The most important activity in the parish is Sunday Mass. Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles has written a lengthy pastoral letter on liturgical renewal to prepare the people of his archdiocese for the Jubilee Year 2000.

They always call in the middle of dinner. And they're always from places that sound folksy and green-Willow Park, Heritage Creek, Oakland Hills, Forest Lawn. And I'm never quite sure just what they're selling. Is it golf club memberships or time-share condos or New Age religion or nursing home care?

Coming in from the bright sunlight, a woman kneels before an altar in the dimness of the church; she has lit a small candle, and with many other small candles the light is reflected off glinting fabrics and jewels adorning the statue of the Mother of God. Crowned, lifted up, peaceful of gaze, she holds the Child on her lap, yet he is less noticeable.

You've taught scripture for virtually all of your adult life. What led you to devote your life to it?

Between the ages of 8 and 10, I spent considerable time hoping for a Marian apparition. In the mid-1960s, Lourdes and Fatima were still on the lips of Catholics. I had read the books, seen the movies, been dabbed with holy water from the sites. I was Catholic, a holy communicant. I wanted it all. I wanted an apparition of my own.

When have you experienced great liturgy, and what made it great?