Lani Wong, bottom left, and Deacon Derek Wong, standing in white shirt, with members of their ohana. (Courtesy Deacon Derek Wong)
By Deacon Derek Wong
Special to the Herald
It took me 59 years to become a member of the Catholic faith. Why so long?
One would think that graduating from a Catholic high school (Damien Memorial, 1975) and a Jesuit college (Loyola Marymount University, 1979), I was already a Catholic.
My parents always wanted my brothers and me to become Catholic, but sports were top of mind growing up and we had no time for church.
Baseball, basketball and golf occupied my early years. Unluckily for me at the time, I was a late bloomer.
Playing intramural sports in college with the Hawaiian Club, we took yearly championships in basketball, flag football and soccer.
Then I was recruited by the rugby coach at LMU and became a starter on the team as a sophomore. I continued playing rugby after graduation for the Santa Monica Rugby Club and the Belmont Shore Rugby Club from 1980 to 1985.
Playing competitive golf in Southern California Golf Association tournaments was also a passion, with my career round of 2-under-par 70 coming at Soule Park in a pro-member tournament in July 1993.
They say that God has a plan for us. My story is a testament to the mysterious way God works.
I met my wife, Lani, while working at GTE in California in 1990. I had just gotten divorced and was not wanting to enter a relationship. But there was something there that brought us together — so much so that we only dated for three months, got engaged and then got married in August 1991. I had found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
Two children and two grandchildren later, we are still happily married, retired and serving the church.
Lani, a “cradle Catholic,” was very instrumental in my journey to the Catholic faith.
In April 2013, after my father passed away, I started battling panic/anxiety attacks. In February 2016, the attacks got worse.
I saw a psychologist, acupuncturist, hypnotist, Hawaiian healer and a nutritionist with some success. Lani convinced me to attend a Sunday Mass at St. Jude Church in Kapolei with her. After a few times saying, “I don’t have time,” I decided to go to a Sunday Mass with her.
The moment I stepped into the entrance of St. Jude, I felt a sense of peace run through my mind and heart. It was the Holy Spirit piercing my body and offering me peace. Returning for a few more Sundays, Lani told me that I could become Catholic through the RCIA program.
Embracing God’s call, I was baptized, confirmed and received my first holy Communion from Father Khanh Hoang during the Easter Vigil on April 15, 2017.
I have not had a panic/anxiety attack since.
Embracing my new Catholic faith, Father Hoang asked me to be an altar server at Wednesday evening Masses. Soon after, he asked me to become a homebound Eucharistic minister.
I was taking the Blessed Sacrament to the elderly at Ilima at the Leihano senior living community. Then COVID struck.
It was then I had the feeling that God wanted me to do more. Deacons Will Friese and John Coughlin, Bonnie and Tony Boquer, and Lana Vargas spoke to Lani and me about diaconate formation — a divine vocation geared to helping the church in its mission of salvation of souls.
The formation is five years of theology, homiletics, hospice ministry training, prison ministry training and practicums.
On Jan. 20 and 27, 2024, six of us on Oahu and our two brothers from Maui — collectively, Cohort 10 — were ordained as deacons for the Diocese of Honolulu.
Being involved at St. Jude Church is now Lani’s and my life. Also, with a recommendation from Hyun Underwood, I am a part-time employee at St. Francis Hospice.
I was actually born at St. Francis in 1957 when it was still a hospital. Talk about full circle.
So why did it take me 59 years to become Catholic? Because God knew when the time was right. I now have a purpose and direction on how to live the rest of my time here on Earth.
