Wearing Jeans at Mass

[Neil_Anthony]

Sometimes I go to weekday mass on my way to work, or on my way home from work. On Fridays its casual Friday and we wear jeans at work. (I suppose some people must wear jeans to work every day). Is it disrespectful to wear jeans to a weekday mass if they’re clean and in good enough shape to wear to work?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Sometimes I go to weekday mass on my way to work, or on my way home from work. On Fridays its casual Friday and we wear jeans at work. (I suppose some people must wear jeans to work every day). Is it disrespectful to wear jeans to a weekday mass if they’re clean and in good enough shape to wear to work?

It depends on the parish you’re in. In my parish, people wear jeans all the time, I never do, that is, until I just noticed that I’m wearing jeans at work today, and I’m going to Mass directly from work.

General rule of thumb, be respectful and don’t attempt to stand out from the crowd. Wearing a tux to Mass, where everyone is dressed casual, would be worse.

Jim

 

[scott1228]

I am trying to remember where in the Gospels it says the Lord turned someone away because of the way that they were dressed.

There are a lot of different ways to be Catholic. I have seen guys with pony tails, women with short hair. As long as it isn’t immodest or unclean, I don’t think it even matters.

 

[kristie_m]

I am trying to remember where in the Gospels it says the Lord turned someone away because of the way that they were dressed.

There are a lot of different ways to be Catholic. I have seen guys with pony tails, women with short hair. As long as it isn’t immodest or unclean, I don’t think it even matters.

Actually, unclean isn’t even a real issue. Our cathedral is downtown where plenty of homeless come in for Sunday Mass. Granted, some of them are there for a warm, dry place to sleep, but others do participate in the Mass. I think, though, if you have the means, you should make sure that you are dressed in a manner that is respectful (ie, showing up in cutoffs and a “wife-beater” shirt isn’t such a good idea.)

 

[TheDoctor]

You will get responses from folks on one side who say it does not matter what we wear, and responses from folks on the other side who say that anything less than the best you own is unacceptable. As with most of these discussions, the real answer is somewhere in the middle.

Best advice I can give you is simple: Follow your conscience. No one but God knows anyone’s situation, and no one but God should take offense at the way someone is dressed (i.e. I have seen workers come in to Mass right from the construction site, nurses coming off duty in clean scrubs, kids in soccer uniforms between games in a tournament). It is never my place to judge, but to rejoice that they would spend time with us and the Lord.

Have a blessed Easter.

 

[manualman]

Objectively speaking, it doesn’t matter a single bit.

Subjectively speaking, you need to examine your conscience. If you were invited to be greeted personally in a public audience by the pope, would you feel bad doing so in what you wear to mass? If yes, you aren’t dressed properly. The pope is just the Vicar of Christ. Christ HIMSELF is coming to you at mass.

I rarely wear a tie to mass, but do so at work. I consider that different because I am COMPELLED to do so at work. I consider the dang thing a leash.

I’ve also worn jeans (neat and clean ones) as penance for catching myself feeling smug about being better dressed than others at mass. Dangerous sentiment.

 

[harrisunt]

I have a hard time believing that salvation is received through a 3 piece suit. As long as your clothes are not intentionally ragged or revealing I think God will welcome you with open arms into his house.

 

[stinkcat_14]

Here is the way I look at it. If I was the Pope’s gardener and I am out working in the gardens of the Vatican, and the Pope comes by and says come have lunch with me, I wouldn’t say: wait a couple of hours so I can go home and shower and put a suit on. I look at daily mass as an invitation to spend time with God, and what I wear to work is usually going to be appropriate.

 

[kristie_m]

. It is never my place to judge, but to rejoice that they would spend time with us and the Lord.

Have a blessed Easter.

:clapping: Well said!

 

[LilyM]

Objectively speaking, it doesn’t matter a single bit.

Subjectively speaking, you need to examine your conscience. If you were invited to be greeted personally in a public audience by the pope, would you feel bad doing so in what you wear to mass? If yes, you aren’t dressed properly. The pope is just the Vicar of Christ. Christ HIMSELF is coming to you at mass.

I rarely wear a tie to mass, but do so at work. I consider that different because I am COMPELLED to do so at work. I consider the dang thing a leash.

I’ve also worn jeans (neat and clean ones) as penance for catching myself feeling smug about being better dressed than others at mass. Dangerous sentiment.

I’ve said this on other threads - the only reason I would dress up for a Pope, King or President is that they are frail human beings who, sadly but true, have our common human tendency to judge at least partially by appearances.

That being the case, unless I were in an especially contrarian mood I would tend to make allowances for this and dress up at least a little, depending on the occasion of course. Going to an outdoor barbecue on the beach, even with the Pope, wouldn’t call for a three-piece suit I should think.

With God I highly doubt there is any need to appeal to the external in the same way. Didn’t Our Lord say John the Baptist, who wore rough-and-ready camels-hair clothing, was the greatest of men?

And didn’t He also say something against those who wore broad phylacteries and long fringes on the prayer-shawls (in other words who dressed ostentatiously for prayer or worship) since the right spirit was just as likely to be absent from their prayer as anyone else’s?

In summary - clean clothes? Absolutely. Not torn or immodestly tight or brief or sheer? Without question.

Not rumpled? If possible (some of mine I would swear simply cannot exist in a crease-free state for more than 30 seconds). Goes without saying no offensive pictures or slogans or other design features.

Preferably no pictures or slogans of any kind, since it can be a bit distracting to look at what is essentially a walking advertisement for a clothing brand/drink/town/rock band/what-have-you.

 

[kage_ar]

Goody goody gumdrops, ANOTHER jeans at Mass thread

For the OP, if you use the search tool, you will find hours of great bickering - I mean - genteel discussion - on this same topic.

 

[manualman]

I’ve said this on other threads - the only reason I would dress up for a Pope, King or President is that they are frail human beings who, sadly but true, have our common human tendency to judge at least partially by appearances.
…

And like the pope, I’m human too. Deep down inside, if I routinely dress worse for mass than I would for, say, a first date then a part of MY unconscious mind would be assigning mass a value that corresponded to the level of honor that I’ve dressed for.

 

[az_4_faith]

Sunday Mass (The Lord’s Day) - Dress Up

Weekday Mass (Six Days of Labor) - Work Clothes (depending on where you work!)

 

[Namesake]

There are a lot of different ways to be Catholic.

Now that is a breath of fresh air.

 

[SMHW]

Sometimes I go to weekday mass on my way to work, or on my way home from work. On Fridays its casual Friday and we wear jeans at work. (I suppose some people must wear jeans to work every day). Is it disrespectful to wear jeans to a weekday mass if they’re clean and in good enough shape to wear to work?

It seems to me that you have to use your judgement. A weekday Mass is by it’s nature calls for less festivity than a Sunday Mass so it would not be expected that you dress as nicely.

I’ve heard some people go so far as to suggest that you ought to carry a change of clothes with you so as to be able to dress nicer for Mass than for work. In my opinion the only thing accomplished by such an idea will be that less people go to daily Mass.

Unless one works as a stripper in a nightclub, is so dirty as to be making work for the maintenance people, or smells so foul it would be repugnant to be around others, I can’t think of any better way to end or begin a work day than by coming to daily Mass in the clothing for one’s labor. And even those who work in the exceptional fields ought to feel welcome at a Mass where many such people attend.

 

[hasikelee]

Sometimes I go to weekday mass on my way to work, or on my way home from work. On Fridays its casual Friday and we wear jeans at work. (I suppose some people must wear jeans to work every day). Is it disrespectful to wear jeans to a weekday mass if they’re clean and in good enough shape to wear to work?

I do the exact same thing. I will think about this every Friday at Mass, but I continue to forget to put a skirt in my car, lol

 

[LilyM]

And like the pope, I’m human too. Deep down inside, if I routinely dress worse for mass than I would for, say, a first date then a part of MY unconscious mind would be assigning mass a value that corresponded to the level of honor that I’ve dressed for.

Interesting - so you’re a different person who behaves worse and with less respect towards God and has worse moral and other values etc when you dress differently?

Dude, kinda sad if clothing changes your character that much. And it’s a problem for any time you’re wearing casual clothes, since God should always be treated with utmost respect, not just in church and on Sundays, and your other behaviour and values should also be irreproachable at all times.

Perhaps work on it by resolving to dress exactly the same for every possible occasion as a penance, until such time as the Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation brought on by casual clothing ceases.

 

[thereseozi]

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=14848&highlight=jeans

Sep 14, '04, 5:44 pm
Peggy Frye Peggy Frye is offline
Catholic Answers Apologist

Join Date: May 4, 2004
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 393
Default Re: Are jeans acceptable attire for Mass?
There’s nothing wrong with wearing jeans to Mass provided they are neat and clean with no holes or tears. Even St. Peter’s in the Vatican, which has a very strict dress code, permits women to wear jeans. However, your decision to wear jeans should not be based on what “everyone else is doing”; rather, it should be based on what God is calling you to do.

Consider the thoughts of Anthony Cardinal Bevilacque:

“When you go to Mass, remember to dress appropriately and respectfully, whether you are at home or at the seashore or in the mountains. Many people are less concerned today about “dressing up” for work and school, but we should avoid dressing too casually for God’s house. Yes, God accepts us as we are, but the church is a sacred space where God Himself is sacramentally present. “
Full text go here.

Recommended reading:

Radix (Youth) on modesty

Don’t Wear that Mini to Mass

Father Bloom’s homily on modesty at Mass

 

[manualman]

Interesting - so you’re a different person who behaves worse and with less respect towards God and has worse moral and other values etc when you dress differently?

Dude, kinda sad if clothing changes your character that much. And it’s a problem for any time you’re wearing casual clothes, since God should always be treated with utmost respect, not just in church and on Sundays, and your other behaviour and values should also be irreproachable at all times.

Perhaps work on it by resolving to dress exactly the same for every possible occasion as a penance, until such time as the Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation brought on by casual clothing ceases.

Mockery is a low form of argument.

Like it or not, what you choose to wear says to others AND to yourself what you feel about the occassion.

Your attitude can be applied to other things, you realize? Why bother praying on your knees? Shall we mock that with Jekyll/Hyde comparisons too? Why is it that throughout salvation history, fasting has been considered an enhancement to prayer? Got a nice trite tummy rumble remark to disparage that?

I think it is no coincidence that we live in extremely irreverent times and that we also have seen a corresponding drop in how presentable we make ourselves in preparation to go receive the Lord.

 

[lak611]

Like it or not, what you choose to wear says to others AND to yourself what you feel about the occassion.

I was not the least bit embarrassed to have worked in a factory. When I had that job, I went to Mass on Holy Days wearing my work uniform. I did not have time to change my clothes and still make it to Mass. There were other blue-collar workers wearing work uniforms at Mass.