VIEW FROM THE PEW
It’s a favorite gathering hymn, so we really put our hearts, souls and voices into a robust rendition of “All Are Welcome” at a recent interfaith service.
Marty Haugen’s lyrics are about the gathering place “where love can dwell and all can safely live … hearts learn to forgive … built of hopes and dreams and visions … on holy ground where peace and justice meet.” The song is familiar to Catholics and other Christians and I was certain the sentiments were striking a chord in the hearts of people of many faiths, organizations, movements and causes packed in the pews of Sacred Heart Church in Honolulu March 21.
It was the funeral Mass for Maryknoll Sister Joan Chatfield, but from that opening hymn to the open mike anecdotes at the reception that followed, the event seemed to celebrate the people she inspired as much as it did the life and work of the 86-year-old nun. She had retired from a 36-year career as a teacher but never retired from her role as the spark plug of the disparate community of people dedicated to promoting peace, seeking justice and reconciliation, respecting and embracing those with different backgrounds and beliefs. A common theme of talk among the people in the pews was disbelief and sorrow that she is no longer at the other end of the phone when they need to talk to her. She died March 1 after a head injury in a fall at home.
The listeners at Mass could recognize themselves in the Gospel account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied; blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God, blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
I was thinking of the people around me as the words of “We Are Many Parts, We Are All One Body,” another Marty Haugen composition, scrolled on the screen: “The gifts that we have we are given to share. May the spirit of love make us one indeed.”
The inclusive theme of readings and songs selected by her Maryknoll sisters certainly reflected Sister Joan’s beliefs. But don’t get me wrong, it was a very Catholic funeral — not just a 23rd Psalm and banks of floral wreaths kind. The casket was open, her two nephews and two nieces greeted the diverse lineup of friends and participated in the liturgical readings.
Father EJ Resinto told the crowd that Sister Joan embodied the beatitudes during her 68 years as a nun, “an advocate for others, she recognized people for the dignity they have as a human being.” He explained the symbolism of a Catholic funeral, sprinkling holy water to remember our baptism, covering the coffin with a pall which represents the purity in which we should live, the incense as a recognition of the dignity of the person and its smoke like our prayers rising.
“Candles represent light, that we are all to be a light in a dark world. She gave light, through her religious work … her dedication to those who were discriminated against. She was a woman who lived the way we are expected to live … that God will look kindly on us.”
When Father Resinto explained about receiving Communion being for Catholics only, it appeared that the Catholics who got in line were about half of the crowd. Msgr. Gary Secor, vicar general of the Honolulu diocese, was one of five priests concelebrating the Mass.
So many calls
“We had so many calls from people wanting to share,” said Sister Bitrina Kirway, regional Maryknoll leader. “We were mindful that many others would be coming, not Catholic, all these people she knew from her ministry.” That led to a decision to extend the reception with an open mike format for people to share their memories.
“I think all were grateful for Joan, for bringing people together,” said Sister Bitrina. “There are no boundaries. Our mission is to serve everyone regardless what faith. I feel that is what Jesus wants us to do.” She said it is a principle of the Maryknoll religious order that “we set out to a place, give what is needed at that time, stay until you are no longer needed, then move on to do something else. In Maryknoll, we move on.” But she pointed out that Sister Joan found so much to do, so much needed in Hawaii, that she never moved on. “What’s that saying? She died with her boots on.”
I decided that my account of the celebration of Sister Joan’s life should be a celebration of her friends who shared in her dedication, causes, open-hearted and open-minded workers with awesome energy to make our community the best that it can be. I thought that, actually, all I’d need would be to list the people I recognized in the crowd to make that point.
There was Bishop Eric Matsumoto, leader of the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Mission, with several other clergy of the islands’ largest Buddhist denomination, wearing robes and seated together as a delegation. The denomination had selected Sister Joan in 2009 as a “Living Treasure of Hawaii” in its annual honors for people whose talents and endeavors benefit the community.
Across the aisle was Father Jack Ryan, recently retired pastor of Newman Center, the Catholic campus ministry at University of Hawaii, which the nun had a part in organizing decades ago. She sang in the choir at the recent annual Prayer for Christian Unity service there, hosted by Bishop Larry Silva and attended by people from many denominations.
There was Father Anastasi St. Anthony, pastor of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, which provided office space for the Institute for Religion and Social Change, one of the earliest interfaith agencies in Hawaii. Founded in 1976 by Catholic and Buddhist leaders with Chatfield as executive director, it served as a vehicle for new groups to launch programs and initiatives under the umbrella of the registered non-profit.
Greeting people at the door was Merritt Sakata who partnered with the Maryknoll nun as members of the All Believers Network to produce a monthly program featuring people sharing their faith journey, philosophy, life story, whatever. The program called “Now That You Ask Me” is shown on Olelo 53 cable television channel. The format is the epitome of the Chatfield approach, he said.
“It’s not spokespeople for any group but individuals with their own journey to share,” Sakata said. “We know everybody has some wisdom, but most don’t have a context to share it.” Sharing their stories via the community television outlet “is like the parable of the mustard seed; if only one seed takes hold it can produce a plant with millions of seeds.”
Never a heavy hand
Sakata said that some separation and misunderstanding between different religions and groups can be traced to “the language we use. Insiders use jargon among ourselves. Many of us are looking for validation for what we are now, whether I’ve done what I should be doing or not. Sister Joan didn’t need validation. She knew who she was and what she believed.
“She would talk about a ‘good fit.’ She was an honest broker,” bringing people together because she saw a link. “She never put a heavy hand on you,” Sakata said.
He met the nun after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when his nondenominational faith group, Seicho No Ie, planned a prayer for peace service and wanted to invite other religions. Seeking help from Chaminade University, it was his good luck to meet Sister Joan who knew people from every spiritual path. The result: participation by Muslims, Protestants, Buddhists, Jews, Catholics in the prayer service. “Everybody came.”
Saleem Ahmed, a Muslim, was one of many to take a turn at the open mike. “We created the All Believers Network to collectively honor our common creator. Our ever-smiling, high-energy Sister Joan was always teaching how we should try to understand the other person’s perception of reality.”
There was Cecila Fordham, president of The Interfaith Alliance of Hawaii, the longstanding inclusive collection of faith groups of which Sister Joan was a leader for years. Fordham circulated through the crowd, greeting Rabbi Ken Aronowitz of Temple Emanu-El, Neal MacPherson, United Church of Christ minister and longtime leader of social justice initiatives, Paul Gracie, a Quaker and TIAH board member, among the more than 100 Chatfield friends with stories to share.
“She was always perceptive, she would look into the crux of the matter whatever it was,” said Fordham, retired Iolani School and University of Hawaii teacher, actor and Episcopal Church member. Typical of the attendees, she would tell her “when I first met Sister” story, which was when Fordham acted in the “Nunsense” musical play and directed “Damien” at Manoa Valley Theatre.
In his turn at the microphone, David Lara of the Sunrise Foundation said, “Her experience as a nun was anything but traditional. She embodied the spirit of interfaith values. Her legacy is in this room.” The organization, founded by United Church of Christ minister Wally Fukunaga, pursues “alternate paths for wholeness of body and spirit and community.” It is just one of many groups that had the nun on its board of directors.
Gene Corpuz, local chapter president of Dignity organization, spoke of Sister Joan’s help and support for its ministry to GLBT Catholics.
Ron Reddick, a Catholic, said Sister Joan “was very catholic” in the dictionary definition: “including a wide variety of things, all embracing.”
Two of the speakers helped end the festivities the way the day began, on a musical note.
Alan Gamble of the Mits Aoki Foundation, named for a former University of Hawaii religion professor, led the crowd in singing “This Little Light of Mine.”
And the Rev. Earl Stuckey, a minister and entertainer involved in the Martin Luther King Jr. observances here and in California, brought everyone to their feet to join in “We Shall Overcome.” He said “she was the embodiment of King’s vision of a better nation and a better world.”
There’s no space for my own Sister Joan remembrance. In lieu of seeking the perfect scriptural quote, I’ll just share the identifying tag used by The Interfaith Alliance of Hawaii: “a progressive voice promoting the healing role of religion in public life.” Sister Joan Chatfield was that very thing.
I wonder whether there is any other Catholic willing to follow in her footsteps.
