Joy and conversion this Easter in Japan

Tokyo (AsiaNews) ¨Two weeks ago Fr. Miyashita, pastor to Matsudo's Catholic community, invited me to participate in the Palm Sunday liturgy in his Church.  °But ¨he added ¨ you will have to give the homily"  The thoughts of preaching before a Japanese priest of his literary stature was a price that I was reluctant to pay, however, I decided to accept. 

It took me three hours to reach Matsudo city, adjacent to Tokyo, quite a paradox if one considers that the super rapid train only takes 5 hours to cover 1200 kilometres. The panorama of the world most efficient city is boring to say the least; neither did the spectacle of fellow passengers add any cheer.  There was no mummer of conversation, as people feared being a nuisance to their neighbours.  But faces speak volumes.   I was standing in the carriage and seated directly in front of me in places reserved for the elderly were two men, more or less of my same age (76).  They bore expressions of sadness, icons of that resignation which the Japanese consider a virtue.  One of the men attempted to overcome his ill humour by sipping beer.

Waiting for me at the station was Fr. Oscar (31), a Philippine of my same order, who had just completed a language course that entailed 8 hours of daily study for two years.  °Tokyo, desert” is the chorus of a pop song in vogue at the moment. Here the sand is called concrete.  Matsudo is no exception.  We walked for over 10 minutes among the supermarkets and high rise apartment blocks, without ever seeing the sky.  On reaching the Church I had the distinct impression of leaving the arid desert behind and entering a cool fresh Oasis. 

The first homily of vespers mass.  A little intimidated by the energetic directions of Miyashita, a true °maestro” of ceremonies and liturgical music, I tried to do my best.  Once the mass had ended and tired from my exertions I made towards the rectors house to rest myself, but Oscar presented me with a Korean lady who desired to greet me.  Terrorized because I can barely stammer in the language of the °Land of the rising sun” I attempted to mask my fear with the usual Japanese grin, and passed the test. 

That good lady's greeting was just a prelude to events.  Sunday morning, shortly before the main ceremony, I found myself surrounded by Korean men and women who were seeking a “penitential service”.   It confirmed my conviction that Asia's future missionary colonies are Korea and Vietnam. 

In the meantime a large number of faithful gathered in the courtyard adjacent to the Church in perfect order.  The ceremony took place in a completely natural atmosphere.  Miyashita, who is a born leader and has the will to put it into use, limited himself to the part of a priest.  The ministers of the Eucharist, readers and choir carried their roles with perfect competence allowing the congregation to enjoy their participation in the rite.  Japanese culture lends itself spontaneously to the faith. 

Despite the Church's notable dimensions, it could not contain the number of faithful: some assisting from the atrium.  From my position on the altar I deliberately observed the expressions on the congregation's faces: no sign of boredom or duty, but the intense expression of those who participate willingly in a long awaited event. 

Opening my Homily, I found it difficult to overcome my emotions.  My carefully prepared scheme had completely vanished, not from sudden amnesia, but rather because I sensed it was not appropriate to the event in which I was participating.  Because it was a true event, no mere ceremony.

So I built my speech around the passage from darkness to light, projecting it onto the figures at the forefront of the last lines of the passion according to Luke as proclaimed a few moments before: the revolutionary assassin who begs forgiveness from an agonized Christ, the Jerusalem crowd which turns from Golgotha beating their chests, and above all the military official of the terrorist Empire, who on seeing how Christ dies exclaims: ¡°He truly was the son of God¡±. In that episode those Christians could clearly read the parable of their life; they too had passed from darkness to light in their desire to contemplate the Crucified. 

Thanks to that rite, repeated year after year, like an ever increasing spiral, the Christian community has become an oasis in the arid desert of that dormitory city of 200thousand.  I had the impression that these people were very careful, but what struck me the most were the expressions of the elderly, serene and peaceful, compared to the gloomy desolation of their contemporaries whom I had met on the train days before.   

They were also foreigners in the assembly, Philippines and above all Koreans. The Tokyo government is frantically attempting to establish a psychological, not just political or economic, understanding between the populations of Eastern Asia, including the Chinese. But its attempts are failing.  In the Christian assembly at Matsudo, during and after the rite, friendship between the nationalities was already a concrete fact.

Every Sunday at midday the Tokyo Cathedral is reserved for the capital’s numerous Korean communities.  But at Easter, the Church will be packed with Japanese and Koreans will participate with one single heart and in a spirit of reconciliation in the mass presided over by Archbishop Pietro Okada, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio Msgr. Alberto Bottari de Castello.  In 1989 Korea's Catholic's chose the biblical expression °Christ is our peace" as the theme for the International Eucharistic Congress celebrated in Seoul. At the time they were probably thinking of their brothers in the North. Next Sunday the two communities, representing both populations, will underline that reconciliation is possible, because there are not only days made by men, there is also °the Lord's Day", which is of course, Easter.