Dress properly for religious services

I attend Mass twice a week at my Catholic church in Coral Springs, Florida. On Thursday mornings I open the church at 6 am and get the Chapel ready for the 7 am mass. I have done this for years. What I see here is people wearing their sleeping outfits from the night before. One lady has worn her pajamas for years, covered with a coat.

On Sunday mornings I attend the 11:30 mass. On Sunday, many people that attend mass in the main church come in wearing their "bar-b-que outfits." That is, colorful sweat pants,t-shirts, beach outfits, Bermuda shorts. And during the most sacred parts of the mass, many get up to go to the restroom. Out of some 1,100 people or so that do attend each mass, I always see the same people do exactly the same routine: come in late to mass; wear shoddy outfits;get up to go to the restroom every time at exactly the moment that the priest offers the host and the wine to be blessed by God.

The Catholic church is lenient to say the least when it comes to dress code. Most people do dress properly, but there shouldn't be any exception when it comes to worshiping God. People should take the time to shower or bathe, and put something proper on for the services. This should apply to any religious service in the world.

I have attended mass in very poor countries in the world, and I never saw anyone ill-dressed for the occasion. Unfortunately, it is mostly in America that I have observed such disrespect. The sad thing is that it is not for lack of clean or proper clothing, but mostly an attitude issue.

Life is beautiful as is if we respect it and appreciate it. Religion for many people, including myself, is a gift of enormous value. I pray for people that ask me, and I offer many prayers to the Virgin Mary for her intercession. I don't play with my religion, and I take very seriously my requests to God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Allow me to do the same for you!

God bless,

Tony
tonymcclr@gmail.com
http://prayer-be-strong.blogspot.com