Being Jesus – OLGC Parish Mission with Fr, Lane Akiona, SS CC.
Our Parish Lenten Mission, by Fr. Lane Akiona, SS CC., held March 17, 2021 was focused on Service and the Word – and being Jesus to others. Introduced and welcomed by Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Pastor, Fr. Santhosh Thottankara, SS CC., who said that Fr. Lane is known as the “Aloha Priest” due to his friendly disposition and dedication to service.
Fr. Lane began by reading John 5:17-30. He reminded us that the Word is the bible, and it is a powerful symbol of our faith, full of tradition and history to teach us a greater truth about how God works in creation. Fr. Lane said that Jesus came to challenge us to see ourselves in Him.
Fr. Lane reminded everyone that we must be spiritually filled so we are able to bring healing, comfort and understanding. We must also be willing to speak the hard words of love. This means when someone cuts you off while you are driving and your words become quite colorful, replace that with “God bless you” to put things in their proper perspective. He said that it is not easy, but it is possible. ”We need to be Jesus to others. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of the community, St. Augustine remained open to serve their clients with their soup kitchen. Where else would they go? People have a need for food, but they also have a need for human contact, empathy, care and compassion.”
Fr. Lane said that we should read the bible and to remember that we cannot be the Word if we do not read the Word. He didn’t say that we need to read the bible with complete understanding. Fr. Lane also talked about the saints and how saints were just like you and I, challenged by the world and all the events that happened in the world. They made a decision about the path they wished to follow. He said saints were like all of us, “there were a lot of curves, a lot of mistakes and wrong decisions but they always came back to the path that they felt was calling them to be Jesus to others.” That same path is calling us too. The saints remind us that it is possible to be holy. God takes our whole being and He makes us into the holiness only He can give.
Fr. Lane’s challenge to everyone is to be follow BishopSilva's episcopalmotto, "Witness to Jesus" which derives from Revelation 19:10 – “I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Don’t!’ I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God. Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’”.
Fr.Lane Akiona, SS CC, is pastor of St. Augustine by the Sea parish in Waikīkī (Reported by Naomi Amuro. Photo by Naomi Amuro)