VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
A lot of my life as a Maryknoll missionary in Hawaii centered around working with the people in the area of Kalihi on Oahu. I loved the cultural diversity there and easily made friends wherever I was.
My first three years were spent at St. John the Baptist School where I taught in the second grade and prepared the children for first Holy Communion. It was an exciting time for me. Due to my love of music, some friends helped me start a ukulele group. I will always remember Mrs. Loretta Mau for that. Others helped us transform the community room in our convent into a library, which we opened up to the children. The students loved that very much.
The Maryknoll Sisters later opened up a project in the Kalihi Valley Housing area. So, I moved out of education to work there. Eventually, I continued on to teach religious education at Our Lady of the Mount Parish in the valley. It was great.
In 1985, a need arose for someone to form the people in religious education in the Marshall Islands. I spent over two decades there teaching and forming catechetical leaders so that they could run their own programs. They were blessed years.
One of the hardest things I encountered as a missionary took place in 1979. My brother, at the young age of 47 had passed away. Sadly, my father also left this earth in February. News of my other brother dying in March had made me feel like Job in the Bible. It was like everything was being taken away from me. A good friend, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Sister Sheila, also passed away around that time. It was a very hard time.
I remember trying to figure out whether I should go home or not for my brother’s funeral as I had just returned to Hawaii from being on the Mainland. I remember going to the Manoa stream and spending a lot of time there. God was present in the rushing waters as I poured out all of my pain. And I found healing there with God in nature. My prayer life kept me going. I kept remembering as in Psalm 145:8, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
Every morning I do take an hour for prayer. I follow the Scriptures for the day and use some commentaries for further reflection. Sometimes I write down notes, other times I just sit in God’s presence. On Sundays, I have made it a part of my personal prayer to use sacred gestures to dance my prayer such as to the tune of “Come, worship the Lord.” God speaks to me a lot through nature, Scripture, music and dance.
Sister Dora R. Nuetzi is a Maryknoll Sister of St. Dominic. Born in Switzerland, she grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is 84 years old and 63 years professed. In 1965 she was missioned to Hawaii, where she remained for the most part until 1985. An educator, social worker and author, she wrote the history of the Maryknoll Sisters in the Marshall Islands. Her next project is writing the history of the Maryknoll Sisters in Yap. She resides at the Maryknoll Center in Ossining, New York.
