Our Sunday Best

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 3/17/05)

On those occasions — too few and far between, in my perspective then as a child! — when my parents bought me new clothes or an outfit, there were rules to follow. New clothes were debuted as "Sunday best" first at church. Whether or not this was a widespread practice, I don’t know, but it is a lesson for which I remain grateful.

In fact, there were two lessons: first, that the "Lord’s Day" rightfully occupies a privileged place in the week, and secondly, that my reverence for the Lord is shown in some way in my outward deportment and dress.

If Christ’s Presence in our midst is truly something we treasure, we will naturally express it. For if, as Christ told us, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Mt 12:34), so too do our actions, dress and overall deportment speak to the abundance of the heart.

In the Year of the Eucharist, it is only fitting that we step back and examine how we set Sunday apart, and how we approach the Real Presence of Jesus in the Mass.

Best sellers have been written in recent decades about how our gestures and expressions reveal insights about who we are: our personalities, temperaments, strengths and weaknesses. Anyone who has watched oneself on recorded video knows this: that our own ticks or habits have a way of standing out.

As Catholics, these insights come as no surprise. After all, as creatures of body and soul, our prayer is not confined to our minds, hearts and voices, but is expressed by our bodies as well. We express our love for one another through our bodies. In fact, to be authentic, our external (bodily) expressions should correspond to our interior attitudes.

Take for a moment the kiss — a sign of friendship, love and respect. The kiss of Judas, however, turned this sign of love into a sign of betrayal. As Pope John Paul II has said, if we are not to falsify the "language of the body," then there should be a natural correspondence between our bodily actions and our interior emotions or states of mind. This correspondence between the bodily act and the interior truth of that act reveal that our bodies are not "things" or "objects," but rather "temples of the Holy Spirit" intended to "glorify God" (1 Cor 6:19).

Open almost any page of the Gospels. How did people approach Jesus? Some fell, face to the ground; the crowds rushed to His side; the rich young ruler whose daughter had died knelt before Him. They approached Him with reverence.

In our parishes — in that locus where we meet Jesus face to face — how do we approach the Real Presence of Jesus Christ? Do we say with our very bodies, and even with our outward dress, what we confess to be true with our mouths and hearts, or do we come to meet the Lord at Mass and in the Eucharist with hearts and thoughts distracted and in dress that is indistinguishable from what we might wear to the gym or the mall?

When we go to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, our deportment should demonstrate our awareness of His Presence. The norm for our reception is standing, although communicants are never to be denied holy Communion should they kneel. Before receiving, we are asked to make a bow of the head before the sacrament as a gesture of reverence. The consecrated host may be received either on the tongue or in the hand at the discretion of each communicant. When holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of reverence (bowing the head) is also made before receiving the Precious Blood.

We likewise demonstrate our reverence for the reality of His Presence in our choice of dress. My parents’ lesson holds true: that our clothing on the Lord’s Day should reflect that it is not just any day, that our meeting with Jesus calls forth certain norms of modesty and respect. This is not to say that our dress be formal to the point of drawing explicit attention to itself, but it is to say that, as my parents taught, it should be our "Sunday best."

In this Year of the Eucharist, let us all strive to become a Church whose heart is Eucharistic. In our deportment, our dress — in all of these little things which in the end say so much, let us make the changes we need to in order to accord Christ the reverence He is due.

Copyright ©2005 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.