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| Sometimes for Mass you just wear what you're wearing. |
Last week I wrote, with some trepidation, about dressing up for Mass. I must have struck the right tone because nobody clobbered me over it. Thus emboldened, let me add that I did regret leaving out one thing, though.
Clearly there is value in prioritizing Sunday Mass with proper preparation in every category, and wardrobe is one of them. However, there are situations in which prioritizing Sunday Mass must be done when it is not possible, or at least not practical, to change your wardrobe.
The difference should be apparent between coming to Mass in what you wore to a swim meet because the competition was at Blair High School on a Saturday afternoon and when it ended you came straight across the street to Mass at Saint Bernadette; and dressing when setting out for Mass as you would for the pool because it is a summer weekend.
For those whose wardrobe is determined by some priority or obligation that takes precedence over the niceties of church, their attendance at Mass as they are obliged to be dressed can often serve to emphasize the importance of Eucharistic worship, not only to them but ideally to everyone. Consider how this reality is reflected in dramatic moments seen in historical photos of field Masses during wartime, when the soldiers not only are in uniform, but whose gear and kit are determined by the combat in which they have until recently been engaged, and to which they will soon return.
Therefore, it is a powerful statement even in peacetime when military personnel participate in our communal worship in their uniforms, whether they be BDUs or Class As. Similarly, when uniformed police officers or other service personnel attend and kneel with us before our Eucharistic Lord it gives glory to God in a way that it would not if they had changed clothes into something less conspicuous.
But those are not the only people who come to church dressed in a distinctive way to indicate their roles in society or simply the work they do. Weekday Mass attracts many people on their way to work, and it is possible to identify medical personnel, bakers, school personnel, plumbers, and others who dress distinctively for their work. Even on Sundays you’ll see some of these folks whom we all need to work on weekends, even if only occasionally.
Especially in downtown Washington parishes, many Mass-goers reveal what work they do and from which they come to church by the badges they wear on lanyards or clips. Mix them in with obvious tourists and some of the other interesting folks who populate the DC version of “urban Catholicism,” and this can serve to emphasize the universality of the call to worship Our Lord in His Saving Sacrifice.
When we are lucky, some of our brothers and sisters from other lands and cultures dress according to their traditions in celebration of Sunday. I don’t have to explain how this enriches the experience of us all.
Casual carelessness in approaching the Lord can undermine one’s own experience and participation in the Holy Mass as well as that of others. But the call to prepare and present yourself with care before the Lord of Hosts does not require lockstep uniformity, nor fashion expense, much less labels or up-to-the-moment currency. It may get me clobbered, but I consider it always to be good news when I share with you something that you and your family can do to increase your own sanctification, and for the greater glory of God.
Monsignor Smith
