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shanita akana
August Newsletter
To My Friends:
Aloha to you all. The month of August is upon us and I hope you
are all doing well. As the kids head back to school, let’s
be sure to cover them in prayer each morning before they leave
with backpacks in gear. And as parents, let us trace the sign
of the cross on their foreheads and surrender our children to
God’s protection.
May I invite you also to ask our Lady’s intercession for
your prayers this month. As you know the Feast of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 15. While the
format to this newsletter is quite the same, my most rewarding
experience has been researching information about Mary’s
Assumption. In the spirituality corner, I will share more of the
meaning of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I can remember the 1st Hawaii Marian Conference sponsored by Saint
Michael Center held at the Waikiki Shell. I believe the year was
1994. There I learned a deeper understanding and appreciation for
the Blessed Mother. After witnessing numerous testimonies our Blessed
Mother played in the lives of Irish Catholic singer Dana Scallon
and inspirational speakers Julia Kim and Ted Flynn, I have grown
in my devotion to our Lady. She is a source of great joy for me.
I want to thank my father Ernest for being by my side that entire
weekend. (If you visit the Akana home, you’ll see in every
room there is an image of our Blessed Mother. We love her!)
Some exciting plans are underway as Thomas and I, along with a
group of young adults, brainstorm the possibility of gathering Hawaii’s
Catholic youths together. Whether it will be occasionally, monthly,
feastly, often, or few times a year is up to the Holy Spirit and
the Will of the Father. You see, typing out this newsletter forces
me to be accountable in what I share with you. I certainly don’t
want to say something and not follow through with it. Many times
my fear is bigger than my faith. Questions arise in my head and
I turn away from the task at hand. So with complete trust in God,
we move forward in faith! The best I know how to share my faith
is to sing my faith!
The SING OUR FAITH! youth event is sponsored by Saint Michael Center
and generous donors like yourself. Thomas said he will do what is
necessary to help with stage, sound, newsletter announcements, etc.
I just need to get 10 people together and we can make something
happen. So with a lot of support and prayers, we look to a future
of endless possibilities for this generation of Catholics to stand
together, united in prayer, faith, love, song and God!
-- Shanita Akana
To order
Shanita’s CDs or for bookings, please contact
JSA Enterprises
91-1144 Haiamu Place
Ewa Beach, Hi. 96706
(808) 391-4371; lyricjsa@yahoo.com
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| LIVES
OF THE SAINTS |
SEPTEMBER 1
ST. GILES
St. Giles was born in Athens, Greece, in early times. When his parents died, he used the large fortune they left him to help the poor. 
SEPTEMBER 2
BLESSED JOHN DU LAU AND THE SEPTEMBER MARTYRS
Blessed John was the archbishop of Arles, France..
SEPTEMBER 3
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
St. Gregory was born in 540 in Rome. His father was a senator. His mother is a saint, St. Celia.
SEPTEMBER 4
ST. ROSE OF VITERBO
St. Rose was born in 1235 in Viterbo, Italy. She lived at the time when Emperor Frederick had conquered land that belonged to the Church.
SEPTEMBER 5
ST. LAWRENCE JUSTINIAN
St. Lawrence Justinian was born in Venice, Italy, in 1381.
SEPTEMBER 6
BLESSED BERTRAND
Blessed Bertrand lived in the last half of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.
SEPTEMBER 7
BLESSED JOHN DUCKETT AND BLESSED RALPH CORBY
Blessed James Duckett studied at the English college of Douay and became a priest in 1639.
SEPTEMBER 8
BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
We do not usually celebrate the birthdays of the saints.
SEPTEMBER 9
ST. PETER CLAVER
St. Peter Claver, the Spanish priest of the Society of Jesus was born in 1580.
SEPTEMBER 10
ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO
St. Nicholas was born in 1245 in Ancona, Italy. His parents had waited long and anxiously for a child.
SEPTEMBER 11
BLESSED LOUIS OF THURINGIA
Blessed Loius, the German prince, lived during the last part of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.
SEPTEMBER 13
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch around 344.
SEPTEMBER 15
OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Our Lady had many great joys as the mother of Jesus, but she had much to suffer, too.
SEPTEMBER 16
ST. CORNELIUS AND ST. CYPRIAN
St. Cornelius, a holy priest of Rome, was elected Pope in 251. He accepted because he loved Christ.
SEPTEMBER 17
ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE
St. Robert Bellarmine was born in Italy in 1542.
SEPTEMBER 18
ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO
St. Joseph was born on June 17, 1603, in a small Italian village to poor parents.
SEPTEMBER 19
ST. JANUARIUS
St. Januarius lived in the fourth century. He was born either in Benevento or Naples, Italy.
SEPTEMBER 20
ST. ANDREW KIM TAEGON AND ST. PAUL CHONG HASANG
St. Andrew Kim Taegon was a priest and St. Paul Chong Hasang was a lay person.
SEPTEMBER 21
ST. MATTHEW
St. Matthew was a tax collector in the city of Capernaum, where Jesus was living.
SEPTEMBER 22
ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
St. Thomas was born in Spain in 1488.
SEPTEMBER 24
ST. PACIFICUS
St. Pacificus, a little Italian boy born in 1653 was named Charles Anthony. He was just five years old when his loving parents died.
SEPTEMBER 25
ST. SERGIUS
St. Serguis, the famous Russian saint lived in the fourteenth century.
SEPTEMBER 27
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
St. Vincent de Paul, the son of poor French peasants, was born in 1581.
SEPTEMBER 28
ST. LAWRENCE RUIZ AND COMPANIONS
St. Lawrence Ruiz, and his fifteen companions were killed for their faith in 1637, in Nagasaki, Japan.
SEPTEMBER 29
ST. MICHAEL, ST. GABRIEL, ST. RAPHAEL
Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are called "saints" because they are holy.
SEPTEMBER 30
ST. JEROME
St. Jerome was a Roman Christian who lived in the fourth century.
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PHOTO OF THE MONTH |
Tour
of the Relics of the Passion
(International Center
for Holy Relics)
www.HolyRelics.org
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| REFLECTIONS |
 “Jesus’
Baptism”
Why did Jesus, the sinless one sent from the Father in heaven,
submit himself to John’s baptism? John preached a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke
3:3). In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of
the “baptism” of Jesus bloody death upon the
cross. Jesus’ baptism is the acceptance and the beginning
of his mission as God’s suffering Servant (Isaiah
52:13-15; 53:1-12). He allowed himself to be numbered among
sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s
will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death
for the remission of our sins. Do you know the joy of trust
and submission to God?
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