The house always had to be shining clean for Christmas and since Mom ruled, we the children took the vacuum cleaner nozzle into the deepest corners and the dustcloths to the tops of all those many framed things on the walls. That wasn’t quite going where no kid had been before, but it was shifting […]
Mary Adamski: Battlelines drawn
Stories and images of fighting the enemy to his knees or his death, smiting those who oppose us, making them feel the hurt, are imbedded in our brains, whether you tune into the world news, are a movie buff or play video games. Smash them, thrash them, count the wins, count the bodies. For a […]
Mary Adamski : You don’t have to wait for a special day of the year to express your gratitude
Happy Thanksgiving. Let the celebration begin. You say “What? Wait! A month too early. Wait til the Halloween decorations are down.” But the time to shift into the thanks-giving gear is now. A few experiences in the past weeks were reminders that the season of thanks shouldn’t wait for the arbitrary date selected to mark […]
Mary Adamski: Sustainable acts of kindness
Random acts of kindness. Someone created that phrase a couple decades ago to package the concept of spontaneous and anonymous generosity to help or cheer a total stranger. I believe it was dreamed up as an antidote to “random acts of violence,” the unexplainable bursts of cruelty and destruction that fill the news and wrench […]
Mary Adamski: Boot camps, religious and otherwise
Jeremy Sabugo, Justin Carrigan and Michael Kamauoha stand in front of Father Johnathan Hurrell, seated, at their profession of first vows, Aug. 10, in St. Patrick Church. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz) It was a moment for mini-meditation during a traffic stall last week along the University of Hawaii dormitory row — a conscious […]
Mary Adamski: Thou shall not kill
It seems that there’s been such clamor of words in my ears for the past few weeks that it’s hard to sit down and sort them into quiet thoughts on a keyboard. If you haven’t been battered with the details of two murder trials, in Florida and in Hawaii, you’ve succeeded in being a better […]
Mary Adamski: Getting the full story, from family histories to Gospel accounts
How I wish I’d taken notes when the old folks were reminiscing. The stories about hard times and good experiences of the immigrant generation in the new country, milestones as their children grew and separations as family members scattered, they’re now down to just a few surviving anecdotes, somewhat out of context, nothing written by […]
Mary Adamski: Images and likenesses: religious art, when words are not enough
Christ is risen. Christ will come again. It’s the reality we believe in. We try hard to exalt in it each year at Easter season. In dark times like this month’s tragedies, it’s not easy to embrace joy and hope and know that there will always be the Light. Catholics have always used art to […]
Mary Adamski: A perfect teaching moment
Catholic schools in Hawaii suspended lesson plans and used the past month of historical and dramatic events in Rome as a teaching opportunity. With 21st century fixation on immediate information, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and the selection of his successor reached the level of breaking news around the world for the past month. […]
Mary Adamski: Confession: O Sacrament most difficult
A funny thing happened on the way to confession. I chickened out. Again. The timing was right. It was that 30-minute window of opportunity on Saturday that a priest in my parish is on tap. I’d talked myself through this. It’s been months. I’m feeling yucky about something going on in my life. I can […]