| Background: I am the eldest son of four children born to my parents, Allen and Mary Kamauoha. I have an older sister, Malia, a younger brother, Miki, and a younger sister, Mahea. My siblings and I all grew up in the same house my parents still live in. I grew up in the Haleiwa/Waialua area on the North Shore of Oahu. After finishing high school, I attended Kapiolani Community College and Leeward Community College and worked at Zippy’s Restaurant. I eventually left school and stated working full time, 5 years at Zippy’s then 5 years for First Hawaiian Bank. While working at the Bank there was naturally a strong emphasis on money. I got the sense that money had become the god of many of the people I interacted with at the bank, which made me start to feel uncomfortable. When did you first think that God might be calling you to be a priest? In retrospect, I believe the first instance of God calling me to give my life over to Him and serve Him was as a sophomore in high school at a Youth Day organized before the 2000 Synod of the Diocese of Honolulu. At the event, those who felt they had a vocation were invited on stage to be prayed over and I found myself bewildered by being on the stage. I remember distinctly thinking, as they invited those who may have had a vocation to come on stage, that I did not want to become a priest, and I wasn’t going on that stage. I know now it was the Spirit who moved me. It was some 12 years after that first prompting of the Spirit that I consciously accepted another invitation to come and see what living a life in serve to God and his people was like with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. Why did you choose the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts? I chose the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts because the Congregation had founded and, up until recently, staffed my home parish. I was an active and involved member of my home parish so I’ve had many interactions with the Sacred Hearts priests. They were living examples of family spirit, an important dimension of the charism of the Sacred Hearts. Favorite hobbies and/or fun fact about yourself: I enjoy learning about different places or countries and their histories, cultures and foods. I also love to cook and eat. I hope to be able to learn more about Asia, its peoples and cultures by eating my way through it. Favorite Bible passage: Luke 6:41-42 “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” Favorite saint: St. Therese of Lisieux |
