Deacon Marlowe and Maggie Sabater with their sons Sealthiel Miggy, left, and Uriel Mauwie, at Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio, where Deacon Sabater first considered the diaconate. (Courtesy Deacon Marlowe Sabater)
Hawaii’s permanent deacons
By Deacon Marlowe Sabater
Special to the Herald
“A leaf floating along the gentle stream.” That is how my wife, Maggie, and I described our lives and our journey in diaconate formation. For some reason, we found ourselves being carried by the steady flow of God’s providence.
Both Maggie and I are cradle Catholics who grew up in the faith through the Catholic education system in the Philippines. I was born and raised by devout Catholic parents and spent my elementary years under the care of the Franciscan sisters and my high school years with Salesian priests and brothers.
I thought that with devout parents who raised me to pray at every meal, attend church every Sunday and spend all that time in Catholic school, I would be equipped to live a morally upright life. My goal was simply to be a good person and cruise through life until I grew old. But God had other plans.
God has a unique way of designing pivotal moments in our lives. One significant moment was when I met my wife, Maggie.
The first time we met was when she rang the doorbell at my parents’ house after my mom had pleaded with her to tutor my youngest sibling. Did I mention that she is a teacher?
I didn’t know her beforehand, though I had heard her name since she was a teacher for my second youngest sibling. What I didn’t realize at that time was that she had also grown up with the Franciscan sisters in her province, that she was a lector at our church and that she was a devout Catholic.
During our dating period, she invited me to join her for adoration. I happily agreed, though in reality, I didn’t know what to do there since my only experience had been falling asleep during a previous visit with my mom. I just sat quietly and prayed, believing that was what one does in an adoration chapel.
I didn’t know that this moment would be pivotal for her. According to Maggie, that was the sign that she had found “the guy.”
Little did I know that God sent Maggie to be my wife — one of the pivotal moments in my life — providing a strong foundation for my diaconal journey. We got married and were blessed with two wonderful sons, Sealthiel Miggy and Uriel Mauwie (the first of their first names are two of the seven archangels). We made sure our sons grew up active in the faith, with Maggie and the boys involved as sacristans and altar servers in our parish, Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio.
Meanwhile, I found myself sitting quietly at the back of the church every Sunday, since my goal in life was just to be a good person and cruise along until I got old. Little did I know that God was slowly and quietly preparing me for something more.
The call to serve came when an elderly gentleman in the parish suggested that I should consider becoming a deacon while we washed our hands in the parish restroom before Mass. Moses had the burning bush, Samuel heard a voice in his sleep, and I received my calling in the restroom.
During the same Mass, Deacon Joe Ancheta announced an information session about deacon formation that evening. That was the second pivotal moment.
Needless to say, we applied and were accepted. I became an aspirant in the first year, a candidate in the second, installed as a lector in the third, and installed as an acolyte in the fourth.
At each of these stages, my wife supported me, knowing that our lives would never be the same because she was signing off on sharing her husband with the church.
How did we get through this rigorous and demanding formation? With total trust in God’s providence. Like a leaf floating along a gentle stream, we let go of our urge to control our lives and allowed God to lead us where he wanted us to be.
A leaf on a stream is at the mercy of the currents and forces that guide the water. Our lives during formation and even after ordination have been at the mercy of God’s will and plan. It wasn’t always smooth. We encountered turbulent moments, but we held on tightly to our faith in God, who would never let us sink or run aground.
As I mentioned, God has a unique way of designing pivotal moments in our lives. Instead of guiding me through medical school, he redirected me toward a career in fisheries, which I had not anticipated.
God shifted my life from merely cruising as a good person to one of serving and leading his people to become “fishers of men.” He placed Maggie and me in a position to lead the Apostleship of the Sea ministry, which serves the needs of fishermen in the fisheries where I work. It’s a perfect synergy of my secular career and my vocation.
God not only has a unique way of designing his plans for us; he has a beautiful way of building our very lives.
Deacon Marlowe Sabater serves at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu and is coordinator of the diocese’s Apostleship of the Sea ministry.
