Several months ago, I had a conversation with my spiritual director that has proven invaluable. As a “doer,” and as one that too easily acts out of an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, I was encouraged by her to end each day by taking just a few minutes to reflect on “how you and your colleagues made it possible for the kingdom to expand a bit more that day.” That advice has helped me notice the many places in our parish where there is vitality, growth, enthusiasm, energy, hope, and joy. It is helping me to notice those things more as I experience them, in the moment. And it leads me to consider how best to continue to steward all that God is doing among us.

On Mother’s Day, we celebrate our mothers and step-mothers, our grandmothers and godmothers, any and all whose love for us has given us life, bound our wounds, celebrated our achievements, forgiven our wrongs, lit our paths, and given us reasons to hold onto hope and life with joy. We honor those women whose love for us has been a metaphor for God’s own love for us.

In recent weeks, Fr. John has done a wonderful job bringing the Synod back into focus for our parish. He laid out for us the history of synodality, beginning with the early Church, its resurrection and affirmation in Vatican II, its loss of purpose in the last decades of the last century and the first one of this century, and its recovery by Pope Francis to revitalize the work of Vatican II by creating a Church rooted in the People of God. Pope Francis’ recovery of this model of synodality is rooted in his belief in the good will of the faithful and their ability to notice the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in the world around them.

Welcome! We are excited that you might consider being part of a brand new program at St. Ignatius Parish. We are building a girls basketball program for grades 3rd-8th. Please complete the form below to so that we can start lining up players, coaches and volunteers to help.

The Synod on Synodality, though it may seem a slow process to those of us desiring instantaneous reform, is a work of the Holy Spirit—perhaps the most significant such work since the Second Vatican Council. May we take up our role in it as individuals and as a Jesuit parish—renovating not just the building of our church, but its essence.

Part Three of our series on the Synod on Synodality. In the first part of our series on the Synod on Synodality, we explored the progressive understanding of the modern Synod of Bishops under Pope Francis—moving, as it has, from a model of a “rallying of the troops” to a more expansive model in which the whole People of God is called to discern the Spirit at the center of the Church. Then, last week, we reviewed the way in which St. Ignatius Parish entered into Francis’ call for more authentic discernment, and what hopes and concerns emerged from the heart of our assembly. Though the voice of St. Ignatius Parish is clearly not the voice of the whole Church, nonetheless, our prayerful and courageous honesty became part of the work of the Holy Spirit at the first session of the Synod, last October.

Dear Sisters and Brothers – Once again, a blessed and happy Easter Season to you! In John’s gospel, Jesus describes himself as servant, friend, teacher, door, truth, shepherd, healer, pathway of life, and more. Naming things is a way we human beings have of understanding and communicating our experiences. This includes God. We creatures have always sought meaningful ways to describe and relate to that vast, divine mystery that is the Creator. Theologian Elizabeth Johnson addresses this in her book She Who Is: “No language about God will ever be fully adequate to the burning mystery which it signifies …. Great symbols of the divine always come into being not simply as a projection of the imagination, but as an awakening from the deep abyss of human existence in real encounter with divine being.” In the same vein, spiritual writer Joyce Rupp points out that the use of varying metaphors for the divine not only enhances our relationship with God; these names help us sense God touching the heart of what we are experiencing. When we are hurt or dealing with illness, comforting metaphors for the divine can ease our pain. Perhaps one of the most tender and consoling metaphors for God/Jesus is that of the Good Shepherd, which we celebrate this Fourth Sunday of Easter: the one who searches when we are lost, who carries when we are weak, who comforts when we ache, who will lay down his life for his sheep. It’s an image that is particularly powerful in a world that today seems lost and weak and aching. In his poem I Will Shepherd, retired United Methodist pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes writes about the Good Shepherd in a way that resonates with me about our world today: The diagnosis, the procedure, the boss’ memo, the suicide, the lonely corridor. I will shepherd you. The God who vanished into a question, the way you can’t find, the path through the tangled thorns. I will seek the lost. Addicted, shamed, incarcerated, unforgiven, violent, over-busy, despairing. I will bring back the strayed. Memory of abuse, ache of loss, heart a cracked empty jar, forty pound bag of fear. I will bind up the injured. The difficult meeting, the ones who wound, your daughter’s treatment. I will strengthen the weak. How much longer can you do this? How will it end? How do you know? I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. On another note, though Holy Week and Easter seem long ago, I still want to express our collective gratitude to the scores of people who helped us to pray so beautifully and reflect so well throughout Holy Week and Easter. They planned and prepped and worked for months in order that the various events and liturgies of these holy days be beautiful. And they were! They touched our hearts and souls, and they were a means by which we encountered the Lord as the Lord seeks to come to us. Please join me in praying in thanksgiving for and for the intentions of all the women and men, girls and boys who contributed to the “production” of our celebrations, from the tying of the first palm branch to the pews for Palm Sunday to the putting away of the last table after the Easter egg hunt and hospitality on Easter Sunday. Parishioners, friends and staff alike – may God bless you 100-fold! On a personal note, I wish to thank the scores of you who have held my father and mother in your thoughts and prayers since his stroke on Holy Thursday. Fortunately, it was mild, and he has received excellent care in a skilled nursing facility for the past two weeks. The effects of the stroke are being mitigated, and he is getting strong enough to go home. Your kindness to me, my parents, and my family have touched us deeply, and we are grateful. My mother sent a text for me to relay to you: “Dear St. Ignatius Parishioners, you are all so wonderful to offer your prayers for Joseph and me during this time. We have felt your love and cannot thank you enough. Joseph is coming along very well, and we hope to come for Mass one of these Sundays.” Again, our deep and sincere gratitude. Finally, a few updates on the restoration of the church. The repairs to the sheet metal on the spires, the bell tower, and the base of the dome are complete, and the scaffolding will be mostly down in the next few weeks. The bathrooms are being framed, and they are scheduled to be ready in June, at the same time as the completion of the new roof. The exterior lighting is also nearly complete, and adjustments to that will be taking place over the next weeks. The design will highlight the architecture of the church in ways that are subtle but striking. Regarding the “trenches” that have been carved into the central columns in the nave, they are for the conduit for part of the fire alarm system (the horns and lights). As much as we tried to avoid them, the San Francisco Fire Department would not let us out of this one. (Note: Because we chose to install both a fire alarm and fire suppression system in the church, we have not been required to do many of the upgrades that would otherwise have been required.) Finally, as you can see, the stained-glass windows are coming back, and they are spectacular! The difference is really remarkable. One thing to note about the placement of the windows. Of the 14 tall clerestory windows, three are of women: Mary, Queen of Heaven; St. Mary Magdalene; and Queen Esther. (The rest are apostles and Moses.) Mary, Queen of Heaven has always enjoyed a place of prominence at the front of the church on the east side, across from her son, Christ the King. The latter two women have been at the very back of the church, across from one another. Thanks to the suggestion of a parishioner, we have reordered the windows and moved St. Mary Magdalene to the front of the church to reflect her role in the early Church. One of her titles is Apostle to the Apostles, which comes from the resurrection story in John’s gospel: Mary is the first to witness the resurrected Jesus, and she runs back to the others with the good news, “I have seen the Lord.” Given her central role in this all-important event in the life of the Church, St. Mary Magdalene will enjoy her new home next to St. Mary, Queen of Heaven! May you continue to enjoy the blessings of this season. Oremus pro invicem.

Part Two of our series on the Synod on Synodality: It has become something of a cliché—often used, in previous decades, to silence dissent—to note that “The Catholic Church is not a democracy.” Yet, if the hierarchical Church is not fundamentally democratic, the papacy of Francis has shown that it need not be autocratic either. Especially in his structuring of synods, Francis has shown an openness to dissent, debate, and even open disagreement unimaginable under many of his predecessors. Where synods under Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict were often closely scripted affairs, Francis has sought a broad spectrum of views, and has allowed the raising of issues which have sometimes scandalized more traditional elements within the Church.

In the next few weeks, we will present a series of articles, recalling our own synodal work at St. Ignatius; pointing out, in greater detail, what the first session of the Synod accomplished; and raising the question of what we can do to become a more synodal community going forward. Please join us in this journey. Read the first article by Fr. John Whitney, SJ, today!

A happy and blessed Easter to each of you and your families. On behalf of our entire faith community, I extend a warm welcome to those of you who are joining us this Easter. We are happy you are with us to celebrate this glorious weekend in the life of the Church.

The 7th grade girls basketball team had a great start to their season with a 31-5 win over St. Peter's Pacifica on March 8. Our team is a feisty bunch with good talent to make a deep run this season. Please consider coming out to cheer us! We are playing our first season in collaboration with Father Sauer Academy. Both the 6th grade girls and 7th the grade girls teams are playing at Cowell Pavilion at St. Ignatius High School, Sunday, March 24. The 6th graders play Donum Dei at 1 pm and the 7th graders play Good Shepherd at 2 pm. Thank you all for your support for this brand-new program.

It begins with the call of the community to raise up our palm branches and march into Jerusalem; and it ends on the eve of a new week, on the eve of a new Creation, as we gather around the fire and prepare ourselves for the overcoming of the grave.

The new Senior High Youth Group for high school and 8th grade Confirmartion year-two students had its first outing on March 2. They saw Dune 2 on Saturday afternoon at the AMC Kabuki and had a lovely time. They met at the Church office, carpooled to the AMC Kabuki, enjoyed the movie, and grabbed a bite in Japantown afterwards before returning to the church. The St. Ignatius Parish youth minister, Tom Fregoso, who organized this trip, is now putting together more fun Youth Group outings through the beginning of August. A Junior High Youth Group for 5th through 7th graders is also in the works. The outings will generally be on the 1st Saturdays of each month and in the afternoon or evening. Some more significant events, such as the theater and Giant's game, will have RSVP dates. Here is his message to youth: Hello! Please take a look at this list. If you have an idea about something fun, please let me know. Also, please let me know if you are excited about something on this list or don't like an idea. Here are my ideas. 4/6 Bowling at Presidio Bowl (We have space!) 5/4 Subpar Miniature Golf at Ghirardelli Square 6/1 Giants vs. Yankees at Oracle Park 6/15 Escape Room 7/6 Mrs. Doubtfire, The Musical at Orpheum Theatre 7/27 Deadpool vs Wolverine 8/3 Kayaking outing Thanks for reading and I look forward to the fun! Please reply with any questions, and your ideas! Tom Fregoso, youth minister / tfregoso@usfca.edu

I came to my faith by an unusual path. My grandmother was the seamstress for the Archdiocese of Detroit. I followed her endlessly on magical excursions to specialty shops that had drawers and drawers of golden threads from Italy, ornate handmade laces, brocades, damasks, jacquards. She designed vestments: chasubles, cassocks, stoles, albs, altar cloths, all of stunning beauty and exquisite intricacies. My Infant of Prague statue was the best adorned in my family and the envy of all my aunts.

I have been a parishioner at St. Ignatius Church for 8 years along with my wife and two children. Our family was introduced to St. Ignatius after realizing our previous parish did not offer continued Catholic Faith Formation for our children. Further growing our children’s faith and continuing ours as a family was important for us. In searching for a new parish, a good friend suggested St. Ignatius.

I have lived in San Francisco for 26 years (a transplant from the east coast) and have been a parishioner at St Ignatius for almost as long. We joined the parish under Father Gagan and experienced the seamless transition to Father Greg when our oldest son was preparing for confirmation. My children were altar servers, I’ve been a Eucharistic Minister, and my sons were part of the first parish CYO basketball teams, winning the championship in their inaugural year. I’ve helped with coffee hour, bingo, parish picnics, Easter egg hunts, among other events, volunteering whenever there was downtime in our family schedule between school, sports, and other events. While I enjoyed all these activities, I didn’t feel fully engaged, or that I was doing enough. I wasn’t participating as fully as I could or should. I had plenty of volunteer activities I enjoyed through school and other community organizations but wanted to invest more time and attention to my faith and to building connections within this wonderful community. While the opportunities were there, I wasn’t sure exactly how or where to jump in.

As many of you already know, our dear friend and colleague, Sr. Theresa Moser, R.S.C.J., went home to God last Friday, February 9. She suffered a debilitating stroke and broken hip at the end of last November. Determined to return to San Francisco and St. Ignatius parish, she worked hard at the various types of rehab since. But early in the morning last Friday, while being helped back to bed, Sr. Theresa paused and said to the aide, “I think I’m going.” Thus she went, in the faithful and peaceful way she lived her life.

“How will you and your family observe Lent this year?” It’s a question we recently posed at our quarterly leadership meeting. Focusing on the three pillars of Lent (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving), here are some ways members of your Faith Formation Commission plan to observe Lent. Information on how you can participate in some or all of these events can be found on the Lent page on our parish website, or via the links in the article below.

Serving the Mercy and Justice Commission gives me a different perspective as a parishioner at St. Ignatius parish. I’ve acquired a better understanding of how Mercy & Justice interrelates with the other committees and their ministries, admiration for all the parishioners who devote their time and effort to the committees, and confidence that my participation and presence is of value to the group. 

The word “Lent” comes from an Old English word for spring, from which we also get the word “length,” which refers to the lengthening of daylight during this season. Originally created for the preparation of those converting to Christianity, the season later became associated with Jesus’ 40 days in the desert. Yet, as conversions decreased and infant baptism became more the norm, Lent took on a penitential and preparatory quality for all Christians on their way to Easter. Just as the earth was being renewed by the coming of spring, so Christians were invited to renew themselves—to slough off the old and put on the grace promised in the Resurrection. The Church called all to increased fasting, to greater almsgiving, and to deeper prayer, all so that we might come to the new life promised in the resurrec