Soulmates: Bull or Brilliant Theology?

Welcome to February, the month of love! In honor of that time of year where everyone opines on the good, the bad, and the ugly surrounding the most complex and mysterious of human emotions, I want to jump down the rabbit hole and reflect on a particular notion associated with love: the notion of "soulmates."…

Family is the Permanent Catechumenate that the Sacrament of Marriage Needs

Pope Francis, in union with the overwhelming majority of Catholic bishops, priests, deacons, and lay faithful, has a deeply pastoral concern about the current state of marriage. In a recent address to students at a marriage and family life course in Rome, the Holy Father called for a permanent catechumenate for the sacrament of marriage,…

Authentic Love and Morality Courses from the O’ahu Faith Formation Conference 2018

On June 22-23, I had the privilege of participating in my first faith formation conference as a facilitator. It was a blast! I had students from high-school age to golden years, and their thoughtful questions and comments during our time together was as humbling and informative to me as I hope my courses were for…

The Tree

On Ke'eamoku St. in Honolulu stands a tree. It is a large tree, with large, fanned roots that in and of themselves are impressive. I am always awed by this tree, and fascinated by its shape: one side obviously receives the brunt of the elements, and the other flourishes with leafy branches. I came across…

Can I get a Witness?

I first came across the term "daughters of Jerusalem" when I began writing a paper for my Moral Theology class a few years ago. The topic of my paper was the Song of Songs; the daughters of Jerusalem make the short list of characters that exist in the story. Their purpose, in a nutshell, is…