Good
post from Joe Paprocki over at Catechist's Journey on an incident at Mass last weekend where the priest, at the dismissal, moved the deacon's chair away from the presider's and announced to a Chicago congregation by yelling "Go Packers" that he himself was a Packer fan in "Bear country" - tainting the closing rite with partisanship and catching boo's from the people. Comments are interesting - and the discussion of the wearing of sports jerseys to Mass is interesting. Take a look.
One of my contentions is that we have become a society in which most people are uncomfortable with formal, ritual occasions - and that many people no longer know how to dress for Mass because it is a foreign experience. Maybe one of the things we need catechesis on is respect - and how one's garb and demeanor at Mass indicate that!
I completely agree with your comment about becoming a "society in which most people are uncomfortable with formal, ritual occasions". No, many people don't know how to dress nor do they care to dress any differently when attending Mass. In our postmodern culture we want Jesus to accept us as we are no matter what. Jesus does meet us where we are at, but even Scripture speaks about a person getting thrown out of the wedding feast because he refused to put on the proper garment. It's not that we will be judged at the end of our lives because of what we wore to Mass, but I do think if we approached the Holy Mass just like any other event in our week then we will find that we never opened ourselves to God and His ways so as to be transformed by the encounter we have with Him at Mass. I think people should dress up for Mass because they believe this is a special hour with Jesus and their parish community. My outward appearance helps me focus on the inner transformation I hope to have.
ReplyDeleteI show my students that in the Parable of the Wedding Feast, the only guest thrown out was dressed improperly.
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