VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Our Carmelite monastery is located off the Pali Highway. Being on the Windward side of the island, we frequently experience rain. No wonder the grounds around the monastery teem with life: vast evergreen vegetation, trees laden with fruits that we all enjoy, more so by the local birds that seemed to have found their perpetual home in a place free and secure.
Heliconia and spring flowers give forth their beauty and sweetness even in places where there are no eyes to see them, no onlooker to appreciate them, being content to know that their only goal in life is to bloom without receiving praise or recompense. The mountain streams that feed the ponds seem to be in a hurry to flow lower and lower to meet the helpless tilapias so dependent on it for survival as well as the thirsty plants along its banks. Everything around is so eager to give and share with others, and in so doing to become one with them.
In the midst of this endless and exultant self-giving and self-sharing, I can’t help but be in great awe of God’s creation and be brought to the core of my existence, that is, being fully alive and fruitful for the other. It is finding meaning in the ministry of giving. Rain is a great symbol of love. It freely falls upon all open to receiving it. Love must express itself in giving; must find a way to become one with others, just as God found a way to give his own life to us and thereby become one with us in Jesus Christ.
Our coming to Hawaii as contemplative missionaries is like entering into this unspeakable chain of life and love. Our beloved families and supportive communities made sacrifices allowing us to join the refounding of Hawaii Carmel and so become permanent members of this fervent praying community. It is to sustain life that we were sent here in order to further God’s Kingdom among the people so much loved by the Father’s heart. In the hiddenness of our daily existence, our humble life is being consumed little by little for this end. How true these words that God Himself had spoken: “Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)
We are all sent, therefore, missionaries all are we: Opening ourselves to what gives life and meaning would make our life fruitful and nourishing, enriching the lives of others with whom we daily come in contact. The Holy Eucharist and the Word of God offer us perfect venues where we can regularly soak ourselves in and seep in the very source of Life and Love.
Sister Mary Angelica of God the Father is a Carmelite nun originally from the Carmelite Monastery in Lipa, Luzon in the Philippines. She is 12 years professed and resides at Carmel of the Holy Trinity in Kaneohe.
