St Mary Star of the Sea

This is a sizable parish in downtown Oceanside, given how many blocks and buildings they have along Pier View Way. I’ve often wanted to go in and check it out, and I was finally able to this past weekend when my timing aligned with their mass schedule.
I went to the Saturday 5PM mass. It was pretty empty, but I’d imagine that time would be during the summery season. Unfortunately, it was also one of the hottest Saturdays of our year, so far, and without air conditioning, the place was very warm. There was a bit more air circulating if you sat near the inner aisle and the occasional breeze would come in through the back doors.
The inside of the church is fairly standard for the older churches in the area. Beautiful plaster and wood work around the interior. It’s smaller than I would have expected, judging from the outside, but a church is a church, and you don’t really go inside for the looks during a mass time.
The priest started the service with his message for the readings. As a former English teacher, I appreciated the preview. However, when it came time for the homily, the message was exactly the same, but it was drawn out way too long. Once the point was made again, he couldn’t moved on. I was wholly uninspired, which always makes me feel as though I need to find a better mass to make up for the first! He also brought it back up again later in the mass. By that point, I just wanted to leave. Mass was over an hour, which made me even more testy (given the heat and dull repetitions), so I don’t know if I’d go back again, at least if I saw that the same priest was presiding.
Maybe that’s too harsh, but given the day, time, and temperature, I think that the message would have been far more effective if given in a better presentation. I like to feel as though I’ve gained fulfillment from a service, and not just «met» an obligation.