Around October of 1998, somebody in my parish decided that, before Sunday Mass, we should introduce ourselves by name to someone we didn't know. Since I am hopelessly shy, I simply could not bring myself to do this, so I decided to attend Sunday Mass elsewhere until they got tired of it. They haven't tired of it yet, sad to say. I've been attending a different parish each week, and I have found it to be a very enlightening experience. I am learning quite a bit about the great diversity that can be found in the Catholic Church today, and in the long run, I will likely benefit greatly.
The articles below originally appeared on CompuServe's Catholic Online forum and in the Catholic Online discussion area on Internet. They were favorably received, so I have collected them here for convenience and reference.
I offer special thanks at this time to a gentleman named Kevin Koster, who was a member of the Catholic Online forum in the late 1990's. I actually swiped the idea for this series from his brief "Oh, Give Me a Home" series of the summer of 1998. I've just continued it and embellished it somewhat. Of course, for several years in the 1980's, I also went to a different barber shop each time I needed a haircut, so the concept was not totally unknown to me. In addition, I used to travel to different places with my father to visit horse race tracks and have been to more than my share of those. Now, the same concept is applied to Catholic parishes around my diocese.
I offer one important tip for the reader: I take God very seriously. I take the Church very seriously. I take the Mass and the sacraments very seriously. I take myself not at all seriously. Consider your tour guide on this journey as comic relief.
What one reader says:
"Actually, the entire series should be captured and recorded as a rare, first-person snapshot of real-life Catholic worship in the US at century's end. It is exactly the sort of historical observation that is most ephemeral and yet most revealing. And, for inveterate 'church-hoppers' like me, it's also endlessly fascinating (although sometimes morbidly so-- I admire your courage more than that of a restaurant critic, sir!)."
Note: Many of the terms used in this series may be unfamiliar to the casual reader. An excellent glossary of liturgical and other Catholic terms has been provided by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; you may want to read through it first or refer to it whenever a new term appears.
Week 260, St. Leo, Stamford, CT
Week 259, Our Lady Help of Christians,
Staten Island
Week 248, Our Lady of the Magnificat,
Ocean Beach
Week 247, Blessed Sacrament, Manhattan
Week 246, Oratory Church of St. Boniface,
Brooklyn
Week 245, Our Lady of Lourdes, West Islip
Week 132, St. Raymond, East Rockaway
Week 120, Notre Dame, New Hyde Park
Week 119, Infant Jesus, Port Jefferson
Week 118, St. Brigid, Westbury
Week 117, Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Manhattan
Week 116, Sacred Heart, Island Park
Week 115, St. Martha, Uniondale
Week 114, Maria Regina, Seaford
Week 113, St. Anne, Brentwood
Week 112, St. Hyacinth, Glen Head
Week 111, St. Mary, East Islip
Week 110, St. Anne, Garden City
Week 109, St. Francis de Sales, Patchogue
Week 108, Sts. Cyril & Methodius, Deer
Park
Week 107, St. Anthony, Oceanside
Week 106, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Week 105, Our Lady of the Assumption,
Copiague
Week 104, St. William the Abbot, Seaford
Week 103, St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa
Week 102, Curé of Ars, Merrick
Week 101, St. Philip Neri, Northport
Week 100, St. John the Evangelist,
Riverhead
Week 99, Our Lady of Poland, Southampton
Week 98, Holy Innocents, Manhattan
Week 97, Holy Family, Hicksville
Week 96, St. Patrick, Bay Shore
Week 95, Sts. Peter and Paul, Manorville
Week 94, St. John Nepomucene, Bohemia
Week 94 Bonus, St. Lawrence the Martyr,
Sayville
Week 93, Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Patchogue
Week 92, St. John the Baptist, Manhattan
Week 91, Our Lady of Ostrabrama, Cutchogue
Week 90, St. Raphael, East Meadow
Week 89, St. Joseph, Babylon
Week 88, Corpus Christi, Mineola
Week 87, St. Mary, Roslyn
Week 86, St. Patrick, Glen Cove
Week 85, St. Joseph, Ronkonkoma
Week 84, St. Joseph, Kings Park
Week 83, Holy Spirit, New Hyde Park
Week 82, St. Peter of Alcantara, Port
Washington
Week 81, St. Pius X, Plainview
Week 80, Sacred Heart, Cutchogue
Week 79, Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park
Week 78, Good Shepherd, Holbrook
Week 77, St. Lawrence the Martyr, Sayville
Week 76, St. Mark, Shoreham
Week 75, St. Margaret of Scotland, Selden
Week 74, Our Lady of the Snow, Blue Point
Week 73, St. John the Evangelist, Center
Moriches
Week 72, St. Francis of Assisi, Greenlawn
Week 71, St. James, Setauket
Week 70, Most Holy Trinity, East Hampton
Week 69, St. Aidan, Williston Park
Week 68, St. Thomas More, Hauppauge
Week 67, St. Dominic, Oyster Bay
Week 66, St. Louis de Montfort, Sound Beach
Week 65, St. Hedwig, Floral Park
Week 64, Immaculate Conception, Westhampton
Beach
Week 63, St. Agnes, Greenport
Week 62, St. Anthony of Padua, East
Northport
Week 61, St. Gertrude, Bayville
Week 60, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, Centereach
Week 59 Bonus, Immaculate Conception, St.
Christopher, Baldwin
Week 59, St. Rosalie, Hampton Bays
Week 58, St. Francis of Assisi, Manhattan
Week 57, St. Joseph the Worker, East
Patchogue
Week 56, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Southampton
Week 55, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal,
Point Lookout
Week 54, Holy Name of Jesus, Woodbury
Week 53, St. Sylvester, Medford
Week 52, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Lake
Ronkonkoma
Week 51, St. John of God, Central Islip
Week 50, Church of the Resurrection,
Farmingville
Week 49, St. Peter the Apostle, Islip
Terrace
Week 48, Sts. Philip amd James, St. James
Week 47, Our Lady of Hope, Carle Place
Week 46, Holy Cross, Nesconset
Week 45, St. Boniface Martyr, Sea Cliff
Week 44, St. Joseph, Garden City
Week 43, St. Paul the Apostle, Brookville
Week 42, St. Aloysius, Great Neck
Week 41, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,
Bridgehampton
Week 40, Our Lady of the Isle, Shelter
Island Heights
Week 39 Bonus, Life Teen, Our Lady of
Perpetual Help, Lindenhurst
Week 39, St. John the Baptist, Wading River
Week 38, St. Patrick, Southold
Week 37, St. Isidore, Riverhead
Week 36, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal,
Wyandanch
Week 35, St. Mary of the Isle, Long Beach
Week 34, St. Mary, Manhasset
Week 33, St. Frances de Chantal, Wantagh
Week 32, Christ the King, Commack
Week 31, St. Martin of Tours, Amityville
Week 30, St. Joachim, Cedarhurst
Week 29, Our Lady of Mercy, Hicksville
Week 28, St. Ignatius Marytr, Hicksville
Week 27, St. Andrew, Sag Harbor
Week 26, Our Lady of Fatima, Manorhaven
Week 25, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs,
Centerport
Week 24, St. Patrick, Huntington
Week 23, Our Lady of Loretto, Hempstead
Week 22, St. Ladislaus, Hempstead
Week 21, Our Lady of Peace, Lynbrook
Week 20, St. Elizabeth, Melville
Week 19, St. Vincent de Paul, Elmont
Week 18, Blessed Sacrament, Valley Stream
Week 17, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Inwood
Week 16, St. Rocco, Glen Cove
Week 15, St. Matthew, Dix Hills
Week 14, Our Lady of Grace, West Babylon
Week 13, St. Kilian, Farmingdale
Week 12, Mary Immaculate, Bellport
Week 11, St. Catherine of Siena, Franklin
Square
Week 10, St. Hugh of Lincoln, Huntington
Station
Week 9, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,
Roosevelt
Week 8, St. Boniface, Elmont
Week 7, St. Ignatius, Long Beach
[Week 6 was a repeat; Holy Redeemer, Freeport.]
Week 5, St. Agnes, Manhattan
Week 4, Our Lady of Lourdes, Malverne
Week 3, Holy Redeemer, Freeport
[I did not write an article in Week 2; St. Agnes Cathedral,
Rockville Centre.]
Week 1, Holy Name of Mary, Valley Stream
Mass Schedules in the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Rockville Centre
Comments about this
series of articles
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