News - December 2018

Merry Christmas!  A special welcome to those who are visiting our church and worship with us this holiday. We are glad you are with us and thank you for helping us celebrate the Nativity of the Lord.

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday.  The Latin word, Gaudete, means literally, “You rejoice!”  It comes from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon for this Sunday. St. Paul, writing to the Philippians, names the cause of this imperative to rejoice—“The Lord is near.”

Read news article about how the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship inspired the choir at St. Ignatius on page 5 of the December 13, 2018 issue in SF Catholic HERE.

Earlier today, I had an at-once delightful and uncomfortable conversation with a parishioner who challenged me on my pastoral letter from last week: “I was unsettled by what you said.  Advent isn’t that hard.

Read the San Francisco Chronicle article on the vigil held at St. Ignatius Church last Sunday HERE.

This weekend we begin a new liturgical year, and we do so with Advent, a brief four-week season of preparation to enter into the mystery of the Incarnation, of Emmanuel, of God with us.  An important season, many of us find it challenging, if not impossible, to enter into its spirit.  Why is that?