Adults (18+) are invited to join our upcoming Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program here at St. Ignatius Parish beginning Sunday, Sept. 10, and extending through May 2024. All participants will receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil on March 30, 2024.

On July 11, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Benedict, honored as the father of Western monasticism, as his twin sister, St. Scholastica, is honored as the patroness of women’s religious orders. St. Benedict was born around AD 480 in Nursia, Italy, and died around AD 547. The Rule of Saint Benedict was written in the early sixth century. In it, St. Benedict set out guidance for monks living in community.

The Fourth of July, which we celebrate this week, can be a complex holiday for many Christians. Concerned by the violence and anger we see in the media, by the sins and selfishness evident in American history, we can become disheartened, wondering if we have not returned to a time when we must choose between Caesar and Christ. And yet, when the words of the Declaration of Independence are read—for all the failure to realize their ideals—I still find myself moved, and called to a people that would proclaim such a vision for the first time in human history.

I love our June banners: “Church of Mercy” and “Light for All.” They give clear voice to the kind of Catholic faith community that we aspire to be – a community of believers that embodies the compassion and mercy of Jesus and welcomes everyone.

This last week, 11 June, would have been my father, William D. Whitney, Jr.’s, 103rd birthday. Though he died 36 years ago, he remains the most important man in my life, whose example still informs my sense of integrity and compassion, decency and virtue.

The women have brought in the lamb, roasted and tender, the bitter herbs, the bread, the wine and the water. The cushions surround the low table, ready for the men to recline. The windows stand open to the soft night air. Outside the noise in the street has died down; everyone is preparing for the evening meal.

My most heartfelt Thank You! to those of you who responded this week to my appeal for this year’s Parish Giving Appeal (PGA). Since Sunday, 97 households donated nearly $51,000 to help us make our 2022-23 budget by June 30. Many of those gifts were in addition to those they had already made. Their generosity inspires me, and it is deeply gratifying. Thank you.

It was a few years ago. I was sitting on a dock in Idaho, and it was not quite 5:00 am. I heard the lovely noises of the stirring earth: the lapping of the water against the weathered wood; the honking of geese, flying beyond my sight; and the playful chirps and tweets of various birds I could not identify. Just to my left, I heard the splash of a fish, rising to grab the small bugs that skittered across the water.

Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, so named because it comes 50 days after Easter (“pente” is Greek for “fifty”). In the Jewish calendar, the Feast of Shauvot (Weeks) comes 50 days after Passover. Shauvot commemorates the giving of the Law to Moses.

Early this year, a group of St. Ignatius and St. Agnes parishioners traveled to Mexicali, Mexico, to volunteer with Border Compassion, which helps migrants on both sides of the border. While our parishioners were working at a shelter, they met Cesar and his family, who had escaped from a dangerous situation in Venezuela.

Fr. John Whitney writes, "At the end of James Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the young protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, prepares to leave Ireland for France, to begin a new life as a writer and poet, free of the conventions of the Irish Church and the domestic banality of his family. . . .

As we come to the end of our Children’s Faith Formation program year, Director of Faith Formation Lisa Freese is grateful for all of the many ways the people of St. Ignatius Parish contribute to the faith journeys of our children.

Fr. Greg Bonfiglio, SJ asks us to consider a poem on joy. The poem is a series of questions, each inviting the reader to pause, look deep within and ask, “Is this my experience of God?” “Do I believe this?” “What if this were the case?”

This last Thursday, more than two-dozen members of our community were confirmed in the Catholic Church. Read Fr. John Whitney, S.J's latest "Faith in Focus" piece.

Will Lowry, a new parishioner with 12 years experience in nonprofit communications, will support parish staff and ministries by planning, organizing, and creating digital and print communications for St. Ignatius Parish.

Carola Shepard joined St. Ignatius parish in its earliest days. Learn about her journey from being a volunteer with her new community of faith, to recently joining the Worship Commission. This was her chance to learn about and shape the central part of her spiritual life at St. Ignatius - the Mass itself.

This second Sunday of Easter, in Fr. Greg's Pastoral Letter we hear the story of St. Thomas and consider the role we might have in resurrection as it continues to happen in our world.

At Easter, we remember and give thanks that love is stronger than death. In his Pastoral Letter, Fr. Greg shares the joy of the Resurrection with all of us.

As he approaches the end of his three-year commitment to the Faith Formation Commission, Miles Handley reflects on what it means to follow Jesus.

March begins the process for selecting new Commission members. In his pastoral letter, Fr. Greg explores our model of parishioner leadership that seeks to recognize and respect the call to ministry given to all the baptized.