“When I dare to be powerful,
to use my strength in the service of my vision,
then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” 

―  Audre Lorde

Grace Salceanu
​​Director

Grace Salceanu is the Director of the Ignatian Spiritual Life Center at Saint Agnes Church in San Francisco.  Grace has been steeped in Ignatian Spirituality her whole adult life, and is currently training to be a spiritual director for the 19th Annotation, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

Prior to her position at St. Agnes, Grace was co-director of Casa Bayanihan, the University of San Francisco’s alternative study abroad program in Manila, Philippines, for over six years.  She has experience teaching at the Nativity Schools of San Jose, and holds degrees in Theology and Anthropology from Fordham University and her Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Education from Santa Clara University.
Grace@SaintAgnesSF.org
​ 415-487-8560 x225  
I feel like Ignatian Spirituality has given me new eyes to see the world and how God so generously continues to labor in my life and all around me.  This rich imagination and spiritual grounding has created refreshing ways for me to remember, savor and live from a place of gratitude. I feel privileged to support and walk with others as we encounter God in our messy and vibrant realities!

The Ignatian Spiritual Life Center welcomes 2 Jesuits from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley this year as they support the ISLC's ministry for their field education.

Matthew Yim, S.J.

​Matt is a Jesuit scholastic in his second year of the M. Div. program at the Jesuit School of Theology.  Up until the pandemic, Matt was a regular participant at the 10:30am Sunday liturgy.  This year he hopes to join the team of volunteers at the ISLC in their good work.  Matt is interested in designing a post-Spiritual Exercises faith sharing and prayer group, as well as creating materials that parishioners can use at home to grow in their own faith journey through the wealth of prayer types that are the treasure of the Church, including the use of artwork and music.   
 
Matt is a late vocation, entering the UWE Province of Society of Jesus at the age of 32.  He was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.  He received his BA from Oberlin College in 2000.  After college, Matt taught in China for two years as a fellowship recipient under the auspices of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association.  After returning to the United States, Matt went to the University of Hawaii, where he received his MLiS.  Before Matt joined the Jesuits in 2010, he worked as a trained librarian and archivist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii.  In Honolulu, Matt discerned his vocation to the Society of Jesus and the priesthood with his spiritual director, Fr. Russ Roide, SJ.  As a Jesuit, Matt received an MA in philosophy from Fordham University.  He has worked in juvenile detention facilities, hospitals, catholic grade schools, St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish in Sacramento and at Gonzaga University where he taught philosophy to undergraduates.  

Daniel Nevares, S.J.

In 2011, Dan entered formation with the Society of Jesus in Culver City, CA and currently studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. He's been an educator within the private secondary and public primary school systems before and during his time as a Jesuit, most recently at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, WA. He earned his degrees in Psychology from Texas A&M University and Education at Arizona State University, additionally studying Philosophy at Saint Louis University. Some of his most impactful recent memories of faith stem from walking for nearly six weeks along the Camino de Santiago in Spain during the summer of 2019.
​"I desire to accompany others on our shared faith journeys. Ignatian spirituality can serve as a foundation for encountering a God who deeply loves us and joins us along each of our life "caminos". Especially during this time of Covid, we desire genuine connections and relationships. I hope to serve as a means through which people cultivate this desire for relationship with God and one another in faith."