And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Interesting those that defend sloppy and immodest dress for Mass. I have heard the tired argument, “Well at least they (we) are coming to Mass”. Are they? Would they use the same amount of care to meet the Queen of England or the President? Does not the King of Kings deserve a little more respect than that? Are these the same ones chewing gum and thrusting out dirty hands to receive Holy Communion? Does it really mean anything?

It is not a ‘social’ gathering

My sons were not allowed to wear jeans to Sunday Mass. And going to Mass on Sunday was not optional. This IS a SPECIAL occasion!

The ‘at least they are present’ argument is a hollow one. The ‘everyone dresses like this’ or ‘we dress like this at board meetings’ does not cut it either. One is coming to the greatest act of prayer on the face of the earth: dress as if you know it! Everyone one else dressing poorly or in from the gym does not apply.

Teaching religious ed to middle school, I always asked the girls to dress as modestly as they can so as to BE CONSIDERATE of others. When there is a girl in front of me (it happened last Sunday) in a short short thing, it distracts me so I know it distracts my husband and sons. It is calling attention to self. I know most do not even consider this. They need to.

Students on their way to class and so on is not Sunday Mass. I wore jeans then too. I never do now, not even for daily. I wear a dress or skirt. I might be the only female doing so. But how would Our Lady be dressed? That is my standard. What is yours?

I understand how dressing up can be related to respect. However, the Lord judges the heart not the clothes. You are sitting in judgement here. Perhaps the church needs to spend more time focusing on spreading the word of Jesus instead of their silly rules. Would www.rksloans.com/title-loans-md a beggar in rags be turned away? Are we always juding the outer appearance of people and never realizing that they are there at the mass too? What gives us the right to say they are any less because they dress casually? The world is falling apart and yet these conversations of meaningless issues continues in the catholic church. Perhaps we all need to love our neighbor and stop judging them.

Nothing

Thank you Msgr Pope for courageously taking on this explosive topic. Where is all the respect for priests these days? Everyone seems to want to opine according to their own comfort zones…and seem to be missing the whole point put forth by this humble priest. Attending mass is for worshiping God…period! It is not subject to a ‘democratic’ vote on how to approach it. It is about giving our all to the God Who created us. Dressing to look attractive…is itself a distraction from worship…either for the person dressing that way or for the ‘weak’ individuals who cannot help but ‘look’ at the many, many people who dress immodestly – which is a direct result of ‘doing one’s own thing’! LISTEN TO THIS HUMBLE PRIEST. He is trying to lead us to holiness!