Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Mary Adamski: It’s possible for everyone to get along

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View from the pew Nearly 100 people came together to pray and worship God at Newman Center/Holy Spirit Parish last month, but most of them were not Catholic. A group of men preparing to become deacons met this month to learn about some of the first people to bring Christianity to Hawaii — Protestant Congregational […]

Mary Adamski: In search of hope amid hard times

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View from the pew “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” It’s the sort of statement that seemed profound, lifted from a shared memory of folk sayings, or like a proverb, something possibly biblical. It is the kind of common wisdom people shared, an old-school version of a modern trend to quote from movies or […]

Mary Adamski: Volunteering with a grateful, joyous heart

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View from the pew The origin of our traditional holiday of Thanksgiving was a combination of body and soul, feasting and religious observance. That is still true for thousands of celebrants who address their prayers of thanks to God in the many ways he is known by the many cultures that have made this country […]

Mary Adamski: Aloha spirit helps us respect others’ dignity

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  View from the pew Writing about religions in our community was my thing for years. So recent stories in the secular press, which now rarely gives an inch of space to faith, stimulated a strong urge to write. At first my intended venue was the “letters to the editor” section rather than this Catholic […]

Mary Adamski: Crises, hard times prompt reflection and a new outlook

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View from the Pew Pentecost has always been one of my favorite church holy days. I love the imagery of the Holy Spirit appearing as tongues of fire over the apostles, freeing them from fear and sending them forward afire with zeal to share what Jesus taught them. It’s a resounding “amen” finale to 50 […]

Mary Adamski: Bevy of birds brings focus, inspiration

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VIEW FROM THE PEW Every time I set out on this journey of stringing words and ideas together, my mind drifts back to student days. I’m back in a high school math class desperately mentally mumbling formulas for some GPA-significant test. A worse nightmare, it’s a college philosophy class where the overnight caffeinated cramming is […]

Mary Adamski: The month of music, mayhem, feasting, fasting and love

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VIEW FROM THE PEW Whoo-eee! Hasn’t February been a raucous month. Deafening decibels of music and challenging, downright belligerent chants. Extremes of bragging and dramatic tears, jeers and cheers. Events demanding conspicuous consumption of sinfully rich food and high caloric sweet treats, days and days of it. Extravagant, expensive clothes flaunted in a discordant contrast […]