Hawaii Catholic Herald

04/29/2024

When a deadly wildfire devastated the historic Maui town of Lahaina last August — heavily damaging Sacred Hearts School — Principal Tonata Lolesio maintained her focus and determination to keep the school community together.

Guided by her faith and leadership experience, Lolesio was able to rally the school’s staff and students as they weathered the loss of their campus and adjusted to a temporary location at Sacred Hearts Mission Church in Kapalua. Though life is still far from normal, she remains a steadfast presence for the community.

Lolesio’s work has now earned her national recognition: Earlier this month she was honored by the National Catholic Educational Association with its “Lead. Learn. Proclaim” award, which celebrates excellence and distinguished service in Catholic school education. She was one of 11 educators from across the country chosen to receive the award.

Hawaii Catholic Herald When a deadly wildfire devastated the historic Maui town of Lahaina last August — heavily damaging Sacred Hearts School — Principal Tonata Lolesio maintained her focus and determination to keep the school community together. Guided by her faith and leadership experience, L...

04/27/2024

Space for children to play.

A place for them to grow.

And for the many families still facing incredible hardships, a safe place to go.

When Sacred Hearts School officially moves to its new temporary location in Kaanapali in a few months, it will mark the next step in recovery not just for the school community, but for the Lahaina community as well.

A new temporary campus in Kaanapali will better serve the needs of students, staff and the community By Celia K. Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Space for children to play. A place for them to grow. And for the many families still facing incredible hardships, a safe place to go. When Sacred Hearts Sch...

04/16/2024

Celebrating lives of discipleship!
Bishop Larry Silva will celebrate the annual Jubilarian Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 20. All are invited.
Get to know more about this year's Jubilarians on Hawaii Catholic Herald!
https://hawaiicatholicherald.com/2024/04/10/hawaiis-2024-jubilarians/

04/13/2024

The award-winning podcast “Hawaii Catholic Herald Highlights” is back with a new host and new stories to share throughout the Diocese of Honolulu.

On top of being an Army officer, Jack Rector has a passion for good conversations, a glass of whiskey and of course his faith. He’s taking on “Hawaii Catholic Herald Highlights” as the new host — working alongside his producer and wife, Herald reporter Jennifer Rector, to bring stories that are hidden gems throughout the islands for listeners to enjoy.

The first episode goes live April 12 with guest Manolo Quiason, affectionately known as Nolet.

From rocking the stage in Liverpool, England, to worshiping the Lord in the pews in Mililani, Quiason has shared his love for music throughout Hawaii and across the world.
https://hawaiicatholicherald.com/2024/04/10/podcast-returns-with-faith-filled-musician/

12/21/2023

Nativity sets portray the great event of the birth of the Lord Jesus, the great gift of Emmanuel, God-with-us. Although the birth of Jesus took place in a particular historical time and place, and although we know he and his family were Jews, Nativity sets often portray them with local faces and local features. There are portrayals of Baby Jesus and his family with African, Asian, Latino, Caucasian, or Pacific Island features. This is because the Body of Christ, the Church Jesus formed by the power of the Holy Spirit, is a diverse Body, encompassing all peoples and nations.

Bishop Larry Silva: Christmas 2023 Nativity sets portray the great event of the birth of the Lord Jesus, the great gift of Emmanuel, God-with-us. Although the birth of Jesus took place in a particular historical time and place, and although we know he and his family were Jews, Nativity sets often po...

11/10/2023

When a loved one dies there are questions you are forced to face even if you may not be in the right mind to answer them. Where is your loved one going to be buried? Will there be a rosary? How do you make arrangements for a funeral Mass? Do you need to provide food after the service? Do you want music for the funeral? How will you get through it all?

Parish bereavement ministries bring practical and long-term help for those disabled by grief By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald When a loved one dies there are questions you are forced to face even if you may not be in the right mind to answer them. Where is your loved one going to be buried?...

11/09/2023

Bishop Larry Silva celebrated a solemn All Souls Day Mass Nov. 2 at Sacred Hearts Church in Kapalua, with wildfire survivors and parishioners of Lahaina’s historic Maria Lanakila Church.

Bishop Larry Silva celebrated a solemn All Souls Day Mass Nov. 2 at Sacred Hearts Church in Kapalua, with wildfire survivors and parishioners of Lahaina’s historic Maria Lanakila Church. “We have come today to lament with you, to mourn with you, and to grieve with you,” Bishop Silva said in hi...

11/01/2023

Happy All Saints Day!

10/26/2023

Hawaii’s revitalized Carmelite convent celebrated its 50th year tucked in the Kailua-side slope of the Koolaus with a morning Mass Oct. 16 celebrated by Bishop Larry Silva and about 70 of the sisters’ families, friends and supporters.

By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald Hawaii’s revitalized Carmelite convent celebrated its 50th year tucked in the Kailua-side slope of the Koolaus with a morning Mass Oct. 16 celebrated by Bishop Larry Silva and about 70 of the sisters’ families, friends and supporters. The congregants over...

10/24/2023

Bishop Larry Silva will be celebrating All Souls Day Mass at Sacred Hearts Church in Kapalua, Maui on Nov 2 at 6pm. The Mass will be dedicated to the dead especially those who died in the Maui Fires.

Attached are the names of all the victims 🙏🏽🤍🕊

10/13/2023

As the Maui wildfires swept through Lahaina on Aug. 8 it took lives and homes, and left destruction. It’s been more than two months since the tragic event and folks in Maui are still working day and night to recover. At Sacred Hearts School, temporarily relocated nine miles north of its Lahaina address, the focus is on the children and their educational and emotional needs.

Maui wildfires EPIC ministry, one of the school’s first benefactors continues its mission of mercy By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald As the Maui wildfires swept through Lahaina on Aug. 8 it took lives and homes, and left destruction. It’s been more than two months since the tragic event ...

10/12/2023

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” wrote the 6th century Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. Fifty years ago, on Oct. 25, 1973, seven Carmelite nuns took that single step leaving the familiarity of their monastery walls in Stanley, Hong Kong, to answer Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 9:19, “everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” Some 5,544 miles later, across the Pacific Ocean, Mother Mary Agnes Tse, Sister Mary Angel Wong , Sister Teresita Tam, Sister Caroline Chow, Sister Marie Tang, Sister Agnes Marie Wong and Sister Agnella Iu arrived in Honolulu to found Hawaii’s Carmel of the Holy Trinity.

Hawaii’s only contemplative monastery celebrates a half century in the Islands By Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP Special to the Herald “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” wrote the 6th century Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. Fifty years ago, on Oct. 25, 1973, seven Carmelit...

10/12/2023

Square black-and-white fabric patches printed with the logo of NFL Raiders football team are arranged diagonally beside squares of blue, orange and other colors. Together they fashion a personal quilt, a special blanket of love created for a special person by a special ministry on Maui. The seven quilters add the final touch — hand-tied knots at the corners of each square — as they whisper prayers for the special intentions of the quilt’s intended recipient.

A small group of Maui quilters turn a home craft into a warm-hearted ministry touching many By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald Square black-and-white fabric patches printed with the logo of NFL Raiders football team are arranged diagonally beside squares of blue, orange and other colors. Toge...

09/30/2023

On the national level, Catholic Charities USA has collected $1 million toward Catholic Charities Hawaii Maui relief aid. This does not count the funds pouring in from other sources all over the world. The money will go toward temporary housing, financial assistance, counseling, everyday essential needs, and, in the future, rebuilding homes.

By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald At least 97 are confirmed dead and 31 remain unaccounted for after the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire that left behind a trail of destruction and heartbreak, becoming the fifth deadliest fire in U.S. history. The healing of survivors is underway. Many diocesan ministri...

09/28/2023

Fifty years ago, on Oct. 1, 1973, Sister Agnella Iu made her first profession of vows as a Carmelite Sister in Hong Kong. Twenty-four days later she would be in Hawaii, the youngest of seven founding nuns of Hawaii’s first Carmelite monastery, Carmel of the Holy Trinity, at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. Removed from the world, this cloistered, contemplative order, whose primary apostolate is prayer, celebrates the golden anniversary of its establishment in Hawaii on Oct. 25. Bishop Larry Silva will celebrate Mass with the sisters at their convent at 9 a.m. on Oct. 15 to commemorate the 50th anniversary. Sister Agnella is the only surviving member of the original seven. She and seven other sisters, from Hawaii and from the Philippines, make up the community today.

A soul unfolding: 50 years a Carmelite Fifty years ago, on Oct. 1, 1973, Sister Agnella Iu made her first profession of vows as a Carmelite Sister in Hong Kong. Twenty-four days later she would be in Hawaii, the youngest of seven founding nuns of Hawaii’s first Carmelite monastery, Carmel of the H...

09/27/2023

Parishioners at Resurrection of the Lord of the Lord Church in Waipio now have the option of making the parish their forever home. Literally. The parish has installed a columbarium, a wall of permanent niches for the urns of their dead, becoming the second Hawaii Catholic church to do so.

Diocese’s second columbarium installed at Resurrection Parish in Waipio, Oahu By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald Parishioners at Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio now have the option of making the parish their forever home. Literally. The parish has installed a columbarium, a wall o...

09/18/2023

International Catholic speaker Chris Stefanick jumps up and down with passion and love for the Lord at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church. He does not hide his love for God or, you can say, he cannot hide it. When he approached the doors of the Mililani church on Sept. 6, several hours before his “REBOOT” presentation there, he spread his arms wide to embrace the volunteers who would be working that evening at his talk.

By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald International Catholic speaker Chris Stefanick jumps up and down with passion and love for the Lord at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church. He does not hide his love for God or, you can say, he cannot hide it. When he approached the doors of the Mililani....

09/15/2023

"It has been a little more than a month since fires swept through the historic town of Lahaina. More than a hundred are confirmed dead. Thousands have lost their homes. Those left are survivors clinging to hope. Sometimes hope comes in the form of others. That’s the spirit EPIC Ministry is trying to provide in their mission to Maui."

By Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald It has been a little more than a month since fires swept through the historic town of Lahaina. More than a hundred are confirmed dead. Thousands have lost their homes. Those left are survivors clinging to hope. Sometimes hope comes in the form of others. Tha...

09/14/2023

"Members of the close-knit community of Sacred Hearts School Lahaina are coming together, in faith, in the wake of another disaster.

First, the COVID-19 pandemic forced families into isolation and homebound students into virtual classes. Then, as they regrouped and opened their doors for a new academic year, the raging Lahaina firestorm left ruins of their historic Catholic school and their extended family."

By Brian Perry Special to the Herald LAHAINA, Maui — Members of the close-knit community of Sacred Hearts School are coming together, in faith, in the wake of another disaster. First, the COVID-19 pandemic forced families into isolation and homebound students into virtual classes. Then, as they re...

09/13/2023

A smile. A wave. A hug. A bottle of water. An attentive and compassionate ear. A shoulder to cry on. A prayer.

A ministry of presence.

A steady stream of priests and deacons from across the diocese has been making its way to west Maui to provide spiritual support for the victims of the Lahaina wildfires, the worst natural disaster ever to hit the state of Hawaii...

By Patrick Downes and Jennifer Rector Hawaii Catholic Herald A smile. A wave. A hug. A bottle of water. An attentive and compassionate ear. A shoulder to cry on. A prayer. A ministry of presence. A steady stream of priests and deacons from across the diocese has been making its way to west Maui to [...

08/29/2023

08/29/2023

08/10/2023

Thanks to Father Alfred Omar Guerrero for spotting this video on TikTok.

12.1K likes, 308 comments. “Lahaina Church was saved . Jax was babtized here”

08/09/2023

If you have updates for Maui Catholics and churches/schools who have been affected by the wildfires, please email [email protected].

Prayers for all affected!

💙Thank you for your prayers and support 💙

07/23/2023

An update about Aunty Carmen’s Kitchen at St. Augustine By-The-Sea.

Free hot meals for the needy at St. Augustine by the Sea Catholic Church in Waikiki will resume Monday on church grounds in a move to appease Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others who urged that the social ministry be discontinued due to public safety concerns.

07/17/2023

"Back during the summers of 1985 and 1987, I worked at the Mary Jane Home in Kalihi Valley. Remember the RGS? Really Great Sisters? Actually, it is an acronym for the Religious of the Good Shepherd.

Catholic Charities had invited my congregation to staff its program then. We helped with women who were in a wounded place. The Mary Jane Home was a safe and caring place for u***d mothers. This ministry fit in well with the RGS charism of reconciliation. That is, of helping people move toward wholeness with themselves, God and others."

VIRIDITAS2: SOUL GREENING Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP Hawaii Catholic Herald Back during the summers of 1985 and 1987, I worked at the Mary Jane Home in Kalihi Valley. Remember the RGS? Really Great Sisters? Actually, it is an acronym for the Religious of the Good Shepherd. Catholi...