Blessed Sacrament parishioners Jean Muragin and Richard Young
Blessed Sacrament Parish in Pauoa Valley is forever grateful for the inspiration and enduring energy, enthusiasm and service of its nonagenarian parishioners, Jean Muragin and Richard Young
By Elizabeth Lum
Special to the Herald
Jean Muragin
Jean Kuulei McCarl Muragin is a gem of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Pauoa Valley because of her gratitude to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit in service, love and steadfast faith.
Jean’s faith is demonstrated by her heartfelt desire to “kokua” the church and to serve her heavenly Father by reaching out to parishioners unable to come to church due to health limitations, bringing Jesus’ love and joy to all for the glory of God.
Jean began her service to the parish years ago helping then parish secretary, Helen Tui, by refilling the bathroom paper towel dispensers. Her service grew from there. She made home visits to the newly baptized, participated in the Rosary prayer group, joined the Saturday 5 p.m. Mass choir, became an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, visited the homebound, convalescent centers and homeless shelters, decorated the church, kept up Mary’s grotto and garden, cleaned the bathrooms and classrooms and participated in Bible study. As hall coordinator for the bereavement committee, she set up, cleaned up, and enhanced the environment with table coverings and bouquet centerpieces for the bereaved families “celebration of life” luncheon.
“Anything that needed to be done, I’d do it just to help others. I wasn’t particular!” she said.
Her “do” for others rubbed off onto her children. Steven served as an usher and helped with the collection baskets. Abbie Jean assisted in the church office on Mondays and is a lector.
“I am a true Catholic,” Jean said. “I thank God for all he has given me. Jesus is in my heart and he hears me.”
Jean credits the nuns of St. Anthony Church in Kalihi who influenced her to keep her faith in practice.
But life wasn’t all rosy. Her husband Alexander Sr. died while the children were growing up, leaving her with the dual role as mother and father, and sole breadwinner. Jean shrugged her shoulders, “Well, if you gotta do it, you gotta do it. Just ask for His help and let Him hear (your) prayers.”
After Jean retired from Straub’s housekeeping department, she continued to give her time, talent and treasure to church with no “pilikia.”
A “misstep” last February placed her in a temporary care home to recover. While recuperating, she never failed to continue Jesus’ mission to love and to touch the lives of others. Her simple daily prayer is: “Thank you God for this day. May I have another tomorrow.” She then adds, with the sweetest grin, what a priest suggested: “Don’t forget, a better tomorrow!” Moving on with a positive attitude, she now has the advantage of a wheelchair, and the Handi-Van. She has resumed her singing in the choir.
At age 94, Jean has a smile that lifts parishioners’ spirits. She shares her wit and spunk, looking forever young with her silver hair prettily styled.
She shared a bright memory. “Oh, yeah, my husband, Alex Sr. was a pro golfer. I golfed, too, with my friends, but I never made a hole in one like him. You know – I bowled, and had a 300 game. All strikes! And I was in the newspaper, too.”
Richard Young
Our second parish gem is forever “young,” as his surname suggests. Our giving servant Richard Young is 91 years old. He genuinely proclaims he is a full-fledged Roman Catholic connected with the magisterium in Rome with our shepherd Pope Francis. Richard said: “The Roman Catholic Church is the true church because of its fullness with the sacraments and of the Trinity. That is what I was taught and I believe.”
Born and raised on Oahu, Richard’s parents practiced the beliefs of Confucius. However, during his childhood days, many parents of various ethnicities caught the “wave” of Catholic schools and the excellent education they provided. The six Young children were sent to St. Theresa School.
Richard thinks he was baptized a Catholic in the sixth or seventh grade. The nuns were his sponsor. He learned about the faith through his religion classes.
As a teenager, not long after receiving the sacraments, he remembers the sounds of many low-flying airplanes. It was the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was frightened, but made it through the early war years remembering the teachings of the nuns on obedience and prayer. He prayed very hard!
When things subsided, he resumed his Catholic education at Saint Louis School. Commenting on his education, Richard said, “The nuns, mostly, and the brothers molded me to be what and who I am today. I have no regrets but appreciation for what they did for me by giving me a good, solid education.”
After Saint Louis, Richard attended Honolulu Vocational Trade School, continuing to practice the Catholic faith and fulfill his Sunday obligations at St. Theresa. Then, in answer to his prayers, he was introduced to a beautiful girl from Macau. Rowena was a nurse, and first and foremost, a Catholic. They married in Hong Kong. Rowena came to Hawaii and became a citizen.
They were blessed with a son, Patrick, who carried on the family commitment to Catholic education by going to Cathedral School, Maryknoll School and Santa Clara University. The Young family began to go to Blessed Sacrament Church, where they soon found opportunities to use their time and talents to serve.
One day, after confession, Blessed Sacrament pastor, Father Mark Consalvi, told Richard that the church bell was not working and to go and “see if he can fix it.”
“It must have been a guardian angel who put a bug in his (Father Mark’s) ears that I was the one to do the bell job,” Richard said.
Richard fixed the church bell to “gong” before each Mass
Rowena, who worked at a care institution, began to assist the residents being transported to church for evening Mass, at which Richard was serving as an usher and greeter. Richard began to give assistance to the residents, too.
Richard’s electrical skills were used to repair the organ, repair and upkeep electrical fixtures, install motion-activated lights and the confessional light indicator, install the church and hall audio-sound system, and program the audio chime music system. He also did handyman jobs, fixing door hooks and latches, and even made a stepstool for children to reach the microphone.
Richard is on the liturgical commission team as lead usher for the 5 p.m. Mass. He has coordinated the tithing basket team, guided the Advent candle lighters, hung banners for Advent and Lent, and covered the crucifix before Good Friday, climbing on ladders even at the age of 90-plus. Now he encourages the young to help.
When the “to do” list gets lengthy, he said, “I just calmly take it one at a time with Jesus at my side. I get other men to help, too. The list gets shorter and the jobs get done.”
After 42 years with the federal government, he has shared his expertise as a community volunteer to repair computers for a non-profit children’s computer class. But he is forever committed to giving the church first priority, all gratis in appreciation of the gifts and blessings he and Rowena have received from God.
“If talent is not shared, you lose it,” Richard said. “The Lord says: Do it!”
