Maria Lanakila’s mosaic of St. Damien (Courtesy photo)
REFLECTION
By Sherry Hayes-Peirce
Special to the Herald
On Aug. 9, I switched on the Today Show as is my morning routine and was devastated to see Front Street in Lahaina with flames advancing toward the historic banyan tree. My heart sank and memories of my time with my dearly departed husband and I sitting under the banyan tree eating ice cream cones stirred tears. With each passing hour, days and now weeks it has been difficult to absorb the reality that the community that I embraced as ohana every December is so wounded and mourning such incredible loss.
Initial reports that Maria Lanakila Church was lost were especially hard. Every year since 2006, when we bought our timeshare, I’ve attended Mass there on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, my husband’s birthday and Sundays. I loved the beautiful simplicity of the wooden pews, the mosaic of St. Damien of Molokai and the feeling of welcome whenever I walked through the doors.
It was always my tradition to walk across the street to visit a little shop to pick up a seashell ornament to always have a little aloha be a part of my Christmas tree — more tears. Being on Maui always brings me such peace, a time to pray and connect with Christ. Then the death toll numbers began to be reported and my tears for the loss of personal experiences were dwarfed by grief for those who lost homes, businesses, historical artifacts and, worst of all, family and friends in this tragic disaster.
Hearing the harrowing stories of people living in Lahaina having to jump into the ocean to escape the flames and the heroism of so many who helped to literally keep people afloat in the ocean until help arrived — miraculous!
Listening to local political leaders talk about the loss of Hawaiian culture, generational homesteads and thieves looming to monetize the loss was unimaginable.
In speaking to friends who felt helpless to do anything to alleviate the suffering of our adopted ohana, we gave to the Catholic Charities Hawaii fund. Some offered their timeshare weeks to house homeless families. I thought of cancelling my upcoming trip to Maui, thinking it would be too hard to visit and not be able to have my Lahaina experiences. Then images of Maria Lanakila surviving began to surface on social media. I thought they were fake until the Diocese of Honolulu confirmed it was true.
I was so happy to know that my vacation church home was still standing! I decided that my plans to travel to Maui would stand too. It would be such a gift to be in what must be a holy place during the season of Advent and to support the local economy.
Just like memories of my husband, especially those of our times together in Old Lahaina, memories of Lahaina will remain always in my heart and mind. A great quote from our beloved St. Damien comes to mind, “He gives Himself every day so that our hearts as burning coals may set afire the hearts of the faithful.” In the end we must not focus on the flames that took away so much, but the flames of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that burn in your hearts and the hearts of so many who are praying for you in this time of despair.
As St. Marianne Cope said, “The charity of the good knows no creed and is confined to no one place.” May every person who reads this article request a Mass intention at your parish so that prayers for the people of Maui continue beyond the news cycle.
Sherry Hayes-Peirce is a Hawaii Catholic Herald columnist based in California.
