June 13, 2016: Celebrating St. Anthony of Padua

    

Parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua

Church in Kailua, celebrating the feast

of our illustrious Patron Saint (click

on each photo to view larger images).

June 13th.  I was looking forward to today for the past week.  It's, again, the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, which means it's fiesta time for my parish... and we, parishioners, sure know how to celebrate!

First, we started with the customary Feast Day Mass, concelebrated by the three priests of St. Anthony of Padua Church, Kailua, and assisted by our two resident deacons.  The homily, this year, was delivered by Deacon Mike and it was simply brilliant in the way it clearly brought to focus the valuable faith-lessons passed on to us through the life of our great Patron Saint.

Following the Mass was our traditional potluck dinner, which is always a highlight of our annual celebration. This year, the overall theme was "International Gala", which gathered together in our parish hall, a large number of parishioners from diverse ethnic backgrounds... and with them came delectable dishes representing their cultures: Chinese, Hawaiian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, and Portuguese.  There was even a section called "Any Kine Food" for dishes that didn't fit any category - too funny!

But this is why I love Hawaii - it's truly the cultural melting pot of the Pacific... and our parishioners, along with several St. Anthony devotees from other parts of Oahu, all enjoyed the variety of food from around the world: Chicken Adobo, Squid Luau, Kalua Pig, Porcini Mushroom Risotto, Linguini, Sushi, Portuguese Bean Soup, Chili, etc.  My intent was to sample a little from each ethnic section so my first stop was the Chinese table; next it was on to the Hawaiian table; Italian cuisine followed, but I never made it past that country - I was down for the count!

Parishioners entertaining the crowd

with Hawaiian Music and Hula.

Another highlight of the evening was the beautiful entertainment of live, traditional Hawaiian music accompanied by hula dancing, which is always something to be appreciated about our Hawaiian islands.  All in all, it was another great Feast Day Celebration at our church.  Congratulations to our beloved St. Anthony - 'already looking forward to June 13th, 2017!