When you give to the Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation, you’re not just donating; you’re making an investment in the future of Hawaii’s Catholic faith. Your generous gifts can make a meaningful difference in many important areas. From supporting the formation and education of our clergy to ensuring their care in retirement, your contributions help sustain and strengthen our community for generations to come. Your gifts also enable parishes and ministries to grow, reach underserved communities, and provide critical support where it’s needed most. From ensuring the sustainability of schools and seminaries to funding charitable outreach for vulnerable populations, every dollar fuels transformative work that reflects the Gospel’s call to serve. Join us in our mission to spread faith, hope, and love across the islands, creating a legacy that honors Hawaii’s Catholic heritage while building a brighter, faith-filled future.
Growing in Christ and sharing his blessings
Each one of us is called to be a disciple of Christ. However, to be a disciple we must build a relationship with Christ. As one focuses on this relationship, the practice of stewardship naturally follows.
“We strive to grow closer to Christ as we serve one another in all our ministries in the parish,” says parishioner Socorro Deguzman of St. Jude Church in Kapolei. “However, we can see that there is so much more we can do to bring others to Christ. But I think God wants us first to grow closer to him. Then we can bring others to love God as well.”
St. Teresa of Avila remarked, “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.”
Deguzman serves on the parish Pastoral Council as well as the Diocesan Stewardship Commission. She is also a member of the Legion of Mary and would do any- thing for Jesus and Mary.
“I believe that whatever title, position or state in life I am, I give my whole attention, focus, time and effort to it,” Deguzman says. “So, being a parishioner of St. Jude Church, I put all my time, talent and treasure to make my church beautiful for God. That is my way of life.”
“I grew up with it embedded in my mind that God created me, as the Bible says, with a purpose,” Deguzman says. “God has given me so many blessings that it is not for me alone but to share with all his creation as a sign of my gratitude and thanksgiving.
“Before moving to America I was sad about leaving behind my comfort zone in the Philippines but I remembered the passage, where God continually reminds me to ‘grow and bloom where I am transplanted.’ That is why I am trying my best every day to live the rest of my life in service and thanksgiving to God.”