January 24, 2025 — This morning, nearly 250 students from Jesuit schools and parishes around the country gathered at St. Aloysius Church in Washington, D.C., for the annual Ignatian Family Mass for Life, organized by the Ignatian Solidarity Network and the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
Participants came from a number of schools and parishes, including St. Louis University High; College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts; University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy; Marquette University High School in Milwaukee; St. Mary Student Parish at the University of Michigan; Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska; Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas; Jesuit High School of New Orleans; Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado; and De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis.
Fr. Brian Paulson, president of the Jesuit Conference, delivered the homily.
“When Jesus proclaimed the good news of God’s infinite love, mercy and forgiveness, and his special care for the poor and marginalized, Jesus said that the kingdom of God is present here and now. What does Jesus mean by that? I believe Jesus means that wherever a community is known for how people love and care for one another and forgive one another, that is a sign that the kingdom of God is in our midst,” Fr. Paulson said.
“Another sign of the presence of the kingdom of God is when the poor, the widows and orphans, the vulnerable and the strangers and foreigners among us — whenever they are well taken care of, the kingdom of God is there. As St. Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, as followers of Jesus, we are the body of Christ in our world, and we have a special obligation to take care of the most vulnerable parts of our body, of the community, and that includes the unborn in their mothers’ wombs. … It’s that simple — and it’s that hard.”
Read Fr. Paulson’s full homily at America magazine.