What Happened to Our Sunday Best?

 WHAT HAPPENENED TO OUR “SUNDAY BEST”?

A person's finest clothing was traditionally reserved specifically for going to Church on Sundays, hence the origin of the expression “Sunday best”. What’s happened to our Sunday best? The most gorgeous outfits in our wardrobes show up at proms, graduations, job interviews, and of course at the Easter Sunday Church service, but are mostly missing in action at Church for the rest of the year!  

 While our best clothes wait for what we consider the next big event, or until the next Easter Sunday rolls by, many of us come to Church in what can be best described as “stay at home clothes”.  Is the Risen Christ whom we praise and worship on Easter Sunday while gorgeously decked out, not the same Lord and Master we encounter at other Sunday Masses? If the Lord Jesus were visibly standing in the place of the Priest at Mass, would we not go to meet him in what we consider the best and most appropriate attire? The reality is that He does stand there in all His majesty and deserves no less than our Sunday best!

Some members of a College Lacrosse champion team went to see President George Bush in flip flops and got a lot of flak for it. But how many times have we gone to see the Lord of history, the Maker of the universe in flips flops? Summer is around the corner and the hot and humid weather is often an alibi to dress in itsy bitsy outfits to Church.  But would we, our spouse, our daughter or son dress in flip flops, short shorts, halters, skimpy dresses and skirts to attend a job interview even in the muggiest summer heat?

Parents, especially mothers, have a big responsibility for entrenching modesty in dress in their children, especially when it comes to their daughters. They do this first and foremost by example. What moral leverage could a mother deploy when teaching her daughter to dress properly for Church while she is not! Indeed experience shows that daughters at younger ages imitate their mothers’ mannerisms and outlook on life. I was once at a seminar where young girls were given a talk about modesty in dress. One of the young girls got up, all fired up emotionally and looked all mothers present straight  in the face and asked: “Why do you dress us in these things, was this how your mothers dressed you up?” There was utter silence as many mothers squirmed in their seats!

The lesson in modesty must start from the earliest age, because by the time young girls become teenagers it is too late. Modesty is the mother of chastity. If we want our children to be able to swim against the prevailing powerful current of immorality and sexual permissiveness in our society, we must imbue them with modesty and respect for the sacred.

 So, come on, let’s bring out our Sunday best and go out to meet the Lord!