Occasions of grace
Volunteers sanitize the pews after Mass in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa. (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
In keeping with this topsy-turvy age of the pandemic, where community means separation, sharing one’s breath means contagion, and social is associated with the word distance, good things happen. Charity ascends, generosity grows, family bonds toughen, prayer deepens.
That is what pastors across the islands report in their responses to an informal poll question posed last month by the Hawaii Catholic Herald, “What surprising positive outcome have you experienced from the coronavirus pandemic?”
Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Kihei, and a senior priest of the diocese, has seen a “deeper sense of family/ohana” emerge from the wreckage of the coronavirus crisis.
“This is so important for the life of the church,” he said. “I have had many people express to me how much they miss each other and being church together. I, too, have missed having our parishioners around and having the opportunities to speak and share with others on a face-to-face basis.”
“It has been wonderful to see families spending more time together and interacting with one another. The yearning to be together is very strong and you can see it in people’s eyes,” Msgr. Watanabe said.
Out in Kapolei, Oahu, where Father Khanh Hoang is pastor of St. Jude Parish, the coronavirus threat has turned the charity spigot on high.
“We are thankful and grateful that all our PPEs (personal protective equipment) are donated by parishioners,” Father Hoang said. “We have asked for volunteers to help clean and sanitize our church after all the Masses, and we have had more than enough volunteers.”
St. Jude’s social ministry is also more active than ever, he said. “Our outreach program is feeding more and more people and more donations are coming in than ever before.”
Father Santhosh Thottankara, a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts from Kerala, India, as pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Pearl City, is moved by his people’s faith during these vexing times.
He said he was inspired by the “faith and dedication of the people to come to church in good numbers for weekday and weekend Masses.”
He said, they “pray as people of God trusting that they will be safe and protected by their faith in Jesus.”
Father Alapaki Kim, the native Hawaiian pastor of the native Hawaiian parish of St. Rita in Nanakuli, is surprised by how unified his community is in fighting the epidemic.
“Even though we can only fit 40 people in the church due to social distancing, I am amazed at how many people volunteer to disinfect the church after each Mass,” he said.
“Also, it is impressive at how conscientious people are about wearing masks and keeping social distancing,” he said.
“We have installed two temporary washbasins outside of our main entrance where we ask everyone to be conscientious about washing hands for 20 seconds. Everyone is compliant. We have not received even one voice of protest.”
Parish contact tracing
Father Kim is also grateful for the Knights of Columbus who volunteer at every Mass to check people in. In this way the parish maintains its own version of contact tracing.
“If there are people who have not signed up for a particular Mass they are attending, the Knights will register them. We keep the records of everyone who comes to Mass just in case someone tests positive for the COVID-19 virus, but may have not displayed symptoms, and came to Mass,” he said.
“If this happens,” Father Kim said, “we have a record of everyone at that particular Mass so we can contact them to get tested and remain quarantined until their negative diagnosis is received.”
Sacred Hearts Father Patrick Killilea, the Ireland-born pastor of St. Marianne’s former parish, St. Francis in Kalaupapa, the diocese’s smallest parish, uses a wee bit of hyperbole to express the quarantine compliance of Hawaii’s most famous quarantined community.
“The ‘thousands’ here in Kalaupapa are faithful mask wearers,” he said.
The pastor of Molokai’s other parish, Sacred Hearts Father Brian Guerrini of St. Damien of Molokai in Kaunakakai, borrows a biblical character to describe the generosity of his people on the state’s poorest island.
“The widow’s mite!” he said, using Jesus’ example of an impoverished woman donating to the Temple the smallest of coins even when she could scarcely afford it.
“People continue to give to the support of their church despite the economic challenges,” he said. “Our collections remain at pre-pandemic levels.”
In Hilo, the positive effect of the coronavirus is tangible. Blessed Sacrament Father Apolinario Ty, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Hilo credits the pandemic for saving the parish school from closing.
“Transforming an occasion of seeming brokenness or helplessness into an occasion of grace has been one of the challenges in my life as a religious and as a priest. And this could not be truer than in the present crisis that COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our lives,” he said.
“The most evident threat for us in Hilo was in the continued operation of St. Joseph School, the only Catholic school in the island. Rocked by financial difficulties for the past number of years, the pandemic just made it evident that there is no way it could continue. And if, in the past, we were trapped in looking for the culprits to blame, now it is just this pandemic that we have to reckon with,” Father Ty said.
“And surprisingly for us here in St. Joseph Parish of Hilo, we saw the hands of God use this very crisis to rally the many sectors of the school and parish to make the seemingly impossible possible,” he said. “It was arduous work, but with their faith in God, the people in the community realized they had to be ready to make a gift of themselves — their time, talent and treasure — and the miracle we were praying for happened.”
“Now we have the blessing of seeing a new lease of life for our beloved St. Joseph School that continues its mission to form the youth of today through an encounter with Christ,” the pastor said. “The self-giving of the people in the community in the midst of the difficult times certainly continues to be a source of inspiration.”
Spiritual opportunities
Augustinian Father Norlito Concepcion, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Papaikou on the Big Island’s Hamakua Coast, has discovered a spiritual benefit in the isolation a pandemic imposes.
“I returned to the complete praying of the breviary on its canonical hours during weekdays,” he said.
Likewise, Somascan Father John Molina, administrator of Sacred Heart, Pahoa, the parish with the volcano, has found the coronavirus lockdown to be like a spiritual retreat.
“Consciously or unconsciously we became contemplatives!” he said. “The locked gates, the masks, the social distancing, the prayers before our house altars, the silence, the subdued laughter, the common meals, the common recreation, the long-distance relationships, the work in the fruit orchard, vegetable and flower gardens are all expressions of our homes turned into ‘monasteries.’”
“And in the midst of uncertainties we suddenly realize the need to seek the Face of God even more,” Father Molina said.
Father William Kunisch, pastor of Resurrection of the Lord, Waipio, said the pandemic forced the parish to “up our game” with regards to “our online presence for evangelization.”
“Our livestreamed Masses and the use of Zoom (a computer meeting program) for ministry has helped us to reach people that we were not reaching prior to the pandemic,” he said. “It has reinvigorated the church at home!”
“We continue to explore ways to engage our online community with virtual greeters and prayer partners. Next week we are starting a six-week spiritual renewal campaign, 40 Days of Prayer, with 17 online small groups and with participants joining us from across the nation,” Father Kunisch said.
“In September, all of our ministries will start up again on schedule, gathering virtually for prayer, faith formation, care and support,” he said.
