WEARING SHORTS AT MASS

QUESTION: "I like to wear shorts to Mass. I haven't noted any lack of devotion or respect to the Mass by persons wearing shorts. So why don't you accept them and stop judging?"

ANSWER:

PERHAPS YOUR personal laxity with regards to wearing appropriate clothes has dulled your appreciation for the Mass. Most parishes publish a reasonable dress code for Mass and Adoration. A dress code does not judge anyone's personal and interior holiness nor does it prejudice the character of one's judgment before Almighty God. Consider the reality of dress codes in all walks of secular life. Of the many justifiable reasons for having dress codes, never has one been instituted for the express reason of attacking the personal integrity of any individual.

HERE'S WHAT I’ve learned. We are Christians. We don't belong to this world. We belong to Christ. As Christians, we know this invisible reality is revealed by visible signs. This is why, for example, interior humility is accompanied by exterior modesty in our lives. Holiness and the way one dresses in the Sacrifice of the Mass therefore are related.

FASHIONISTAS IN New York or Los Angeles will be the first to tell you that secular fashion trends have nothing to do with the Gospel. Nonetheless, I've never heard of one of them telling faithful Catholics how to dress in Mass. I applaud their restraint. And so should you. What the world does is not the default position of the Church, that is to say, the standard practice of members of the Church. Shouldn't the Church speak to her own regarding meaningful standards of dress on Church campuses? What is is culture, what should be is Christ.

GOOD OF THE WHOLE

AS HEATED exchanges on this topic indicate, writing about a dress code is always hard to do, even when employing the vocabulary of faith and the Christian way of life to explain things. My years of pastoral ministry have taught me that standards make our ideals possible to attain--even when such are not always well articulated. Indeed, it is a law that without standards, ideals are worthless.

I TEACH my parish’s First Communion and Confirmation classes. Mothers and fathers entrust their children to me as teacher and pastor. Though you may not agree with your parish's dress code specifics, I am confident you realize a reasonable standard of dress is essential for the good of the whole community in the present climate of sexual promiscuity, aggression and predation. It is especially good for our vulnerable children. I ask you to reflect on how your personal example is valuable to all families in your parish. And to your pastor.