VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
My mother is from Kohala and my father is from Kona. I spent 17 years at St. Joseph, Hilo, going to school there until the eighth grade. The Hawaiian culture that I grew up in really enriched my background and parallels the Franciscan spirit that I embraced when I became a religious sister. Actually, my parents, who were converts to Catholicism, have been like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Marianne Cope to me in so many ways.
We were six children in the Ahuna household. Growing up, we never knew who my father — who worked on the railroad — would bring home for dinner. My mother, a school teacher, never got excited. Even though she had a busy schedule, she came home and cooked. And we all sat down and ate. My parents were like that. They accepted everyone. One day I did ask my mother why there were so many strangers that always came to dinner. [Many were] soldiers my father welcomed to our table.
When I was working in Kalaupapa, I found my outlook on life further broadened. Unbeknownst to me, relatives from my mother’s side — the Hohu clan — loved to go to Kalaupapa to play music for the patients with Hansen’s disease. It was a natural attribute of my family to reach out to others. As I learned more about Mother Marianne, I realized that like St. Francis, regardless of denomination — be someone Buddhist, Congregationalist or other — she accepted each person. In Kalaupapa, I was able to witness to the beauty of this fundamental openness and welcome, being available to all.
I love helping people. I especially enjoy working with teenagers. There are many teenagers and young adults in need of guidance today. They don’t want to admit that they need a mentor. Even though I am retired, I feel that if I can still serve in some way, that is good.
With the upcoming celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life in the diocese, I hope my health will sustain me so that I can visit with the vocation teams my father’s hometown in Kohala. I wish that I can reach out to those who have not been exposed to Catholic education, and other island people, to invite them to respond to a religious vocation which I find a hundredfold rewarding. It is a great joy to be able to serve as a Franciscan.
Regarding my personal prayer, it is very simple. In the morning I ask the saints to help me; in the evening, I thank them. As I have a great devotion to the Infant Jesus, I start by praying, “Infant Jesus, help me.” I repeat this intercession several times. Then, I move on to pray for help from other saints, for example, “Saint Francis and Saint Clare, help me,” while repeating the same several times. I include my guardian angel, my parents, Mother Marianne, and others.
My last intercession I leave for the poor souls in Purgatory, especially for those who have no one to pray for them. There is only one thing I seek: “To dwell in the house of the Lord all my days.” My parents are saintly examples.
Sister Rose Annette Ahuna is a Franciscan Sister of the Neumann Communities. She is a retired religious educator, 63 years perpetually professed. She can be found helping in the office of Saint Francis School in Manoa. She resides at St. Francis Convent.
