Hopes.....

...Need....

...Contribution

Our Hopes

We are founding an Oratory first of all rooted in the Roman Catholic Church’s proclamation of Jesus Christ. As Roman Catholics, and because we are Catholics, we have an ecumenical and interfaith ministry since a life of contemplative prayer unites us in a search for Christian unity and peace among the different religions. Certainly there will be no world peace if the different religions remain hostile and unknown to each other. We are also a community that is, like the islands, multi-cultural and multi-racial. There is no racial majority in the islands nor is there a dominant culture.

The Need for the Oratory

The attraction of a community like Taizé in France or San Egidio in Rome, the popularity of cloistered communities and spiritual writers indicates a hunger today for contact with contemplative prayer and places that provide for it. At the same time there is also a desire for community and for works of justice.

When the Oratory began most monastic communities were in crisis. Much of the contemplative tradition had been lost. Philip was a natural man of prayer. He also knew the tradition of the Desert. He was schooled in solitude in the catacombs where he was, for all practical purposes, a hermit.  But his mysticism and prayer were not for the cloister.  The afternoon gatherings were formational:  There was time to pray and sing, and to share the faith. The ministries that followed flowed out of the prayer.

Today a simple house of prayer like the Oratory can answer the need of many different parts of our society.

The civic community is aware of the benefits to health and psyche that meditation and certain spiritual disciplines bring. More than 50 medical schools have introduced courses in spirituality. The Journal of the American Medical Association has surveyed the legitimacy of studies demonstrating the good effects of spirituality. The civic community needs a place of hospitality and spirituality.

The religious community of different faiths needs an accessible community where spirituality is lived out and where dialogue between the different religions can take place on an experiential basis.

The Christian community needs a place where everyone is welcome. While the Eucharist can still divide, meditation practices can bring people together.

The Catholic community needs something to replace the closures of so many religious houses that were accessible in the neighborhoods.  The Oratory is not a monastery or retreat house out in the country; it is meant to be part of everyone’s secular, daily life.  Many Catholic parishes have had programs like “Renew” where people come together for faith sharing and prayer. The Oratory is simply a perpetual, four-hundred year old “Renew” program! The gathering of the Secular Oratory, and the simple way of life of the Congregation based on trust and loving relationships, is the fruit of gathering for faith sharing.

When John Henry Newman was an Anglican, he explored the great principle that makes an Oratory or a simple program like “Renew” work.  In the early 1830s, Newman preached:

Perhaps the reason why the standard of holiness among us is so low, why our attachments are so poor, our view of life so dim, our belief so unreal, our general notions so artificial and external is this, that we dare not trust each other with the secret of our hearts. We have each the same secret, and we keep it to ourselves, and we fear that, as a cause of estrangement, which really would be a bond of union. We do not probe the wounds of our nature thoroughly: we do not lay the foundation of our religious profession in the ground of our inner man: we make clean the outside of things: we are amiable and friendly to each other in words and deeds, but our love is not enlarged, our bowels of affection are straightened, and we fear to let intercourse begin at the root: and in consequence, our religion viewed as a social system is hollow, the presence of Christ is not in it. (Plain and Parochial Sermons, V, pp. 126-7).

Henri Nouwen said that “those who take Newman seriously have a ministry as wounded healers”. An Oratory is very fragile, but the healing that comes from such delicacy can be a powerful sign of hearts speaking to hearts.

We are a Multicultural Community ~ In the little community today, there are four languages. We are open to vocations from all over the world, but especially from the Pacific Rim including Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. The Oratory, to be of service to the local Church in these islands, should look like the local Church which is made up of dozens of languages and more than three dozen nationalities. If the Oratory can be multinational, paying the price this calls for, it will reap many benefits and blessings for the effort.

We share an Ecumenical Ministry ~ Because of the emphasis on contemplative prayer as a core experience, the Oratory has an ecumenical ministry. Where Eucharist still divides, contemplative prayer unites. Outreach to the different Protestant churches has been part of the Oratorian ministry since 1991. The Protestant Churches in Hawaii are numerically smaller than the Catholic Church and there is still a great deal of distance between the different churches. Nevertheless, there have been good occasions of sharing and most of these have been in two areas: spirituality and service to the poor. There is work here for an Oratory to do.

We are joined by an Interfaith ~ The Hawaiian Islands are home to all the major religions of the world. A house of prayer and hospitality can be the place where people who belong to the different faiths can come and dialogue. The members are educated so that they can speak intelligently about their faith and reflect on the faith of others. The members also are faithful to a spiritual discipline that allows them to speak of common religious experiences such as silence, trust, surrender.

Contributions to the Oratory in Hawaii

THE ORATORY IS AN OPEN CONTEMPLATIVE COMMUNITY...

You are invited to be a Co-founder of the Oratory in Hawaii.  The founding of the Oratory in Hawaii is a self-funded effort. Your contributions will make continuing our mission possible.  Together we can do so much more....with Co-founder pledges of $10 a week for 2 years or $1000, or Associate pledges of $5 a week or $500.  Helpers to our mission pledge or donate what they can.

May your prayers guide you to donate as you are able to. 

If you can help us, please drop off or mail your pledge or donation along with your prayer request, name and address.

Please remember us in your will. Our official title is The Oratory in Hawaii.