7:30 Saturday evening mass at St. Simon. St. Simon's church and parish are both small and unpretentious, which is exactly why St. Simon is my favorite place to attend mass. Situated in a remote corner of Delhi, going to St. Simon is like going to a little church in the country. It's quiet and simple. I love the timing of this mass, the only Saturday evening mass I'm aware of at this point. It gives you time to enjoy a leisurely Saturday dinner but still squeeze in a Saturday mass and have time left over before it's too late to do anything else. This particular evening, the crowd was smaller than usual, no doubt a result of the shorter days and earlier nights. Navigating the winding hills of Delhi can be tricky even during the day, so I'm thinking many of the regulars adjust their church-going around this time of year and might not return to the evening mass until next spring. Rather than pews, St. Simon uses interlocking chairs. The pros? They're padded. They give a nice sense of personal space. Cons? They're chairs. Guess I'm old school, but I like pews.
The music on Saturday evenings is provided by a small group consisting of two older men and three older women - nothing fancy, but I love them to death because you know these are people who simply like to sing. I'm particularly fond of the woman who has taken to using a booklight clipped on to the top of her hymnal. I find the group's flurry of activity before mass, using Post-It flags to mark the evening's selections, just as endearing . The gentlemen playing piano accompaniment is phenomenal - I could listen to him play all night.
The pastor of St. Simon is an elderly man whose health always seems rather precarious. Over the past few years, he has almost always had to rely on a cane or the use of someone's arm for support. Occasionally, he would be seated while reading the gospel, delivering his homily, and even saying the Eucharistic Prayer. This week, I was happy to see him strong and without the need of any assistance in what appeared to be better-than-ever health! It is sometimes difficult to hear him, but when you can, his to-the-point homilies are always quite interesting. Listen to enough of his homilies and you'll also find him to be quite well-traveled. He makes a point to always use a visual aid in his homilies, usually something unusual, making his talks educational as well as inspirational. This week, the visual aid was three different spoons from his kitchen drawer . . . well, it's usually something unusual.
I like the people at St. Simon. Some might call them "true west-siders." I always joke that going to mass at St. Simon is like going to a Dillard's fashion show. Sometime in July, St. Simon holds their annual parish festival. It seems to get smaller and smaller every year, but the corn makes it all worthwhile. The grilled corn on the cob, grown locally, is possibly the best you'll ever taste. Go to the 7:30 mass on the Saturday evening of their festival weekend and then head straight to the corn booth. At $1 an ear, it's a little taste of heaven.
ATTENDANCE: Less than full
DURATION: 40 minutes
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