Irish immigration to the United States began early in the 17th century. Many of the immigrants worked as indentured servants or sought refuge from political and religious persecution. The largest wave of immigration occurred during the 19th century, particularly during and after the Great Famine (1845–1852). Over one million Irish persons fled starvation and poverty. Many Irish immigrants landed in major US port cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

I remember learning to walk as a child. But it was my father-in-law, Jack, who showed me how to walk as an adult. As his new daughter-in-law, Jack invited me on his regular after supper stroll through the small woods near their family home in Rochester, New York. Jack loved their home near the trees, and not too far from that big “ditch,” the Erie Canal.

Previous reflections have addressed waste reduction and prayerful eating. This week let’s talk about plastics. Plastic was invented in 1907 as a material called Bakelite made from fossil fuels and used in dials and knobs. The 1950s and 1960s in the US saw a surge in plastic use in the form of convenience goods and packaging. Plastic was used in cars, medical devices, furniture, building materials, as well as toys and clothing. As plastic trash grew, we were encouraged by plastic manufacturers, i.e., the petroleum industry, to recycle it. Recycling was promoted as an individual responsibility, not a problem in production or marketing. The Plastics Industry introduced resin identification codes—those numbers 1 – 7 found on the bottom of plastic packaging. In reality, only numbers 1 and 2 plastics can be recycled. And, like with the tobacco industry, the plastics industry knew decades ago of the harms of plastic pollution, but hid the information from the public.

Join Father Greg Bonfiglio, SJ and fellow parishioners on a customized pilgrimage to the Rome of Saint Ignatius Loyola. Together we will follow Ignatius's footsteps to a 16th century city bursting with a cross currents of technological innovation, social disruption, religious upheaval and rapid globalization. Through shared prayer and conversation, our journey will guide us to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Jesuit Parish in our own rapidly changing world.

In Lent, even something as ordinary as eating can become a school of trust in this generous God, whose open hand sustains every creature. Each meal is an invitation to join creation’s quiet gaze toward the Giver, to receive food not as a right or a possession, but as sheer gift.

I’ve been a parishioner at our wonderful Saint Ignatius Parish for more than twenty years. Over those years, I’ve had the pleasure of participating in various ministries including Eucharistic Ministry, Lector, Greeter, Parish Council and Leadership Commissions. In the early days I joined the Community Commission which was a great and fun experience. Afterwards, I began to feel a new calling — one that extended beyond our immediate parish community to those in most need of care and support: the poor, the homeless, immigrants, and those without the same opportunities that I’ve been given.

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about prayer, about the impossibility of moral neutrality in the face of injustice, and about the quiet but insistent question Jesus places before each of us: What do you want me to do? I don’t pretend that one letter resolves that question; discernment unfolds over time. Yet if we are serious about being disciples whose faith takes flesh in the world, we must begin to take concrete steps. Here are three groups in need of volunteers. These organizations offer safe and effective ways you might prayerfully consider responding. Each of us must ask the Lord how we are to use the body and voice we have been given.

In addition to 3:45 pm on Saturdays and by appointment, during Lent, Reconciliation will be available Thursdays, 6:30 to 8 pm, in the church. On Good Friday, April 3, Reconciliation will be offered 11:30 am - 1:30 pm and 3 pm - 4:30 pm. (Note that Women Preach is also 12-1:30 on Good Friday). Lectio Divina is a prayer practice in a small group setting that includes meditation on Scripture and sharing responses. Learn more about Lectio Divina during Lent. This year there will be one group, meeting at 9 am on Th. after daily Mass.

As a first step in making your “fasting” more outwardly focused, let us suggest giving up waste for Lent. By this I mean, consider making part of your Lenten practice an attempt to significantly reduce the amount of voluntary waste you create as part of your daily life. This will help us focus – change our hearts – on how we use the Earth’s resources, and how we, as stewards of God’s Earth, take action, especially in our homes. This suggestion stems from one of the key teachings of Laudato si’: modern society has developed a “throwaway culture,” a culture that we need to change.

Among my favorite hymns at Mass is "O God Beyond All Praising", which ends with a striking line: “[we] make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise.” That phrase “joyful duty” has been on my mind as we enter this year’s Archdiocesan Annual Appeal (AAA). The AAA is, quite literally, a duty, based on a 20% assessment of our parish ordinary income. This year we are asked to raise $141,382 towards a collective $6.45 million effort across 93 parishes in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties. Unlike other second collections, our parish is obligated to contribute the full amount whether we raise it from parishioners or not. If we raise more than our goal, the additional funds are returned to the parish.

I’ve always loved the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Even before I could name it. Even before I understood it as a command, given by the Lord on the eve of his Passion: “Do this in remembrance of me.” In it we find the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit. For me, that love has been immensely magnified by volunteering as a liturgical minister and, for the past eighteen months, as a member of the Worship Commission. Both have taken me deep into the history of the Mass, the eternal and the external, the forms and formulations and what they point to. It’s led me to the church fathers (via St. Jerome’s early description of the Mass) and the Didache (considered one of the first catechisms in the Church’s history). I was even inspired to read the documents of Vatican II after which I came away wondering “what’s all the fuss?”

Our kids have been part of the Faith Formation program for three years, and next year our oldest will join the Confirmation program. We are incredibly grateful to the catechists, mentors, program coordinators, and friends in the parish for nurturing their faith! At St. Ignatius, we have found a kind and caring community where our kids feel fully seen and welcomed, and we, as parents, enjoy companionship and friendship.

Lent is a time for reflection, for prayer and fasting, in preparation for the great mystery of our Catholic faith. Many individuals spend more time looking inward, reflecting on where they are in their personal spiritual journey, and that is important, but moving outward is important too. This Lent the parish’s Laudato Si Circle will be offering a series of reflections on ways parishioners might respond to the teaching of the Catholic Church that concern for life and for all of God’s creation, an important part of our spiritual discipline. As Pope Francis put it in his landmark encyclical, Laudato Si, “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (Laudato si’, #217). This is especially important to us as a Jesuit parish, as “caring for our common home” is one of the four apostolic priorities of the Society of Jesus. In the coming weeks, six reflections will alternate between ways to “fast” that are more conscious of the impact we are having on our planet, and ways to add an outward focus to our prayer activity by turning the ordinary activities of daily life into prayerful choices. Hopefully, this Lent will become a time for strengthening your love of God by strengthening your love of God’s creation.

My name is Dan Sullivan, and I have been a member of the Mercy & Justice Commission the past three years. I have been a member of St. Ignatius Parish for a little over six years. When I decided to move back to the Bay Area in 2019, the first thing I decided was that no matter where I ended up living, St. Ignatius would be my parish. I deeply believe that Catholic social teaching must be a core component of a Catholic community, rather than some optional part. I was very familiar with Ignatian spirituality, and knew that Saint Ignatius would be a welcoming home for me.

I’d like to invite you to nominate a friend, family member, fellow parishioner or perhaps even yourself to the St. Ignatius Leadership Commission over the next few weeks. Meeting roughly four times a year, the Leadership Commission is a body of St. Ignatius parishioners who through discernment and community help inform the path that our church takes in matters of faith formation, worship, social justice, outreach, inclusiveness and more

Every ministry, committee, and event in the Parish falls under four Commissions: Faith Formation, Worship, Mercy & Justice and Community. Faith Formation works with lay leaders preparing children and families for First Reconciliation, First Communion, Confirmation and instilling them with a spiritual tool-kit they can grow with, as well as adult Faith Formation through lectures and retreats. Worship works with lay leaders supporting and guiding the liturgical arts of music, liturgical environment and liturgical ministry to create welcoming and beautiful liturgies. Mercy & Justice works with lay leaders creating opportunities for parishioners to enact the corporal works of mercy and participate in Social. Justice work, and Community lay leaders to organize and host events such as Home4Dinner and post-Mass hospitality..

Pope Leo XIV announced a new series of weekly audience catecheses beginning in January 2026, focusing on a direct, "non-hearsay" reading of the Second Vatican Council documents. He called Vatican II a "guiding star" and "great grace," he aims to reaffirm its teachings on communion, the Church's role in the modern world, and the "universal call to holiness." He is encouraging Catholics to become directly familiar with these documents, and St. Ignatius Parish is heeding that call, bringing us back to our roots as a modern church, especially as related to our leadership model.

Earlier this week, after reading the New York Times front page stories about the murder of Alex Pretti and its aftermath, I pushed the paper away and dropped my head into my hands. The inaudible words that crossed my lips were simple and familiar: Jesus, what do you want me to do? Immediately, I heard a response, also inaudible, but clearly, in the way God sometimes speaks when we are listening: “You have a body, and you have a pulpit.” It was a voice I have known and trusted for decades. I understood it to mean that my faithfulness to Jesus now requires both presence and proclamation: that I must show up with my body, and that I must speak and write from the responsibility entrusted to me in my mission as pastor of St. Ignatius Parish. I share this with you because it matters that you know that what I write comes from prayer, from discernment, and from my understanding of what God is asking of me in this moment.

In the coming weeks, you may notice some construction activity in one of the chapel bays on the southwest side of the church. Something exciting is taking shape! As part of our ongoing gratitude to the nearly-800 households and organizations who participated in the Preservation & Promise campaign, we are installing an engraved listing of supporters' names along with a striking scale model of the church’s steel frame. The model will rest on a foundation of the same jadeite stone on which the church is built, offering a tangible connection between our building's history and its renewed future. We are delighted to be working with a talented team of Bay Area artisans, including Studio Manouche and Pure Black Inc., (pureblackinc.com) who bring thoughtful design and craftsmanship to this project. Please plan to join us! Mark your calendars for a campaign completion celebration and unveiling on Sunday, April 26, following the 10:00 am Mass. We look forward to gathering in gratitude and celebration as we formally dedicate this new installation.

It’s always fun to discover a new saint to contemplate and engage with them, and it was a joy when, sometime back, my fellow Anti-Racism Committee member Angie Vuong introduced the Parish to St. Andrew Dung-Lac, a Saint of whom I had not been aware. I now include him in my Litany rotation. (Far and away my favorite prayer is the Litany of the Saints. I love asking for the intercession of the Saints and the sweet rhythms of this prayer.) Recently, I’ve been meditating on important aspects of the lives of several ancient saints that de-centers their often pre-supposed “whiteness.”