Where God is Calling Us

Dear Sisters and Brothers –

In the past many weeks, visitors and guests whom I’ve met have commented on how much is going on in our parish. They have been touched by your welcome, and they are inspired by all the ministry opportunities they see in the bulletin. It’s good to have some outside perspective! Of course, a welcoming and vibrant faith community is possible only when parishioners generously share the various talents that God gave them. And there are so many of you! I’d like here to acknowledge some of those groups of people and the ministries that they provide.

Three weeks ago, we had our final-for-this-year Home4Dinner event. This year we moved these to McLaren Hall, which allowed all who attend to be in one room together. This has made these important events in the life of our parish even more successful – there is an energy that comes from being able to see and hear everyone at once. Like any event of 280 to 360 people, its success comes about only with the hard work of many people. I want to thank the Community Commission for their leadership this year; the dozens of volunteers who organized, set up, served food, brought prizes, and cleaned up; and the staff who joined them. For days after each one, parishioners and guests alike were effusing their joy and gratitude.

At the end of April, our eighth graders will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. They enjoyed a retreat two weeks ago. I chose the word “enjoyed” purposely because they did in fact enjoy themselves. The content was excellent, engaging the spiritual, social, and physical aspects of their young selves. I am grateful to the parent volunteers whose presence was a great help to the staff who worked hard to prepare a meaningful day for our youth. I also want to call out with gratitude our catechists, those who faithfully prepare class and walk with our young people from ages four to 14 each week. 

James Forbes, pastor of Riverside Church in New York City said, “No one gets into heaven without a letter of reference from the poor,” a succinct, astute articulation of so much of the essence of Judeo-Christian teaching. All of us owe so much gratitude to our fellow parishioners who meet regularly, pray, and lay the groundwork for our activities regarding the key social justice issues facing the Church and the world: environmental degradation, racism, and migration. Respectively, our Laudato Si’ Circle, Anti Racism Committee (ARC), and Solidarity Committee, are tasked with providing experiences that both inform our minds and break open our hearts, so that the way we see the world compels us to act in light of the call of the Gospel. I want to thank the leadership and membership for their faithful hard work. Our collective name for these three ministries is SOLAR, from SOlidarity, LAudato Si’, and ARc. Currently, these three ministries are working on a parish cookbook that will showcase our diverse cultural backgrounds, honor our family traditions, and reflect on the deeper connections between food, faith, and social justice.

ARC recently held a retreat to fine tune their strategy to learn and grow with the parish on issues related to race. They have also organized a multi-cultural Stations of the Cross on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent. The reflections that connect the Passion of Jesus to issues of race and justice are extraordinary. I encourage you to attend at some point. Laudato Si’ is planning to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the care of our Common Home, Laudato Si’. They are also coordinating our parish’s participation in the California Advocacy Youth Summit in Sacramento in early April. Finally, the Solidarity Committee is carefully navigating the immigration landscape, helping the parish to walk the fine line between being faithful to both the Gospel and our 2017 declaration to be a sanctuary parish, and being wise and strategic in the current climate. More on that to come. In recent weeks, a number of parishioners have had great success in resurrecting our Neighbor to Neighbor ministry. More than 70 of you have signed up to serve your fellow parishioners when they are in need of a meal post-surgery or post-delivery, a ride to the doctor’s office or to an OWLS meeting, a phone call or a visit in the hospital. This really is the parable of the Good Samaritan, with service being directed to members of our parish. If you are in need or know of a parishioner in need, please be sure to contact Neighbor to Neighbor. You can do so by emailing [email protected] with “Request” in the subject line or leaving a message at 415-407-4414.

I would be remiss not to mention the care so many take to help us pray so beautifully each Sunday. The Liturgical Environment Committee gave us a dramatic start to Lent with the stunning new banners and Crown of Thorns. Our Music Ministers work hard to lead us in prayer each week, and the Liturgical Ministers are so faithful in their ministries to us. We also have much to be grateful for in the careful preparation each week of Fr. Paul, Fr. Jerry, and Fr. John and the way they break open the Word for us at Mass.

Finally, so many of you were extremely generous two weeks ago when we rolled out the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal. In our first weekend, you donated about $77,000, nearly half of our 2025 assessment of $161,000. A heartfelt thank you for your support of all the good work that the Archdiocese of San Francisco does. For those who did not hear my appeal, you can see it here. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

I end most days with a review of the things I am grateful for. As you might surmise from all I have shared with you, my list is long, thanks to you and all the good people of St. Ignatius Parish. Let us pray that we continue to notice how and where God is calling us, that we might better inherit the Church and the parish that wants to come to us from the future.

Oremus pro invicem.

Fr. Greg