view from the pew

Mary Adamski: ‘Tis not the season to be jolly

11/25/2020 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW I’m sure most families have insider buzz words or phrases that are shorthand for some wisdom from the elders or reminders of a shared trait or an inside joke. One of ours is to say “pat, pat, pat” when someone is enduring pains or worries. To an outsider it may sound […]

Mary Adamski: Monumental musings

10/28/2020 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW Here we are at the annual holiday/holy days when we deliberately remember the dead. When we mark All Saints Day and All Souls Day, we Catholics celebrate being linked in the body of Christ with those who have gone before us. A lot of people think that’s just too grim or […]

Mary Adamski: There was a tiny whispering sound

08/05/2020 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW Is everyone out there recycling cartoons and photos of comic or caustic signs that are commentaries on life in these perilous times? I get a daily dose of stuff in the email box. I guess some are hilarious but I am overdosed. Not much to laugh at in this country, or […]

Mary Adamski: One solution: more benches

06/24/2020 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW Seeking peace at the end of a day, our eyelids are a screen with flashing images from the past weeks of civil unrest as protestors force us to confront our ugly national sin of racism. Some images are inspiring sights of people of diverse ethnic roots and many hues joined together […]

Mary Adamski: Contemplating the long road to Easter

03/04/2020 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW It’s almost a given that talking about plans for the long road ahead toward Easter will be about the “give ups.” Even Pope Francis discussed giving up personal electronics and social media during Lent. I was going to joke about exempting myself briefly from a vow to give up pastries because […]

Mary Adamski – The beatitudes: a path to true happiness

02/05/2020 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW Familiar words about fostering peace, justice and human rights spoken at a recent church service held a crowd enrapt and silent, and later exuberantly noisy when those sentiments were reflected in historical spiritual songs. It was only fitting that we focused on the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. […]

Mary Adamski: These days of December

12/26/2019 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW Oh, happy day, the nativity scene is finally up and we can bask in the glow of tree lights amid the imagery of the birth in Bethlehem. While the music makes our spirits soar, take deep breaths and let the frenzy of shopping lists, mailing deadlines, meeting expectations, maybe sadness or […]

Mary Adamski: Contemplating death and dire things

11/27/2019 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

View from the pew I was looking every which way to avoid the topic of this week. Feeling guilty that I should even talk about giving thanks, I should confess all the times I fail to do that, or mouth thanks but with an insincere or ungrateful heart … and that’s just in the past […]

Mary Adamski: Of bones, memories and the weary pilgrim

10/17/2019 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW Relics have been on my mind lately. I’m in a meditative mood not a morbid one as I think about our human tendency to hold onto a memory, a piece of history by clinging to a thing. It’s not just me reviewing my clutter, our landscape is full of memorials and […]

Mary Adamski: Words of love

07/25/2019 by Hawaii Catholic Herald

VIEW FROM THE PEW The priest at a recent Mass invited us to look away from him during the homily and focus on the oldtime visual aid, a stained glass window depicting the Good Samaritan parable. It’s classic religious art, vibrant colors for the well-dressed good guy and languishing robbery victim on the ground — […]