Conversations: ‘We love to come because of our faith’

LAUPAHOEHOE — Along the Hamakua coast north of Hilo on the island of Hawaii lies a beautiful community of devoted Catholics scattered across the scenic route. From the oldest known church of Star of the Sea in Kalaoa dating back to at least 1866, which is no longer there, arose other missions in the sugar plantation towns of Ookala, Ninole, Hakalau, Pepeekeo and Papaikou. Now the plantations are no longer.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Papaikou now serves as the mother church of all the Catholic faithful known as the Hamakua Catholic Community. This conversation, initiated and recorded by Dominican Sister of the Most Holy Rosary Malia Dominica Wong, was held at St. Anthony Church in Laupahoehoe on March 28, 2023, before the 5 p.m. Mass on a Tuesday afternoon.

Joining in the chat were Shon Magsalin, Lucy Bolosan, Father Stephen Macedo, Beatrice Cabral and Beatrice Cabral’s daughter, Sophia Cabral Maikui.

Sister Malia Dominica: How long have you been members of this church?

Beatrice Cabral: I am from St. James Church in Ookala and have been here 67 years.

Lucy Bolosan: I have been here 49 years. I started coming when my dad was alive.

Shon Magsalin: I go to Good Shepherd Church in Honomu. I moved here from Oahu and became more spiritual after I retired. Although I am from the Ookala parish, my husband is buried here.

SMD: What keeps you coming?

Beatrice, Lucy, Shon in unison: Our faith!

Sophia Cabral Maikui: A lot of the younger ones don’t go to church. How do you motivate them? I come on Tuesdays to St. Anthony’s because Sundays and weekends are always busy. This works for me. One of my girls works in Waimea and doesn’t get home until after 6:30 p.m., the other also works late. Sundays are hard for everybody. I used to like the 6 a.m. Mass on Sundays but the 11 a.m. Mass is a little bit hard to attend.

Shon: I come to church to listen to the word of God, the Scriptures. Father (Stephen Macedo) is very good at his homilies, you learn something.

Beatrice: Even if I am the only one here, Father will still say Mass even if I tell him to just cancel. That is important to me as sometimes I cannot make it to church on Sundays.

SMD (turning to Lucy): What about you? I see this is a central place for meeting, praying and swap meeting.

Lucy: (laughs) Sister saw us swapping bananas and other food when we arrived. We love to come to this church because of our faith. And, we love to see each other. This is a small community.

Beatrice: We do come to share our food and stories, all kinds of things. We also go with each other to the Senior Citizens Club at Laupahoehoe Point Gym and to avail of the Hawaii County Nutrition Program in Papaaloa.

Lucy: We are members of the nutrition program. It stopped a while as the gym broke.

Sophia: It is being rebuilt. Just came out in the news this morning.

Lucy: I need to call all the members and let them know.

Father Stephen Macedo: Lucy is our activist in the parish.

Beatrice: I take care of Ookala.

Father Stephen: We are a small community. But, they are really strong in taking care of each other. On Sundays, some folks don’t drive anymore, so they bring them to church.

Beatrice: Actually, of all the seniors, only Lucy and I drive.

Lucy: Guess how old Beatrice is?

SMD: I’m not sure …

Beatrice: I am 89 and will be 90 in December. My daughter did tell me to stop driving to Hilo though. But, I still am able to drive around. I thank the Lord.

SMD: Through all the changes over time, what are your hopes or wishes for the future of this church community?

Shon: To not have any financial burden.

Father Stephen: To have the kids back. Before COVID-19 we used to have about 500 people at Papaikou. Now we have about 250 which includes Papaaloa and Good Shepherd.

Beatrice: Catechism

Lucy: My kids grew up in Ookala. The church was very family-oriented way back then.

Sophia: Father does a good job here. I look forward to coming to church. And also, it is a good way to keep track of my mom!

(Everyone enjoys a laugh!)