Chris Stefanick speaks to a crowd of 500 about God’s love Sept. 6 in St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church, Mililani. (HCH photo | Jennifer Rector)
By Jennifer Rector
Hawaii Catholic Herald
International Catholic speaker Chris Stefanick jumps up and down with passion and love for the Lord at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church. He does not hide his love for God or, you can say, he cannot hide it. When he approached the doors of the Mililani church on Sept. 6, several hours before his “REBOOT” presentation there, he spread his arms wide to embrace the volunteers who would be working that evening at his talk.
Stefanick chatted with them over some ono food. His arrival was like a homecoming. He recognized faces he had seen when he was there some years ago.
“My hope is that half the people don’t know who I am but that they come because they know you,” Stefanick told the volunteers.
He shared a story about his wife’s grandmother who had lived in Mililani. She had been an agnostic up until her final days. After much prayer by him and his wife, the woman received the sacraments in the hospital. The next day she died as a daughter of God.
Her funeral service was at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church in 2005. This parish is special to him and his family because of it, he said.
His father-in-law, 82, remains an agnostic. He lives in Mililani. That night he went to Stefanick’s talk for the very first time alongside his daughter, Stefanick’s wife. This was a special occasion for the Stefanick family.
Stefanick continued sharing with the volunteers that this was more than him giving a talk, but it was about the volunteers and the rest of the parishioners attending that night.
“It’s your joy that changes lives,” he said.
As a young kid, Stefanick “came to Christ” at a conference. It was not because of the speakers or because of the music, he said, but because of the joy he saw in the volunteers. He sought that joy and from that moment on he was on a journey. He found that God does not hide joy from us, but freely gives it for us to take. That is what “REBOOT” is about, he said.
It was “that joyful presence that changed my life when I was a kid,” said Stefanick.
Stefanick spoke about the basics of faith that many Catholics forget. He compared it to marrying your spouse. After years of marriage, you forget the reason why you fell in love in the first place. You forget the love story. That night Stefanick reminded parishioners about God’s love story in nine simple rules.
Stepping on top of a chair and yelling over the crowd, Stefanick captivated the gaze of everyone in the room. He shared four of the rules, all pointing to the same truth — God loves you.
“Be grateful!” he yelled out. That was the first rule and the rule that he said was the “most obvious.”
It’s also a rule that, he said, most of us forget. Being grateful will help us live a joyous life. The most beautiful smiles he had ever seen were in Haiti of people who had absolutely nothing. He said that was because they were grateful for everything and anything they had.
He encouraged everyone in the room to say a prayer of gratitude as soon as they woke up in the morning.
Chris Stefanick takes a selfie with middle school students from St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church after his talk there Sept. 6. (HCH photo | Jennifer Rector)
He ended the night with the final rule, using a quote from Paul’s letter to the Colossians: “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” Stefanick encouraged his audience to live their lives around their faith and not the other way around. He encouraged the audience to be aware of the things that rob them of joy.
About 500 people heard these words. There were parishioners of all ages from Our Lady of Sorrows, Wahiawa; St. Elizabeth, Aiea; St. Michael, Waialua; and even St. Catherine Church, Kapaa, Kauai.
“I feel like he inspired me to pray more and to be closer with God,” said Jocelynn Latasa Guillen, a member of St. Catherine’s high school youth ministry.
Joey Durocher, who is Jocelynn’s youth minister, said they had just returned from a Steubenville West conference in Tucson, Arizona. Approximately 3,000 high school students attend this Catholic conference every year. He says coming from Kauai to see Stefanick has been another boost enforcing these students’ spiritual journeys.
“I think they learned in the conference a lot about their faith. I hope that they learn how to be joyful with it and how to live joyfully, even in the midst of all the chaos going on around them,” said Durocher.
Stefanick’s rules are just the beginning of a series of small group sessions called “Living Joy.” These small groups will dive into all the steps that will help participants practice the essentials of their faith. They begin Sept. 12 at St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Church.
Rhea Quemado, who teaches theology at Damien Memorial School, says some of the rules go in line with the needs of the youth who she works with.
“I really like the living joy rules, especially about loving yourself. I’m super big on mental health and how important this issue is now in this day and age working with the youth,” said Quemado.
For more information on “Living Joy” small groups visit: stjohnmililani.org.
