Top, religious sister jubilarians pose for a group photo after the Mass April 21 honoring them on their anniversaries of religious commitment. Standing, from left, Sister Marie Christine Plateros, SSCC; Sister James Therese Joseph, CSJ; Sister Rosita Aranita, CSJ; Sister Francis Regis Hadano, OSF; Sister Frances Therese Souza, OSF, Sister Earnest Chung, MM; Sister Claudia Wong, CSJ. Seated, Sister Stephen Marie Serrao, OSF; Sister Helen Agnes Ignacio, OSF; Sister Marion F. Kikukawa, OSF. (HCH photo)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Jubilarians Father Richard Patrick McNally, SSCC, Father George J. Cerniglia, SM, and Father Patrick J. McCormick concelebrate.
A cheerful congregation of family, friends, former students, parishioners and fellow religious filled the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa for Mass Saturday morning April 21 to honor 11 sisters and six priests who this year are celebrating special anniversaries of religious commitment.
Bishop Larry Silva presided over the liturgy concelebrated by 20 priests. Five deacons assisted.
The 11 women jubilarians, nearly all local-born, represented four religious orders: the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the Maryknoll Sisters.
Of the priests, four were diocesan clergy celebrating ordination anniversaries. One Marianist priest and one priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts marked anniversaries of religious life. Five of the priests concelebrated. One could not attend.
Bishop Larry Silva preaches.
Four jubilarians marked 70 years, four celebrated 60 years, eight celebrated 50 years and one commemorated 25 years. They totaled more than a millennium of service.
In his homily, drawing a lesson from the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles about a miraculous healing by the Apostle Peter, Bishop Larry Silva said the jubilarians, too, were miracle workers.
Acknowledging that many of the honorees were educators, the bishop said they “cured many people handicapped by a lack of education” by giving them the ability to “walk.”
Father Gary Colton concelebrates.
“You have told them you have this gift,” he said, “and you helped them to get up and walk and make a difference.”
These are not instant miracles, he said, but ones that often take years to achieve.
“But these are real-life miracles that happen now, today,” he said, “as manifestations of God’s work.”
“Because of these miracles, many were attracted to the Lord,” he said.
Remarking on the senior age of most of the jubilarians, the bishop told them it was “amazing” that “you continue to serve, even from your wheelchairs, by your witness to Jesus, by your joy of the Gospel.”
After the homily, the jubilarians together recited the brief “Renewal of Commitment.”
“Gracious God, we thank you for your call,” they said.
“We are resolved, by your grace, to give ourselves to the service of your people and to one another,” they said in part.
The liturgy was rich with music, a mix of Latin Gregorian chant and contemporary hymns reflecting the seven-decade span of the honorees’ religious service. The six altar servers in red cassocks and white surplices brought back memories of the 1950s and 60s, the decades when most of the jubilarians first answered their religious calling.
For about a half hour before the start of Mass, the jubilarians, three of whom were in wheelchairs, collected the good wishes and leis of friends and admirers. By the time the Mass started the honorees were clearly identified by the thick layers of flowers around their necks.
At the close of Mass, Bishop Silva presented each honoree with a personalized etched glass plaque commemorating his or her anniversary.
Everyone then proceeded to the parish hall for a lunch of Filipino food.
Here is the list of Hawaii’s 2018 jubilarians:
70 years
Sister Francis Regis Hadano, OSF, religious life
Sister Helen Agnes Ignacio, OSF, religious life
Sister Stephen Marie Serrao, OSF, religious life
Sister James Therese Joseph, CSJ, religious life
60 years
Father George J. Cerniglia, SM, religious life
Sister Marie Christine Plateros, SSCC, religious life
Sister Joan E. Souza, OSF (died Feb. 6), religious life
Sister Rosita Aranita, CSJ, religious life
50 years
Msgr. John Mbinda, ordination
Father Gary Patrick Colton, ordination
Father Patrick J. McCormick, ordination
Father Richard Patrick McNally, SSCC, religious life
Sister Earnest Chung, MM, religious life
Sister Marion F. Kikukawa, OSF, religious life
Sister Frances Therese Souza, OSF, religious life
Sister Claudia Wong, CSJ, religious life
25 years
Father Stephen Macedo, ordination