Hawaii’s only contemplative community, the Carmelite Sisters who reside on the grounds of St. Stephen Diocesan Center, first arrived in Hawaii on Oct. 25, 1973, from Hong Kong. Two of the original seven nuns, Sister Mary Agnes Tse and Sister Mary Angel Wong, have since died, leaving the five who are with us today. Kept out of public view, the contemplative sisters spend their days in prayer for the Church in Hawaii. Sister Kathleen Marie Shields, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, wrote this homage to mark the Carmelites 35th anniversary in Hawaii.

By Sister Kathleen Marie Shields, CSJ | Special to the Herald

Dear Sisters,
   It’s your 35th anniversary in your Pacific island home. On Oct. 25, we remembered the God-sent gift of your arrival in Hawaii, and the radiant glow of 35 years of contemplative life in the heart of Christ and in the midst of our local church. Today we invite the People of God on every island to pray in gratitude for your Carmelite way of life and your presence among us.

We have reason to rejoice with you, for you are consecrated religious whose lives remind each of us of our deep capacity for union with God. Your silence speaks a profound message of God’s love. Your solitude creates a space that is empty enough for God to fill with a limitless loving care for the whole of humanity. Your self-denial cuts away the weeds of our selfishness and plants seeds of fresh hope and new life. Your simplicity and lack of concern for material things call us to toss aside anxiety, restlessness and greed so we can focus our attention on the creative, dynamic and holy presence of God. Day after day, you spark the fragile paper-flesh of our humanity into fiery flames of divine love. You hold cosmic splendor within and without.

Your humble monastic home, hidden in the white-veiled, cloudy mists of the Koolau Mountains, is surrounded by the splendor of all creation. You are at morning prayer as the rising sun bursts pink loveliness throughout the eastern sky. Situated on the velvety slopes of the emerald Koolau range, you can almost feel the pulsating rhythm of white-capped ocean waves as they rush toward the golden sandy beaches of Kailua. You catch a glimpse of brilliant rainbows arching God’s handiwork from town to city. And you uncover daily in the Messianic psalms the glories of the universe and the faithfulness of our King.

With the psalmist you pray:

Let the sea and what fills it resound,

the world and those who dwell in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

the mountains shout with them for joy

Before the Lord, for he comes,

for he comes to rule the earth. (Psalm 98:7, 8, 9)

Though you have never seen the peaceful Sleeping Giant in the Garden Isle of Kauai, or experienced Kilauea’s fiery volcanic eruptions ablaze with leaping red-orange flames rolling in rage, you know well the joy, the pain, the struggles of our people. You are constantly discovering the radiant face of Christ in the ordinary folks who ask for prayers. As you hold us up for God’s blessing and healing, you radiate that face of Christ to the discouraged, the dispossessed, the displaced, the despairing brothers and sisters among us. Your vowed life frees you to give generously of yourselves, to love inclusively, and to listen attentively to the Spirit of God and the voice of Christ.

The leisure of God’s time characterizes your day. Interruptions are often the real schedule so people from every island and from every walk of life can claim the compassion of Christ. To those who are not familiar with the Carmelite way of life, your days could seem monotonous or boring, or even a waste of time and talent in the light of the need for apostolic women religious today. The reality, however, is quite the contrary. Daily life is alive with the praise of God’s glory — your greatest work. Dedicated missionaries that you are, you stretch the arms of Christ across Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, Molokai and Lanai. You remind us that even in the darkest of nights, God jewels the skies with sparkling-diamond stars, signs of unconditional love.

Isn’t it strange, or perhaps, isn’t it a bit mysterious that the glory of God is revealed so magnificently in the silence of love and the totality of life wrapped in wonder-filled contemplation? You Carmelites have made a difference in the lives of hundreds of multicolored and multicultured people. Your intercessory prayers span our island communities just like glorious rainbows, assuring us of God’s divine providence and gentle embrace. Your steadfast faith is as strong and lofty as the peaks of Olomana viewed from your back yard. You have a way of living that wraps everyday experiences and events around the gift of God within.

With deep gratitude and fond aloha for the past 35 years and with best wishes for blessed and happy years to come, we congratulate you, Sister Agnes Marie, Sister Mary Caroline, Sister Teresita, Sister Marie and Sister Agnella. You are surely our best kept secret in the diocese and our most cherished spiritual companions. In fact, you are our sisters in Christ.