Faith leaders gathered around the Taize cross for last month’s prayer service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Newman Center/Holy Spirit Parish at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. (Courtesy Dann Ebina)
View from the pew
Nearly 100 people came together to pray and worship God at Newman Center/Holy Spirit Parish last month, but most of them were not Catholic.
A group of men preparing to become deacons met this month to learn about some of the first people to bring Christianity to Hawaii — Protestant Congregational missionaries from New England and Anglican clergy from America and England.
The global leader of the Catholic Church told a group of young people in Singapore that “all religions are a path to arrive at God.” That was Pope Francis during his 12-day trip to Asia and Oceania last September.
What? Do you believe this?
That’s just me dramatizing — it’s not as astounding as it may seem. For a modern Catholic living in our diverse island society, being open to accepting others is part of our nature. How can you not when you’ve got in-laws, neighbors, family friends and co-workers, and you want to live together in peace?
“Ecumenical” may not be a word in your vocabulary, but you know it when you see it.
The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, better known as Vatican II, encouraged interreligious dialogue — accepting and understanding others who may occupy pews or prayer rugs in other worship settings.
Documents about interreligious initiatives generated by church leaders and theologians during Vatican II are part of the curriculum at Chaminade University of Honolulu, which is contracted by the Diocese of Honolulu to educate deacon candidates. All students working for a Master of Divinity degree, including seminarians studying to be priests, tackle that subject of ecumenism.
“We find we have more in common when we focus on community, not differences,” said Chaminade associate professor Regina Pfeiffer.
Chaminade adjunct professor Willis Moore taught a class on Hawaii’s Christian history — “about those other people,” he called it. He spoke about King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma inviting the Anglican Church to establish a church here in 1862. Congregational missionaries arrived in 1820, and French Catholic priests with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts came in 1827.
The basis of belief
“Do you believe this?” is a direct quote from Jesus in John’s Gospel. It was this year’s theme for the annual celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
That’s what the January evening service at the Newman Center, attended by a mixed bag of Christians, was all about. Similar events were held throughout the world as part of a program that has been sponsored by the World Council of Churches for more than 100 years.
The Vatican, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Protestant denominations endorse and generate prayers and documents to be used.
“Do you believe this?” sounds kind of sassy. When I first read that that was the theme this year, I thought it sounded like a challenge.
I thought I would have preferred last year’s theme: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That quote from Jesus, recorded in three Gospels, was his answer to a man’s question about what is the greatest commandment.
In this time of strife, violence and intolerance, it seems like a good year to rerun last year’s theme, the reminder from on high about loving our neighbor.
When Jesus said, “Do you believe this?”, it was in response to a friend who was upset with him for failing to save her brother from death. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus’ answer to Martha after he raised Lazarus from the dead was: “I am the resurrection and the life … everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
And Martha affirmed that she knew he is the Messiah.
In the past, different denominations in Hawaii took turns hosting the annual prayer get-together. But they have voted for years to keep coming back to the Catholic Newman Center, located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which uses the model of chanting and quiet reflective prayer around a cross that originated with the ecumenical congregation of the Taize monastery in France. No preaching happens.
Buried in the small print was the reason the sponsors chose to emphasize belief: It was about the Nicene Creed, which Catholics recite during Mass. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was celebrating the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
That event 1,700 years ago was the very first of formal councils that brought bishops from throughout Christendom together to work through questions and differing interpretations of Christ’s teaching. It established the creed and the beginning of canon law.
Some of the deacon candidates attended the Manoa service. Learning experiences ahead of them include visiting a Buddhist temple and the Jewish Temple Emanu-El, and attending a meeting with a member of the local Muslim community.
The local men are, in a modest way, following in Pope Francis’ footsteps. On his history-making trip to Asia, he spent time with Muslim leaders in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world.
Working on getting along
The Manoa event made me remember the late Maryknoll Sister Joan Chatfield, who was the epitome of ecumenical advocacy. She was the Catholic face at local interfaith events and a leader of The Interfaith Alliance of Hawaii.
A teacher at local Catholic high schools and a Chaminade dean, she served as chair of a diocesan commission on ecumenism. She died in 2019 at the age of 86.
One of the deacon candidates told Pfeiffer that he thinks parishes should have some event during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
I do think that’s a great idea but I doubt it would work. Does your pastor, staff, congregation or school interact with other denominations in your area? We don’t even collaborate with the Catholic parish about two miles away.
The fact that they are run by different religious orders may be a clue. We did share our food pantry collection with the nearby Episcopal parish in the past. Otherwise, it’s weddings and funerals when you find a non-Catholic in our midst.
However, we may have some interaction with what Moore jokingly called “those other people” next month. We’ve got a sign aloft promoting “A Taste of St. Patrick” featuring food trucks, musical entertainment, craft booths and an auction of donated items. It’s a fundraiser for the parish school where some of the students aren’t Catholic, so this could be our chance to shine ecumenically.
I’m not knocking the socializing event. It’s part of our somewhat new pastor’s campaign to resuscitate a place where parish involvement has largely been Sunday Mass. Period.
Sacred Hearts Father Lusius Nimu, after one year as pastor, told me, “I want to make people feel this is our family, not just come to Mass and leave. I feel that people are hungry for gatherings. We need to get a person to volunteer, to realize you have talent, your time, the idea of stewardship, to know whatever you have comes from God and be willing to share it.”
He has revived the tradition of a monthly hospitality Sunday, with donuts and drinks after Mass. He appointed a parish council selecting representatives from each Mass who meet monthly.
They helped to organize a Christmas party that was a huge success. “I was really happy with the party; 164 people signed up,” said Father Nimu. “The school kids entertained so that brought the parents. People were asking, ‘When is the next one?’”
And the next one, ta-dah, is coming soon, with a St. Patrick’s Day party in the works.
Currently the council members are strategizing their way through a list of nearly two dozen suggestions made by parishioners at a recent “town hall” meeting.
The two most urgent problems to be addressed are renovating the World War II-era public bathrooms and attacking the termite infestation in the sacristy. Luckily for us, the former pastor handled a major church renovation — new roof, ceiling tiles, flooring and interior painting, as well as refurbished pews. Much of it was paid for through insurance, God bless him.
Because if you’re Catholic, you well know the mantra about stewardship. It’s not just time and talent they’ll be needing — the other piece of that trinity is treasure.
