Pastoral Letter: Las Vecinas: Our Sister Parish in El Salvador

Dear Sisters and Brothers –

November is a special month at St. Ignatius Parish. We commemorate the love and sacrifice of the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador, and we celebrate our special relationship with our sister parish in Soyapango, El Salvador, Parroquia San Antonio, a ministry known as Las Vecinas, or The Neighbors. A 21-year relationship that has bound our two parishes in a relationship of ministry and friendship, we have accompanied one another in our faith and supported each other in our service to those less fortunate than ourselves. A primary means of our mutual support has been delegations back and forth, exchanging cultures, faith and resources.
 
St. Ignatius parishioners have helped to develop and support three vocational workshops: clothing design and construction, artificial flower making and a bakery. Over the years, we have supported these and several other projects. We have raised money through our Annual Pancake Breakfast and other means to pay instructors and purchase sewing machines, professional baking equipment, materials and supplies. Both parishioners and people of the local neighborhood attend classes wherein they learn skills that enable them to earn money that provide some of the very basic needs for their families. Some workshop graduates have gone on to open their own shops. Also, we provide full scholarships for about 20 young people each year, which enable them to attend local public and private elementary and high schools. Those who attend San Antonio, a private high school where the quality of the education is high and the local gangs have no presence, must meet high standards for admission. (NB: The tuition is just $28 per month!) Additionally, in recent years, we have provided funds for disaster recovery after a series of tropical storms and for three construction projects, as well as helped San Antonio manage some of the challenges presented by the pandemic.
 
Our primary means of supporting Las Vecinas financially is an annual online Silent Auction to raise funds for the important projects noted above. The auction is underway, and it will close at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 21st. The auction has beautiful items for sale, as well as the opportunity to donate directly to the scholarship program and the various training workshops we support. You can find the online auction here. Las Vecinas will also be selling crafts from El Salvador after the 10:00 a.m. Mass on November 20th and December 4th. All proceeds go to support the Las Vecinas ministry, of course!

On the Solemnity of Christ the King, we remember that by virtue of our Baptism, we remain with him, Priest, Prophet and King, always, in service to his people, the Body of Christ.

Oremus pro invicem,

Fr. Greg