In the first reading this morning at Mass there was the familiar story of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush on Mount Horeb. Approaching the Theophany, and thus the presence of God Moses received the following instruction:Posted on 07/18/2013 3:18:07 AM PDT by markomalley
In the first reading this morning at Mass there was the familiar story of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush on Mount Horeb. Approaching the Theophany, and thus the presence of God Moses received the following instruction:
Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. (Ex 3:4-5)
And here we see an ancient form of reverence. It is interesting that, to my knowledge, Jews no longer use this sign of reverence. But Muslims still do. I remember being outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and seeing hundred of pairs of shoes lined up on the patio outside. A Muslim would not think to enter the Mosque without first removing his shoes.
The Jews however are very strict in insisting that men, Jewish or not should not go before the Western Wall or pray with heads uncovered, and there are men nearby, at the Wall who enforce the rule strictly and provide carboard-like yarmulkes for men who did not bring one or some other head covering.
Here in America, the thought of taking off ones shoes or being in Church without shoes would be thought of as highly irreverent! And for a man to go into a Church without removing his hat is often scolded by an usher. It would also seem that the Gentile world had this norm since St Paul, though himself a Jew, wrote Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head…A man ought not to cover his head, (1 Cor 11:4,7). He further indicates in the same place that a woman ought to cover her head.
And thus we see that culture has influence on signs of reverence and, while there have been different forms of it here and there, some equivalent of “Remove the sandals from your feet…” has been observed. Until now.
Until now? Yes, it would seem that there is really no observable and/or agreed upon way in our modern American culture that we “take off our sandals” and show some sort of reverence and acknowledgemnt that we are on holy ground, when we come before the Lord in our parish churches.
It is not just that women have shed veils (sadly I would opine – more on that here and here). But beyond that, almost no one dresses in any special way for Church these days. “Extreme casual” would seem to be the norm of the day, to look in most parishes. Most people don’t even think to change their clothes for church, there is a “go as you are” mentality. Further, other signs of entering the Church such as sacred silence, and genuflecting are increasingly absent.
It was not always this way. Even in my own short life I remember when going to Mass on Sunday was a formal affair, at least before 1970. As a young boy and teenager I had special Sunday shoes, hard black ones, and would not dream of going to church in jeans or a t-shirt. We were expected to wear pressed trousers, a button down shirt and tie, along with a jacket in the cooler months. The ladies all wore dresses and veils. (See picture of a youth Mass from 1968 above right). Church was a special place, Mass was a sacred occasion. On entering Church we were expected to maintain a sacred silence, and, upon entering, to bless ourselves with Holy Water and genuflect on entering our pew. Silent prayer was expected of one prior to Mass.
These were ways we “removed our sandals” and acknowledged we were on holy ground and before the Presence of the Lord.
Today this seems all but gone. A few “old folks” keep the traditions, and, interestingly, some younger twenty-somes as well! But for the vast majority of Catholics today, at least here in America, there is little visible or tangible equivalent of removing the sandals from our feet.
I will not even argue that ALL the old traditions should return, (even though I would like that). But at least we ought to recover SOME way of signifiying that we are on holy ground and before the presence of the Holy One of Israel, the Lord of glory.
I am aware that I will get some who say all this “stuffiness” will “turn people off.” But of course Mass isn’t just about pleasing people, it is about adoring the Lord who is worthy of our praise and our reverence. I am also aware that some will take the critique I offer here further than I personally think we need to go.
All that is fine. Where exactly to reset the line is debatable, but the bottom line seems to be that there ought to be some culturally appropriate that we fulfill the admonition of God to “Remove your sandals for the ground on which you stand is holy, I am the God of your fathers.”
How say you? Perhaps we can together start a trend (old) trend.
A dress code should be posted and adhered to. If you’re not dressed properly for Church or Mass, then you can’t go in. Go home and get dressed. Eventually, the idea will catch on and people will show up for Mass properly dressed.
The Saturday vigil Mass is the worst for the chattering before Mass. It’s mostly attended by elderly people, who are hard of hearing, and they all know each other and talk so loud that if you want to say some prayers before Mass begins, it’s almost impossible to concentrate.
The applause thing is one of my pet peeves. Now at Mass someone in the congregation is applauding the homily and others follow suit. I refuse to participate in any applause at Mass.
They go to church to fellowship with other Christians.
My experience when I go to church and try to talk about the sermon or what they read in the Bible the past week, they turn their back and walk away. I can engage in talk about the weather, news, and even politics. Church is a great place for fellowship, but finding Christian fellowship is very RARE in my opinion.
Oh, I know what you mean. And how about applauding the musicians or singers? Fortunately, this does not happen in my church, but I have visited some where it does occur.
Don’t get me started on the stupid “Sign of Peace”. I still do not understand the meaning of it. If I am expected to give such a sign to those around me, wouldn’t it make much more sense to do so at the beginning of the Mass, or when I first enter? Dumb and disrespectful of the Mass, IMO.
I agree with you, but how many priests would dare to “offend” their parishioners?
Actually, I clearly remember that such a dress code was posted on the bulletin board in the vestibule of our church when I was a little girl and a teenager. Pretty sure there was never any need of enforcing it, as social pressure served that need. But, today, for too many, there is little shame or embarrassment about inappropriate dress or behavior.
If you reject the importance of communal worship, them skip the following.
A church is not something we worship IN. A church is something we worship WITH.
Of course, a church building is not the most important aspect of worship. The prayers of the soldier in the field and the child on his knees at bedtime, or of a family around the table are more precious to God than the most elaborate liturgy in the fanciest cathedral.
But if communal worship is important then it is important how we design the place we do that, how we decorate it, and how we comport ourselves in it. Every aspect of it should contribute to our worship of God. In that way it does indeed become a sacred place.
It does not take gold and silver appointments to make a church a sacred place, but it stands to reason that if we consider our weekly communal worship to be the most important, most significant event of our lives, then the building in which we do that should reflect that to the best of our ability, and we should also dress at least as well as we would to a job interview, and we should act as if worshiping together is a sacred act.
Unfortunately, not only have we become an undisciplined nation of slobs, but the sacred nature of worship has been mostly forgotten.
You nailed it. Mass has become a scene from People of Walmart, LOL!
It doesn't have to be suit and tie. Clean long pants (starting at $10 at Walmart), a clean tucked in polo or short-sleeved buttoned shirt (starting at $5 at Walmart), and hard leather shoes (starting at $25 at Walmart) is perfectly fine, respectable summer attire.
I'll forgo pricing underwear and belts, but for the price of a dinner and movies for two, a man can look decent and be comfortable.
Even when it's not, the music chosen seems designed to appeal to 10-year-old girls. It's a shame.
Not a small point at all. Didn't you hear? Vatican II, after hundreds of years of the Church condemning Islam and Mohammed, now asserts that Islam worships the same God as we do.
Why wouldn't this priest say this?
YWIA.
I told Fr. that I noticed gum stuck under the pews, and volunteered to scrape the bottom of the pews.
Our church sits 900 people. It took me almost 5 hours to clean the pews up.
I am still shaking my head over the whole thing.
Ping!
“...sign of Peace...”
Nothing but a germ fest - absolutely meaningless and should be done away with, mothballed with the superwide bell bottom, beads and platform shoes.
Proper church etiquette is to be silent and prayerful the minute you step into a church sanctuary. All churches I’ve been in recently have had a free-for-all, three-ring circus before the service begins. Everyone is chit-chatting and catching up on social stuff, kids are running around — it’s disturbing. All of that can be done outside of the sanctuary.
At least the women in our church dress appropriately; I’ve never seen one in slacks, and their dresses/skirts are tasteful and modest. That’s not the case everywhere.
There is a BIG difference between your place of worship and a Catholic Church. In a Catholic Church, you will find a >p>
in which is kept the Eucharist. IOW, entering a Catholic Church, we are truly in the actual presence of our Lord.
Were anyone of us to be invited to dine at the White House (regardless of who is serving as president), or to dine at Buckingham Palace, we would dress appropriately. This article, in essence, poses the question of why Catholics, invited to dine with our Lord and Savior, would come to church dressed for the beach? Does God not deserve the attire one would don for a president or queen? If anything, He deserves even better.
Germ fest, indeed.
I stopped the handshaking a few years ago. I keep the missallette in my right hand and make a little wave with my left. Most people get it.
I am very careful about germs, and I use hand sanitizer before receiving Communion, but, beyond the germ thing, it is downright disruptive and disrespectful, IMO. It seems as though, just as we are reverently making our way toward the Consecration, someone blows a whistle and calls a time out. It is just so incongruent.
That is most unfortunate. In the Maronite Catholic Church, the Sign of Peace is quite different. The priest kisses the alter, places his hands on the chalice, then passes God's peace to an acolyte, who then gives it to two children standing just beyond the sanctuary. They "carry" the peace to the first person in each pew and it passes down the pews from there. There is no hand pumping, no back slapping and its exchange is limited to those in the pew. Very rich and respectful, indeed!
Heh, heh! Your tagline evokes some of those Guitar Mass ditties.
When I was in high school they were already adapting lyrics to PPM folkies: “You can hear the whistle blow one hundred miles” was sung at Mass as
“In this Eucharistic feast, we all are priests...”
Yuk.
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