Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Father Kenneth Doyle: Was author of ‘Hail, Holy Queen’ troubled? Did God create COVID-19?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: The prayer “Hail, Holy Queen” has three phrases in it that trouble me. They are: “to thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve”; “mourning and weeping in this valley of tears”; and “after this, our exile.” The author of this prayer makes life on earth appear to be a punishment. […]

Greg Erlandson: The pandemic’s grace notes

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AMID THE FRAY It is always impressive to hear the stories of people who rush toward danger when others are fleeing. Remember Ventura County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus? He lost his life when without hesitation he rushed into the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, to stop a mass shooter. Remember Lt. Jason […]

Father Eugene Hemrick: The positive side of solitude

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THE HUMAN SIDE Most people do not like to be alone. But why? Solitude comes from the Latin, “solus,” meaning alone, connoting seclusion and isolation. Loneliness has an undesirable connotation of being friendless, rejected, forsaken and forlorn. Some people embrace solitude, others find it intolerable. Examining its relation to silence and recollection reveal it can […]

Talk story: Multiplication of the plate lunches

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OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY “May the Risen Christ, who flung open the doors of the tomb, open our hearts to the needs of the disadvantaged, the vulnerable, the poor, the sick, the unemployed, the marginalized, and all those who knock at our door in search of bread, refuge and the recognition of dignity.” (Pope Francis […]

Father Eugene Hemrick: Something missing in the Mass

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THE HUMAN SIDE While watching Mass on television at St. Mathew’s Cathedral in Washington, I thanked God for technology, and especially its gift to shut-ins. Yet seeing empty pews made me feel something was missing. Lacking was an aging parishioner ascending church steps with difficulty. He could easily be excused, but Mass means everything to […]

Msgr. Owen F. Campion: Contact with Jesus through the church

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SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21 The Acts of the Apostles once again this Easter season furnishes the first reading. In the readings of the weekends earlier in this season, the identity of the Apostles has clearly been given. The Apostles, absent Judas of course, had exercised the very […]

Carolyn Woo: ‘Thank you’ is not enough

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THE GLOBAL FAMILY One of my routines in the early pandemic lockdown was to shop at a big-box retailer at 6 a.m. Along with food, a key purchase was fabric and supplies that allowed me to make face masks with my very rudimentary sewing skills. Over the weeks, I struck up a rapport with the […]