each other to ask, “Hey, what’s with the vampire shirt at Mass?”

I suspect though, that most of the time when this happens, we don’t know the person. And I maintain that it’s inappropriate to speak with them about dress–UNLESS…your child is afraid of the shirt. THEN I have no problem with Mom or Dad approaching the scary-shirt person and saying, “Hey, buddy, you’re scaring my child and I can’t allow that. We can move to another pew, but my child knows you’re in the nave and he’s scared of the vampire. Would you mind not wearing such a frightening shirt when you come to Mass? Thank you.”

Also, some people are very gifted at dealing with people. They possess tact and an ability to deal with sticky issues. If you are one of those people, you probably know it. So I would say, go for it.

But I’m guessing that this isn’t the sort of thing that will take care of itself with one conversation in the lobby. It probably means making friends with the vampire-shirt-person, and that takes time and energy and effort, and many of us would rather not bother. You know, sadly, it’s easier to rag against inappropriate dress on an online forum than it is to get to know the offenders and try to eventually become enough of a good influence in their lives that you can actually convince them to not wear an offensive shirt to Mass. And yes, I would put myself in that category–I would rather just ignore them then try to become a positive influence in their lives.

 

[Matrix_Refugee]

Why did they think the “vampire fad” will cause the need for more exorcists?

Vampires aren’t real. The seem to be all the rage because of the Twilight books … which are are silly and totally harmless except they show a very sappy view of love … I’ve read them. Nobody reading those books could ever actually think that vampires are real unless they had serious mental health issues to begin with.

Exactly: vampire lore ultimately came from people in ye olden times not knowing how dead bodies decomposed, etc. So, if they dug up a body and found blood on the hands and/or mouth, they assumed it meant the body had become a vampire and had gone around drinking the blood of livestock or people, when in fact, the poor person had probably been buried alive, came to after burial and then started clawing madly at the inside of their coffin, bloodying up their hands or face in the process.

For that matter, some of the original vampires, in eastern European legend, weren’t sexy, swoony blood-drinkers, but were recluses who were blamed for epidemics, livestock illnesses, crop failure, etc. because supposedly these recluses were draining the life force from the animals and people around them, when in fact it was a result of germs being spread due to poor sanitation, etc. Much the way that several unpopular people in Salem, Massachusetts were accused of being witches in the 1690s, when they were really no worse than grouchy Mrs. Tolliver grumbling in the grocery store check-out. Bram Stoker and a few other 19th century writers just combined the vampire of legend with the bad-boy main characters in Lord Byron’s works and set the stage for the modern literary vampire.

On a side note, the Chinese vampires or kiang-shi are supposedly corpses reanimated by demons, but they’re more like zombies than like the sorts of things people think of when someone says “vampire”. One description of kiang-shi pictures them as little more than a blood-stained head that rolls or hops around. Ewww… yeah, really sexy. :: Eyeroll:: I doubt anyone with sense would find them attractive enough to get possessed by them, even if they did exist. Plus, they’re easy to avoid: you just hold your breath until the kiang-shi hops past you.

 

[Junebug999]

yeah, my kid would wear something profane like that (anywhere actually) but certainly to mass over my very dead cold body!

In fact – this is a true story – my son is very involved in high school tennis, and he has no hips and his pants slip down and sometimes the top of his boxers show. So when he was started to go to Mass I pulled down the top of my slacks so about 1 inch of pink undies showed and said this: “Son, I will make a deal with you – if no one ever sees the tops of your boxers at Church, no one will ever see the tops of mine at one of your tennis matches!” And we never had a problem seeing the tops of his boxers again!!! HAHAHA

 

[jfmarm81]

Please set high standards for your young son. You clearly want the best for him in his relationship with the Almighty. It is not easy to be a Christian, don’t give him false expectations that Christ wants us to take the easy way in life.

I thank you for your concern of how I raise my child, but I do NOT believe that allowing him to wear a t-shirt and jeans to church is teaching him the easy way out. Perhaps my original post should be re-read.
My father believes that when we are face to face with the Almighty, He will ask us all “What did you do for me on Earth?” I truly believe this as well. I seriously doubt that He will ask us why we wore jeans to Church. I suppose I could be wrong, but I don’ think so. We can care for one another, worship and follow God and Christ, and still wear a t shirt to Mass. Respect and reverence come from WITHIN.
As I said, my son is not yet 2. When asked who made him so handsome, he replies “Jesus.” He says a prayer every day: “Dear Jesus, Help me to be a better person. Amen.” I have purchased religious books for him and read him stories about Noah, Moses, and Jesus. I think that I am doing a very good job in teaching him the ways of the Lord. And none of that has to do with how he dresses on Sunday.
I went to Good Friday Service tonight, and I wore jeans. I happened to look around the Church, and noticed that all eyes were on Father, or the cross, where they should be. Nobody was staring at what another was wearing because we were all there for the same purpose: to solemnly celebrate the death of our Lord and Savior.
I’m sorry if this comes off as a rant, or a personal attack on anyone-that is not my intent. May God Bless You All.

 

[adstrinity]

(2) Is there something incompatable with vampires and Catholicism?

Not necesarrily. Please do not presume you know about and speak on behalf of all vampires. Thank you.

In regards to the original question and the subsequent “dress code” arguement, as much as some would like to impose this, what about the people who do not have nice clothes (I have seen overalls worn at a Latin Mass), OR, people who are just getting off of or will have to go into work? Whatever they do, whether uniformed or construction worker.

Where I am, pretty much all the women wear skirts/dresses/jumpers at church. I feel out of place and like they want to tell me to wear a skirt, but, they don’t and I don’t much feel comfortable in a dress.