The advancing prospective sainthood of Father Damien comes at a good time, says Bishop Larry Silva.

"Father Damien was a man who did not give up hope," Silva said.

One might say the same thing about the skillful Hudson River landing last month orchestrated by pilot Chesley Sullenberger, or "Sully," who's been hailed as a hero. In both cases, the news has inspired, while other global events try our sense of optimism.

In hard times, saints -and heroes of all sorts — provide a beacon of light. They provide a sense of order amid chaos, of rock-solid values when the ground beneath us seems to be shifting.

It's true in current times as in the past: Just as comic-book-based movies do best after disasters, images of a miraculous water landing or the honoring of a man who displayed great faith can buoy onlookers, despite the world's economic turmoil.

Not only do we need people to root for, but also people to show us the way, said Jon Matsuoka, dean of the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawai'i.

And saints, adds a clergyman of Damien's Sacred Hearts order, provide not just the way, but a connection with something deeper — a bridge to the divine.

"The church elevates people to sainthood (because) people beyond the grave are able to help us on our journey," said the Rev. Herman Gomes, whose Damien sermon was the centerpiece at the annual Red Mass. "They pray with us and for us."

WHAT MAKES A HERO?

Heroes are consistent in their values, across time, regardless of the popular opinions of the time, said Matsuoka.

"Often they rise in time of crisis," he said. "That's when values are tested."

Thus, in Matsuoka's book, a hero remains true to his or her ideals, despite criticism.

There are well-known examples: Father Damien of Moloka'i, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi. All sacrificed themselves for causes bigger than themselves.

But everyday heroes also exist, said Matsuoka: They are ego-less folks who see themselves as instruments of change and have courage to act in ways that might be controversial.

A true hero sees what needs to happen, as opposed to what is, Matsuoka said. "They might be unpopular because they go against convention, reflecting a deeper conviction.

"It's real evident today why we need heroes and good leaders," he said. "Conventional thinking led us to global crises. We've allowed inept leaders to take us to the edge of collapse because of indifference and apathy."

WHAT MAKES A SAINT?

Silva, who leads a flock numbering in the six figures, recalled being struck by the beauty of Kalaupapa on his first visit. After all, it was known for being such a place of inhumane treatment.

"Yet people like Damien and (Mother) Marianne (Cope) turned it around and helped people to see even in their worst suffering and rejection, they had dignity," he said. "Certainly, that's a lesson we still need to learn today, hear today and put into practice today."

When Damien got to the colony that served those with Hansen's disease, then called leprosy, "he simply did what needed to be done," Gomes said. Yet that simple devotion to duty would be a life's work, and involve great sacrifice.

Damien's first act was to initiate the Christian Funeral Association, because people were being buried in shallow graves that would be dug up by wild pigs.

"To bury with dignity elevates the life of the person who died," Gomes said.

In a letter home, Damien wrote that he had no illusion about what was going to happen to him. "If this is what good God wants for my sanctification, then thy will be done," the priest wrote.

"Who among us has that faith?" Gomes marveled. "He sees the disease as a step to his own holiness. God knows what's best. That's what makes him saintly. All these activities make him the hero that he was."

In Gomes' view, stories like Damien's should be told more often today.

"I think it's a sad statement of modern culture," Gomes said. "We know so much about people who've done so little, like Paris Hilton, and so little about people who have done so much, like Mother Marianne or Father Damien."

TRANSFORMATION TO SAINT

Damien became a hero as he transformed from a young, brash missionary who talked of the Kalaupapa inhabitants as "heathens" to a humble leader who worked tirelessly for his fellow sufferers, Gomes said.

"(Damien) went to this place of darkness, disease, despair, and transformed it into a place where people could live lives of hope," Gomes said. "They were valuable people, sons and daughters of God."

Not only did Damien care for the wounds of those around him, he begged for lumber and nails to build homes, and he was credited with overseeing the creation of a water system for the community, Gomes said.

"Damien was probably hard to live with," he said with a chuckle. "It was 'My way or the highway.' He called out his agenda and you jumped. Sainthood was not this rosy path."

Gomes finds it heartening that in Damien's homeland, Belgium, he is widely recognized, even named a "Top Belgian."

Yet Damien's fans aren't just Catholics and Belgians.

The Rev. Barbara Grace Ripple, a Methodist, finds plenty in Damien's story to applaud.

"We really do need to lift up the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, who go beyond themselves beyond the natural inclination to take care of ourselves and others," she said. "It takes every single one of us to go beyond their heights to make this a better community."