Dr. Edith Breburda
The parish St Augustine by-the-sea on Waikiki beach in Honolulu is surrounded by hotels. As the many international tourists check in, the homeless linger near the church gates.
This was what it was like on Saturday morning, the13th of January 2018.
Lights of the church have been enkindled, and the doors were opened for the daily communicants.
Shortly before the 7am Mass a parishioner approached the microphone. With a bright “Aloha” she greeted the fellow Catholics. “For 163 years we worship here and are giving witness to the values of the Gospel. It is custom at the Diocese of Honolulu to keep standing after receiving the Eucharist until the ministers sit down. In this way, we represent our community with one another.”
In his homily, the parochial vicar highlighted the sentence of our “wise Pope”, which attracted attention, “Who am I to judge?” During the day, the words kept repeating over in my mind. Its importance has still been unknown to the listeners yet. However, as events unfolded, the meaning became ever more poignant.
As usual for the weekend, the Knights of Columbus have been busy cleaning up the Church grounds. Cheerfully they greeted the people leaving Mass.
Not even 30 minutes passed when suddenly their mood changed. Bob rushed to the parish priest, who just joined them. “Father read this” he said, showing him his phone. Unfortunately, the priest was not able to follow the instructions of the knight. He didn’t have his glasses.
In unison the men informed him what the emergency alert display of their cellphones said.
“Ballistic Missile threat inbounds to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
“Father, where shall we go?” the distressed knights screamed.
Father Akiona seemed to be the only one not being irritated. “To the place where we all will go!”- Bob was too distressed to catch father’s wit. At least not right now, when he feared for his life.
“Look, we are in front of the church. The church is the safest place to go when a Missile really strikes.” Bob was not convinced at all. The knight simply disagreed. “It is not!” he said, “there is too much glass in the Church.”
At this point, the priest did not answer anymore. He was rather concerned where the missile would strike. He pleaded aloud that in any case, and if it would be up to him, he would prefer that the Burger King in front of his church building is the more appropriate target. Just for the sake of his property. -The fast-food chain has bothered him for a long time and now would be a good opportunity to be able to see the Pacific again.
As soon as the threat was over a parishioner called Father. He was happy to hear, when the Lady told him, that she prayed for her parish priests survival.
“You know,” she said, “I needed to go to confession before I die.”
As you might imagine, hearing the reason behind her prayers dashed father’s enthusiasm a little bit. Nevertheless, it was refreshing, the Priest reasoned within himself, to hear someone earnestly desiring the sacrament. He's heard so often lately from people questioning why they should even bother confessing their sins to a Priest, when they can easily go directly to God.
"Sure,” Father Akiona replies when he receives such “challenging” questions. “But from where do you know God will hear you and will grant you absolution? It is a most unusual way to seek forgiveness for our sins.
“The affairs I want to have straightened out and in which I directly approach God is in preparation for my death. If you have peace within, then you don’t care so much to die in 12 minutes or in 5 years. In addition we will not panic when we hear that a missile is heading towards Hawaii.” (1)
There was not much panic. People rather did not know how to react. In a suburb of Honolulu, some fishermen looked up in disbelieve at the sky, as if they wanted to see the Missile with their own eyes first.
But where should they seek shelter anyway? There is no way to escape an anatomic blast on an island in the middle of nowhere?
The best instructions and drills are useless.
At a McDonald’s, the conversation was kept to its limits. The guests mindfully enjoyed the present moment, sipping their Kona coffeee and hoped it would not be the last one they consume on this earthly paradise.
After 38 minutes it came across the radio broadcast that the danger was over.
Just imagine – what if the threat had been immediately retaliated? We would have never found out that all was due to a mistake of a single man.
Some taxi drivers are still laughing. “It took not 38 minutes for us to discover this scam. The siren did not turn on. At all TV channels, the program continued. During an emergency, it is interrupted. At least that happened before the last Tsunami warning.” For the bus drivers, it was just a normal day, with business as usual.
“The system was hacked. I need to work and can’t let fake news disrupt my day. I’m happy I was right from the very beginning,” says one Uber-car driver. He giggles. It is his way to cope with the threat.
(1) Homily of Fr. Akonia, 1.14.2018 www.staugustinebythesea.com
Dr. Edith Breburda DVM, Ph.D. just published the second volume of her Award-winning children’s book, about the adventures of the extraordinary, smart cat, Felix in English.
The enchanting stories honor Christian values of love, respect, family, and friendship. The books have been endorsed in its German version by his Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVl.
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