In my mid-20s, I had everything I could have possibly imagined. It was basically my dream life of working in corporate sports marketing, living in my own rent-controlled apartment, and making the rounds where my friends bartended. But I noticed a recurring feeling that seemed to happen each week after the Sunday evening Mass at Epiphany Parish.
What was it? I wanted to be like the priest up in the sanctuary. I didn’t know that priest, but I thought about the two people in my life who lived their lives with meaning, purpose, and joy—both Jesuits: my uncle, Fr. Jim Dolan, SJ, and Fr. Tim Brown, SJ, my Jesuit class moderator and business law professor at Loyola University Maryland.
I decided to do something that Lent that I feared. In Fr. James Martin’s book, In Good Company, I read about how Jesuit novices in their first year serve as hospital orderlies. When I saw a bulletin ad for volunteers needed at Cabrini Nursing Home in the East Village, I thought that could possibly be a way for me to think more about the Jesuits, since everything else in my life wasn’t necessarily leading me down the path of a Jesuit vocation.
Little by little, that service—attending Saturday morning Mass with nursing home residents—became part of my routine. After a detour to a Hamptons share house and training for the New York City Marathon that fall, I found myself the next Lent more seriously considering the Jesuits. By then, I was no longer living in Stuyvesant Town—my four years of rent control were over. I had moved with two roommates to 95th Street and started attending Mass at St. Ignatius.
Almost parallel to quietly beginning Jesuit discernment, I also got more involved in the parish. I returned to the Sacrament of Reconciliation after a long time, with the newly ordained Fr. George Witt, SJ. When I shared my vocation journey with the pastor, Fr. Gerry Blaszczak, SJ, he said, “I’m going to put you to work!” and I became a lector, a Eucharistic minister, and more active in Ignatian Young Adults, helping with spirituality programming. Looking back, I see that period as my own “hidden life,” much like Jesus’ years before his public ministry—a time of growth and waiting as my call became clearer.
Now, after almost 17 years as a Jesuit, I find myself living in New York City again. My formation brought me to Syracuse, Chicago, Boston, and South Africa. I taught and served at high schools in Micronesia, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Now I work in the USA East Province office on 83rd Street as the Provincial Assistant and Director of Vocations, while living at the Xavier Jesuit Community on 16th Street.
On the last leg of my commute from the 86th Street subway station to my office, I look at the façade of St. Ignatius and think back to all the people who encouraged me during my time here. Marissa Blackett, who, during a parish capital campaign, noticed me and asked if I had ever considered becoming a priest. I was encouraged by the witness and friendship of Carlos Cuartas. The priests at St. Ignatius—Fr. Bergen, Fr. Witt, Fr. Blaszczak—their inspiring homilies and their willingness to let young adults get involved helped confirm my next steps.
When I first came back and celebrated the 7:30 PM Mass—the one where I often found myself in the pews—I was filled with gratitude, praying once again with the parish community who welcomed me and formed me.
So many young people pass through these doors. Give them a mission. If you notice a good quality in them that would make them a good Jesuit brother, priest, religious sister, or diocesan priest—tell them. One of the best things we can do if we want vocations in the Church is to notice and invite. It means so much to a young person when an adult sees something in them and shares it with them.
We might be afraid to invite. Jesus wasn’t. He invited all sorts of people to come, follow him. St. Ignatius did too. Thus, Saint Peter Faber and Saint Francis Xavier. Marissa and Carlos weren’t afraid to invite the young man they noticed around the parish.
I’m consoled—especially during this Jubilee Year of Hope—to journey once again with such faithful pilgrims.
Sincerely,
Fr. Patrick Nolan, SJ
If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the Jesuit life of mission, community, and prayer, please visit: BeAJesuit.org.
March 30, 2024 Essay: Saved by BeautyDorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker, has been proposed for canonization. Pope Francis included her among four “great Americans” in his speech to the Congress in 2015. Much of her life was spent in city slums. Though she never became inured to the sights and smells of poverty, she remained keenly alert to signs of beauty, even cultivating the capacity to see beauty in places that others might overlook.
Often, she returned to Dostoevsky’s line, “The world will be saved by beauty.” This didn’t mean the world would be saved by fine art or pretty things. It would be saved by our capacity to see beneath the surface, to see reality in its ultimate depth, as God sees it.
I have fallen in love many a time in the fall of the year. I mean those times when body and soul are revived, and in the keen clear air of autumn after a hot exhausting summer, I felt new strength to see, to “know” clearly, and to love, to look upon my neighbor and to love. Almost to be taken out of myself. I do not mean being in love with a particular person. I mean that quality of in-loveness that may brush like a sweet fragrance, a sound faintly heard, a sense of the beauty of one particular human being, or even one aspect of life. It may be an intuition of immortality, of the glory of God, of His Presence in the world. But it is almost impossible to put into words. The point is that it is general rather than particular, though it may come as a reminder, this flash of understanding, of recognition, with the reading of a particular book, or hearing some strain of music.
It is tied up in some way also with the sense of hope, and an understanding of hope. How can we live without it, as a supernatural virtue, “hoping against hope,” during this dark period of violence and suffering throughout the world?
I am bold in trying to express the inexpressible, to write of happiness, even of Joy that comes, regardless of age, color, or condition of servitude to us all.
Regardless of failures, regardless even of the sufferings of others. If we did not have this hope, this joy, this love, how could we help others? How could we have the strength to hold on to them, to hold them up when they are drowning in sorrow, suffocating in blackness, almost letting go of life, life which we know with a sure knowledge is precious, which is something to hold to, be grateful for, to reverence.
This is the point of war protests, of a strong faith in the doctrine of nonviolence, the evidence of its continuing efficacy throughout the world.
It is the spiritual weapon of the little ones, the weak, the powerless, the poor. In some obscure way, an inarticulate way, the young have grasped this.
From this day on I am going to ask for the Holy Spirit and wait. I will be growing, of this I am sure. Maybe it won’t come until the moment I die.
But how wonderful if we could be “surprised by joy,” to use the title of C.S. Lewis’s book. I have heard of witnesses who said, “When he or she died, at that moment a look of surprise” came over their faces, “surprised joy which was wonderful to behold.” (October 1969, The Duty of Delight)
— Robert Ellsberg, Publisher, Orbis Books
Join us on Monday, March 31st at 7 PM in Wallace Hall for the Laetare Lecture “The Long Pilgrimage of Dorothy Day,” presented by Robert Ellsberg. Ellsberg will reflect on Day’s long life “on pilgrimage,” and the way her faith was tested by daily life and the challenges of history.
March 23, 2025 Essay: ShameIs there any sense of shame in today’s world? Have we become so insensitive to the dark forces at work around us or to our own misdeeds that we refuse to be touched by the pangs of shame? Have we become incapable of acknowledging our personal sins or those of society? Perhaps that is why so few of us avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation or speak out when we witness the willful malevolence of others. Without a healthy sense of shame, we deceive ourselves into thinking that there is nothing to be forgiven by God, that we are in control of our own destiny. Redemption becomes a meaningless concept because of our foolish self-righteousness.
We need to be reminded of the lessons of history if we are truly to pray the words of the Psalmist, “In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed, deliver me in Your righteousness.” (31:1).
On a far less scale, the ignominy of the Shoah and the pogroms of Russia from the last century has tragically reared its ugly head in equally fiendish ways in our generation. I think it is reasonable to ask whether we have become narcissists, sociopaths with no moral compass who refuse to respond to the needs of others and the voices that cry out for justice. Self-interest has driven us to forsake any recognition of shame both in our actions and inactions. Let us remind ourselves that such behavior will never be erased from history. In her poem Shame, Marion Strobel wrote,
Weeds that hide the fallen dead,
Time that nullifies a name,
Will not bury shame….
It will be seen no matter where
You bury it. In typhooned air
It will hang isolate and round….
Through mountain-snow, through grass,
Through ground
It will be seen….
The enduring legacy of shame, however, is not necessarily what defines someone. Rather, it is the lens through which we make our choices. Ignoring that lens only ensures a profligate life of immorality. Without a sense of contrition for shameful acts, it is impossible to ask for forgiveness; and without forgiveness, there is no redemption. To seek God’s forgiveness is to be anchored in an abiding trust in God’s mercy and love. With forgiveness, the shackles of self-delusion, unmitigated egoism, and the seductive allure of omnipotence are broken. The path of righteousness and decency will then more clearly lie before us.
During the Season of Lent we are invited to examine our consciences, to look to what we have done or what we have failed to do that ruptured our relationship with God, with one another, and with our own consciences. Do we have the moral integrity to acknowledge the shamefulness of past thoughts, words, and deeds? Equally important is a review of where we have ignored the pain and suffering being inflicted on the world by a maddening and malevolent torrent of reckless actions taken by feckless world leaders.
The promise of Easter gives us hope for the world. With contrite hearts, we look with confidence to the salvation offered to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let our prayer be that of the psalmist, “A contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.” (51:19b).
— Dennis J. Yesalonia, S.J., Pastor
March 16, 2024 Essay: Cutting Spending and Sacrificing LivesThe Trump administration’s decision to effectively terminate the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is already having profound consequences throughout the world and could contribute to the destabilization of entire regions.
USAID was initially established through an executive order signed by then-President John F. Kennedy in 1961 in response to the Foreign Assistance Act of the same year. The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act in 1998 established USAID as its own agency separate from the State Department. This raises questions as to the legality of the administration’s actions in folding USAID into the State Department while substantially curtailing its work.
In 2024, USAID spent $40 billion of the $68 billion that the United States allocated for foreign aid programs with USAID providing critical assistance in the areas of health care, food, clean water, and crisis response. Although the United States was the world’s largest foreign aid donor, our foreign aid programs represented only 1% of the federal budget. Elon Musk, charged with eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse from the federal government, has a particularly strong animus toward USAID, calling it a “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic umbrella organization for 162 relief and development agencies working in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, was strong in its response to the dismantling of USAID programs. Alistair Dutton, Secretary General of Caritas, stated: “Stopping USAID abruptly will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of millions more to lives of dehumanizing poverty. This is an inhumane affront to people’s God-given human dignity, that will cause immense suffering…” In an NPR interview, Bill Gates also argued that the shuttering of USAID would put millions of lives on the line. Rob Nabor, North America Director of the Gates Foundation has stated: “There is no foundation – or group of foundations – that can provide the funding, work force capacity, expertise or leadership that the United States has historically provided to combat and control deadly diseases and address hunger and poverty around the world.”
What types of programs are now being eliminated?
- In war-ravaged Sudan, half the population of 50 million needs food aid while famine is spreading. The USAID suspension has halted national food programs serving millions and shuttered hundreds of community kitchens that operate in areas too dangerous for major aid organizations to enter.
- Suspension of USAID programs have halted efforts to contain a deadly hemorrhagic Marburg outbreak in Tanzania, the spread of an mpox variant killing children in West Africa, as well as the monitoring of a deadly bird flu that has been identified in 49 countries.
- In extremely volatile regions, USAID provided programs aimed at fostering greater stability. USAID sponsored a project that helped communities manage water stations in Niger to avert conflicts in a region already under threat from Islamic extremists. In Basra, Iraq, USAID helped repair water treatment plants after contaminated water caused violent social unrest. USAID created the Famine Early Warning Systems Network to enable aid workers to identify potential threats to food security and to take action to prevent them. In Kenya, USAID created a program to train young people to repair motorcycles offering them an alternative to recruitment by terrorist organizations. USAID helped farmer cooperatives in Kenya get fast-growing seeds that could grow with little water. USAID has sponsored research in United States universities to develop more nutritious, higher-yielding seeds that could better withstand heat and unpredictable rains – a critical need in light of climate change. All of these programs will now be lost.
It is true that there were problems with USAID, but those problems could have been addressed without effectively eliminating the agency. Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center, recently stated: “People will die but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.”
— Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J., Associate Pastor
Essay: A Lent Like No OtherTo my mind, Lent comes at the perfect time of year: the middle-to-end of winter. In the Northeast, it is still chilly. The sunlight is a pale gold, reminding us that the full bloom of spring flowers is still out of reach. The trees, in their bare elegance, symbolize the need for hibernation, the need to turn inward. Along with these natural reminders, the Liturgical Calendar invites us to take a break from the routine and the everyday. We enter the Paschal Mystery with Jesus Christ, renewing our commitment to live unselfishly and love openly.
The season of Lent is an invitation to take stock of our lives: Where am I going? Where can I improve in my relationships – with God, others, and myself? Lent is a formal time of preparation for Easter and our chance to reflect. We are called to pray more, sacrifice deeply, focus on service, and renew our trust in God, letting go of the pride that mistakenly tells us we can “do” life on our own terms.
Lent is also a special time for 26 men and women at St Ignatius Loyola. These adults are part of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA)—the way adults are welcomed into the Catholic Church. While their formal preparation began in September of 2024, their journey with God began much earlier. Some have known God their whole lives, while others have only recently been made aware of God’s personal and abiding presence. They all have one thing in common: a sense that God is calling them—each of them—by name.
Today at the 11 AM Solemn Mass, Fr. Yesalonia, our Pastor, will lead us in the Rite of Sending and the Rite of Call to Continuing Conversion. The first rite officially affirms the readiness of our catechumens (those adults preparing for Baptism, Confirmation and First Eucharist). The second rite recognizes our candidates seeking to complete their Christian Initiation or to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church.
Then in the afternoon, our catechumens will join hundreds of other adults from parishes across the Archdiocese at the Rite of Election, where Cardinal Dolan will officially accept the catechumens’ desire to become Catholic as they enter the final phase of preparation for the Easter Sacraments. They will each write their names in the Book of the Elect, signifying that God has chosen them.
During this time, I am reminded of my own experience of becoming Catholic in April of 2004 (21 years ago). I was clearly called by Christ but was unprepared for my loved ones’ reactions. My friends, most of whom were raised Catholic, had mixed emotions ranging from thinking I had “gone off the deep end” to their wide-eyed curiosity of my being able to choose this religion for myself. My family struggled to understand while I struggled to find words to help them understand. It was challenging at times, but saying yes to God and joining the Catholic Church remains one of the most important decisions of my life.
I also recall that particular Lent seemed so long. My hunger for the Eucharist grew in leaps and bounds daily as we approached the Easter Vigil. Looking back, it was a blessing to have time to pray, come close to Jesus, and trust God – with everything. It was the most graced time in my formation. It was truly a Lent like no other.
During Lent, let’s include these men and women in our prayers—that their ‘yes’ to God’s call will reverberate in their hearts for the rest of their lives. Let us also pray for our Parish community, that we may be a shining example of Christ’s light in the world to all people, each of whom God calls by name.
Skye Christina Angioletti
OCIA Team Member
Essay: Lenten Journey of Kinship and Hope
As we enter into our Lenten Journey this week, let us take the time to pause and reflect on this parable Jesus told to his disciples in Luke’s Gospel 6:42:
“A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.” Jesus clearly taught his disciples, that they can become qualified to teach like him, yet they will not be above him. The disciples had their place and their purpose as they were called to carry on Jesus’ teachings. As Catholics, today, we are called to be faith-filled envoys of the same teachings of Jesus.
In the spirit of kinship and hope within the community of creation, the Lenten Examen this year highlights excerpts from the book, Come Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth, by Sr. Elizabeth A Johnson. Allow this season to be an awakening of your senses to God’s Creation. Let us join hands with Pope Francis who has invited us to be co-laborers with God to care for our common home in his encyclical, “Laudato Sì.” God also invites us to be good stewards of the earth. We are kindred spirits with all of God’s creatures in one community of creation.
Sr. Elizabeth Johnson uses these three words, Come Have Breakfast from the Gospel of John (21:12), when the risen Jesus feeds his disciples who were fishing all night. Jesus has a fire on the beach, with bread and fish cooking, and calls out to the fishermen, “Come have breakfast.” Sr. Elizabeth says this, “is a bugle call of divine hospitality toward all people and all living creatures, revealing a passionate divine desire that all should be fed.”
Humankind around the globe is interconnected and interwoven in the cycle of life. Therefore, every human action affects the earth, and we are on the brink of a radical change in climate and sustainability of the earth that will affect human, animal, and plant life. What actions can you commit to during Lent that will bring kinship and hope to God’s creation?
During the next six weeks, strive to be intentional and look for God in all things. Simply look at the sky, the clouds, the trees, the mountains, the sea—it all holds the divinity of God and sustenance for all God’s creatures, which includes humankind. How can you help to sustain Eco spirituality into your neighborhood surroundings and globally? Spend time in nature contemplating God’s goodness with all the glorious pieces interwoven in this glorious tapestry. Because we are all interconnected, we will either flourish or wither together.
Most people want to flourish, and God gives humankind abundant love to allow good things to happen. Looking at others in love and seeing what is on the inside matters—a good and kind heart is what matters. It is important to be merciful to humankind, animals, and our lush earth that has been scorched with fires and ravaged by floods, just as God is merciful to us. As we co-labor with God and with our neighbors, we become the hands and feet of Jesus to help bring about a just and loving world.
Together, let us embark on this Lenten journey of reflection in our daily lives. Trust God’s goodness even during challenges when you may have given into despair, worry and lack of faith. Pray for the light of God’s grace, live in gratitude and awareness, review your day, pay attention to areas of growth, and look toward tomorrow for resolution in your reflection.
“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).
Every Blessing
— Jean Santopatre, Pastoral Associate
February 2, 2024 Essay: A Humanitarian CatastropheWith a cease-fire in place in the Gaza war, there is a moral imperative for our government to exert maximum pressure on the Israeli government to surge humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
The good news of a cease-fire is overshadowed by actions taken by the Israeli government to compromise the ability of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to operate in Gaza. UNRWA was established in 1949 to aid Palestinians displaced by the war that accompanied the founding of Israel in 1948. Since the start of the Gaza war, UNRWA employees have been overseeing aid deliveries, providing shelter and medical clinics, distributing food, and providing essential sanitation services. Israel claims that UNRWA employees took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and that UNRWA has facilitated the use of UNRWA sites as bases for operations by Hamas. A UN investigation found that nine employees were involved in the October 7th attack. They were fired. A lack of Israeli cooperation has hindered further investigations.
To fulfill its responsibilities, UNRWA has had to work with Hamas because it has governed Gaza since 2007. Note that the Israeli government facilitated support for Hamas after the first Trump administration ceased funding for UNRWA. The Israeli government negotiated an agreement with Qatar to provide direct financial assistance to Hamas to provide for the needs of the civilian population. This assistance was part of a larger calculation by the Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, to keep Hamas in power as it weakened the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. This allowed Netanyahu to insist that there was no reliable partner with whom he could negotiate a comprehensive settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the Biden administration resumed aid to UNRWA, Congress barred further assistance from March 2024 through March 2025.
This past October, the Israeli government passed legislation that prevents UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory. Legislation also bars any Israeli government official from having contact with UNRWA, and strips all UNRWA workers of their diplomatic immunity. UNRWA officials are concerned about how they can facilitate the passage of aid into Gaza without contact with Israeli officials who control all access points. Protection of UNRWA workers is also a concern, if their movements in Gaza cannot be coordinated with the Israeli military.
While all these machinations occur, children are dying of cold and malnutrition in Gaza. In early January, the Washington Post reported that at least seven infants died in the cold from the end of December to the beginning of January. Conditions in Gaza are horrible with families having been displaced multiple times. Many are now living along the Gaza coast where their flimsy tents are subject to flooding from rains and the sea. U.S. medical personnel in Gaza have confirmed deaths of children from malnutrition and hypothermia. With limitations on the number of trucks able to enter Gaza, UN officials struggle to balance the desperate need for food with the equally desperate need for shelter materials. A rising death toll is all that can be guaranteed.
It has to be stated that Hamas bears principal responsibility for this disaster. Its attack on Israel was a wanton killing spree in which civilians were taken as hostages. Embedding its operations in civilian infrastructure made civilian casualties inevitable. Even now, Hamas is hampering relief efforts as it is involved in the misappropriation of some of the aid that is making its way into Gaza. Hamas has sacrificed its own people for its ideological goals.
Israel, however, is a western nation ostensibly committed to western norms and values. Our government has enabled Israel’s violation of those norms and values with our unwillingness to use the $17.9 billion in military aid that we have given Israel since the start of the war to influence its policies and actions. This makes all of us culpable for the catastrophe that is Gaza.
— Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J., Associate Pastor
Essay: Clara’s GoodbyeA happy chapter in our lives began when Clara, the third mom we accompanied in the Migrant Accompaniment Program, welcomed us into her life.
The first day Anne Melanson and I met Clara, she was excited to be in NY and wanted to see the 9/11 museum. We were delighted with her enthusiasm and took her to the museum a week later. She navigated the subway system by herself and showed her love of country when she wrote “God Bless Venezuela” on an app in the museum. Here was a woman with curiosity, patriotism, and a sense of adventure!
The second day we were with Clara, we met her at the Little Shop of Kindness where we would find clothing for her family. She brought along Rey and his family, wanting to share the bounty with others in need. When we were ready to leave, Clara visited Maria, a woman she crossed the border with who was then in a NY shelter and part of our Accompaniment group. Maria was in isolation due to illness. They waved to each other from the window. Clara nourishes her friendships and visits the sick.
Many, many Sundays Clara and her family came to Mass at St. Ignatius. Clara became a beloved member of the parish, making friends at the Family Mass. She came to all our picnics and parties, ran the LGBT Scavenger Hunt, and danced at the Snow Ball. Her kids were in the Christmas Pageant and Care of Creation. They practiced English during our Sunday English Conversation Sessions. Clara, Antonella, and Dylan celebrated Easter and Christmas at my home. My grandson spoke Spanish when he played with the kids.
Once the kids started school, Clara cleaned houses during school hours. She earned her home health aide certification from a NYC agency and got a job caring for an elderly woman. Her client praised her to the agency. Her third job was food delivery. The hours fit well with the children’s school schedule.
At the end of January, after 18 months with us, Clara, Jose, Antonella, and Dylan are moving to Illinois to join Karina, another of our families. On their way, they’ll stop in Tennessee and visit with two other of our families—the Maria that Clara visited when she first got to New York. The St. Ignatius migrant community is spreading out and tied together by love.
Sunday we gave them a goodbye party. At the Family Mass, Fr. Hilbert asked the parish to join him in blessing them. Part of the prayer was “that you will find, in your new home, the warmth of community, the joy of new opportunities, new discoveries and new friends. May all the people you meet treat you with kindness, love and compassion, and may your path be easy, one that brings you satisfaction and blessing.” After Mass, we shared pizza and chocolate cake. A young girl took her bracelet off her arm, put it on Antonella’s arm, and while hugging her said: “This is so you’ll remember me.” I gave her a wool scarf for the same reason. We will keep in touch.
Clara gave Anne, Jim Skarzynski, and me gifts that included this treasured, handwritten prayer. She means it for the whole St. Ignatius Parish. It always brings tears to our eyes. “May God return to you in the best possible way all the gestures of support and all the attention you gave me without expecting anything in return.”
— Laura de Boisblanc
January 26, 2025 Essay: The Risk of HopeWhat’s the first thing you do when you wake up? For many of us—including myself more often than I would like to admit—I reach for my phone, squinting through bleary eyes to see what notifications have piled up overnight. (Once, when I was overseas and in a different time zone, I woke up to see more than one hundred missed text messages from family members. Fearful of some medical emergency, I was relieved to realize that I had just slept through a particularly exciting Buffalo Bills game that lit up the family “Bills Mafia” thread.)
But usually, I am not reaching for the phone out of concern that I’ve missed an emergency message. More often, I am just acting out of reflex, looking automatically for the “next thing.”
In “Spes Non Confundit” (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”), the document formally proclaiming the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis reflects on many aspects of hope, including patience. He points out that “in our fast-paced world, we are used to wanting everything now,” and highlights the internet as an example of “space and time yield[ing] to an ever-present ‘now’.”
When I reflexively reach for the phone, either in the morning or during a lull in the day, there is a feeling of a kind of immediacy: I need to know what’s happening right now. In my day-to-day work as editor in chief of America Media, I can feel that pressure from the other side: How fast can we get the story up so that people come to us to figure out what’s going on? Or consider the experience of seeing a breaking news headline and jumping into social media to see what others are saying about it. Yet by definition, since it’s just happened, no one will have anything informed to say about it that quickly.
This kind of immediacy, it turns out, is both illusion and distraction. What is really immediate are the time and space we occupy directly, and yet we often pay more attention to the virtual immediacy afforded us by technology. (Let me offer a caveat here that I do not want to make this into a Luddite screed. There are plenty of kinds of virtual immediacy, such as the ability to see a loved one’s face far away by video call, that deeply enrich our lives.)
Instead, I want to observe that patience, which Pope Francis describes as “both the daughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation,” is among other things a form of attention.
Patience often involves being bored, and in order to be bored, we first have to not be distracted. It is no accident that prayer also starts with setting aside distractions. When I work with people in spiritual direction, sometimes they think that being bored in prayer means that something has gone wrong, that nothing is “happening.” But often enough, feeling bored can be a sign of beginning to pay attention to what is going on beneath the surface layer of distractions. It is the difference between standing on the subway platform waiting in frustration for the train that should have shown up ten minutes ago and intently watching a bird perched on the tree, waiting for it to take flight.
On Monday, January 27th, I will talk about “The Risk of Hope.” One element of that risk is paying attention: turning our minds and hearts to something outside ourselves and beyond our immediate control, and waiting for what happens next. In this year when we’re called to be pilgrims of hope, let’s set out to meet God on the way and rejoice in what he waits to offer us.
— Fr. Sam Sawyer, S.J., Editor in Chief, America Media
January 19, 2025 Essay: For the Year of Hope, Reverence God in the Wonder of CreationLiving out our parish mission statement’s call to “Reverence God in the Wonder of Creation” is an invitation to experience joy, enrichment, and awe. It is a welcoming to understand God’s revelation of Himself in creation. Even before the universe began 13.7 billion years ago, Psalm 90:1-2 says, “Lord, you have been our refuge through all generations. Before the mountains were born, the earth and the world brought forth, from eternity to eternity you are God.”
We are enriched in appreciating this wondrous long story marked from the beginning of the universe, in experiencing creation’s intricate and interconnected beauty and in realizing our part as caretakers in creation’s evolving presence in our common home on earth. In our being intimately connected to God’s gift of the Earth, as collaborators we are entrusted to protect the earth’s resources for the Common Good of all species and the betterment of future generations.
God calls us to be good stewards of our Earth. God’s appeal for our stewardship is fundamental to our Faith—encouraging conservation, restoration, preservation—and in refocusing ourselves to take the necessary steps and heed the call to seek the greater Common Good.
The Parish’s Festival Mass on January 26th at 11 AM is a celebration of Solemn Mass and Wallace Hall Family Mass coming together as an entire parish community. First, it is to fully appreciate the grace of faith and the gifts of our parish ministries and community as a blessing and revelation of God’s timeless presence with us. Additionally, it is an opportunity as we celebrate the gifts and graces of our parish community to recognize ourselves as a Laudato Si’ Parish and to respond and act as good stewards of our common home.
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ encyclical was first published in 2015. Its tenth anniversary this year in 2025 will be celebrated and its importance further advanced throughout the world by the Church’s worldwide Laudato Si’ Movement. In his wisdom and scholarship, Pope Francis cited scripture, as well as built upon the words of his predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who also embraced and extolled the care of creation. Pope Francis’ words continue as a call of action while there is still hope.
While the Laudato Si’ Movement may have found somewhat less traction among United States Catholics than elsewhere in the world, there are many dioceses and parishes in our country, such as our own here at St. Ignatius Loyola, that have adopted a Laudato Si’ Action Platform to bring its message to life. An important aim of our parish’s recently initiated Creation Care Ministry will be to implement and further the goals of our parish’s Laudato Si’ Platform. Two of those goals from that Platform that are envisioned for this year are: 1. Responding to the Cry of The Poor and Vulnerable and 2.
Addressing the Economic Practices of Conservation and Sustainability.
Everyone, and all in the parish are joyfully encouraged to come together as an entire community to further the message of Laudato Si’ (Praise Be – the Care of our Common Home) as an expression of our love for God, for God’s earth and for the whole human family. May we, together as parishioners of St. Ignatius Loyola, in this year of hope, move forward together to live with Christ’s grace, active in the world.
— Nicholas Naccari, PhD & Geraldine Rizzo
Laudato Si’ Care of Creation Ministry