Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Reflection: A familiar song stirs thoughts of honoring dearly departed

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By Anthony Selvanathan Special to the Herald Sometimes the people we miss most return to us in the simplest ways. A familiar song. A favorite meal. An old photograph. A story told around the dinner table that everyone has heard a hundred times, but somehow still makes us laugh. No matter our age, death eventually […]

Bishop Michael T.T. Castori, SJ: Our jubilee of aloha

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E hiki mai kou aupuni By far one of the most uplifting and formative experiences of the “Baby Bishops School” that I attended in Rome in early September was the Sunday pilgrimage to Assisi that our group of fledgling bishops made to celebrate the Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis and to pray at […]

Reflection: Preserving, passing on canonization memories

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By Anthony Selvanathan Special to the Herald I was 16 when Father Damien became a saint. Three years later, at 19, I watched it happen again with Mother Marianne. Maybe I am unusual, but every October I still remember the dates: Oct. 11 and Oct. 21. On Oct. 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI canonized Father […]

Reflection: Behind the smile in the pew

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By Anthony Selvanathan Special to the Herald September is Suicide Prevention Month, and in recent weeks my social media feeds have been filled with reminders to check on one another, speak openly about mental health and remind people who are struggling that they are not alone. Those messages matter to me because I know something […]

Reflection: The power of presence

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By Anthony Selvanathan Special to the Herald There are moments when words fail us. Someone we love receives devastating news, a friend loses someone close to them, or a family finds itself overwhelmed by circumstances beyond its control. We want desperately to say something that will make things better, only to discover that sometimes there […]

Reflection: Voting as a practice of faith

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By Dawn Morais Webster Special to the Herald We often, routinely and publicly in church, acknowledge having sinned in thought, word and deed, “by what we have done, and by what we have failed to do.” We admit to not having loved God as we should, and to not having “loved our neighbors as ourselves.” […]

Reflection: Lifelong formation with Christ

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By Anthony Selvanathan Special to the Herald Across Hawaii, students are returning to classrooms with new teachers, fresh notebooks and high hopes for the year ahead. Parents are settling back into familiar routines, teachers are preparing lesson plans and campuses are once again filled with anticipation. The beginning of a new school year reminds us […]

Reflection: Michael our bishop

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By Anthony Selvanathan Special to the Herald This weekend, something will sound different at every Catholic Mass throughout the Diocese of Honolulu. For the first time, during the Eucharistic prayer, many island Catholics will hear the words, “Leo XIV our pope and Michael our bishop.” It may seem like a small change in a familiar […]