VIRIDITAS2: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
This interview was conducted before this year’s Easter Vigil service at St. Rita Church in Nanakuli, one of two Catholic churches located on Hawaiian home lands.
St. Rita’s Church has been my church home for over 30 years. Living on the Waianae side in Maili I used to take my husband’s grandmother to church at Sacred Heart (Waianae). That is actually my parish. But after she passed away, I started to come here.
St. Rita’s is a very loving parish. Everyone knows everyone here. Everyone has watched each other’s children grow up. That lady is Aunty Jo. She has been coming here since 1983. She’s not from this side of the island. She went to Sacred Hearts Convent school (Nuuanu) from kindergarten to seventh grade, followed by Cathedral School (Nuuanu) and Saint Francis School (Manoa). She is one of the many beautiful kupuna (elders) here.
I used to be a lector and serve on the parish council. When my grandson was younger, I would bring him with me to church. The community has changed over the years with people coming and going and the loss of so many kupuna passing away. Father Eli Carter and the former Father Robert Scharzhaupt were predecessors of Father Alapaki Kim. He has been here more than 20 years. Our parish has really been blessed with good priests.
Aside from the old memories of Father Eli and parishioners cooking up a donated cow to feed the hungry each year up to the present ones of potlucks or parish bake sales to help support our children’s programs, I also remember the Maryknoll Sisters who had a house in Nanakuli. I used to go over there (along with Estell, who is just about to turn 100 this year) and play cards with them. Of special note is Sister Rita Kane who is 102 now. Up until recently, every year I would receive two to three hand-written cards from her.
Notice that family there with all the children? They were all born here. I have watched the triplets grow up. The tall man there is Tom (Thomas) Zizzi; he is an attorney. Although he lives in Makaha, he and his family are very active in the parish and religious education. That man there, Ivan used to play music for us. There’s Deacon Hal (Harold) Levy and Mele Ahuna, our office coordinator. The couple at the end of the lanai? That’s Wendy and her husband. Their children have all grown up here, too.
St. Rita’s is really a gathering place. It is a very loving parish. It is not a wealthy parish, but people are very generous, helpful and kind. There is a real strong family bond that connects us all. Even when we have visitors from near or far, or tourists who have never been here before, I have heard it said so many times: “Wow.” There is a whole different feeling in this church that is hard to explain. One really needs to experience the parish for oneself. The aloha just keeps pouring forth.
As Father Alapaki retires, we will truly miss him. He really brought a different vibe, so to speak, to the parish just by the way he is. Mahalo, Father Alapaki.
