Gifts, Generosity, and Friendship

Dear Sisters and Brothers –

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” In my experience, most people prefer the bad news first, so I’ll start there.

Unfortunately, and after only two years with us, the Provincial of the Jesuits West Province has missioned Fr. Jerry Hayes to be the full time Minister of the Loyola House Jesuit Community. That means that this coming week is Fr. Jerry’s last among us at St. Ignatius Parish. His responsibilities as Minister include all the temporal needs of the community, such as overseeing the kitchen and housekeeping services, as well as the maintenance of our cars and the house. He works with the Rector on the budget, and he serves as the Prefect of Health, caring for us when we get sick, among other duties. Fr. Jerry has been serving as Minister while working as part time Associate Pastor these two years; he now moves into that job full time.

Like you, I am sorry to be losing Fr. Jerry. We will miss his pastoral care, his excellent preaching, and his sense of humor. I will always be grateful for the generosity and Jesuit availability with which he responded two years ago, when the Provincial asked him to change direction and come to St. Ignatius Parish instead of Gonzaga University. We wish him well and every good blessing in his ministry to the Jesuits of San Francisco.

So, now to the good news – and I have two bits of that! I am very excited to share with you that we have hired a Director of Mercy & Justice and a Director of Faith Formation!

I am pleased to introduce Diana Marin (pronounced “MARE-in”) as our full time Director of Mercy & Justice. Diana has a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. She comes to us most recently from the Catholic Climate Covenant, where she directed programming for young adults interested in faith-based climate action and led local campaigns for US diocesan commitments to climate action. Other experience includes Theologian-in-Residence for Land Justice Futures, managing the Inner-City Scholarship Fund for the Archdiocese of New York, and working in a Catholic grammar school. Among Diana’s responsibilities are working collaboratively with parish leadership, the Mercy & Justice Commission, ministry leaders, and community partners to ensure that our parish social justice commitments, priorities, and values are integrated across all dimensions of parish life. Diana has begun work with us, currently doing so remotely from Boston. She will begin in San Francisco the week of August 22. 

I am also excited to share that we have hired Pablo Jimenez as our full time Director of Faith Formation. Pablo is responsible for all parish faith formation initiatives, including Children’s Faith Formation (K–8), Adult Faith Formation, and other parish spiritual activities. His work experience includes nearly six years as a catechist and youth ministry coordinator at The Church of St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit parish in Manhattan, as well as a coordinator of pastoral care for the New York-based Thrive for Life Prison Project. Pablo has also worked at the Mexican Studies Institute at the City University of New York and the Consulate General of Mexico in New York. He is currently working towards his Master of Divinity at the Santa Clara University Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. Pablo begins work with us on August 3.

Diana and Pablo, we are very excited to have you join our wonderful community and exceptional staff. We look forward to the many ways God will bless us through your gifts, generosity, and friendship.

I would like to thank the parishioners and staff members who generously helped with the selection process. They spent hours lunching with and interviewing many strong candidates. I am grateful for your time, insights, and commitment to our faith community.

Never before in all my years at St. Ignatius have we started a year with such strength around the staff table. We have three laypeople with professional degrees in theology. We have a staff person dedicated to our Mercy & Justice ministries. That is in addition to the professionals we have working in Music Ministry, Advancement and Administration and on top of the scores of creative, dedicated, and faith-filled parishioners who are the life blood of our ministries. I am so excited to watch the year ahead unfold, to see how God will move among and through us!

I commend to your prayers all the labor that has gone into preparing for this year. And, as always,

oremus pro invicem.