Viriditas2: Soul Greening
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Maile and Patricia are parishioners at St. Rita Church in Nanakuli. Maile has seven children; Patricia has three children still living. Both are instructors in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd educational program.
“What keeps you inspired?” I asked Patricia and Maile, mothers and faith leaders whose lives are rooted in prayer and service.
For Patricia, the answer was simple: silence.
“Silence and the contemplative way of prayer,” she explained. “Teaching the youngest children also inspires me. They so naturally enter silence when given the right environment.”
Maile smiled. “For me, it’s our mother, whom we call ‘Mama.’ I also love to hear little tidbits from the mystics and saints, like Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Teresa of Avila.” Patricia added: “Julian of Norwich, the Beguines and of course, Mother Mary.”
Maile continued: “I admire Pope John Paul II and his theology of the body. Teaching the dignity of human sexuality to our youth is a privilege.”
Both women discovered a path that has transformed their lives: the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
Patricia: “I saw something deep in the children and realized that what we were offering them wasn’t nourishing enough. Discovering Montessori’s contemplative approach to being with children, I felt like a fish coming to water. The training sessions were long, but deep. My faith grew tremendously, and Mary guided the whole process.”
For Maile, the journey unfolded within her family. Her husband, raised Buddhist, watched carefully as she lived her Catholic faith. “I found himself asking himself: ‘Who is this woman and what is she so in love with?’ He observed my love affair with the faith and saw the joy and dignity our children received through the catechesis. Even the youngest children learned who they are and their incredible value in God’s eyes. My husband recognized the light growing in them, and through that, he fell in love with Christ.”
Both women emphasize the gift of stillness. “We saw how quiet and content the children became,” Patricia said. “They could sit for 20 or 30 minutes, then exclaim, ‘My body is so happy.’ When we step back and allow the Holy Spirit to lead, children can’t get enough.”
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd rests on two pillars: Scripture and liturgy. Yet it begins in simplicity — a prayer table at home, reading a single verse, then resting together in silence.
“The mission,” Maile said, “is to invite the child and the family into contemplative prayer. We give small, bite-sized experiences they can chew on. Slowly, they come to know not only who God is, but who they are in Him.”
In an age of noise and hurry, the women’s ministry offers something rare: the gift of holy silence, where kids and adults find their deepest joy.