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STANDARD OF DRESS FOR MASS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Our theme for today's "Walking with the Word" is the: STANDARD OF DRESS FOR MASS. Our scripture passage will be the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, and the Book of Genesis, chapter 03. THEN THE soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, 29. and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30. AND THEY spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. 32. As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross. 33. AND WHEN they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), 34. they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; 36. then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews." [Mt 27:27-37] Considering that our topic today concerns dressing appropriately for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, this passage from Matthew’s gospel about the passion of Christ may seem a little odd. But it isn’t. Now here’s another scripture passage that may seem at first to be a little off-topic: SO WHEN the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. THEN THE eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. 8. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. BUT THE Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10. And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." 11. He said, "Who told you that you were naked? [Gen 3:6-11] From Genesis and Matthew, we have two stories about clothes. One story, the passion of Christ, is about clothes being taken off. The other, the passion of Adam and Eve, is about putting clothes on. It would be hard to find any other story in the Bible more important than Adam and Eve and the Passion of the Lord. Both of these stories mention the matter of clothes. The details about the clothes are not part of the stories by accident. The inspired writers wrote about clothes for very important reasons. In summary, Adam and Eve made fig-leaf aprons to cover the shame of their terrible sin. Our Lord Jesus, however, was innocent, and he was stripped of his clothes for the purpose of shaming him. Whatever one may say about clothing, whether it’s cheap or expensive, nerdy or fashionable, clothes are intimately connected to the issues of modesty and shame. What a person wears at home, or work, or at the mall, or various social events is not our concern today. We are concerned today with what Catholics wear when they go to Mass. As a pastor of a parish, this is a subject that I’m qualified to speak about. I’m also qualified to make some recommendations. Along the way I’ll mention three common complaints that people voice in opposition to having a standard of dress for Mass. And I’ll certainly talk about the very substantial reasons why you should dress modestly and appropriately for Mass. I believe the strongest reasons for dressing properly for Mass are to be found in Sacred Scripture. I do not intend to treat this subject exhaustively or to get bogged down in exceptions. As you can tell, I’m going to defend dressing modestly and appropriately in the Mass as a matter of personal spiritual integrity. If your standard of clothing for attending and participating in Mass is appropriate, that is to say you dress “up”, then I invite you to stay with me as I affirm the virtue of modesty in the Church. If your way of dressing for Mass is sloppy and/or promiscuous, then I challenge to hear me out. Perhaps the Spirit can persuade you to change your ways. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For today’s lesson, our theme is the STANDARD OF DRESS FOR MASS. The matter of proper dress for Mass falls under the virtue of justice. The virtue of justice means this: Giving to another what God has determined to be his due. Justice doesn’t mean giving what satisfies you. Justice doesn’t mean the other person receiving what satisfies him. Both the giver and receiver look to God to determine what should be given and what should be received. Hopefully, both the one who gives and the one who receives understand this. First and foremost the virtue of justice belongs in the family. A husband and wife make a covenant with Christ that each will be just to the other. Justice is absolutely necessary in order to live a life of faith with integrity. Each man, woman and child in the Church is commanded by God to give to the other what God has determined to be their due. We show each other profound respect and sincere attention, because this is what God intends for us to do for one another. Now justice has something to say also about the human person’s relationship with God. God treats you with justice. He lovingly and attentively gives you what you are due: faith, hope and love and your “daily bread” [Lk 11:3], that is, the basic necessities of the day. It’s not a question of God failing to give us what we need or want; rather, we ought to think about all the occasions when we failed to see the good that God intended for us, or having seen it, rejected it. In any event, God who is perfect in love and in his divine being, is perfect in what he wills for us to receive for our own good. Respecting God and respecting the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are the same thing. Catholics who don’t respect the Mass are kidding themselves if they think they are respecting God properly. I respect God; therefore, I respect the Mass. Not by parts and pieces or mental gymnastics do I respect God. Therefore I respect all aspects of the Mass. What is the Great Commandment? AND ONE of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29. Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30. and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' THE SECOND is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." [Mk 12:28-31] Note that Mark’s gospel makes very clear that we are to love God with all our strength. This certainly refers to making a great mental, emotional and spiritual effort. But we can’t overlook the fact that “strength” refers to the human body. If we are to love God with all our strength, then we’re talking not just about our attitude or mind, but the devotion of our whole human personhood to God. So it’s not enough to intend to go to Mass with noble thoughts; we must go with a noble body as well—for thought, word and deed are not jewelry or fractions but rather the sum, the whole of a person’s posture before God. Now, where does the virtue of justice take us in this conversation? To devotion. Devotion, whether spiritual or social in nature, belongs to the virtue of justice. If I act justly to another, I give him what he is due in the eyes of God. I am devoted to him as Christ himself would be. I’m attentive to him. Through prayer and the Word of God, I strive with all my heart to listen to what God wants me to do for him. Thus devotion refers to a human act of the will by which a person offers himself in service to another. God himself has always shown a preference for the poor, the orphaned and the widowed. He commands his faithful followers to act in justice and be devoted to them. Why? Because we Christians need to remember that in the presence of God, we’re nothing of our own and need everything of God. Sin impoverishes all human beings. Sin makes strangers of all human beings. Sin takes away all that we hold dear. Occasionally, someone in our parishes will complain bitterly about the standards of dress for worship and campus activities such as Continuing Christian Education (CCE). These complaints follow a pattern. In summary, they are: Having a standard for dress in Church is bizarre and harmful—A dress code makes the Church trivial and irrelevant—The Church is being high-handed. Behind such complaints may be—You aren’t going to tell me what to do. But the Word of God has this to say: ON THE contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23. and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty… [1Cor 12:22-23] Remember that Adam and Eve started the first dress code; they covered their nakedness before God, because their sin shamed them and all humankind. They yielded to the sin of pride. Each said in his or her own way, It’s all about me. It’s about what I want. It’s about what makes me happy. What resulted from Adam and Eve’s self-gratification, their pride? These two persons caused more grief and distress to human beings than any other man or woman in history. Eve betrayed her relationship with Adam. Adam betrayed his and Eve’s relationship with God. Both betrayed mankind and its original innocence. Adam and Eve were supremely unjust to one another. They gave up innocence for corruption, nakedness for shame, life for death. What is the best way for a person to rebuke Adam’s and Eve’s extravagant sin? By governing their thoughts, words, actions and appearance with modesty and firmness. This is why all faithful followers of God will dress modestly; we are sinners because of Adam and Eve. But we don’t want to be prideful like Adam and Eve. Approaching God with anything less than humble submission in soul and body is offensive before God’s holiness and the virtuous respect of religion. Yet, there is a more important reason: MODESTY PROTECTS the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity. [CCC 2521] Our Lord Jesus Christ took our sin and our shame to himself on the cross. Sacred Scripture tells us that those who hated Jesus shamed his sacred humanity by stripping him of his garments. They mocked his Kingship of Heaven and Earth by putting a scarlet military robe on him, impaling his head with a crown of thorns, and giving him a reed for a scepter. He was beaten and spat upon and reviled with contempt. A second time the enemies of Jesus shamed him by stripping him, but they “put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him”. [Mt 27:31] A third time Jesus was stripped. He was nailed to the cross and hoisted up naked but for a loincloth. Those who stole his clothes watched him die. [cf. Mt 27] By understanding the virtue of justice and how devotion is the proof of justice, we can understand that Our Lord’s Great Commandment of Love is not theoretical. It’s not meant just for the rational mind or the emotional heart. The Great Commandment was given to us by Christ to be the fitting and proper motivation for being a just people who are devoted to God and one another—especially the weak and innocent among us who need strong teaching and a strong example: “I was naked and you clothed me (says the Lord)”. [Mt 25:36] To be devoted to someone is to give that person a home in one’s heart. To lift up that person is to care for him, to be attentive to him, to seek his good without any selfish or hidden motives. Now when it comes to God, we raise God up, we lift God up—not because God is down but rather because we are showing God that we magnify God’s majesty, God’s glory, his loving-kindness, the beauty of God’s holiness, Christ’s humanity, the splendor of his truth, the power of Holy Spirit, and the wonderful works of God in human history. I am devoted to someone or something, and so like the three wise men, I offer something of substance. I devotedly give of my very own self what is valuable and worthy. Devotion brings out the very best in a person not the least or the worst. We offer the best of ourselves, and what have, and what we wear for the purpose of making these things a gift in service to others. Devotion is the solemn outward expression of sentiments and deeds which correspond to deeply held interior beliefs. Devotion is precisely the cultivated means by which human beings graciously submit themselves to one another. The whole of mankind properly approaches God through devotion—in charitable, orderly, and communally accepted ways without fear of exploitation. Historically, the devotional life of individuals, families and nations has proven to be a reliable marker of spiritual and psychological health. Modesty is not the credo of our faith, but regard it as the fruit of what we believe: the proof of love offered by the human creature who submits himself in relationship to the infinite mercy of his Creator. Only God knows whether the human heart is clothed in modesty, but modesty of one’s body is revealed to all. The Lord Jesus sent us his Spirit to lead and guide us strongly to do what is right and proper—without compulsion. The CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH speaks eloquently, as few sources do, on modesty as the virtue of beauty: MODESTY PROTECTS the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet. [CCC 2522] Without devotion, the last defense of the human bond, a person's life becomes peculiarly vulnerable to meaningless self-absorption and outright error. Promiscuous words and behavior are admired. The pursuit of glamour is relentless. Marriages collapse. Children abandon parents. And man turns away from the God who created him. If you fear for your Christian faith, strengthen your religious devotions. Make a chapel in your home. Respect your Church as you would St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome or the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. And your own body? DO YOU not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; 20. you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. [1Cor 6:19-20] I gently and firmly invite the members of our parish families to thank God that the Roman Catholic Church is a voluntary society. By “society”, I mean that your parish is a community of faith with shared values. By “voluntary”, I mean that every parish family has chosen freely to be a part of the local Church. By esteeming the Body of Christ and choosing to be counted among our faith community, you accept the Lord’s command—in the responsible exercise of your spiritual freedom—to support its shared values of devotion and modesty. Having a dress standard for all Masses (and for other activities such as Continuing Christian Education) is a shared value of the parish community. Setting a standard of dress for the parish celebration of the Eucharist is reasonable and beneficial to parish devotional life. Everything we think, everything we say, everything we do has a momentous impact on others. For the sake of our precious children and the weaker members among us, we are obliged in Christ to be the best possible influence: “Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.” [CCC 2524] To be the best possible influence for the sake of others means that our external behavior, our manner of acting, and the modest presentation of our bodies is very, very important. Moreover, it honors the living presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the sacred Mass and his Spirit on the holy campus of the Church. By each member’s personal modesty, he or she shows respect to all other members of the Church family. Together, we strive for a spiritual level that no individual can hope to reach on his own. The good habits of faith support the spiritual dimension of faith. We live in a world which desperately needs the witness of principled men and women, for whom the fullness of Catholicism is essential in every aspect of their lives. How can anyone speak of different dress codes for different Masses? Do we not have but one Church? Do we not have but one Mass? Therefore, having one Church and one Mass, we have one standard of dress for all: our regular Sunday Liturgies, weekday and feast day Masses, and youth Masses in the Church proper. Ask your pastor. Ask your bishop. Every bishop in the United States has established guidelines for his diocese for wearing appropriate clothing in the celebration of the sacraments, especially for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Follow your bishop’s directives regarding the standard of dress for your parish. For by obeying your bishop, you honor Christ himself who set him as an apostle over the Church. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” [Mt 25:21] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ What have we learned today? Leave pride to Adam and Eve. Put on instead of taking off. Put on all the ways of a strong visible witness to the holiness of our faith. Eagerly show one another the visible signs of our profound respect for the crucified and risen Christ and his visible Church. This is not about me, it’s not about you—it’s about US. Christ is our head. We are his body. Therefore, let us clothe ourselves as the Body of Christ with modesty and humility. Here’s an example of an appropriate and minimum standard of dress for all Masses offered in a parish Church. Note how modesty is emphasized as an important way to show respect: -Men, young men, and boys (who have made their First Communion) are to wear shirts and pants. To all parents, grandparents, and single adults, if you and your family are dressed modestly for Mass, you have the Church’s profound gratitude for the way you honor the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. You have the Church’s deepest gratitude for your respectful and attentive devotion to his holy people. To anyone who might be conflicted about his or her duty in showing respect and devotion to modesty, I say with the strongest emphasis possible: In your Catholic parish, modesty and appropriate attire aren’t the private turf of the individual; rather, they’re the shared values of our community of faith. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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