Greetings! I’m Mary Jo “MJ” McConnell, celebrating my one year anniversary as a choir member. My “art” as an actor/singer had been paused during the pandemic and big move from NYC to San Francisco…I found it here.

In the last weeks, I’ve reintroduced Nana, my Sicilian grandmother, to the parish. She’s the one who lovingly required her entire family to gather around her dinner table the first Sunday of every month for a feast of the best veal cutlets, pizza, eggplant, spaghetti and meatballs, and, on the most special occasions, her cannoli. It was the place (the experience!) where we learned a lot about what it is to be family.

I was attracted by the beauty of St Ignatius choir's singing at the Requiem mass last year, and my sister also sang there, so I asked to join. As I live far from church, I hoped to commit only a week at a time. At the first choir rehearsal, I was impressed by how wonderful people sang and eventually more by their friendship and kindness.