Come join the prayers and services being held to remember the transfiguration of our Lord, remember the victims at Hiroshima, and pray for the Maunakea protectors on Aug 6.
Kahu Kaleo Paterson,Vicar, St. Stephen’s, Wahiawa, Chaplain, Iolani Guild, President, Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center, is organizing a solidarity effort on Aug 6th– Transfiguration Day, Luke 9:28-36, Jesus on the mountain, visited by ancestors and Akua.
Aug 6th is also Hiroshima Day. He calls for prayers for justice, nonviolence and reconciliation for Sacred Mauna Kea. And for the descendants of the violence unleashed on Hiroshima. And for peace and a nuclear-free world. Bread, Rice, and Poi, not bombs.
He calls for churches to commemorate that day with meditation and prayers on the Transfiguration text, and for the protectors of Sacred Mauna Kea: may they be blessed with protection, health, guidance, justice, nonviolence, reconciliation.
Blow conch shell and/or ring the church bells on August 6th at Sunrise, Noon, and Sunset.
Below is a message of reverence and prayer from Kekailoa Perry of St. Stephenʻs Episcopal Church.
Your prayers and the prayers of our kumu and ohana on the mauna and around the world has weakened the storms to some degree so that our Kiaʻi will be able to hold strong and be safe. Mahalo nui!
Pray that the Governor, Mayors, University, Attorney General and law enforcement find compassion and love in the way they see our people. Currently we are characterized by the Governor and officials as delinquents, miscreants or criminals. This is a hurtful and undeserving depiction that is base on untruths. We, like all others, are love and live in “kapu aloha”.
In reality, we are only human beings expressing an undying love for who we are and who we will always be – flawed, passionate, loving people who are now compelled to speak out to protect what is left of our personhood and to stop a colonial driven process from negatively impacting our hearts, souls, lands and self determination.
Also pray that we share in a collective capacity to show mercy and forgiveness now, and at some time soon, when the Governor, President Lassner, TMT, Institute for Astronomy and others realize that their zealous march toward the Mauna is unethical and inhumane. There is room for such loving growth but it requires a more diligent denouncement of the political gamesmanship and the greed that drives the selfish political and economic desires behind TMT.
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris (not an endorsement) and other scholars recently noted that native people and people of color in the US experience “forgiveness fatigue.” This fatigue occurs every time we speak truth to power and find ourselves always forgiving the perpetrators or their allies who express guilt for their actions or inactions. We forgive because we want to believe in the hope of restarting on a better foundation. After generations of our forgiveness, fatigue sets in and many are no longer able to shoulder the burden of the perpetratorsʻ guilt while simultaneously trying to maintain our own level of survivance and sanity in a world that ignores our suffering and our critical times of need.
Mahalo to all of you who choose to look directly into the eye of this human rights issue. We are all Mauna Kea and we have a duty to pray for its protection and for those who are not yet able to understand that important value and right.
Ke Akua pu. Peace.
And here is the service that Rev. David Gierlach of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church will be holding. ALL ARE WELCOME!
A Service on the Day of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and in Commemoration of Hiroshima and the Struggle at Mauna Kea
In 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, marking the first use of a nuclear weapon against human beings. As we remember the transfiguration of Christ in the mysterious light of glory, we also remember all those who were tragically and senselessly disfigured and destroyed by the first nuclear blast. May their memory help us find our way toward peace in our time.
Today, thousands of our indigenous people are gathered at Mauna Kea to ask that the TMT telescope not be built on the sacred mountain. For centuries, the Hawaiian people have extended their aloha to others who came from far off places, only to see their land, their culture and their language trampled upon. Opinions differ on TMT, but as we gather today, let us remember this is a conflict involving more than a single telescope; it holds up to the light of God’s justice the long suffering of our host people. May Our Lord guide all of our hearts and minds in the way that is right, especially for the first people of these islands.
O Lord let my soul rise up to meet you.
As the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord: Let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God and fall down before his footstool*
He is the Holy One.
Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name*
They called upon the Lord and he answered them.
He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud*
They kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
O Lord our God you answered them indeed*
You were a God who forgave them, yet punished them for their evil deeds.
Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God and worship him upon his holy hill*
For the Lord our God is the Holy One.
Overwhelm us with your beauty, Lord, and make us to shine like stars.
A reading from Exodus 34:29-35
A reading from Luke 9:28-36
Overwhelm us with your beauty, Lord, and make us to shine like stars.
Hear this story of the desert fathers:
“Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him: ‘Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate. I live in peace, and as far as I can I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’ Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him: ‘If you will, you can become all flame.’”
The Prayers
We pray for peace in our time, and the courage to foster its coming,
Lord, hear our prayer.
For the preservation of this good earth, that we may become the stewards we were always meant to be,
Lord, hear our prayer.
For all indigenous people, for the recovery and flourishing of their languages, cultures and dreams,
Lord, hear our prayer.
For the human family, that we may learn to sit at the common table, and share the bounty of creation,
Lord, hear our prayer.
Sovereign Lord, forgive us for choosing violence instead of grace. Give us the courage to trust that the cross is more powerful than the sword. We thank you for the assurance that, in the end, love wins. Help us to live without fear in the light of that promise. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Creator of the universe, thank you for your dazzling imagination. Set a fire inside us that burns with your love. Help us to shine as you shine, so that people might not see us, but see you shining through us. Amen.
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm, may he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you, may he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
Dismissal
Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Dawn Morais 
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