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A blessed and joyful Easter to you – to our longtime parishioners, to those who join us each week, and to the many visitors and guests who are with us for this holy day. We are truly glad you are here!

Water is essential for all life, including human life. While a healthy adult may go several weeks without food, that individual can only go 3-4 days without water. And yet water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource throughout much of the world, including in our own region. As this new year unfolds, the story of water in the American West is both hopeful and sobering. Recent storms have filled many of California’s major reservoirs, and drought maps now show our state largely drought-free. Yet, high in the mountains—where next year’s lifeblood is stored as snow—the picture is far more fragile.

In Laudato Si Pope Francis noted that human consumption of fossil fuels (which are carbon-based) has made a significant contribution to global warming, which in turn is damaging our planet (Laudato si', 23), and he asserted that “there is an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions” (LS, 165). He called this not only a scientific necessity, but also a “moral and spiritual responsibility.” (LS, 172-175).

Several weeks ago, in my pastoral letter addressing the plight of migrant sisters and brothers in the US, I invited our faith community to consider the question, “What do you want me to do?” I later suggested three opportunities for direct action, and parishioners provided information the following weekend at all Masses. On March 10, I joined 14 other parishioners and staff at the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI) vigil at the San Francisco ICE Field Office on Sansome Street. I’d like to share with you below the reflections of two people who participated.

On Sunday, March 22, 9 am in the Parish offices and 11:30 in Xavier Room, join Fr. Greg Bonfiglio, S.J. and fellow parishioners for an information session on pilgrimage

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