Catholic Family Life in Hawaii

In 2002, I was interviewed for an article in England's National Association of Catholic Families's December issue of Catholic Family.

Esther C. Gefroh explains In Hawaiian, ‘ohana’ means ‘family’.
It is a very important word because life in Hawaii is centred on the family. We are blessed to be a
Catholic ohana in this beautiful state.

This year the Church celebrated 175 years in Hawaii. The date commemorates the arrival of
the Sacred Heart Fathers (the Order of St Damien de Veuster).

Before then, it was illegal to be Catholic; priests were expelled and people were arrested for being Catholic.

Today Catholicism is the majority religion; approximately 20% of the population is Catholic.

There are Catholic churches all over the islands and Mass attendance is high. This said, there is a shortage of priests in Hawaii and several parishes have had to be regrouped.

There are many devotions to help families to grow spiritually: the Rosary, recited prior to daily Mass; the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Angelus at noon; May processions, Benediction held once a month at most churches. There are also Catholic organisations such as the
Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus and Respect for Life.

In our own family we began the year by enthroning the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our home. We
attend daily Mass as often as possible, praying the Rosary and wearing the brown Scapular faithfully.

We try to raise our 11-year-old son in a Catholic way of life, despite secular attacks on the faith.

A new group that calls itself Citizens for the Separation of Church and State has had crosses removed from a military base, the fish symbol removed from the doors of senators and the motto ‘In God We Trust’ taken out of the American flag. It is interesting that this same group
protested because some students at a local high school were not permitted to wear T-shirts promoting Satanism; they actually defended the students’ rights to express their views of their ‘religion’.

A few years ago, there was a move to legalise ‘same-sex’ marriage in Hawaii. As a result of the numerous prayers offered by Christians, 70% of the people voted against this motion.

Over 20 years ago, the state that used to hold the ohana in such high esteem was the first state of the Union to legalise abortion.

Catholic parents have a struggle to help their children lead good and moral lives in the current secular atmosphere.

State schools focus on teaching about contraceptives, how the world is over-populated and
‘alternative lifestyles’ to children as young as six. For this reason we have decided to homeschool our son.

Although there are Catholic parochial schools, the education is expensive and with the decline of
religious vocations, children in these schools are often taught by non-Catholic lay people.

Our son is a typical boy, who likes computers, baseball, basketball and other sports. But he is also a Catholic boy who is not self-conscious at crossing himself or saying Grace in public.

We hope that his strong faith, our own efforts and plenty of prayers may lead to a vocation to
the priesthood. Hawaii has need of strong witnesses to the faith.

(Thanks to my friend Francis Phillips of NACF)