Passion Sunday

1. The end of an era: We went to Georgetown this morning to attend the last mass of the Copley Crypt Community. After Paul Cioffi died (almost 7 years ago!) most of us drifted away, but a faithful remnant carried on with John Martin. And then John died about a month ago.

It was good to see some old friends and to reminisce about the past. Bittersweet, actually. The wonderful wife and I each had a tear in the eye.

Our presider today was Vincent Cushing, OFM. OFM! I thought his homily was OK, but his reading of the gospel (Matthew's account of the passion) was fabulous -- expressive yet low key; not at all hammy or melodramatic. The whole story sounded new. I was sitting on the edge of my seat to see how it would end. (Not to give anything away, but it ended badly for the protagonist.)


2. I'd been toying with the idea of going to National Cathedral this afternoon for a performance of Bach's "St. John Passion." I doubted that I would like it -- I would have put the odds at about 4 to 1, against -- but who knows? I didn't think I'd like the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower, either, but they turned out to be wonderful. I didn't think I'd like mussels, but -- served with cold beer at Ray's Boathouse in Seattle -- they were terrific. So, late this afternoon, after phoning to make sure tickets were still available, I got in the car and headed in to town. I got to the Cathedral in plenty of time, found a parking spot on the street just a block and a half away, walked over to that magnificent building, and found my way to the ticket counter. Everything was working out beautifully. Until I reached for my credit card. I had left it at home. Oh, well. As I said, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the performance anyway.