We went to Sunday Mass in sweats... and sat up front. The children were mortified and I just took a deep breath and tried to ignore all the feelings I was feeling. I figured it was just my pride. And after all, it wasn't our parish and no one knew us there. Except the priest. And the three other people who happened to recognize us as well. We do tend to stand out when we sit up front in a mostly empty church.
It's been a long time since I was so dressed down for Sunday Mass. The last time I can remember was 13 years ago.
Here's how it happened this time...
We were at Cookie's Volleyball tournament all day Saturday. It was supposed to end at 2:00pm but ran until 5:00pm. Professor's volleyball tournament the next day would prevent us from attending Mass as a family on Sunday. My husband is a real stickler about Mass as a family. If there's any possible way to do it, he'll make it happen. He made it happen on Saturday night...
Professor: "I cannot go to Mass like this. Absolutely not. I'm in sweats and tennis shoes. No way."
Me: (cheerfully) "At least your sweat pants are black."
Cookie: "I'm sweaty! I'm in pants! My shirt has words on it!"
Me: (laughingly) "No one will be looking at you."
Crash: "I am NOT going to take off my coat. My t-shirt is all dirty."
Me: (reassuringly) "That's fine."
Button had nothing to say because she wasn't thinking about her clothes at all.
Jellybean: "I'm so very hungry."
I was keeping it pretty cool with the kids. Reassuring them that God is not a bean counter and that He knows how much they want to appear neat and tidy for Him and how much it means to Daddy to have everyone together at Mass.
As always, my interior state was a bit more rattled...
"I cannot go to Mass like this. I'm in sweats and tennis shoes. I'm sweaty. I'm in pants. My shirt has words-and baby spit-up-on it. I am not going to take my coat off. I'm so very hungry. The baby has a full diaper and needs to eat. And my hair is...crazy!"
But I stuffed it all. It's not about me, right? Even when the Chief sat right up front, I still managed to suppress everything but a tiny resigned sigh.
During that Mass, I changed the baby twice, fed him once, walked up to the front of the church to sit with my family only to walk back out again... twice. Heard an outstanding homily on the decline of our culture and our obligation to defend LIFE. And...
... received the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
It is so not about me and my clothes. What a great reminder.
10 comments:
I know the feeling. That is how I feel when I forget my mantilla in the car, or wear pants to mass. I feel like I'm naked and everyone is looking at me. I try to keep it all down but I'm SO distracted.
This is how I feel when we have soccer tournaments. As soon as I hear of an upcoming tournament my first thoughts lead to when and where where will we be attending Mass, and will we be clean and dressed appropriately. I tell myself on those weekends that simply getting to Mass is far more important than how we might look.
Beautiful! I just went to Mass this morning in exactly the same condition. Only it was Daily Mass, and I was alone with the 5 kids, and we had no excuse for the sweats:)
I got them there, and I'm hoping that's what counts!
Peace.
I *so* get this! My little baby boy was baptized in the ER on Friday. It's certainly not about the clothes ... or who you invite ... or the party afterward. Those are nice, but they are not essential. On Friday, it was all about my son receiving what he needed: Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. His soul is cleansed. He received that sanctifying grace. That's all that was needed. It is that simple.
Sarah-I've been praying for your little guy. What a scary and challenging time for all of you. Life is precious. I just remembered that the last time I went to Sunday Mass in sweats was actually 6 years ago... when my newborn was in the NICU and I was attending Mass at the hospital chapel. Clothes are the very last thing on our minds at those times. God bless you and your family. please keep us all updated!
Patty-Daily Mass in the morning... I'd be happy just to get there! Good for your! Think the good Lord would mind if I showed in my PJ's? lol
Karen-I've been hibernating with my baby for the last 3 months and am only just starting to emerge again to play taxi. I've fallen out of the habit of organizing outwardly but need to get back with it. I have been to plenty of tourneys that ran long... and yet I just trusted this one would! I told the kids, it's not your fault, it's mine. Poor planning... don't sweat it.
Baroness-It is so distracting! And maybe everyone else is too busy thinking about their own clothes to notice us! LOL! (Hopefully not) It really exposes some immaturity I thought I'd left behind!
what a lovely post. It's not about us. It is about Christ. And it's so refreshing to hear your family died with mortification to attend Mass in sweats. we see many different get-ups at Mass.
We've all been there at one time or another. It's definitely more important to be at mass than miss it because of your outfits. God understands!
Great comments! We are like your family and on the rare occasion we don't go in our "Sunday best" it feels wierd. Good reminder that the Mass is the Mass, regardless of how we are dressed.
That said, I LOVE that your family is so used to dressing up and presenting themselves properly before our Lord at Church. We see all kinds (not judging, just commenting) including 2 piece swimwear with tanktop/cover-up and flip flops in the summer months. There is a church popular in our neighborhood (not Catholic) and their motto on their website is - "Don't dress-up, just show-up". So, your post put a smile on my face and made me happy to know that there are, in fact, other families out there bucking the trend of such casual attitudes towards worship. Thanks!
If Christ isn't the focus, we need an adjustment. However, I do think that we LEARN something through the Holy Spirit when we have these internal struggles . . . and God leads us to Him, more humble, I think, than if we went to Mass dressed in sweats and being blaze about it. Right?
In HI it is pretty laid back 'cos it's so hot and not all chapels have A/C. So, most wear very nice shirts (Aloha wear) and shorts w/ slippahs . . . and some wear really nice gear, others tank tops and low cut tops . . . I try and not let it distract me because that is precisely what the horned one wants me to be. I don't want to take my eyes off the Lord . . . I wish even I would dress better but those days I don't because of whatever reason, I'm even more humble when it dawns on me that He loves me no matter what.
He loves you no matter what.
I wanted to add that I do think that "dressing up" is somewhat subjective. I haven't seen my husband in a suit since our wedding. We aren't as dressy as some families, and more than some others. Chief is "dressy" in tan jeans and a button down. It's just the way he is. Now, if he were to wear BLUE jeans, the kids would be shocked! lol! The kids know when we've fallen below the bar we set for ourselves. We're not a family that wears suits to Mass (because we don't often have suits to wear), but we like to give the best of what we have. All for Jesus.
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