DRESS FOR MASS

Flesh at the youth mass.

They say formality penalizes the poor. Informality is an equalizer. You mean the belly rings, the designer jeans, the skin-tight spandex, the plunging necklines, the mini skirts, the bare midriffs, the bare backs, the short shorts and the huge hairdos belong to disadvantaged kids? Hogwash! Apparently it makes them feel good about themselves… But I wonder why would a young woman feel good looking like a hooker? It’s a scandal how some girls go to the Eucharist… Why do these kids dress so provocatively? The answer is simple. They do it for attention. So it’s about time we started to give them what they want… attention with a strict dress code!


These people are clearly aware where they are.


These people haven't given it thought. Or they will tell you 'I am wearing my best top' -- but the truth is none of these people would go dressed like that to meet some dignitary or show up at a wedding in gears like that. Even the poorest among them will manage to get together a more respectful attire to go before a judge. Yet they see no problem dressing down for the banquet with the King of Kings.

Dressing appropriately for every occasion; with respect for self and others goes beyond modesty. Even though my terry robe covers me from head to foot, it would be inappropriate for me to wear it to the video store. There is proper dress for every place and for every occasion. Then there is the inappropriate kind. You won’t get an audience with the Queen wearing a jack shirt, security will not let you wonder the mall in a bikini and you can forget about going to a job interview in a T shirt with “BOSS” plastered on it.

How does one dress for mass? What amounts to appropriate attire to partake in Christ’s Sacrifice? The lady today, the one who wore the halter with the bare back has no idea. Neither does the guy in the track pants with the Hells Bells T. Are these people fashion challenged or simply lacking common sense? Maybe a bit both… and that is why we should be reminded again and again to please, PLEASE come to mass befitting the occasion that it really is… and that what we wear to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is an outward sign of our respect or lack of thereof.


Is THAT a songbird at a nightclub? Hard to say where she sings at night, but here she song led the mass. Undecided who needs a makeover more... the song leader or the mass? (Religious Education Congress Youth Day, Los Angeles, February 17, 2005

Which brings us to the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist


The new casual/sloppy is most inappropriate for extraordinary ministers. People will argue that relaxed dress code brings relaxed attitude. But I think it’s the other way around. What brought the relaxed dress code in the first place? None other than a relaxed attitude; the respect and the reverence people used to have for worship and for the house of God are all but gone. Lay people are handing out the Body of Christ like candy; smiling at the receiver with obvious oblivion for the Sacred Species.


Smile, you are on Candid Camera!

Wrong time to socialize lady. You are not feeding lunch to the kid.



Girls,girls! What you wear says a great deal about what you value. When serving as Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, you should dress as if you were meeting a special dignitary. You are not serving booze at the local watering hole.

"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment, and much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death-dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body, but the soul. And it is not to enemies that you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride." St. John Chrysostom (d. 407A.D.)

DRESSING TO MEET CHRIST JESUS FACE TO FACE:

Women: Dresses or Suits (at least knee-length)
Blouses/tops with skirts (at least knee-length)
Nice shoes with hose

Men: Suits with dress shirt and tie
Dress shirt, tie, sports coat and slacks
Socks and dress shoes

Jeans, shorts, Tee-shirts, sleeveless tops, spaghetti straps, halter tops, strapless dresses, low cut tops and sneakers are not appropriate dress for men and women serving in the Liturgy.

Dress, Demeanor, Discipline
Show how We Value Holy Mass
Don’t Wear That Mini to Mass