Three Strikes

Weeks One Hundred and Fifty-Nine, Sixty, and Sixty-One - In Which I Slack Off from "The Tour" but Manage to Blame Everyone Else

10:15 Sunday morning mass, St. Ignatius.  Daughter home from college for the weekend.  Wait . .  . what?  The 10:15 mass?  What are we?  In grade school?  And who are these people?

7:30 Saturday evening mass, St. Simon.  My Husband the Heathen comes down with the sore throat from hell . . . if he believed in hell.  I have to pause here to comment on St. Simon's 7:30 Saturday mass.  This was always one of my favorite churches to visit and masses to attend, but with the recent death of their pastor, as so often happens with any change at any parish, things just aren't the same.  St. Simon's new "administrator," as he is so called - not the "pastor" or even "assistant" - seems like a nice guy, albeit a little wordy in the homily department.  I do love when it's time for the gospel - he doesn't read it.  He seems to have it ... memorized and delivers the week's gospel reading as casually as if he was merely striking up a conversation with you, telling you a story.  It's really something.  Kudos.  And yet, even with that, things just aren't as appealing as they used to be.  We all miss Father Beatty, but I also miss St. Simon's amazing - and former - music director.  Wylie, if you're reading this, WHERE HAVE YOU GONE?  I was horrified to see - and even more dismayed to hear - a sad group of suburban guitarists providing music for this past week's mass.  Unfortunately, I've talked to other St. Simon parishioners who have also packed up their spiritual belongings in search of another parish.  I do hope this isn't the end of the road for St. Simon.  Such a nice little church.

4:00 Saturday afternoon mass, St. Aloysius Gonzaga.  MHTH still down with the bug that has been making the rounds.  I like St. Al's.  I really do.  These are my people.  I don't even know their pastor's name, but I like him too.  So nice, so . . . normal.  He has to be a local because he's definitely one-of-us.  I like their music director, the winner of the 2010 Cincinnati Opera Idol - makes me feel like I'm hearing something special every time I go to mass there.  I like the proximity of St. Al's to my house and the tempo of the mass, and I especially like that 4:00 time slot.  I think it's safe to say, if I'm not on The Tour, there's a good chance you'll find me at this nice little church.