Happy St. Patrick's Day

 It's a day for parades and green beer here in the U.S. St. Patrick's Day was always festive when I was a youngster. That's because I went to Catholic schools and we treated the day with a sweet reverence. At St. Leo's, the first Catholic school I attended, we had an old Irish priest. Yes, in South Central L.A. The media in those days did not ever report on how diverse sections of South Central Los Angeles truly were. Monsignor O'Donnell would hear our confessions every Friday afternoon. Penance was always "Say 10 Hail Marys and the Our Father." We were grade schoolers. If you committed any really serious sin -- like murder or purposely eating meat on Fridays -- you might have to say 20 Hail Marys or the whole rosary.

There was one of the 10 Commandments that I just did not understand. In fact, I thought a word in it was misspelled. I though that instead of "covet," it should've been "cover."  I didn't know what "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" meant and I doubted "covet" was a real word. But I was curious as to how bad breaking that commandment was -- and I could determine that by the penance Father O'Donnell would give.

Father O'Donnell was a burly, gentle old man with a distinct Irish accent. After I confessed my grade school sins of not doing all my chores when Mom told me to and telling a fib that I had not eaten any candy before dinner, Father O'Donnell asked "Is there anything else you'd like to confess, my son?"

I replied, "Yes. I coveted my neighbor's wife."

Silence.

Father O'Donnell left his booth quickly opened my confessional door, took me by the arm and walked me over to my 3rd grade teacher who was seated in a church pew. He leaned over to the nun, whispered in her ear and she covered her face with her hands. I could see her shoulders shaking. I thought she was extremely angry. I know now that she was probably laughing. Putting on her serious face, Sister Mary Magdalena said, "Robert Rivers, kneel here next to me and ask the Lord's forgiveness. Say 10 Hail Marys and the Our Father."

I guess it was obvious that I hadn't had an affair with one of the middle-aged women on my block.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Here's Gene Kelly in a number from the 1949 MGM musical comedy, TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME. It's perfect for today.