(Courtesy Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP)
Viriditas2: Soul Greening
Siblings Victoria and Easton DelaCruz, students at Chaminade University of Honolulu, are from As Lito, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Victoria is a third-year data science major with a minor in community and public health. Easton is a second-year communications major with a minor in education.
Sister Malia: How did you come to embrace your faith?
Victoria: We were raised in a very Catholic environment. Every Saturday we would sleep at our grandmother’s house and follow her to church at 6 a.m. We did that since about second grade.
Easton: Even younger.
Sister Malia: As college students away from home, how do you keep your faith going?
Easton: I think it is the influence of our friends; we all go to church together. It is up to us to really try to find God in our lives. I remember one retreat where Father Chris asked, “Where is God in your car? Is he the one driving the car, driving your life? Is he in the passenger’s seat telling you what to do where you can respond ‘no’ or ‘yes’? Is he in your back seat or in your trunk where you totally forgot about him?” If we can find where God is in our life, we will be stronger in our faith.
Victoria: The Chaminade Scholars religious scholarship program has been helpful. For the program, there are some events that we need to go to, but there are also retreats and monthly talks from different people in the Catholic faith that keep us engaged. Just being in a community of other young people who are serious about the faith encourages us in our own. We aren’t the only ones going to church at school.
Sister Malia: How do you encourage other young adults to get started?
Victoria: I think it is difficult depending upon what people have been exposed to in their lives. To someone who doesn’t know much about the Mass, taking them to Mass might be boring to them. Also, it is hard trying to whisper explanations to them when we’re not supposed to be talking during Mass.
Easton: Some people have said, “Why do you folks just stand, and sit, and stand and kneel, and listen to the guy talk, and sing, and go up and receive bread?” It’s difficult to explain the relationship between God, Jesus’ body and bread to those who don’t know.
Sister Malia: Aside from external expressions of the faith, how have you developed your relationship with God?
Easton: Today, people like to say that they were forced to go to church. It’s true that we did not have a choice to get baptized and to receive the sacraments. It is only when I came to Chaminade that I had to make my own choice. Am I going to go to church or not? People often say that they have something better to do on a Sunday. Grandma isn’t there to say, “Come on guys, wake up and get ready for church.” I now know the Lord is with us 24/7.
Victoria: What might get others more active in their faith, is to develop a relationship with God or Jesus. Especially during struggles, when people think they don’t have someone in their corner, open your heart to God.
