OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Let us love, not with words but with deeds.” (Pope Francis, Message for First World Day of the Poor 2017)
As Jesus and our Holy Father have reminded us all, love is not just a word. It is an action. And as August approaches, it is a great time to reflect on all the memorable moments of summer when we have witnessed the true meaning of aloha — not just in words — but in deeds.
Memories often play back in our minds in the form of stories, snapshots or “selfies” that bring smiles to our faces. Here are some captions of parish social ministry snapshots gathered so far from this summer of aloha in action:
Vulnerable sharing: A Sister of St. Francis shared an image of a houseless kupuna at Waianae Harbor offering nine boxes of chocolates (that he bought with his limited food stamps) to food ministry volunteers from Our Lady of Keaau and Sacred Heart Parish who were sharing food with folks living in the shadows of Oahu’s Leeward coast.
Families working/healing together: Families from St. Ann in Kaneohe, St. George and Mary, Star of the Sea parishes sent a snapshot of people working together with families affected by incarceration to clear land for a community garden. The future farm will employ women from the Women’s Community Correctional Center and young women from the Youth Detention Center.
Food boxes full of inter-generational aloha: Volunteers of all ages from Sts. Peter and Paul and St. John the Baptist parishes collaborated to launch a seniors food box program with Hawaii Foodbank. Here is more about this memorable moment of aloha:
The Hawaii Food Bank’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program is an amazing blessing for “food insecure” seniors. It has been a part of food ministries at Sacred Heart Parish in Waianae and Sts. Peter and Paul Parish near Kakaako since the program’s inception.
St. John the Baptist Parish food pantry in Kalihi is following their footsteps by expanding its food distribution to include senior food boxes for qualifying seniors, age 60 and older.
On June 14, volunteers from Sts. Peter and Paul lent a helping hand to volunteers at St. John the Baptist. Working side-by-side, volunteers of all ages helped with check-in, translation, applications and lifting heavy boxes.
Among the most memorable moments was the image of athletic teenage sons of pantry volunteers helping kupuna carry the 32-pound boxes of food! It is always wonderful to see a mix of generations serving in ministry.
These are only a few snapshots from Oahu and soon, through Talk Story, we will share more aloha summer moments from the neighbor islands. Please send us stories and images of your summer of love in action. Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
