~STORY OF THE WEEK~CANADA TAKES HOCKEY GOLD

There was no chance that the Very Rev. Glenn Dion would change the time of his 12:30 Sunday Mass at Holy Rosary Cathedral, a couple of blocks from the site of Sunday’s Olympic gold medal hockey game between Canada and the United States. Well aware of the game’s 12:15 start time, Father Dion said: “We have seven Masses on Sunday, and we don’t cancel any of them. Not even for a hockey game.” Then he made a confession. The 11 o’clock Mass would be shorter than usual, he told a full congregation, some wearing Team Canada clothes and one boy wrapped in a Canadian flag. “I’ll try to get you out of here so you can get yourself in front of a TV,” Father Dion said, before offering a prayer for “the good fellows soon to start playing for the gold.” The depth and breadth of hockey’s place in Canadian culture can be hard to fathom beyond the borders. But it now might be heard, echoing from the north, thanks to a 3-2 overtime victory over the United States in the final event of the 2010 Winter Olympics. (NY Times)