Coming to Mass, we should dress for Mass, just as we would dress for a nice dinner party or formal celebration. People usually will even dress special when going to a Chiefs or Royals game. They put on jerseys or the team’s colors. Many will even wear their “special clothes” for sporting events for the whole day. When we see them, we may even say something like, “You’re going to the game tonight?” What would it be like if we treated Mass with the same respect and thought as going to sporting events, and if people asked us: Why are you dressed so nice? Why are you taking the time to change your clothes? It’s just Mass. God doesn’t care what you wear. Or does He?
It is safe to say that God does not check for designer labels, nor does He judge a person based on the quality of their clothes. He does not condemn a homeless man or women because their clothes are dirty. He is not impressed by the shine on your shoes. For Him, it’s not about the clothes, but the way that we are dressed, and especially at Mass and other liturgies, is about you.
Imagine how our heavenly Father looks upon a homeless man wearing the same dirtied shirt and pants for two weeks, tattering with holes and barely protecting his skin and body from the elements. There is an immediate sadness and sorrow. He is worth more than such rags and remnants, more than having to wear someone else’s trash. His humanity deserves something better. It’s the same when we see women in immodest and revealing attire. Their dignity and beauty deserves something more, to be kept safe and respected. Revealing parts of the body, even if accidental or because someone is exercising, is a violation of her beauty and integrity as a woman.
God sees and cares about the expression of how we dress, both in every day life and especially when going to Mass for Him. He sees where we put our best things forward. Do we wear out best clothes to impress the kids at school, or our boss at work? Or do we give God the best of what we have? The cassock and clerical shirts of priests are black as a sign of death to the material things of the world, having given up the pursuit of physical beauty, and also a sign and example of our pursuit of spiritual goods over material treasures. Again, God does not care about the clothes themselves, but the person under them. He looks to the expression of our heart and the clothes we wear are one of the most significant forms of expression.
Many more things can be said about the affects and significance of what we wear. Here is a final thought. We protect and wrap valuable things in valuable things. No one would wrap a diamond necklace in old newspaper; old silverware sets are protected in fine crafted cases. You and your body is much more valuable than any of these.