Deacon Raffy Mendoza, seen with wife Pinky, says his favorite part of diaconal ministry is joining other people on their faith journeys. (Courtesy Catholic Stewardship Consultants)
By Catholic Stewardship Consultants
www.CatholicSteward.com
When Deacon Raffy Mendoza was 10 years old, he witnessed his father’s conversion. After attending a Cursillo retreat, his father grew closer to the Lord, and watching his father grow in faith had a profound impact on Deacon Mendoza.
“I became more aware of the spiritual side of life,” Deacon Mendoza says. “This had a profound influence on me and my life’s direction.”
Deacon Mendoza attended a high school seminary and then in college, he began to pursue the priesthood as a Dominican.
“I was a postulant and a novice,” Deacon Mendoza says. “However, I have to admit that the priesthood was not my calling.”
Instead, God was calling Deacon Mendoza to the vocation of marriage. He married his wife, Maria Sofia “Pinky,” in December 1982 and together the couple raised three sons.
As a husband, father and professional in the work force, Deacon Mendoza continued to pursue God’s calling in his life. And when God opened the door for a professional opportunity in Hawaii, Deacon Mendoza followed God’s lead.
He and his wife left their home in the Philippines so that Deacon Mendoza could serve as director of international training for the Haggai Institute, an advanced Christian leadership training for evangelization which has an outpost in Maui. With that decision, their life began anew.
“Life begins at 50,” Deacon Mendoza says. “On my 50th birthday, I relocated from Manila, Philippines, to Maui to work for the Haggai Institute. And it was through this institute that I first learned about and began to practice stewardship.”
Once in Hawaii, Deacon Mendoza began serving at St. Theresa Church in Kihei. He was a guitarist, a prayer meeting and Bible study leader, and was involved in the baptism preparations together with his wife.
“I served in whatever capacity I was needed,” Deacon Mendoza says.
Upon seeing Deacon Mendoza’s servant leadership, Msgr. Terry Watanabe, then-pastor of St. Theresa, invited Deacon Mendoza to consider the permanent diaconate.
“I had no idea what that entailed since I had never been exposed to it,” Deacon Mendoza says. “There are no permanent deacons in the Philippines.”
But, encouraged by his pastor, Deacon Mendoza and his wife began to investigate what being a permanent deacon would involve, and what they found was yet another calling in his life.
Deacon Mendoza was ordained a deacon on Jan. 18, 2018, at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu, and he has been serving the church ever since.
“Becoming a deacon is a full-circle reality for me in the vocation to serve God as an ordained minister,” Deacon Mendoza says.
After ordination, Deacon Mendoza served at the co-cathedral before he was transferred to Mary, Star of the Sea Church in Honolulu in July 2019.
Today he serves as a deacon at Mary, Star of the Sea. And while he treasures his liturgical and sacramental responsibilities as a deacon, he says that his favorite part of diaconal ministry is accompanying people on their faith journeys as a certified Franciscan spiritual director.
“The most meaningful expression of my diaconate vocation is journeying with people in their spiritual lives as the foundation of a lived experience of stewardship,” Deacon Mendoza says.
What began for Deacon Mendoza as a 10-year-old boy bearing witness to Christ at work in his father’s life has continued through the many seasons of his own life. Deacon Mendoza recognizes that Christ is calling each one of us to himself, and when we give ourselves to Christ in selfless loving service, we find deep fulfillment in the life he offers us.
“Today’s world needs faithful witnesses to the risen and living Jesus Christ,” Deacon Mendoza says. “We can become witnesses by living a life of stewardship, a deeply rooted belief that everything we have — and, in fact, all of creation — is a gift from God. Humans are called to act as stewards rather than owners of these gifts.”
