On first view, with people milling around at Haleiwa Boat Harbor with tent, tables, chairs; others pulling the flesh of tender turkey's back at St. Michael's cooked Pohnpei uhmw style; still others driving between the two sites with urns of hot water for the chaffing dishes, it looked like a mesh of confused action. Yet from this mix of chaos and activity, emerged a wonderful meal for the residents (Homeless) of Haleiwa Boat Harbor and Kaiaka beach park.There was a sense of joy and purpose as parishioners (under the guide of Irma and Trudy) embarked on the 'breaking bread' with the homeless, and, Mary Jane and the youth organized and distributed the goodies for the kids and hygiene packages for the adults. With a quick run to Kaiaka beach park to deliver food and Easter baskets to the residents the day was over. What had been planned for a couple of months as being the kick-off for the parish Social Justice Outreach, was done!



As I was watching everything unfold before me with the large number of parish volunteers and the eventual response from the residents, I was filled with a feeling of humility. The phrase people used the most before and after they ate was , "thank you". Upon receiving their basket of goodies for their children (one mom and dad have 7 kids living in a couple of vans) was again"thank you". One of our parishioners mentioned that there is no other place that they would rather be on Easter than here - feeding our homeless sisters and brothers. He thanked the residents for allowing us to be with them. It kind of brought home and made 'real' the Easter Season - giving gratitude and thanks to God the Father for ALL He has done and continues to do through the suffering, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. This is the beginning of once a month effort by the parish to respond to those in need. I am so thankful for Irma, Trudy, Mary Jane, and for each one of you the parishioners who cooked, set up, served, cleaned up and who gave of your time with joy and gratitude. Echoing the sentiments of that parishioner - I thank the residents of Haleiwa and Kaiaka - for allowing us to be a part of their Easter. I pray that we have many more monthly moments of chaos!

Tags: Holy Week, Social Justice

Dear Friends,

There are so many reasons why we can still celebrate Easter today. Many of these reasons are not necessarily experienced as joy-filled. We all have troubles and challenges—be they with our husbands or wives; with our children or parents or with the worries and concerns over employment, health and our homes. Easter is the liturgical celebration where we see through our troubles and challenges—they are not the END. Our faith assures us that there is the RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST—which is our HOPE! We are called to humbly serve and persevere with the encouragement of one another and with prayer. Each of us has our own story of rising through suffering and pain (indeed we may be going through this now). As we gather to celebrate the greatest feast of our faith—we do so as real people, with real challenges; real stories of helping one another; of forgiving each other; of recognizing that we are called to serve with humble hearts and to see in each other the face of a broken and Risen Christ!!

We are both so grateful to everyone who has made this Easter celebration possible—the music ministry, the environment and liturgy ministry, the social justice and outreach team on their efforts with the homeless, the religious education team with the Easter goodies for the kids, St. Michael School, and the many many volunteers who give so much to make our parish vibrant and alive. Each one of you—is the reason why we still celebrate Easter today.

Pax Cristi
Fr. Bert, ss.cc and Fr. Johnathan, ss.cc

Tags: Holy Week