2009 Mission Magazine Features Blessed Sacrament Parish
Following is the article about Blessed Sacrament from the California Province's 2009 Spring Edition of Mission Magazine. Click on the image to the right to open up the PDF file of the complete Spring Edition (opens in new window).
Ignatian Spirit in Hollywood
By Susan Wampler
Founded in 1904 as the first Catholic church in Hollywood, Blessed Sacrament Parish grew alongside the fledgling motion picture industry. In Hollywood's heyday, stars such as Loretta Young and Irene Dunne were regular parishioners and helped fund many of Blessed Sacrament's buildings. Jesuits of the California Province have been serving the parish since 1914.
Today, after years of decline, Hollywood is in the midst of a major resurgence and gentrification. While the Academy Awards ceremony is held a few blocks away from the church, Hollywood simultaneously has one of Los Angeles' highest homeless populations and overall poverty rates.
"Over the last 10 years, there has been a huge monetary investment in Hollywood. Land prices and housing costs are skyrocketing," says Father Michael Mandala, S.J., Blessed Sacrament's pastor since 1998. "Our parishioners can't afford to live here anymore, but the vast majority still come every Sunday because this is their parish," he adds. "The people we serve today aren't the movie stars as much as they are the domestics of the stars."
Throughout its history, Blessed Sacrament has been a steadfast community of faith in Tinseltown even as Hollywood experienced sweeping demographic change. "The blessing of this parish is that everyone seems to be able to find a home here," says Father Wayne Negrete, S.J., associate pastor and superior of the parish-based Jesuit community. "There's a thirst for spirituality out there. Hollywood attracts people from around the world. They need a home, a place to feel connected. That's what they find here."
BUILDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN LOS ANGELES
Hollywood is a microcosm of the rapid and dramatic population shifts that are transforming Southern California. At Hollywood High School, just two blocks from Blessed Sacrament, more than 50 languages are spoken.
"If people want to experience a multicultural, multiethnic community, they're thrilled by Blessed Sacrament," says Fr. Mandala. "There are probably parishes with liturgies in more languages, but in terms of ethnic groups it would be hard to be more diverse than Blessed Sacrament."
Parishioners at Blessed Sacrament today are primarily immigrant and mostly Latino, but represent a vast range of Latin and South American countries of origin. About 15 percent of the congregation is Filipino - the fastest growing group - with a smattering of African Americans and other Asians. In addition, the parish serves a large gay constituency. The congregation reflects broad socioeconomic diversity as well. "In five years, we may have a different population," Fr. Mandala adds. "We need to continue to adapt and evolve as the community evolves."
Over the past three to four years, Fr. Negrete, who heads the parish's Ignatian Spirituality Program, has guided approximately 30 individuals through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. "One of the challenges was learning to deliver the exercises to people whose first language may be Italian, Vietnamese, Spanish or Tagalog," he explains. Although Fr. Negrete works with retreatants in English, he was able to locate resources, such as prayers, in their native language. "When they're praying in their primary language, they reach greater depths of understanding and often get deep breakthroughs."
SERVING A DIVERSE FAITH COMMUNITY
In addition to meeting the liturgical and sacramental needs of the diverse parish, Fr. Mandala's priority is outreach to the greater community. "You know the saying? 'Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime.' We feel we need to do both," he explains. The parish provides direct services to the homeless and working poor through its Social Services Center (see sidebar). Blessed Sacrament was among the founding churches that established L.A. Voice, an affiliate of the PICO National Network of faith-based community organizations. L.A. Voice works to secure more affordable housing, decrease gang violence and crime, increase voter registration, and obtain health care for the people of the state.
Fr. Mandala is also involved with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the Central Hollywood Coalition for the Business Improvement District.
"Even though I'm not a businessman in the traditional sense, those men and women are glad I sit at the table," he says. "They've given money and support to our Social Services Center. Some board members are Catholic but most are not.
They are just good neighbors working for the betterment of Hollywood for people of all faiths and no faiths."
In addition to Frs. Mandala and Negrete, Blessed Sacrament is the home base of Father James A. Doogan, S.J., associate pastor; Father Louis A. Peinado S.J., retreat director; Father Ronald E. Schmidt, S.J., media producer; and Father Augusto Berrio, S.J., who is on sabbatical. The parish also engages regularly with other Jesuit institutions around Los Angeles, including Loyola High School, Verbum Dei High School, and Loyola Marymount University.
At another level, the parish is involved with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and its deaneries. "We're not Jesuits living in our own ecclesiastical world," explains Fr. Mandala. "We're part of the Catholic Church and are working to build the kingdom of God in Los Angeles hand in hand with other religious orders and laypeople in the archdiocese." Fr. Negrete has led retreats on the Spiritual Exercises for permanent deacon candidates for the archdiocese and he supervises other spiritual directors through his work with the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. "If we are going to be truly Ignatian, we can't live on an island of our own," adds Fr. Mandala. "We have to be good citizens to the greater community and partner with other people of good will in fulfilling our vision.
FACING EDUCATIONAL AND SPIRITUAL CHALLENGES
One of the parish's biggest challenges, says Fr. Mandala, is to revitalize its K-8 elementary school at a time when enrollment has fallen as lower- and midfamilies with children have left Hollywood in large numbers. "There are enough quality schools for people who have money," he says. "We've got to reposition ourselves so we can continue to offer education in the Jesuit tradition to working- and middle-class families that see a value in not sheltering their kids from the rest of humanity, who want their kids to grow up able to relate to a cross-section of Los Angeles and not some small, rarified cohort."
Fr. Negrete's goals for the Ignatian Spirituality Program also center on education. "People are hungry for spiritual direction," he says. "There aren't enough trained spiritual directors out there, especially in the Ignatian tradition. The Spiritual Exercises are so important in our Jesuit ministry, but we haven't fully explored or developed ways to make them available to more people."
Fr. Mandala adds, "Our best promotion of Ignatian spirituality is through liturgy in action. People bring their real concernspersonal, family, and community issues-to prayer and liturgy. We help parishioners find the Lord present in their day-to-day lives. That's what we're about."
