What You At Mass Wear Does Matter!

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Chuy

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**What You At Mass Wear Does Matter! **

Dressing like a slob for Mass discounts the sacred environment for everyone attending the Mass, not just the slobs.

Around here it’s rarely a matter of people wearing inappropriate clothes because it’s all the can afford (the poor dress inexpensively but formally for Mass around here.) It’s a matter of some people dressing like slobs.

That includes shorts (I don’t care how hot it is or if your kids just got off the soccer field or work), tank tops; tops with vulgar messages; ball caps (extra points if it’s worn cockeyed or turned backwards), suggestive clothing, ultra-tight clothing, etc.

Just came from work or going to work after Mass? Change your clothes in the parking lot or elsewhere! I have done it many, many times! Don’t own anything other than blue jeans? Skip a lunch and spend $5.00 at your local Catholic thrift shoppe.

There is absolutely no excuse to dress like a slob at Mass. Doing so does take a toll and it should be stopped.
 
Chuy said:
**What You At Mass Wear Does Matter! **
I agree with you 100%. During the summer months I attend a church that is air conditioned and you would not believe how many men and women wear shorts; not only that, when it came out to give Communion and the Blood of Christ, both men and women at SHORTS on. This is very DISRESPECTFUL. The church is air conditioned and there is NO reason to be wearing shorts and to give out Communion and the Blood of Christ. If these people cannot tolerate a 45 minute Liturgy, what is going to happen when they die? I also blame the pastor. He is not strict enough and these Eucharisric Ministers should be told about it because it is the house of God and when I say them in shorts, I could not believe it. That church has a suggestion box, and in that box, I told the pastor, as a visitor, I could not believe that he allowed it. If they cannot wear regular clothes and especially if the church is air conditioned, than something drastically is wrong. In regards to how other people dress, if they are poor that is fine, they are going to mass and someway people dress is as they were going to a modeling school. (Sorry, to be judgmental.)
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Dressing up for church became a popular practice in the first half of the nineteenth century, first in England, then northern Europe and America, as a consequence of the industrial revolution and the emergence of the middle class. While care was historically given to cleanliness and solemnity on Sabbath days, dressing up for worship resulted, not from a theological teaching, but from the influence of Victorian culture on worshiping communities.
 
dconklin said:
Dressing up for church became a popular practice in the first half of the nineteenth century, first in England, then northern Europe and America, as a consequence of the industrial revolution and the emergence of the middle class. While care was historically given to cleanliness and solemnity on Sabbath days, dressing up for worship resulted, not from a theological teaching, but from the influence of Victorian culture on worshiping communities.
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Can you cite any references?

There was certainly a time when most people only owned the clothes on their backs and only the rich had a change of clothes but that’s not typically the situation today so your opinion (even if it’s true) does not apply.

I recently pulled into the parking lot of a parish church wearing a cap, t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. I was dressed as a tourist and for the major league baseball game after Mass, not Mass itself.

Withing 90 seconds I pulled-on a guayabera (one of those Cuban dress shirts you don’t tuck in), replaced my shorts with a pair of simple black cotton pants (yeah, right there in the corner of the parking lot!) and my sneakers with a pair of penny loafers. I took off my cap (and left it in my car) and ran a comb through my hair. After Mass I reversed the process. DONE DEAL – 3 minutes total.

More people need to make this minimal effort.
 
ANY event can be elevated by people dressing their best. It can also be pulled down by people who dress as slobs…
 
Lisa44 said:
Genesis, that font is extremely hard on the eyes.😦
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Yeah, I gotta second that.

In any case, I agree with the OP, but where is that line drawn between slobs and not, who decides it, and how is it to be enforced?
 
Chuy said:
ANY event can be elevated by people dressing their best. It can also be pulled down by people who dress as slobs…
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It can also be elevated by people remembering my they are at mass in the first place. It can be pulled down by focusing on what other people wear.
 
But I thought Christ said blessed are the poor?!?!?!?!? 😛

I think it’s not that big of a deal to dress up for daily mass, but it is sort of important in Sun. mass. It’s supposed to be a day of celebration in memory of the resurrection.
 
Though we should not judge the attire of others, sometimes one has to wonder. I live in an area that has more than its share of upper-income neighborhoods, though I only get to drive through those.😃
I have seen quite a few people dressed in very expensive clothes while showing quite a bit too much. Men come to Mass wearing the pricey loafers, no socks, shorts and tee shirts. Women sometimes wear hip-hugger jeans, abbreviated blouses and fairly open fashions.
When I see obviously expensive clothing that is nowhere near being modest or is just plainly sloppy, I wonder. People would never dress like that for a professional meeting. If that is the case, why would they appear that way at Mass? It seems to suggest a very casual feeling about the Mass.
As for our family, we dress neatly with no shorts or tee shirts in the group. Neatness counts and I really don’t want my appearance to indicate that I don’t find the Mass important.
 
Newbie2 said:
In any case, I agree with the OP, but where is that line drawn between slobs and not, who decides it, and how is it to be enforced?
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I think it has to come from the pastor in a very gentle, persistent and educational manner. After awhile, peer pressure will take hold.

As far as the definition (no tank tops, tube tops, shorts, etc.) I think that needs to come from the pastor following a great deal of prayer and (name removed by moderator)ut from both his flock and his bishop. Better yet, work with the bishop to create a diocese-wide policy.

One thing that would upset me is if people tried to equate non-slovenly garb with having to wear a suit and tie. That is very misleading.

I recently visited St. Sophia’s Cathedral (Greek Orthodox) in Los Angeles. It does have a sign that says no shorts, no immodest dress, etc. I dropped in just to pray and see the place on a Saturday around noon. Yes, I went back to my car for the 90 second quick change. That put a huge smile on the gardener’s face.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
It can also be elevated by people remembering my they are at mass in the first place. It can be pulled down by focusing on what other people wear.
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Red herring.

What people wear to Mass has a direct and often times offensive impact on the environment in which we worship.

Just the opposite should take place – what people wear to Mass should uplift the environment.
 
M0nkey said:
I think it’s not that big of a deal to dress up for daily mass, but it is sort of important in Sun. mass. It’s supposed to be a day of celebration in memory of the resurrection.
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Why is Sunday Mass “different?”

Why dress-up for a funeral Mass while dressing like a slob for other Masses? I honestly don’t get it.

So it’s clear, no one said to “dress-up.”
 
Georgia said:
Though we should not judge the attire of others, sometimes one has to wonder. I live in an area that has more than its share of upper-income neighborhoods, though I only get to drive through those.😃
I have seen quite a few people dressed in very expensive clothes while showing quite a bit too much. Men come to Mass wearing the pricey loafers, no socks, shorts and tee shirts. Women sometimes wear hip-hugger jeans, abbreviated blouses and fairly open fashions.
When I see obviously expensive clothing that is nowhere near being modest or is just plainly sloppy, I wonder. People would never dress like that for a professional meeting. If that is the case, why would they appear that way at Mass? It seems to suggest a very casual feeling about the Mass.
As for our family, we dress neatly with no shorts or tee shirts in the group. Neatness counts and I really don’t want my appearance to indicate that I don’t find the Mass important.
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I never judge others based on what the wear to Mass. I am just offended when people dress in a manner that sucks the sacredness right out of the space. I spend enough time in the secular world. When I go to Mass I want to be lifted-up, not pulled down.
 
As long as someone isn’t dressing immodestly or wearing a vulgar t-shirt, I don’t see what the problem is.
What happened to “come as you are”? If someone’s heart is in the right place, what does it matter if they have shorts and sneakers on? And I have to wonder if a person’s heart is in the right place if they have time to criticize other people’s attire at Mass. Remove the beam from your own eye before trying to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye. Do you think Jesus cares what you are wearing if you’re focused on HIM? I don’t.

BTW in response to the shorts comment, not all churches are air conditioned. I used to attend St. Monica’s in NYC and it was NOT air conditioned and was miserably hot in the summer. And I’m not talking about 20 years ago, I only left NYC a little over a year ago.
 
maize said:
a teenager sitting in front of me at mass was wearing a t-shirt that had skulls with batwings and blood flowing from the neck area like the wear had had their throat cut.

classy.

here it is…

americanteeshirt.com/product/view/AV701032
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That sorta slob-wear has no place at Mass.

In school they would make the person turn the t-shirt inside-out or cover it with something else. Maybe well-trained ushers need to be armed with an armful of black xxxl t-shirts to cover such garbage?
 
as a guy, i find it hard to concentrate at mass with girls showing off their breasts or wearing really tight jeans.

just sayin’.
 
oh, but other than that i really don’t mind what people wear at mass. i wear a nice shirt and slacks but only because that is what i was taught growing up. i don’t think it’s disrespect if some kid or adult came in with shorts on. i can’t imagine that someone can’t become a saint because they wear shorts and boat shoes to mass. like, God would take away that grace because of shorts…
my thoughts though.
 
oh, one last thing.
sometimes a homeless man shows up for mass. he wears dirty clothes and stinks but i think that maybe God uses that to purify the people that he chooses to sit around. i tend to think that maybe they would recieve a grace from God if they don’t think “this is mass, slob!”
 
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