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Office for Social Ministry - We Want to Hear From You!

January 18, 2022

From the Office for Social Ministry

During the next several weeks, the Office for Social Ministry will be hosting Virtual Coffee Hour Listening Sessions with parishes and faith groups across the Diocese of Honolulu. It’s an opportunity for all clergy, religious, parishioners, and lay people to contribute their thoughts and opinions about ways to grow together as a Church in Christ. We welcome your honesty and openness in this diocesan phase of the synodal process. Feedback will be compiled and shared with the Vatican in preparation for the 2023 Synod of Bishops with Pope France in Rome. The hope is to walk together, listen to one another and to engage in meaningful dialogue that will lead to positive change.

In addition to the Synod questions suggested by the Vatican, Bishop Larry Silva is also inviting us all to consider one key question: How can all the members of the Catholic Church be more effective in proclaiming the living Jesus Christ to the World? From a social ministry perspective, we suggest starting with prayer and reflection on the following scriptural references (1 Corinthians 12, John 6 and Matthew 25) which relate to how we evangelize the living Christ throughout our communities by responding to the poor.

As listening sessions are facilitated with every vicariate in the next month, parish social ministry leaders are asked to REFLECT NOW and return on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 to offer their responses for Bishop Larry to share at the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Responses may be given by email or in person on one of the zoom sessions set for 11 AM or 7 PM.  

Last week, on January 13, food and ministry leaders from our Kauai vicariate participated in a listening session via Zoom. It was a heart-warming and productive discussion with parishioners from St. Catherine, Immaculate Conception, Holy Cross and St. Raphael sharing their experiences of feeding the hungry during the pandemic, even amidst landslides and flooding. We hope to continue this open dialogue with other vicariates in the next few weeks with the remaining schedule as follows:

Upcoming VICARIATE COFFEE TALK Listening Sessions:

• Tuesday, January 18, 7 PM           East Hawaii Vicariate
• Thursday, January 20, 7 PM         Maui Vicariate and Molokai
• Tuesday, January 25, 7 PM           Central and Leeward Vicariates
• Thursday, January 27, 7 PM         Windward Vicariate
• Thursday, February 10, 7 PM       East and West Honolulu Vicariates

We will also convene listening sessions with special populations including persons with disabilities, parish Wellness groups, prison ministries, and organizations working with migrants. Confirmed dates are forthcoming. For more on the OSM synod listening sessions, please visit our website www.officeforsocialministry.org. Mahalo