Part of moving to a new place is finding a parish. A parish, not a church: I’m Catholic so I’m in the Church, it doesn’ t need to be found! And not a local church either: being Catholic ‘local church’ is the diocese and that’s now Sacramento for me.
So, back to finding a parish. As the realtors say: location, location, location. And that means in both space and time. For a while I was going to St John the Evangelist in Carmichael since I could get to their 6:30am daily Mass and still get to work on time. However, my work schedule has changed so I don’t have to travel so far.
I like to visit St Stephen, a Latin Mass parish in Sacramento; However, that’s too far away to be my home parish. I also think a parish should be prominent, on a hill, and have a school. St Andrews in Roanoke Virginia set the standard for me soon after I became Catholic 18 years ago.
So, strictly based on location, I wind up at Holy Trinity Parish at the evocative address of 3111 Tierra de Dios, El Dorado Hills, California.
Update (Dec 27): Yesterday, at the 7:30am Sunday Mass, I noticed that Holy Trinity Parish has a vegetable garden, in addition to several rock gardens for prayer and meditation.

SpaceTime
Of course, nowadays ‘location’ is not just in space but also in time. Last night I watched ‘Lilies of the Field’ with Sidney Poitier and was reminded that the tradition of not eating before Mass has good consequences. Here are the Mass times of the four parishes with which I participate:
Holy Trinity Parish: El Dorado Hills
Monday - Friday 8:15 AM in the Church
1st Saturday of the Month 8:15 AM in the Church
Saturday 5:30 PM in the Church
Sunday 7:30 AM in the Church
9:00 AM in the Church and Livestreamed
11:00 AM in the Church
St Stephen, the First Martyr: Sacramento
MASS
Sunday: 7 am, 8:30 am, 10 am, 11:30 am, 1 pm (Sung), 6 pm
Monday to Friday: 7 am, 12 pm, 6 pm
Saturday: 7 am, 8:30 am, 12 pm
Holy Day: Please consult the bulletin.
CONFESSIONS
We have confessions every weekday, starting one half hour before the beginning of Mass. Outside of the 7:00 am daily Masses, confessions generally continue through Mass itself. There are also limited times on Sunday for confessions. The full schedule:
Sunday: 6:30 am & 5:30 pm
Monday to Friday: 6:30 am, 11:30 am, 5:30 pm
Saturday: 6:30 am, 8 am, 11:30 am
St John the Evangelist: Carmichael
Sunday Mass:
Saturday Vigil 5:00 PM
Sunday 8:00 AM
10:00 AM
5:00 PM
Daily Mass:
Mon. - Fri. 6:30 AM
8:30 AM
Saturday 8:30 AM
Holy Days
6:30 AM 8:30 AM
7:00 PM
Healing Mass:
Third Sunday of the Month 1:30 PM
St George (Melkite Greek-Catholic): Sacramento
Saturday: | 5:30 pm | Vespers & Confession |
Sunday: | 9:30 am | Orthros & Confession |
Sunday: | 10:30 am | Divine Liturgy |
Feastday Eve: | 6:30 pm | Vespers & Confession |
Feastday: | 6:30 pm | Divine Liturgy |