Pope Francis and Archbishop Francesco Massara of Camerino-San Severino Marche pray before a partially destroyed statue of Mary in the cathedral of Camerino, Italy, June 16, 2019. The statue and the cathedral were damaged during an earthquake in October 2016. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“God remembers us as we are, in our frailty … He returns to us with the heart, because we are in His heart … Remembering is a key word for life … Remembering gives us the strength not to surrender.” (Pope Francis, homily for Trinity Sunday, June 16, Camerino, Italy)
Pope Francis spoke these comforting words during his visit to the Italian hill town of Camerino where residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives after a series of devastating earthquakes in 2016. The quakes, which registered up to a 6.6 magnitude, were among the most destructive natural disasters to hit Italy in more than 30 years. In the aftermath, nearly 300 were reported dead and many homes and buildings are still in ruins.
Our Holy Father shared his encouraging paternal message on Trinity Sunday, which was Father’s Day in America, focusing on the meaning of remembrance, hope and connectedness. He used the Italian verb “ricordare” (which means “to remember,” or to “return with the heart”) to remind us that we are always in the heart of God, Our Father: “We may be small under heaven and powerless when the earth trembles, but for God we are more precious than anything.”
The pope acknowledged that everyone needs a special “someone to help us carry the burdens we have inside,” which is why Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who transforms “the wounds of the past into memories of salvation … because the Holy Spirit is the rebuilder of hope … a hope with strong roots, which no storm of life can eradicate.” He continued, saying the Holy Spirit can transform our difficult memories into hope that nourishes, and “pushes us to rebuild and to do so together.”
The pope’s inspiring homily also rings true for many people here in Hawaii, who continue their struggle to recover, repair and rebuild after lava flows and floods devastated communities on the Big Island and Kauai last year. The scars of the destruction are still fresh for many, but the message of hope is alive and evident through living examples of the Holy Spirit at work.
HOPE Services Hawaii (an affiliate of the Catholic Diocese on the Big Island) continues to accompany and aid Puna lava victims at the Pahoa Sacred Heart Shelter and Hale Iki temporary housing. HOPE has served hundreds of families with rent assistance and is currently working to install prefabricated homes for vulnerable kupuna on land behind Sacred Heart Church in Pahoa.
Meanwhile, Kauai’s St. Catherine Parish, through its mission church of St. William in Hanalei and its food pantry, continues to serve families hit hard by the record-breaking floods. Catholics across the state continue to aid victims of natural disasters here and around the world.
Pope Francis concluded his Holy Trinity homily by emphasizing that “the Trinity is not a theological puzzle, but the splendid mystery of God’s closeness.” He said, “God is not up there, distant and indifferent. We pray to the God who remembers us in his heart, the God who is close to us.”
Indeed, God is always with us as our Father, through his Son, Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit, who is sent to remind us that we are never alone and that God is with us always. The Holy Spirit also encourages us to reach out to others, to open our hearts to each other and to be enriched by compassion and solidarity. This happens in the heat and immediate wake of a disaster, but is more difficult to sustain a year or two later — unless we remember our God, the Holy Trinity, is all about the splendid mystery of connectedness and community.
For more information on how the Holy Spirit is working throughout our diocese in works of compassion and active solidarity, please visit our website at www.officeforsocialministry.org.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
