This past Sunday we visited our second Catholic Church, St. Theresa Church in Palatine, IL. It is only 5 miles from us and Palatine seems to be a nice city. It has a population of approximately 65,000. We are getting used to looking like tourists while trying to find the front door of the church. Needless to say, our comfort zone is long gone, our cheese has been moved.

We found our way in, it felt friendly and welcoming. Lots of light in the entry, skylights in the sanctuary, padded pews, the whole nine yards. A floor to ceiling kelly green velvet curtain served as the back drop to the large Crucifix behind the marble altar. There were missalettes in the pews which were used for the liturgy and hymnals. There was time for peacful prayer.

I searched out the choir and was happy to find a group wearing robes and sounding very nice. It appeared to be about the size of the choir at St. Ambrose Church in Parchment, MI. The songs were familiar, the liturgy was familiar, it felt right. Even though it felt intimate, it is still a Parish of 4,000 families. I thought St. Joseph’s in Vancouver was huge, it had 2,200 families.

There are so many Catholic Churches to choose from in the area (as my Brother Phil likes to say, “You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one”) we are thinking of trying one more in Barrington. We both felt good about St. Theresa’s, but need to know what else is out there.