I was going to title this “Of Baseball Caps and Electric Blue Thongs", but figured it wouldn’t fit in the title area of my template. Dressing for Mass. Yes, this is an area of severe culture shock, not just to Protestants looking into a Catholic Church for the first time, but also for Catholics themselves if they come from another country.
Picture this: It was Holy Thursday of this year...
...I was scheduled to read the introduction at the very beginning - when the oils were brought in (the newly consecrated Chrism, Oil of the Sick, and Oil of the Catechumens). My family and I were to sit in the second row, behind two of the families that were to bring in the oils. Once they were presented and in their place, the lot of us would sit down and the Mass would begin. In front of us – in the front row – were the relatives of the couple brining in one of the oils.
One of these people was a guy – maybe twenty years old – with a baseball cap on (it read “Cancun" in large letters). He wore the cap backwards. My wife – my cradle Catholic wife from Poland – asked him to remove his hat out of respect. He took it off. After a couple of minutes he put it back on again, and it sat backwards upon his head for the rest of Mass. It had to be obvious to the presiding priest – a priest that had asked a woman to remove a screaming baby three weekends earlier.
Next to this young man was an equally young woman (I never figured out if they were boyfriend/girlfriend or brother/sister). At one point, she bent down to kneel, and exposed over the top of her low-rider jeans the electric blue thong she was wearing. Now, I don’t mind if someone wants to wear a thong to church. Personally, I think it inappropriate, but it’s an undergarment. The thing is – I DON’T WANT TO KNOW THAT SHE’S WEARING A THONG! At the point that everyone around her knew that she was wearing it, it became a distraction and a vulgarity.
Gandhi is often attributed with the following: If I believed what Catholics profess to believe, I would crawl up the aisle on my hands and knees for the chance to meet God.
Quite a contrast.
This is often one of the most jarring aspects of Catholicism for the new or potential convert. How is it that Catholics can profess a faith in the Real Presence, yet dress like their going to a ball game? I have no simple answer. The only thing I can say is that people have been so poorly catechized in the past 40 years that maybe they don’t realize what they’re doing.
There are two other things to keep in mind.
First, the Catechism has something to say on the subject. CCC 1387 says: Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.
Second, some bishops have begun to impress upon their faithful just how important this is. Here is a letter written by the bishop of Amarillo. http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=7056&longdesc%5d He gives a great deal more detail than I have here. Buy the point is, once again, that the more conservative view is beginning to be expressed. With time and grace, it will grow.
[And before anyone asks, I always wear dress slacks, a long sleeve button down shirt, and a tie. It gets a bit warm in Texas, especially in the summer, so I don’t often wear a jacket. If I’m supposed to participate in some way (as a lector, for instance), then I wear a full suit.]
Mark,
Surely you have heard the statistics than only some 30-40% of professed Catholics believe in the Real Presence? No wonder the presence of God Himself in their midst makes so small an impression.
Darel
Darel,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I've heard such as this before.
A good friend has a great quote about statistics:
Statistics are like a bikini bathing suit; what they reveal is very interesting, but what they hide is absolutely critical.
I guess the bottom line is that I don't really take those statistics at face value. I think there is a great deal to them that deals with catechesis...or the lack thereof. It could equally be that the sample group represents only 30-40% who actually know what the term "Real Presence" means.
I almost want to say "well, at least the kids are going to Mass!", which, I suppose, is the bright side. You're right, though, if one has the means, then coming to the Lord's house and into his physical presence ought to be enough reason to wear your "Sunday best". I don't always manage a full suit, but bare minimum I'm in pressed slacks and a long sleeve button down. (I'm in Central Florida, so I sympathize with the heat problems!)
Here's a different, charitable take (kinda): these people don't know how to dress appropriately for =anything=. They think this kind of garb is acceptable to wear to church, to work, to a date, or to a meeting with the President (remember the flip-flop flap with that women's sports team a while back?)
I know I was that way in college - Tshirt and jeans (or jean shorts) to =everything=.
It's likely they don't know about the Real Presence. If I depended on weekly homilies, church bulletins, and CCD for my catechesis, I would know very little about some pretty important ideas. I didn't clue in until I was almost 30. And it's not just the post-Vatican II generation; my Ma, the baby boomer, went to Catholic school, but it's not like she could explain any of this to me. Or to herself. I highly doubt there was a golden age of American catechesis.
Meep,
I have a little bit different take on this, having seen it on the parish level as well as on the internet.
There is a golden age of Catechesis in America. The thing is, I think we're just now entering it. At the very least, we're beginning to see an end of the dark ages.
Keep up the great work!