COLLEEN SATHRE

Blessed Damien and the Road Map

It was a special privilege to travel to Kalaupapa on Sunday, Feb. 22, to participate in the Mass of Thanksgiving following the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that Father Damien de Veuster will be canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on Oct. 11, 2009. Several weeks earlier I had the pleasure of spending three days topside on Molokai, visiting the churches Father Damien built and taking in the beauty of this special island. This time spent in places where Father Damien prayed, worked, and died was awe-inspiring. It was a special privilege to walk where he walked, pray in churches he built and in which he offered Mass, and see the isolated places where he cared for the sick and built homes and care facilities for those afflicted with Hansen’s disease.

During my time on Molokai, I could not help but think of Bishop Larry Silva’s observations on how Father Damien had lived the six recommendations of our “Diocesan Road Map for Pastoral, Program, and Facility Needs 2008-2013.” Bishop Silva shared his observations at an August 2008 meeting of the commission that is working to oversee the implementation of our diocesan plan. What follows are a few thoughts drawn from Bishop Silva’s reflections and my own readings and Molokai experiences.

Father Damien did wonderful and difficult work, and he did not do it alone. He engaged in leadership development — training and working side by side with people to help them be both spiritual and temporal leaders. Great leaders have the capacity to focus and never lose sight of what’s important. Despite incredible hardships, Father Damien never wavered from his mission of service to others.

Father Damien was concerned for the youth suffering from Hansen’s disease—their safety, well-being, and education. On the Kalaupapa peninsula he built dormitories/homes for boys and girls. And he did this, not only for Catholics, but for all. He had clubs, music groups and bands that reached out to the youth.

Father Damien was first and foremost a priest engaged in forming and growing the faith of his flock. During his time in the Kohala-Hamakua district of the Big Island, he served an area covering more than 1,000 square miles that had few roads. A tour among the scattered population, preaching and hearing confessions, would take six weeks at a time. In his book, “Holy Man,” Gavan Daws shares that, when Damien was asked during this time where he lived, he pointed to his saddle and called it his home. What an example of witnessing to Jesus.

Leaders find solutions to problems. Patients in advanced stages of leprosy would not enter church in Kalawao because they did not want to disturb Mass. They had no control over mucus accumulation that forced them to spit frequently. Damien cut holes in the floor and fashioned funnels out of leaves, making it possible for patients to come inside.

Father Damien knew what it was to be homeless. Arriving at Kalawao alone in 1873, he lived in the open for weeks, eating his meals off a flat rock and sleeping under a pandanus tree. He led by example, building homes himself and encouraging others to do the same. He was relentless in seeking needed help and supplies.

Father Damien was a hands-on leader. He repaired and enlarged existing churches and built new ones. He responded to needs, and no task was beneath him. He ordered, unloaded and carried lumber; he built and made repairs. The water system he built to bring fresh water from high in the cliffs along a barren coastline into Kalawao and Kalaupapa without the aid of pumps and using wooden pipes is astonishing.

As we work to implement our diocesan plan, there are no better examples of what can be done than from our soon to be canonized Father Damien of Molokai.