OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Jesus asks us to be present to those in need of help, regardless of whether or not they belong to our social group. In other words, he challenges us to put aside all differences and, in the face of suffering, to draw near to others with no questions asked. I should no longer say that I have neighbors to help, but that I must myself be a neighbor to others.” (Pope Francis’ encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” 81)
The phrase “Love your neighbor as yourself” is found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus and in the Gospel of Mark. Today, you can find these words in dozens of languages, on plaques and on pillows, in millions of homes around the world. Yet our Holy Father challenges us to reflect even deeper upon those words and to ask ourselves: “Who IS my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer, Pope Francis says, is that our neighbor is the one-in-need inside and outside our family or social circle — even the stranger, in our midst and far away.
“Love thy neighbor” connections happen every day here in our diocese. For example, in these times of online distance learning, members of the Youth and Young Adult Ministry at Mary, Star of the Sea Parish in Waialae-Kahala are reaching beyond themselves to tutor children of incarcerated mothers. Every Sunday, student tutors from Maryknoll, Iolani, Roosevelt, Punahou and the University of Hawaii-Manoa have been teaming up on Zoom to provide online lessons for five young students from King Kaumualii Elementary School, King Intermediate School and Castle High School.
It is truly inspiring to see young people using their time and talent to come to the aid of “neighbors” who need a little help with their homework. At the end of each tutoring session, student peers share what they are grateful for. One tutor said, “I am thankful for my family, and that includes all those who are part of these tutoring sessions, as we are a part of a growing family.” The “One Ohana” theme definitely resonates among the entire group, with a 9-year old Kauai student sharing, “I’m thankful for playing reading games,” and another from King Intermediate saying, “I’m thankful for help with my homework.”
What started as a Lenten initiative has blossomed into an ongoing project with more sessions planned this Fall.
Such initiatives involve lots of collaboration between community organizations and faith-based groups answering the call to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The Youth and Young Adult ministry at Mary, Star of the Sea works with older volunteers of the parish Prison and Reintegration Ministry, which coordinates the annual Star Light Star Bright and Sunlight Sun Bright events. These kids’ day activities, sponsored every year by the diocese’s Prison Ministry and the Office for Social Ministry, reunite inmate families at the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua during the summer and Christmas holidays.
Children who have participated in these events also receive offers of extra after-school help with homework. Youth ministers saw the need and stepped up to volunteer with the Oahu Going Home Consortium, a group dedicated to supporting justice-involved women from prison. Other consortium activities engage volunteers from five Oahu parishes — St. Patrick, Holy Trinity, St. Ann, Star of the Sea and Mystical Rose Oratory — with formerly incarcerated women re-entering the community. Parishioners partner with the Pu‘a Foundation to provide welcome baskets filled with goodies, face masks, clothing, transportation, gift cards, backpacks, food and help with accessing social services such as food stamps and medical insurance.
Oahu Going Home Consortium parish volunteers also accompany women from prison by supporting the Mercy House project of transitional housing, peer support, health, wellness, vocational and leadership development. For more about the Oahu Going Home Coalition, please visit the OSM website, officeforsocialministry.org.
Fratelli Tutti’s closing “love thy neighbor” prayer is particularly inspiring in this year’s Easter season:
“Grant that we Christians may live the Gospel, discovering Christ in each human being, recognizing him crucified in the sufferings of the abandoned and forgotten of our world, and risen in each brother or sister who makes a new start. Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty, reflected in all the peoples of the earth, so that we may discover anew that all are important and all are necessary, different faces of the one humanity that God so loves. Amen.”
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
