News - September 2026

This year, as an environmental activist, I’ve been thinking a lot about data centers. Data centers come up several times a week in discussions facilitated by some of the leading environmental groups, groups such as Food and Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club. These groups tend to focus on the resource drain, in particular on water and energy, of hyperscale data centers.

This year, Yom Kippur is observed from sundown on Sunday, September 20, until nightfall on Monday, September 21. This holiest day of the Jewish year marks the final day of the Ten Days of Repentance on the Hebrew calendar date of 10 Tishrei 5787. Since childhood I have had what Ron Rollheiser called “the holy longing,” a longing for the infinite Grace of God that finite pleasures cannot satisfy. I’ve also long held the conviction that the world needed more fairness.

My family and I discovered St. Ignatius during the pandemic and have continued to drive in from deep in the East Bay. Our children, who are 7 and 13 years old, attend the religious education program through CFF. Our children are willing to drive all the way from the East Bay in part because they also feel the deep, authentic seeking of God in this community.

On September 5 and 6, we will join with congregations across the nation in lifting up and honoring the sacred link between work and human dignity through the initiative Labor in the Pulpit. This is an opportunity to educate ourselves about the issues that impact workers, especially those affected by unchecked technological change, and reflect on the true meaning of Labor Day. A guest speaker will join our Saturday Vigil and Sunday 8 am, 10 am, and 5 pm Masses to share a few words during our pulpit announcements on how to be in solidarity with workers.

As you know, I close my pastoral letters to you with the words Oremus pro invicem – “Let us pray for one another.” For me, it is more than a sign-off. Praying for one another is one of the ways we live our life together as a parish. Every week, people ask me, one of our associate pastors, or a member of our staff to pray for someone they love: a parent facing surgery, a child beginning college, a marriage going through a difficult time, someone who has died. Sometimes the request is simply, “Please pray for me.” It is a privilege to be entrusted with those prayers.