Gerald at The Cafeteria Is Closed links to Miss Kelly, who is parish-hopping. I did this for awhile when I was first reverting. I was looking for a Church that looked like a Church, a priest that was reverent and a parish that really reflected Catholicism. I attended Mass at 40 different parishes and found some of the same things that Kelly and Gerald found. The nice thing about the Diocese of Rockville Centre is that there are literally dozens of parishes within a 30-40 minute drive. I did end up going mostly to my own childhood parish, which I came to appreciate more, and now I attend my wife's parish, even though we don't live in its boundaries.

The worst experience I had in parish-hopping was at one parish where the priest would process down the aisle during the opening hymn, then instead of beginning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he would ask if anyone was celebrating a birthday or anniversary. People would shout out their answer and then everyone would applaud. It was juvenile, and totally inappropriate, I felt like I was in the 2nd grade. I also was in a couple of parishes where instead of a homily, a priest would talk about the annual fund raising appeal or a particular group in the parish. This is sometimes necessary, but it should never replace a homily totally. I am very picky when it comes to Liturgy and don't see why it is so hard for parishes to make it reverent and prayerful.

My wife and I went to see Les Miserables last night. I am not much of a broadway musical person, but when PBS first broadcast the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert I became hooked. This concert featured the "dream cast" including the original Jean Valjean - Colm Wilkinson, Michael Ball's Marius and Lea Salonga as Eponine. Last night I got to see one of the dream cast - Jenny Galloway is reprising her role as Madame Thenadier. As I said, I am not a musical type of person, but I have listened to the CD and watched the video so many times I know all the words. It is a great story, awesome music, and a pretty Catholic theme of grace and mercy to boot. I never got to see Les Miz while it was on Broadway so when I saw they were bringing it back for six months, I knew I had to get tickets. Daphne Rubin-Vega's performance as Fantine was the only negative, her voice is just not right for the part. The whole night was awesome though.

The Wikipedia link on Les Miserables is quite comprehensive, but I found one error-

The first high school in the United States to perform the school version of Les Miserables was Holy Trinity High School right here in Hicksville, Long Island. Cameron Mackintosh chose the school and was there for the premiere performance. Holy Trinity is known for its extensive performance arts program.

For our honeymoon we took a cruise to the southern Caribbean. One of our favorites islands was the colorful island of Curacao. On the trolley tour we took there was a stop at the Pietermaai Cathedral. I took a picture of the statue of Dr. Hernandez, a Venezuelan considered a saint by locals, with some attributing miracles to him.



Click on the picture to enlarge.