Here in California, people rarely dress up. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly wore a hoodie for the Facebook IPO (though he put on a nice suit for his wedding last year).

So when people glide into Mass wearing their gym clothes, flipflops and tank tops, most pastors judiciously ignore the spectacle and hope their parishioners will too.

Still, whenever our family attends the 5:30 p.m. Sunday Mass, I have wondered whether the profusion of mini skirts and tube tops might add up to a ‘near occasion of sin,” for some appreciative men in the congregation.. And that possibility, I think, is what bothered my old pastor back in Bethesda, Maryland. He was not shy about discussing inapprorpriate Mass attire during his homily — while also nudging his flock to arrive on time, rather than cramming into the last five pew during the second half of the litrugy.