I found an interesting article in The Hartford Courant (given to me by a parishioner) and originating in The Washington Post, written by Michelle Boorstein, and entitled “Summer Further Strains Church Attire Standards.” I found the article “interesting” and one that raises a multitude of questions. It would seem that the main gist of the article might be to consider what is appropriate attire to wear to Church, The article considers a host of clergy and lay folks’ opinions.

Depending upon your age or generational upbringing, this article will “hit home” on different issues. The article presents opinions on church attire in the Catholic Church and in various denominational Christian Churches. But first, a few “aside points,” the journalist uses the word “services” in reference to a particular Catholic Mass (O.K., my pet peeve) even though Catholics refer to Sunday worship as either “Mass” or “liturgy”; the Catholic Church is not a denomination of Christianity—it is the original Christian Church from which other Christian Churches denominate (pet peeve number two); and in the Catholic Church we call our priest’s talk a “homily” and not a sermon” as
homilies break open the particular Word of the Lord of that day, hopefully making it applicable to the modern audience while a “sermon” is a talk that sometimes relates to the day’s readings, sometimes not (pet peeve number three). But I digress…

For me, the main point of the article is “attitude,” not dress. Style is objective, after all. As priest and presider at Mass, I am not so upset with the congregation wearing flip flops or dress shorts or casual shirts, especially in the warm summer months. I am more concerned with a “causal attitude” as evidenced by the 30-year old in the article who, when defending her tight gym shorts and skimpy tank top while in the communion line, responds with, “But would it be better that I not come?” Who knows? My question is: what she was preparing for on Sunday morning—a work out at the gym or Mass? Has Church become just one more thing to accomplish on Sunday—like cutting the lawn? If one really wants to “get something out of Mass” one has to be prepared for the celebration—in mind and spirit—so as to praise God for His goodness, to offer Him thanks, and to ask Him for guidance and help. If “all that” is just wedged in there some-where on the laundry list of other things to do that day then it is hard to make the “holy connection.”

I realize everyone is busy. I realize that soccer and travel football and fifty-two other things have to happen on Sunday. Yes, families are busy. I get it! But we do have to have some priorities in our lives. Everything isn’t, contrary to popular belief, equal. There, I said it! Some things are just more important than others. I believe somebody once said, “Attitude is everything.” And so are priorities. Holding something—like God and the gift of life eternal—as a top priority makes all the difference in the world—this world and the next one. And as a priest, as far as if the shorts are too short or too tight, or if the shirt bears too much skin or too many tattoos, I’ll leave that up to the parents—that, after all, are what moms and dads are for.