Let me start off by saying that I love dresses. I spent a long time in my childhood as a tom-boy. I hated skirts and dresses and butterflies and flowers and pink and anything remotely girly. I think I’m over-compensating for time lost in my youth, even if I still don’t love pink! Dresses are my thing, I’ll go shopping for one anytime, even if I have no need for one.
About a month ago I went shopping with a friend of mine and let her pick out the ugliest dresses she could find for me to try on just for laughs and giggles. I tried on some pretty hideous ones, but I also found one that I really fell in love with and decided to buy for a wedding I’m going to later this month. It is a gorgeous floor length dark blue gown that is simple and yet classy and sophisticated. Yesterday I tried it on because I just felt like being in it and putting the whole ensemble together, dress, shoes, earrings, the works. I put it on and wondered if it was too dressy for Mass, so I asked one of my roommates and she said that it would probably be too dressy for Mass (I should also note that I play violin in the choir at Mass) but that it is perfect for the wedding.
Then I got to thinking, isn’t Mass the wedding feast of Heaven and Earth? What occasion could possibly be more glorious than dinner with Jesus? We get dressed up for weddings and that is wonderful, but in all reality they are earthly weddings and God willing they are Sacramental weddings, but they are not the wedding feast of Heaven and Earth. Why don’t we get dressed up for dinner with Jesus? I will don that dress for the wedding in a few weeks but I didn’t really think to wear it last night, I didn’t want to overdress and stick out even more than I already do sometimes. Instead I went with a simpler dress that wasn’t quite so fancy. (Members in the choir tend to tell me that I already dress pretty fancy for Mass.)
Then I thought some more about it, and not only am I invited weekly, and even daily to dine with Jesus, but on Sundays I have the opportunity to play the violin – a gift and talent He has given me – for Him at dinner. I have the great privilege to serenade our Lord before He lays down His life for me in the Sacrifice of the Mass, in remembrance of His last supper! Why on God’s green earth would I not get dressed up for that? If we truly realized that we are going to dinner with Jesus, our first and truest lover, then I firmly believe we wouldn’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt (unless, of course, that is all we had or could afford). Think about it: the God of the Universe humbles Himself and comes down from Heaven to join us for a meal, but not just any meal, His very last meal. The ultimate Sacrifice is before us and we are invited to this glorious wedding feast, we are invited to the table where we encounter Heaven. We are invited to sit at table with Jesus and come as close to Heaven as we possibly can while on this earth. Why not dress up? The Mass is the highest and most revered prayer we have as Catholics and the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, isn’t such a glorious feast something you would dress up for?
You have been and are always invited to the wedding feast of Heaven and Earth. Will you accept the invitation? Will you show up to the party late and dressed as though you are going to Wal-Mart? Or will you show up early, sing His praises, and dine with Him in the most glorious meal you will ever partake in? Wear a ball gown to Mass. Wear a suit. Not on Easter or Christmas, but during Ordinary Time. When people ask you what you are so dressed up for, tell them that you are dressed up for the best date night of your life: dinner with Jesus.
What I’m Listening To:
“Red High Heels” by Kellie Pickler
“Best Days of Your Life” by Kellie Pickler
“Jesus, My Everything” by Matt Maher
“Country Man” by Luke Bryan
