Meet Easter Almuena!
The Pauline Family here in Hawai’i has always been around for as long as I can remember. In 2005, the Year of the Eucharist, I promoted a book and had gone to the island of Maui on a weekend when there was a convention taking place at a hotel there. Sr. Susan and Sr. Linh were there at the convention. Sr. Susan moved some of their books to make room for mine. From then on, our friendships with the sisters slowly blossomed.
Around the time Sr. Margaret Sato was introducing it to the Catholic community here in Hawai’i, my family had already bonded with the Pauline sisters. The whole family attended the orientation and was pleased with it. We did not hesitate to join and attend the weekly meetings.
The Period of Inquiry and Period of Formation were done with a group, which took place over three years ago. The Period of Formation was cut short when Sr. Margaret Sato left for Boston. Sr. Laura Brown took over, but she too had to leave. Though my family never got to finish the formation, we have always considered ourselves Pauline Cooperators. My oldest daughter worked as a volunteer for almost two years at the Pauline bookstore and had gone with the sisters to their book fairs held at school or church on the island of Oahu. Aside from selling some of their books, I had promoted their charism in my blog and in the book Serving God Joyfully that I wrote two years ago.
St. Paul plays a tremendous role in my life. His writings continue to inspire me to work with passion and diligence. Most profound to me is this scripture passage in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
For the most part, I have always had a good and stable prayer life. We are creatures of habit, so allowing ourselves to develop a habit, for instance, of praying upon waking in the morning will establish in us a good and stable prayer life. What the Pauline Cooperator has done is reinforce for me the importance of a more substantial way of praying, and that is through Lectio Divina. Through Lectio Divina, I am both growing in scripture and prayer.
Sr. Margaret Charles sent me a framed picture of Blessed Alberione. What I learned about him and being reminded of him as I see his picture on my shelf inspire me to continue making use of technology and media to bring Christ into the world.
What caught my attention as I was reading the interview of Father José Antonio Pérez of the Society of St. Paul that is featured in Zenith is his message of holiness and of being protagonists of New Evangelization. Such is a great combination that fuels well all our individual and group endeavors. We need to keep ourselves growing in holiness to be able to evangelize successfully. The Pauline bookstores are a source and library of books that provide the tools to enhance those areas.
The Pauline Cooperator built a better foundation of my understanding of the teachings of St. Paul. The boldness of St. Paul and Fr. Alberione in evangelizing Christ to the world has also become a good example for me. The scripture passage that has become more meaningful to me in this area is “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Overall, through learning more of scripture and teachings of St. Paul through the Pauline Cooperator and other involvements I have in church, I have grown to love God more.
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