Dear Diego:

We should always attempt to wear proper clothing to Mass.  They are very few situations in which we would have an excuse to not be dressed properly.  Warm weather or plans to go on a picnic after Mass or being on vacation are not excuses.

In a scenario that you present, if the women genuinely cannot drop by our house to change, and if there is no other Mass available at a different time, then it would be okay for her to go to Mass as dressed.

The most common excuse and delusion is expressed in a phrase "the Lord doesn't care how I'm dressed as long as I go to Mass." This is a sorry excuse and is untrue. Would these people say that if they were invited to dinner by the Pope, or by the President?  What if these people even show up to a wedding dress like that.  Those who uses excuse are really hypocrites or are just plain disrespectful.  It matters how we dress.

How we dress reflects something about ourselves and also our attitude toward the person we are meeting. As one person put it "by our dress we acknowledge who He is to the world." Matthew 10:32 tells us "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father."

God has a lot to say about how we dress. 1 Timothy 2:9-10, 1 Peter 4:3; Galatians 5:19; 1 Timothy 2:9-10; Matthew 22:11-12; 1 Corinthians 14:23-24 are just a few verses that deal with how we dress. St. Paul was particularly concerned about women dressing immodestly. 

We need to remember the teaching of St. John Chrysostom on modesty. Remember as you read this that the teaching the Saint is giving was 1603 years ago (the 5th century). Nevertheless notice just how applicable it is today in the 21st Century.

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 you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride.

 Bishop Robert Vasa says it well:

Dress, Demeanor, Discipline
Show how We Value Holy Mass

Several years ago I had the opportunity, while visiting Washington, DC, to observe the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

I was so struck by the simple, deliberate elegance of the ceremony that I stayed for extra minutes simply to watch the young man march to and fro with that same simple, deliberate elegance. The uniforms were absolutely impeccable, the shoes shined to pure gloss, the faces of the guards set like granite, the measured steps precise, the entire person focused on the job at hand. It was clear from all of the above that the young men knew that what they were about was serious and important.

I have reflected repeatedly on the Arlington experience as it relates to what we do in our Catholic Churches. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most significant event in the world. As the priest and ministers enter the church and proceed down the aisle, there is not the expectation that they imitate the guards at Arlington, but it would be most appropriate to do so. The guard at Arlington processes solemnly in front of a tomb of national significance, and he is rightfully dignified. Every altar in every Catholic Church has eternal significance and deserves a regard greater than that demanded by the national tomb.

I am not advocating a religious solemnity devoid of joy or humanity, but it appears that Arlington may have something which the Catholic Church needs. The dignity manifested by the guard points towards and accentuates the dignity of the place. Silence is observed at the National Tomb. Silence is a sign of respect for the place and the meaning of the place. Silence is appropriate and enforced vigorously there. Order is enforced there.

As I stood watching the guard making his seemingly routine and non-variable march, he suddenly broke out of line two steps at an angle to his right. He removed the rifle from his shoulder, held it in his hands, and said very forcefully, "Stay behind the barrier!" A couple of seconds later, he repeated the command, at which a woman who had crossed into forbidden territory to get a better picture retreated to the area reserved for visitors. He then returned to his line and resumed his march. No apology, no explanation; the sign said "No Trespassing"; what part of "No" was not understood?

The trespass onto sacred secular soil was deemed unacceptable. The dignity of the place demanded order and an observance of that order. Once again, I do not advocate this kind of rigid, cold enforcement, but the dignity of our churches needs to be fostered and preserved. The dignity of this sacred place will be lost as the sacredness of the area around the tomb would quickly be lost, if there is not a decided effort to preserve it.

Wouldn't it be cute if four or six little 5-year-olds dressed up like Marines and marched back and forth with the guard? It might be cute, but it would not befit the dignity of the place or the solemnity of the occasion. Yet time and again, we try to introduce people and behaviors into our churches which are deemed "cute" and therefore somehow mandatory. I suggest that "cute" has its place, but Arlington National Cemetery is not one of them, and neither are our churches which house Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Several years ago, the Holy Father reinstituted a dress code for the churches of Rome, his diocese. No one in shorts or sleeveless shirts was to be admitted into the church building.

An American sense of rights and freedom rebels against such rules, calling them absurdities. Yet it was done and it was enforced. Tourists who had traveled across an ocean to see a church were turned back at the door unless they were properly attired. This was only to visit a church while no other liturgical action was going on. The Holy Father saw a need to institute a policy aimed at restoring, in a very concrete way, a proper sense of reverence for the house of God.

I have often heard the argument that the administrators of churches should be pleased to see that people come, regardless of how they are dressed. The other side of that is that people need to demonstrate in word and deed the proper disposition and attitude. I am certain the American people would be rightfully chagrined if the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were to show up in plaid shorts, a tank top and half-laced tennis shoes. It is hard to imagine that he could have a proper interior attitude to the job at hand were he to come to "work" dressed like that.

Our liturgy is a sacred "work". How we come to that work is probably as important as the fact that we come. We must recognize that we come to church for sacred work, sacred worship. This demands a decorum commensurate with the dignity of the work to be done. Even if that "work" is to utter a private prayer, it still demands an appropriate decorum.

The soldiers at Arlington know the sacredness of the work which they do. Their dress, their demeanor, their discipline all speak of their recognition of that sacredness. Seeing them is a source of pride for me.

I am proud of what they represent, proud of the values which their discipline bespeaks, proud of the country which at heart still knows that honor and fidelity are worth defending.

For these values people live, and for these values people give their lives. The dress and demeanor of these troops says that they truly honor and respect the life and death of those represented at the Tomb of the Unknown.

Catholics likewise need to know the sacredness of the liturgical "work" which they do. Their dress, their demeanor, their discipline, ought all to speak of their recognition of that sacredness.

Seeing the dress and demeanor of Catholics in Church ought to be a source of pride. They ought to manifest a genuine respect for Jesus present, as well as for the values of the Catholic Church. For these values, saints, declared and not declared, gave their lives; for these values each Catholic must be willing to dress in a fashion which shows recognition and respect.

Bishop Vasa, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, was made bishop of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, in 1999. This essay originally appeared in the Catholic Sentinel June 30, 2000.

Thus, how we dress matters. It matters in terms of modesty, but it also matters in terms of the message we are sending to others and to God by our dress. If we show people that we will dress up for a wedding, or to have dinner with the Pope or the President, but we dress down to meet the God of the universe and our Creator, then we show where are respect lies, and it is not with God. Dress gives out a message. That is why the hippies dressed the way they did and the executive dresses the way he does. Anyone who says that the way we dress has no significance is an idiot.

As Father Groeschel has observed the poorest of the poor will dress up in the best clothing they have, whatever that might be. Why not the rest of us follow their example of respecting our Lord with the best that we have? We have a duty to give God our best.

As for going to Mass ourselves, we need to keep are eyes on Jesus and not what people are wearing. I sit in the front pew so I do not have to be assaulted by all the woman improperly dressed.

When we see people immodestly dressed, or dressed down and casual, pray for them. Be careful about judgments on the dressed-down people as they may be wearing their Sunday best if there are poor, or may be farmers coming out of the field not having time to change clothes. The rest of us have no excuse.

By the way, the only people who seem to be concerned about this, from my experience, are those can afford and have good clothes. emm, that means something.

Except for the immodestly dressed people, which is everyone's business and to which everyone has a right to complain, the issue of dress, while reflecting the level of respect a person has for God, is between them and God. Pray for them, rather than judge them.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary