Bishop Larry Silva and Maryknoll School seniors share a laugh at the school’s Bagels with the Bishop event March 3. (HCH photo | Anna Weaver)
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
As they waited in line to take photos with Bishop Larry Silva on March 3, a trio of Maryknoll School seniors shared what they wanted to ask him.
Ellyia Ballesteros explained that she and her classmates submitted questions ahead of time to ask Hawaii’s bishop during his “Bagels with Bishop” event that day. Kaitlynn Canubida wondered who influenced Bishop Silva to want to become a priest. Prescilla Pascua wanted to know if the bishop had ever considered another career.
All three are Catholic and attended Catholic schools before Maryknoll, but a number of the co-ed Catholic school’s 104 seniors aren’t Catholic.
The “Bagels with Bishop” events, which take place at all six Catholic high schools in the islands each year, give both Catholic and non-Catholic teens a chance to connect with the Diocese of Honolulu’s leader.
The annual event, originally started by the Augustine Education Foundation in 2012 and now organized by the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, brings Bishop Silva together with the senior class at every Catholic high school in Hawaii.
It’s “an opportunity for seniors to hear from Bishop and ask questions,” said Lisa Gomes, OYYAM’s director.
This was the first in-person “Bagels with Bishop” at Maryknoll since the pandemic, with virtual visits taking place in between. The event includes photos with the bishop, breakfast, a brief talk and time for questions.
On the menu on March 3 were bagels but also pancakes, fruit, and fake bacon, the latter of which was because it was a meatless Friday during Lent. (Students gave the fake bacon mixed reviews.)
Maui’s Art Fillazar, representing OYYAM at the event while Gomes was on travel, went through several rounds of a “Two Truths and a Lie” game to get the seniors engaged before Bishop Silva’s mini-sermon. (Truth: Bishop Silva likes to hike. Lie: He’s been a bishop of other dioceses.)
Fillazar also promoted The Newman Connection, a resource that gives information about Catholic campus ministries around the country, for when the seniors go off to college.
A long recurring theme of the bishop’s talk has been encouraging the high schoolers to make Jesus a personal friend and not consider him to be a distant figure.
“Jesus is alive, here and now,” the bishop said. “He wants to be in your life.”
He encouraged the students to hold on to their high school friendships, mentioning that he’d recently spoken to some of his best friends from his high school days.
The bishop also said that he knows it can be hard to recognize Jesus in one’s life, an idea he looped back to during the Q&A that ended the gathering.
A student asked what he would say to God if he ever met him and what he would look like. In response, the bishop said he sees God every day, in various forms and people.
“He’s kind of a tricky God. He changes his appearance,” Bishop Silva said.
One student asked about how to deal with negative feelings to which the bishop said it was important to recognize why you’re having those feelings.
“The closer you stay to the Lord, the more you’ll be able to” deal with difficulty, he added.
As the Maryknoll seniors dispersed back to their classes, one asked the bishop about his pectoral cross and others gave him side hugs of thanks.
