Feeding the homeless on Easter sunday has been more rewarding than most of us expected. I work closely with the youth and young adults and I haven’t seen a greater service response from them. Geena Pinacate, one of the young adults leader said, she enjoyed her Easter Sunday because she was able to serve and have fun. She is extremely excited that she will be joining us on the Molokai Pilgrimage next weekend.


She also said that she is eager to visit Blessed Fr. Damien’s tombstone. At that same time, I thought about Fr. Damien and his extrodinary dedication of caring for the lepers. Fr. Damien ministered to lepers and cared for all of them. I envisioned myself as Father Damien, helping those outcasted similarly to the lepers. His message is the reason why I was feeding the homeless on Easter Sunday and should be an example for our all people whether we be Christians, Jews, Muslim or any other religion.

Tags: Holy Week, youth, Youth Adult, Social

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

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

“Christ Be our Light” In those four simple words, lie all the glory, passion and joy of lent in which we celebrated this week. That right there my brother and sister, is Easter. It’s is the savior of our liturgical year. Easter is a time of honoring and renewing.

On Saturday night at St. Michael, Christ lit and guided our way to the resolution of our lenten journey. In the darkness of saturday night, one flame ignited hundreds of others, and the light spread. Person by person, candle by candle. And we stood in this sacred space embracing that light.

We stood in faint darkness with our candle flames glowing on our faces while the choir sings beautiful Easter melody “Christ Be our Light” and the “Gloria”. As we began to sing “Christ Be My Light” I felt a harm feeling within me because it was one of my favorite catholic hymns. I started to get a little teary while hearing the piano strike the first chord that reminds me of the songs. That very simple solemn chord learned by heart placed vivid images of me at the age of six years old. I remember sitting byside my mother in the same exact church singing to the same song calmly bringing joy to my heart now. That night, i felt right at home and when we sang that beautiful song, i didn’t need to look at the lyrics because it was embedding heart, next to my Christian faith. There are some things in life that brings comfort to you and whenever I am in church, I witness God’s presence and all the lyrics pops into my heart making me sing unconsciously, loud, with confidence and love. That is the works of God.

We are the Body of Christ. Bruised. Broken. But resurrected and given new life, new hope. Changed forever. We are men and women and children who hold the light. We must continue our service to the homeless and pass the light to those we are in search of God. Let us be servant to one another, making God’s kingdom come.

This Easter, keep the flame burning. Remember all who came before us, and all who are joining us today.

Click to view video. “Christ Be Our Light”

Tags: Holy Week

This afternoon the cross speaks to us as we reiterate the story of his passion. It speaks of the one who suffered and died upon it. Personally, this for me can’t be a day like any other. I sat in church venerating while Fr. Johnathan gave his powerful homily. I was disturbed by the deep and mournful absence - no consecration, no bells, no final blessing. The altar was stripped. The feeling of sitting across an empty tabernacle was depressing. I felt as if the heart of the church had been ripped open and thrown far away. For some people, it’s still customary to turn off the radio, shut off the TV, draw the curtains … and pray. Some may light candles. Others may follow the Way of the Cross or pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary. It may seem depressing, seeing the church clothed with painful memories of struggle and death, but it opens our minds to find our inner faith.

On this day we celebrated one of the most haunting liturgies in the church. It's proclaimed in the gospel, that when Jesus took in his last breathe, the world literally cracked open. A Mother and Father giving up their only son. The lenten journey is not all about sacrificing, it's about the preparation of the ultimate sacrifice. How are we going to prepare to continue to live in God's image. We were reminded today that it is our faith that was sealed with nails, and splinters, and blood.

To this day, we cannot help but remember what was done for us. As the old spiritual tells us, it causes us to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord.

God’s Tear. Taken from the Movie Passion of the Christ.

Tags: Holy Week

Twenty-three years ago I sat beside the ‘cross on which hung’ my beloved husband Joe. I could touch only his shins as the bone cancer had invaded every other ounce of him. He was planning his funeral. He specified the songs to be sung, his altar boys, and his Sacred Hearts’ priest buddies, along with Fr. Lowell Fischer, to celebrate his Mass. I nodded numbly and then said, “What shall we do after your ashes are sprinkled?” He laughed and said, “What do you think, ‘woman’? Have a party. We are at the beach, let the kids have fun. Laugh and dance…this is Hawaii! I will be with God. I will have no more pain! Rejoice with me. Rejoice with me.” So we did as he said. Most of our parish community flooded the church, then headed to our yard to “Rejoice” with Joe! I could almost hear him laughing.

And what of the gang who stood beneath the cross, who hid behind locked doors, who trudged the miles to Emmaus with long faces? Each of us have stood beneath the cross within our lives … the loss of a loved one, a serious medical illness, fear of the uncertain, the constant inability to shed ourselves of recurrent sin or memories of abuse or rejection. We, too, have hidden behind the locked doors of false personas or bitterness. We, too, drag ourselves along the journey of life whining and complaining that what we “expected” didn’t materialize.

But the tomb was empty! Mary Magdalene rushed in with the news, the fellows paid little attention, and suddenly HE stood there in their midst. His first words were of peace. His wounds gleamed. Their hearts leapt within them. “It is the Lord!” He ate with them, broke bread with them, set out a picnic breakfast for them, and forgave them. He does the same for us on a daily basis! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Jesus is risen! Jesus is in our midst! Death has been destroyed. We will live forever. Listen carefully to His hearty laugh as He speaks to us this Easter, “I am with you always. You are mine. Rejoice, my beloved one…let’s party!”

Tags: Miscellaneous, Holy Week

At St. Stephen Church in Nu’uanu, catholics from all parts of Oahu celebrated Palm Sunday vigil. The mass then was followed by a Cross Walk 09’ after party Celebration hosted by InHim Ministries. I was accompanied by Geena Pinacate one of our youth leaders at St. Michael. The celebration kicked off with an uplifting praise and worship, then we were recognized for being involved in the cross walk.

Afterward, we celebrated mass with Fr. Marc Alexander, one of the three priests that was involved in the cross walk. After Mass, we ate spaghetti and had a lot of yummy desserts. At the end, Geena and I represented St. Michael and received a special black and gold cross walk shirts for being the ones to bear the cross in Waialua.
Click here to view the letter from OSM.

Tags: Youth Adult, youth, Holy Week

Palm Sunday today. Ash Wednesday almost six weeks ago...

On Ash Wednesday, we stood in church and received a mark of ashes on our forehead as a token of penitence. We were reminded of our mortality, our sinfulness, our need for penance and prayer. But those ashes weren’t just scraped together from the bottom of somebody’s fireplace. They were the remnants of burned palms.

I would like to share just one thought about something that is a vital and meaningful part of this weekend. It is the part, in fact, that gives this Sunday its name.

Last week I decided to clean the altar of my mother’s holy statues of Jesus and Mary. It was a very crowded altar with all sorts of candles, angels and fake plants made out of ceramic and plastic. Behind the altar, there was a rosary hanging on the wall along with a bible and a bottle of holy water from somewhere in the world. Tucked in among them was a small folded cross made of palm leaves, a remnant from Palm Sunday’s past.

This week I spent most of my free time at different churches and experiencing different masses . On Wednesday I had the oppotunity to be elected to recieve the newly refined oils. In the midst of the mass I was shocked to hear a full choir with an ensemble. The best thing about the mass is that Bishop Larry celebrated it. The music made me jubilated as the choir’s voice was meant for a prince. I felt that all we did in the past few weeks will lead us to what we are about to experience next week. Take these palms. Let them be a reminder that we are entering the holiest week of the year. These Palms are the iconic symbol of our christian faith.

Today we stand here again, six weeks older. Maybe, hopefully, six weeks wiser. We hold in our hands new palms. New growth.

Ultimately, that is what these weeks are about. Burning away, clearing out, and cultivating something new. That is Lent.

Tags: St. Michael, Reflection, Miscellaneous, Holy Week