In joyous hope, on September 3, we celebrated the Feast of St. Phoebe. This was the start of St. Phoebe Fall, a time when we celebrate the renewal of discernment of opening our diaconate to women. Our new American pope, Pope Leo XIV, has encouraged us to reignite the discernment of women’s leadership and full participation in the Catholic Church. In a moving declaration of equal dignity of Catholic women he observed that “what the Holy Spirit started cannot be stopped”. It is my hope that the synodal discussion of opening the diaconate to women will continue, through all papacies, until women may begin serving Jesus Christ as diaconesses!

Perhaps the main difference between migrants and immigrants is that immigrants move—usually permanently—from one country to another. The other day I was enjoying latte and pastries, sitting in a coffee shop on 9th Street in San Francisco, run by people from Yemen. Sitting at the tables surrounding me were people from the neighborhood chatting with each other in what seemed like many different languages. That made me think about Rick's Cafe from the movie Casablanca. There were people from different backgrounds and situations just passing time with each other, enjoying each other's company, minding their own business. Many of the patrons in this cafe could have been immigrants to this country. Any of these people could be you or me. This scene brought to my mind immigrants of another time and era. I tho

A new frontispiece for the altar during Season of Creation! It has been my great privilege to create a frontispiece for the main altar in St. Ignatius Church to honor the Season of Creation, September 2026. This sacred space has been a part of my life since I was 13 when the interior was unpainted gray plaster and not yet adorned with the glorious stained glass and golden details.