Meet Hawaii’s young Catholic advisors

The Diocese of Honolulu formed a new 10-member Youth and Young Adult Ministry Council to advise Lisa Gomes, the new diocesan director (and only staff member) of the Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

The council members, who represent all parts of Hawaii, will help Gomes increase youth and young adult involvement in the church and plan special events.

The Hawaii Catholic Herald asked the new council members a few serious, and not so serious, questions to give you a feel of their youth and ministry creds.

Brent Limos

Represents: Catholic Schools

Age: 34

School: Damien Memorial Faculty

Edwina Fujimoto

Represents: West Big Island

Age: “Still below speed limit”

Parish: St. Benedict, Honaunau

Sally Ganiron

Represents: East Big Island

Age: 55

Parish: Sacred Heart, Pahoa

Charlie Silva

Represents: Kauai

Age: 57

Parish: Holy Cross, Kalaheo

Maka Secretario

Represents: Maui

Age: 40+

Parish: Maria Lanakila, Lahaina

Janell Agcaoili

Represents: West Honolulu

Age: 22

Parish: St. Anthony, Kalihi

Debra Arellano

Represents: East Honolulu

Age: ?

Parish: Star of the Sea, Waialae

“Chucky” Unciano

Represents: Central Oahu

Age: 32

Parish: St. Elizabeth, Aiea

Kathy Lee

Represents: Windward Oahu

Age: “Old enough to know better”

Parish: St. John Vianney, Kailua

Keith Febrero

Represents: Leeward Oahu

Age: ?

Parish: St. Jude, Kapolei

What is your favorite part of Catholicism?

Brent: My favorite part of Catholicism is being part of a community of faith that is also rich in history and tradition.

Edwina: The “fullness” of it all.

Sally: I don’t really have one favorite part of being Catholic, but a couple of my favorites are: a) knowing that I can receive and become one with Jesus anytime/every time I take Holy Communion; and b) knowing that God is always ready and willing to forgive my sins and make me whole again.

Charlie: Being able to share my Catholic faith with others through music and singing.

Maka: Believing in the Holy Trinity — three separate entities but still one God and the Holy Eucharist, which is so real. I also like the fellowship. I like being invited by other denomination youth leaders to gather with our youth to pray for our schools/administrators. Those non-Catholics would have comments like, “I met your leaders and I really enjoyed talking to them. They were approachable and very easy to talk to.” Just the fact that Christians can see that we as Catholic can pray and worship God and all the old thoughts about Catholics can be put to rest.

Janell: My favorite part of Catholicism is that, no matter how routine Masses feel like, no matter how many times you sing the same songs or read the same Bible verses, or participate in the same activities, you always see the Lord in a different light, and you always find yourself learning something new and different every time. For me, personally, this has been happening a lot lately. I’m always pushed to learn something new about my faith and that is the best part for me.

Debra: There are many parts of our faith that Jesus gave us to fully partake in his mystery. My favorites are the Holy Eucharist, the Trinity, reconciliation, salvation, baptism, sacraments of vocations, and church tradition just to name a few.

Chucky: Getting to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist every week.

Keith: I love praying the Rosary.

Kathy: I love the rituals and symbols and that there is meaning and history behind everything we do.

What’s the best way to reach youth and young adult Catholics who are not involved in the church?

Brent: The best way to reach youth NOT involved in the Church is to present a message that appeals to them and speaks to them at their level, as well as create a welcoming environment for them to “come home” to.

Edwina: Organized events that are just fun. Once you build a relationship with them, then you can bust out the books.

Sally: I have not yet found any one good way of reaching youth and young adults who are not involved in the church. I think there are many ways to do it, but I think it helps to just keep in touch with them, inviting or asking them to come and participate if they want to, but not making them feel like they have to come to church.

Charlie: To go out to the ones that are not involved and invite them personally back to church.

Maka: Doing praise and worship rallies at different parts of the island. We’ve done Central, Hana, and upcountry Kula, Maui. It’s been very successful for us. We need to do west Maui. But our challenge is Molokai and Lanai. I have not forgotten about them.

Janell: Relate to them. For me, I like to use music to do this because I feel that music is universal and it pretty much speaks to everyone. And when you tie God’s message to music, no matter what genre — pop, rock, hip hop, etc. — God’s message is just amplified more.

Debra: At Star of the Sea we actively combine social, prayer and community service activities to engage the youth of our parish.

Chucky: Lead by example and pray that God will guide my actions to inspire others around me to get involved in their own faith journey.

Keith: The best way to reach youth and young adults Catholics not involved in the church is that we must remember that the parish building is a tangible symbol of the people of God. We must become the church for those who are not involved, preaching the Gospel by our example rooted in our individual resolutions to strive for heroic sanctity. It is all about relationships.

Kathy: We have to meet them where they are comfortable and go to where they’re hanging out.

How many hours a day do you spend on Facebook? How many texts do you send a day?

Brent: I spend an average of one hour a day on Facebook, and am officially addicted to “Bejeweled Blitz” and “Typing Maniac.” I text dozens of times a day. It is slowly becoming my preferred choice of communication.

Edwina: I try to visit Facebook at least once a day to see what everyone’s doing. I don’t post much but I “like” many posts. I also need to see if I got any presents on Farmville and make sure my fish don’t die on Fishville.

Sally: Unfortunately I don’t really have time to go on Facebook. Since I joined in December 2009, I have probably gone on it a dozen times. I don’t really text a lot either, only if I have to get a hold of someone or to answer other people’s texts.

Charlie: I spend about 10 minutes a day on Facebook.

Maka: Facebook is on my phone so I have access 24/7. But I don’t go on to play games or anything like that. I send from 10-40 texts per day.

Janell: I check Facebook everyday. I try not to play a lot of games because they’re so addicting that I’d be wasting even more time on it! I go on to check my notifications, chat with friends online, read other people’s statuses, and update my own. As for texting, I don’t too much in a day, only when people text me. Maybe 10.

Debra: I’m addicted to my Blackberry and all its applications! The youth of our parish recently taught me new abbreviations for texting: “JLY” ( Jesus Loves You) and “SOSYFC” ( Star of the Sea Youth for Christ).

Chucky: Well I use to live on Facebook playing all the games they had to offer for free. These days I find myself watching “Glee” and all the reality shows I can find! Don’t get me wrong. I am still on Facebook via my cell phone. As for texting I can just say that I am not as bad as other people!

Keith: I don’t have a Facebook account. I like MySpace better.

Kathy: I do not use Facebook or Twitter at all because my contention is I’d still rather talk to somebody. I’ll text a couple of times a day. I do text my teens instead of calling them.