Dear Sisters and Brothers –
I am writing to you today concerning two important subjects: our being a Sanctuary Parish and revitalizing our Neighbor to Neighbor ministry.
St. Ignatius as a Sanctuary Parish
Last Sunday, I met with Cesar and Daniella and the parishioners with whom we have been accompanying them since their legal arrival in the United States two years ago. Many of you know them: they regularly attend the 10 am Mass and post-Mass hospitality with their two daughters, whose baptisms we celebrated on a Baptism Sunday a year and a half ago. The family is awaiting its asylum hearing. Meanwhile, both Cesar and Dani are employed, paying their way, and have enrolled their daughters in school at the Holy Family Day Home and Mission Dolores Academy.
Listening to them last weekend brought home for me the very real fear they and other immigrants are living with as we await the rollout of the new administration’s immigration policies. At this point, we hope and pray that those policies will be guided by Christian principles, especially those that undergird Catholic Social Teaching. That body of Church teaching is grounded in the goodness and inherent dignity found within every human being by virtue of Creation. As a faith community, our response to those policies will be guided by our Catholic tradition, Scripture, the mission of the Society of Jesus, and how events unfold in the coming weeks and months.
At this point, however, I think that it is helpful for me to remind longtime parishioners about, and to inform those who have joined us in the intervening years with, a bit of our history around this issue. To refresh my own memory, I went back to a pastoral letter I wrote to our parish in November 2017. In it, I shared with the Parish our process of discernment around the issue of immigration. I also shared the fruit of that months-long discernment, which was a joint statement with St. Agnes Parish declaring ourselves sanctuary parishes.
I encourage you to take a few moments to read that letter, linked here as well as the 2017 Sanctuary Statement, linked here. In recent weeks, members of our Solidarity Committee reviewed that 2017 statement for relevance and to ensure that it continues to reflect our experience over the last seven years. We believe that it remains quite relevant, that it is consistent with our lived experience, and it is as important today as it was when it was written. The statement continues to be a faithful articulation of the mission of our parish, of our Catholic faith, and of our Jesuit, Ignatian identity. We reaffirm the statement today.
On this weekend when we remember a U.S. American prophet, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am pleased to see that I quoted him in my 2017 letter. He is a reminder to all of us that an authentic faith – one that is rooted in the person and example of Jesus – will by its very nature make itself known in the public square. That can sometimes be an uncomfortable place in which to find ourselves. However, last week Fr. Jerry reminded us that the Spirit that descended on Jesus at his baptism as a dove is the same dove that returned to Noah with an olive branch at the end of the great flood – the Holy Spirit. That symbol of peace held the promise of a future and of new life. God holds out that same promise to us today.
St. Paul’s words in the second reading this Sunday also speak to us about how the Spirit works through us: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord …” We are all called to be light in the darkness, each according to their gifts. As we move forward in our commitment to walk in solidarity with those on the margins, some will be called to advocate, others to educate, still others to accompany and support. And as a faith community our individual gifts and actions will help us to continue to recognize the Spirit in all, regardless of circumstance or background, and to work to help bring about a more just system. Let us be the dove that alighted upon Noah’s Ark, showing promise and hope. That is, after all, the mission given to us at our Baptism – to follow the example of Christ and to be his Body here on earth. May each of us and all of us together remain rooted in our faith and hope that we may live out that mission. (John 13:34)
Our Neighbor to Neighbor Ministry is Back
Speaking of the different gifts that the Holy Spirit gives, some 15 years ago, several parishioners came together to respond to a need in our community. Ministries such as Sandwich Saturdays and Shelter Meals were admirably and meaningfully helping parishioners live out our baptismal call to serve others, to be the Body of Christ, to live out the first Corporal Work of Mercy: Feed the Hungry. (Matthew 25: 35-40) However, several parishioners asked, “what about those in our parish who need assistance for everyday tasks?” Thus, the St. Ignatius Parish Helping Hands ministry was born.
Helping Hands was organized to deliver meals to families with newborns and to people recovering from surgery. Volunteers grocery shopped for people who could not do it themselves, and they drove fellow parishioners who needed rides to their medical appointments. They changed light bulbs and took the recycling to the recycling center. Still others visited homebound parishioners to pray with them and give them Communion.
Helping Hands, which later became Neighbor to Neighbor, was a very vibrant ministry well into the pandemic – in the early months of Covid, they took it upon themselves to call every registered household in our parish to check up on them. Twice! But as the pandemic wore on, for reasons we all understand, Neighbor to Neighbor waned and became dormant.
However, the need has never gone dormant. So, I am very, very pleased to share with you that Neighbor to Neighbor is being revived. That’s right! Several parishioners are convening a steering committee that consists of the original coordinators of Helping Hands and those who continued the ministry in Neighbor to Neighbor, as well as anyone who would like to be involved as frequently or infrequently as they’d like. If you are interested, please contact Annette Lomont or Barbara St. Marie.
I would like to acknowledge and thank those who guided this ministry in the past. They built a solid foundation on which to revitalize this important ministry. Let us all say a short prayer of gratitude for Mary Burns, Christine Kennedy, Terry Sechrist, and Barbara St. Marie. Let us also pray that this resurrected ministry be fruitful and address the needs of our fellow parishioners.
As always, oremus pro invicem.
Fr. Greg