Oct. 2 marks the 10th year Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Pearl City has been a host parish of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. A three-day celebration, Oct. 3-5, marks this special event in collaboration with The Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy Hawaii Divine Mercy Conference 2008 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church (see story on page 4.)

By Bernie Galang | Special to the Herald

Looking ‘Truth’ squarely in the eye By Deacon Keith Galang | Special to the Herald The alarm clock goes off at 2:30 a.m. and I slowly roll out of bed grabbing my rosary beads and start praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. After washing up and heading out the door of the house, a quick glance at the wristwatch shows there is enough time to make it to the adoration chapel at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pearl City. I ring the chapel doorbell and “Tommy” opens the door. “Good morning,” he says. I sign in on the adoration log sheet. It’s 3:01 a.m. A profound bow on my knees accompanies the words “Oh my God, I believe, I adore, I love and I trust in thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not love and do not trust in thee.” My weekly hour with the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament begins, just as it has for 10 years. The hour I spend with the Lord is a very small example of the hundreds of hours other faithful spend reflecting their belief in the “real presence” of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament through their committed, heroic, and sometimes, unbelievably sacrificial expressions of their faith. Robert who catches the bus from Hauula twice a week and spends about five hours per night is a clear example of the heroic, sometimes seemingly crazy to the ordinary mind, behavior that some adorers display. “Edi,” whom I consider to be Pearl City’s version of St. Monica, also spends many, many committed hours throughout the week, and Bernadette, my dear wife, draws me to accompany her on her Tuesday, 9-10 p.m., and Friday 10-midnight holy hours. The latest count I heard from “Patricia,” the original organizer who successfully started the chapel at Our Lady of Good Counsel with a handful of other faithful, was that there are 423 registered adorers. Phenomenal! The other chapel at St. Theresa on School Street, Honolulu’s first lay-organized perpetual adoration chapel, started around 1994 and is still used today. A few of the originators of Our Lady of Good Counsel chapel started their lifelong commitment as perpetual adorers of the Blessed Sacrament at the St. Theresa chapel. What motivates and inspires the faithful to such an unusual devotion? The answers are numerous, I’m sure, but if I was to sum up my own reasons for being a committed, lifelong adorer, my attempts would be feeble and inadequate to say the least. But I can tell you this: For me, looking at Jesus in the monstrance is the opportunity I have to look at the “Truth” squarely in the eye, and in the silence of my heart and mind, know that I believe, I adore, and I trust him! And what better way to be able to spend some quiet time, away from all the distractions, challenges, and disappointments of life, than with the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, who is the only one who can give me the strength and the courage that I need to know, love, and serve him better. To quote a dear Sister of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the congregation responsible for bringing the Catholic faith to the islands and who have a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament: “If you want to be like him (Jesus), then you need to spend time with him.”

It’s a weekday. A teacher walks in with her elementary grade school students. They sit quietly. Some reflect on what they were told about him, some just stared in curiosity. They may not fully understand what this is all about, but somehow they know that this is a special place, a sacred place, a place where they are loved and looked upon by a higher power.

As he waits and watches, a young woman walks in. Her eyes are filled with tears, a frown on her forehead and a look of hopelessness on her face. She finds a chair, sits down and just stares up at him. He sees her tears, he can see her pain, and as he listens, she speaks to him from her heart. Is she having problems with her husband or a boyfriend? Did she get into an argument with family or friends? I don’t know and I may never know. But as she got up to leave, her eyes were dry, the frown on her forehead was gone and the pain on her face was replaced with a smile as she looked up at him with love and hope. She bows with great love and respect, gets up and walks out.

A man walks in with his children. I have never seen them before, and it seemed odd that they would be there so late in the evening on the weekend. As the man kneels in prayer the children sit patiently and quietly. I can see that they know that they are in a place of prayer, a place of peace and a place where their father needs to be. This is the first of many nights when this little family will come and visit with him. Where is the mother, why is there a sadness on their faces? He waits, he watches and he listens. This little family, most especially the father, needs to be with him, needs his strength, needs his love and needs the hope that only he can give.

As he waits and watches, a mother of five walks in. An hour ago she was frustrated and felt so helpless when things at home just didn’t seem to go right. She was at the end of her patience, so she had gotten into her car and just started driving around, wondering where she could go, who could she visit who would listen to her frustration? Who would understand and help her find the peace and quiet she longed for? All of a sudden she finds herself in a parking lot far from her home. She parks her car, walk into the room and there he is waiting for her, waiting to listen to her, and waiting to help her find the peace and quiet time that she longed for. She is touched by his understanding, she is filled with hope for the future and she is renewed by his comforting presence. This first visit was for a few minutes, now she comes to him and often spends two hours with him because she knows that he is the only one that can give her that peace and quiet that she sometimes needs.

She is a wife and a mother of two boys. Her heart is so heavy and all seems lost and hopeless. She comes to talk to him and to offer up prayers for the health of her ex-husband who is told that he is dying of liver cancer. She comes to him at her lowest point in her life and she talks to him, asks him for a miracle, with tears in her eyes, she pleads with him to spiritually save her husband. He speaks to her and tells her to continue to be loving and forgiving, and to never give up praying. Today she comes to him to offer up prayers of thanksgiving. Her husband is free of cancer, has gained weight, and hopefully will turn back to God. To be a witness to such a forgiving and loving person is a miracle in itself.

A woman, who does not fully understand the reason for this place and why He is there, comes to read her Bible because this is a very “peaceful and quiet place where I can come to reflect and meditate on the word of God.” This is not her place of worship, and she doesn’t fully understand what this place is, but one thing she knows is that he is here, that this is a sacred place and she is touched by the love and respect that people have for him. Although she is not a Catholic, she now makes the sign of the cross.