Saint Michael the Archangel

The stop this week was Saint Michael the Archangel for 9:30 mass.  St. Michael's is a medium sized stone church.  It is a pretty church with cream colored walls and stained glass windows.  A red runner covers the aisle and there are two columns of pews.

It is another church where the ushers wear suits.  There were plenty of little kids, many of whom were wearing their Sunday best despite the rainy weather.  Maybe the older kids were in Sunday school.

The homily covered a lot of territory including the season of Easter, The Cosby donation to Saint Frances Academy and some jokes.  I don't think there was any mention of Earth day, which I celebrated after mass by getting a free grocery bag from the Disney store.  There was a small choir in the choir loft as well as a cantor with organ music.   I know I am getting a reputation here, but mass felt a little slow.

After mass, they were handing out bags to fill and bring back for their food pantry.  This is something I would ordinarily do.  But how do you explain that you won't be back next week or the week after because you are writing a blog about churches?  You don't.  You walk away looking like a jerk.  Blog fail.

On the plus side, I'm getting good at recognizing churches in people's Facebook pictures.  Plans for this week are pending as usual.

St Francis of Assisi and...

Palm Sunday was cold and gloomy.  I spent the morning at St. Francis of Assisi to go from one Jack Hooper field to another.  We parked in the parking lot.  For future reference, I'll know to park on Chesterfield Avenue.

Palm Sunday was kind of a big deal.  There was something with the religious ed classes and the school.  The kids had balloons.  They walked in and out with the procession and sang at communion.  I didn't take any palm.  I know it's expensive, I can't make those cool crosses, and  it's not as easy to burn as you would think.  Mass started late, but was just over an hour long.  Not bad for the longest mass of the year. There was an appropriately short Palm Sunday homily.  The people were nice and there was a kid sitting behind me who liked my fleece jacket.  Their version of "Were you There" was a little doo wop-y or barber shop-y, but all in all, it was a satisfying morning.

For those of you wondering, I skipped Easter this year.  I can't ever remember doing that.  Not even EWTN or a televised papal mass.   I died eggs with a Paas kit and that's about all.

That brings us to this past Sunday.  I thought about hitting up my Orthodox friends for a sort of Easter redux.  I thought about not going at all.  But as a last minute decision, I found my way to St. Pius on Sunday afternoon.  It's getting more crowded there.   I was wearing an old soccer shirt and jeans and that was seemingly okay.  You run into people when you look like crap.  There was a different homilist this time.  More butterflies than my earlier visit.   A man after my heart, he asked that his homily be cut off at ten minutes.  Mass was just over an hour long.  But there was a lot of singing.  More than the Greyhounds.  More than the Carmelites.

I'm hoping to be back in the swing of things this weekend.

Sacred Heart, Glyndon

After a long Saturday, I needed to find another Sunday afternoon mass.  I fear I may be running out of those soon.  And they are still my favorite.  I realize more and more it would have been easier to write a blog about going to church every week for a year rather than a blog about going to a different church every week for a year.  Oh well.  What fun would that be anyway?

I made my first westward trek to Sacred Heart in Glyndon for 5 pm mass on Sunday.  If I were writing a blog for brides to be looking for a wedding destination, I think I would have to include this one.  If I were writing a blog about where you could get into a accident in the parking lot, I would include this one too.  But I digress...

The church is big and has seating almost in the round.  There is a babbling baptismal font in the back and lots of windows that make the inside bright.  It's another church where I am drawn to the space.  It's open.  It's quiet without being silent.  The crowd was mostly made of up of families and seemed reasonably friendly.

Music came out  of brand new Gather books that have the updated Roman Missal.   There wasn't a lot of singing.   The homily was about the purpose of suffering.  I thought it ran a little long, but mass ended at 5:53.  Another good night.

They also have soccer and volleyball.  A plus in my book.  And a John Hooper Field.  That makes me lean to St. Francis of Assisi...home of the other Hooper Field.  See you next week!

Good Shepherd, Silver Spring, MD

The thing about going to a new church every week is that I know exactly what I am getting, but in reality I have no idea what I am getting.  The parts should all be there: songs, readings, homilies.  Ritual.  Order.  But it is of course the variables that make the difference.   I added a whole new variable this week and checked out an Episcopalian church.  

This week I went to Good Shepherd in Silver Spring.  A friend of mine invited me. It's pretty cool to hear what attracts people to a particular church.   She loves that it is small and multi-generational.  On Saturdays, they have a group called the Needlers, where people hang out with their needle crafts.  Their narthex was crowded with fundraising for Heifer International.  There was talk of a game night.  

The church is small and has skylights through the middle and exposed red bricks.  There are four columns of pews across the church.  It has kneelers and a communion rail.   The structure of the service was much the same as a Catholic mass, except kneeling at what I would consider to be the wrong times.   Today's second reading and the Gospel overlap.  The sermon was a light presentation about sin and started off with a story about Disney World, so I was hooked.  

There were lots of little kids, including one in front of me who was making a tall tower of hymnals.  At the sign of peace, people left their seats to greet everyone.  And there's no New Roman Missal.  I hope this doesn't set me back.  

No plans for next week yet.  I'm looking for a reconciliation service, but combing through parish websites for that has proved difficult.  Let me know if you find one.  

Blessed Sacrament, Harrisonburg, VA

In my many trips to Harrisonburg, I have never been to church.  But here I am blogging, so no more skipping church for travel.  At least when it's feasible to go.  It marks the first mass out of state.  My lack of knowledge of Virginia geography keeps me from knowing what diocese Harrisonburg falls in.

I went to mass on Saturday mass at 5 pm.  Blessed Sacrament is a stone church on Main Street with stained glass windows.   It is not the stone building that I think is city hall.  And it is not the stone Presbyterian church behind that.  Those are one way streets.  I had a "Look kids!  Big Ben, Parliament" moment.

The crowd was made up of families with older kids and older adults.  They were friendly.  Is this Southern hospitality?  When I got up to hand off the collection basket, the man I handed it to acted as though I was actually giving him the money in the collection basket.  (Did you know that few church actually pass baskets?  Most are attached to a handle, attached to an usher.)

There was a choir with organ and piano and Gather Comprehensive.  I can name hymnals at a distance now.  If you want to blend in, wear a James Madison University sweatshirt.  Blessed Sacrament handles their campus ministry.

The homily was interesting presentation about confession.  Stop looking for loop holes.  Find a reconciliation service this Lent.

The unknown dioceses is holding a young adult retreat.  Turns out I'm too old to go.   Just as well, I'm in Harrisonburg but once a year.

Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier, Hunt Valley

Sunday's stop was 9:30 mass at the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier.  I like the space of this one.  I like the open feel, the widows, the white walls, the clean lines.  Simple elegance.  There was a gentle chatter before mass and all in all it seems like a friendly place.

An enthusiastic usher/greeter made sure our hands were full of Gather Books.  A piano and choir took care of the music from said Gather books.  And in the back of some of the books you can find a list of CCSFX rules:  you will praise God by singing and you will like it.  You will not leave before the end of the last song.  (They don't.)  You will enjoy refreshments after mass and you will build community.  (I didn't.  I feel weird taking the bulletins.)  There were more rules.  And they may sound a little nicer, but that's pretty much gist.

The homily was about whether or not God is for us.  In case you were wondering, God is.  I thought mass was rather long. (It clocked in at an hour and eight minutes.  There was extra kneeling.  And a presentation by a little sister of the poor.)  I was told was I am too critical.  And that I have no sense of how long mass should be.

They do operation rice bowl.  I haven't looked at one of those in a long time.  Turns out I have to give 49 cents for every year of school I have completed.

Next week I'll be on location in Harrisonburg, VA.  The week after that, I'll be taking a walk on the Episcopalian side.

Immaculate Conception, Elkton, Maryland

On the first Sunday of Lent, I went to Immaculate Conception in Elkton, Maryland for 8:30 mass.  This is the second Immaculate Conception, the first church in the diocese of Wilmington, and the first mass before 9 am.  Or likely 10 am.  I wasn't lazy like this before.

Immaculate Conception is a smaller church with two columns of pews and light blue walls.  There is a pitched ceiling with sky lights along one side.  It has a sort of rustic feel.  There were people of all ages, including a whole bunch of little kids who were going to be in big trouble when they got home.  There was a flying Grover, spilled cereal, and much discussion on the right time to sit and stand a kneel.  That's okay. Those little trouble makers are our future.

The homily fell to the butterfly side of things this week.  It was about floods and rainbows.  And it was about giving up your personal floods this Lent.  After all, once you get to the other side of the rainbow, your troubles melt like lemon drops.

I did a little searching on ideas for Lent.  This one intrigued me...and not just because it has a heading for bloggers.

http://www.nicksenger.com/csc/101-practical-fasting-ideas-for-lent

Good luck with whatever you give up or take up for Lent this year.