VIRIDITAS2: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bulacan in the Philippines holds a place of great historical importance to me and my religious congregation. The first group of missionary Sisters of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena came from Madrid and joined with the Beatas (pious women living in community) in Manila in the last decade of the 19th century.
As Manila was about to be liberated from the Japanese in 1943, for safety reasons the community evacuated to Bulacan. The community later established its first town school for Catholic education there. I am the middle child of five born to my parents in Bulacan.
Before coming to Hawaii, I was assigned to Charlotte, North Carolina. Being here has been graced. The people are very friendly, nice and family oriented. At St. Theresa School in Kekaha, Kauai, I teach religion in grades pre-K through 5. I also handle the choir for Mass. Being able to bring the children closer to God, makes me happy and encourages me in my mission. To see the joy in their faces each time I speak of God is precious.
Every time I enter a classroom, I really pray that God will use me to touch the hearts of my students. Students often affirm that saying that they had a good time talking about God and engaging in religious activities like the Mass. Perhaps it is because they haven’t seen a religious for many years that sometimes their curiosity and spontaneity in questioning serves as an opening point for further conversation. For example, “Sister, do you have only one dress?” The innocence of the children! The question led to more delightful, informal conversations on my being a religious.
I start each day by waking up at 3 a.m. for my personal prayers and devotions and getting ready for school. I leave the convent in Lihue at 5:15 a.m. It is about a 40-minute drive from Lihue to Kekaha. During the drive time I listen to the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours via an app called DivineOffice. It is a nice time to keep in touch with God and God’s grace having time to meditate on the readings starting each day. I also say the rosary accompanied by the app RosaryDeluxe.
I arrive at school when it is still dark. It is really nice to hear the sound of the birds waking up and the waves sweeping against Kekaha’s white sand beach which is right across the school campus. In the afternoon, I usually leave at 5 p.m. unless my work is completed earlier.
After I get home, Sister Sudarshi (who ministers at Immaculate Conception Parish, Lihue) and I have our community time where we pray and eat, share the blessings of the day with each other. She usually cooks dinner and I wash the dishes. There are also many generous people who give us food, so that saves us from cooking.
As I look back at my 30 years of religious profession, never expecting to be assigned in Hawaii, I know that with the grace of God all is well. As Psalm 46 says, “Be still and know that I am God.”
