Reflections from the Pastor...

What a whirlwind of a week! The beginning of the school year is always a busy and special time at St. John's. Sister Marylou Superio, OP, the Principal of our school, will be heading back to the Philippines on Tuesday. Sister Marylou has been here at St. John's for as long as anyone can remember and has been such a gift to all of us. She has boundless energy and an uncanny ability to be a good disciplinarian and a beloved sister at the same time. Sister will be taking a medical leave from her duties, she has some health issued to deal with. We hope that she will be back with us early in the new year. She will certainly be in our hearts and prayers. Sister had some serious health problems and surgeries in the last year, but she kept her focus on her ministry and her beloved students. We are so gifted to have the Dominican Sisters with us here at St. John's. Sister Laurencia Camayudo, OP will be our new Principal. Sister knows that she has our full support in this most important task. Sister Laurencia has been with us this last year as a teacher at St. John's and another Dominican sister will be coming from Maui to teach here as well. A major project this coming year will be to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our school. St. John the Baptist school opened in 1959 and was staffed by the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic; the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary have staffed our school since 1976. We will have a great celebration as a parish community. Our school continues to do well and the students are enthusiastic about this coming school year. Our seminarian, Jason Nunez, will be leaving to go back to the seminary in Oregon (are people from Oregon called "Oreganos"?) this week. It was great to have Jason here for part of the summer, he has been involved in many projects, especially with our growing Hispanic youth group. We hope to have him back with us next summer. He is studying to be ordained for the Diocese of Honolulu. Jason "Que Vaya con Dios", our prayers go with you! Our Bishop, Larry Silva, has encouraged many young folks to enter the seminary and religious life. The church in Hawaii is growing by leaps and bounds and needs leaders for the future. So many of our young people are looking for meaning in life. One thing I can assure you, working for the church is never dull!! It can be challenging, but never boring!! I am really encouraged by the number of people who are signing up for our RCIA and our adult confirmation programs. This should be an exciting year here at St. John's.

Many Blessings, Fr. Jack