Pope John Paul II Cultural Center

Where: Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, 3900 Harewood Road NE, Washington DC, 20017

When: Saturday, April 30th, 2011.

Web: The center's website is here.

We attended Mass at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, not far from the National Shrine and CUA campus.  The Center was in the midst of a weekend of events to coincide with the beatification of Pope John Paul II.  This included this evening's Mass, which served as the Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday.

The Mass was held in the beautiful atrium at the Center, overlooking the pool and meadow.  There were about eighty in the congregation - including a large Polish contingent.  A single priest celebrated Mass, assisted by an altar server, two readers, and two cantors, one of whom played the piano.  The Mass followed the standard rite, though there was a special prayer for Pope John Paul II's case for sainthood at the end.  The priest told us an amusing anecdote of concelebrating Mass with John Paul in 1999; for the most part, however, he centered his homily on today's Gospel reading.  He spoke of Jesus's divine mercy toward the apostles; instead of upbraiding them for abandoning Him at the cross, he gave them His peace, gave them the power to forgive sins on His behalf, and told them to found the Church.  The priest asked how many of us had abandoned Jesus, and were in need of His divine mercy?

Holy Name

Where: Holy Name Catholic Church, 920 11th St NE, Washington, DC 20002.

When: Sunday, April 24th 2011.

Web: The ADW listing for the parish is here; it's own website is here.

We attended the 11:00am Easter Sunday Mass at this church in the Atlas District.  A single priest celebrated the service, assisted by an altar server, two lectors, an eight-member choir/band, and two Eucharistic ministers.  The congregation was large, about a hundred; hard to know if this was a regular number or a larger turn out for Easter.  The congregation was largely black, though with some Hispanic and white members as well.  Notably for a gospel choir, there were two white singers.

The Mass followed the standard rite, though augmented by a baptism after the homily.  Both the host and wine were offered for Holy Communion.  The priest focused his homily on the distinctive nature of Christ's death and resurrection, noting that they make Christianity unique amongst world religions.  He referred to St Ignatius' writings on the resurrection, especially his description of Christ's first meeting with His mother, Mary, after the resurrection.  The priest opined that Mary was not present at the tomb - perhaps contrary to what one would expect - because she understood and had abolsute faith in Scripture.  The priest ended his homily by noting that we are required to keep the Sabbath holy and attend Mass - but that it just the minimum requirement, we are expected to live our faith as well.

St Margaret's Episcopal Church

Where: St Margaret's Episcopal Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009

When: Sunday, April 17, 2011

Web: The Dignity/Washington website is located here.

We attended the regular Sunday evening Mass organised by the Dignity/Washington group and held at St Margaret's Episcopal Church just north of Dupont Circle.  This is the only regularly-scheduled Catholic Mass in the District organized by and largely for gay Catholics.

Today was Palm Sunday.  Before the Mass started, the priest and congregation gathered in the hall just outside the church entrance to bless a new crucifix and to bless the palms.  We then processed around the pews to our seats.  A single priest celebrated Mass, assisted by a pianist, organist, several readers, a choir of about seven, and an altar server.  The Mass followed the standard rite, with the appropriate deviations for Palm Sunday.

The priest chose to read the long form of today's Gospel, which described Jesus' Passion from the time of the Last Supper to just before His Resurrection.  Because of its length, five members of the congregation assisted the priest with the reading; each read the lines of a particular person (Judas, Pontious Pilate, etc.)  The group read the Gospel very clearly and with great passion.  The priest gave a brief homily beforehand; he noted adriotly that many of us who would have cheered Jesus into Jerusalem with our palms would also have betrayed him in the garden. 

The congregation was about fifty strong - mainly white, middle-aged men.  There were some women and some younger people too.  Most seemed to be members of the Dignity/Washington group (they wore name badges). 

Chapel at Providence Hospital

Where: Chapel at Providence hospital, 1150 Varnum St NE, Washington, DC 20017.

When: Sunday, April 3rd, 2011.

Web: The hospital's chaplaincy page is located here.

We attended 12:00pm Mass at this Catholic-run hospital in the Brentwood area of Northeast DC.  A single priest celebrated Mass with the assistance of a reader and a pianist/cantor.  The congregation was about 25 or 30 strong - certainly some hospital staff but possibly some people from the neighborhood too.

The Mass followed the standard rite.  The priest focused his homily on the gospel, in which Jesus performed the miracle of making a blind man see.  The priest explained how Jesus cured his physical and spiritual blindness; and that, without the light that God is in our lives, we too would be blind.  He reminded us to share that light with others - we are not to keep it to ourselves.