By Deacon Derek Wong
Special to the Herald
The deacons of the Diocese of Honolulu held their annual retreat Feb. 20-22 at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe.
The retreat’s theme was “Becoming What We Receive: The Eucharist and the Ministry of Deacons.”
Attendance was the largest it’s been in recent years, with more than 89 registered deacons, wives and widows participating in the weekend.
Deacons are constantly seeking and searching to improve our spiritual life so we can be better stewards of the Catholic faith. Our retreat leader was Deacon William Ditewig of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. — a familiar instructor for deacon formation cohorts, he was ordained a deacon for the archdiocese in 1990 while still on active duty with the U.S. Navy and is the former executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for the Diaconate.
During the retreat, Deacon Ditewig challenged us to live the mystery we celebrate at the altar as a mission after the 40 days of Lent — to bring the lament of the people to the altar and carry the mission of Christ beyond the church doors.
The weekend helped to reinforce the Eucharistic identity at the heart of the permanent diaconate. One of my takeaways was deacons’ important role in the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist during Mass: When we pour the drop of water into the chalice, we pray to the mystery of Christ’s humanity and divinity, and we also have the responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel.
One aspect of the retreat is a memorial in which we honor deacons and wives who have passed. Thank you to Lana Vargas, Jackie Contrades and Rose Nunogawa for coordinating the memorial session.
Lani Wong and I are extremely grateful and humble to the deacon leadership who have entrusted us with coordinating the deacon retreat weekend for the past two years.
Thank you to all those who attended, and we hope to see you all again next year as we welcome Cohort 11 into our deacon community.
Deacon Derek Wong is chair of the Deacon Council.
Above: The retreat attendees paused for a group photo at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe. (Courtesy Deacon Derek Wong)