Except in his native place
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I was in Otsu City in Japan during the last week of October to attend a high-level ministerial meeting on disabled persons to mark the end of the previous Asia-Pacific decade of disabled persons and to begin a new decade which ends in 2012. Our hotel is situated at the edge of the largest freshwater lake in Japan, Lake Biwa. We arrived at the hotel past midnight and when I woke up the following morning I was greeted by the beautiful sight of Lake Biwa. What came into my mind and what I felt was the same sensation as when I first saw Lake Galilee from our hotel room on that first morning of our pilgrimage two years ago at the Holy Land. The beauty of God’s creation, the generosity of God’s love, and the magnificence of God’s plan for mankind, these were the thoughts that came to my mind as I gazed at the beautiful scenery before my eyes. That Sunday I walked to the Catholic chapel located not too far from the hotel, in the residential area of the city. It is a small chapel and one has to remove his/her shoes before entering. Slippers are provided, neatly arranged in open boxes near the front entrance of the chapel. Although the chapel is not big, it was not filled up with people. There was a group of about two dozen young girls in uniform with beret (somewhat similar to girl scouts). I noticed that entire families, including young children, were in attendance, very much unlike what Jean and I saw in Helsinki when we attended Holy Mass in a chapel there. In Helsinki, we did not see young children attending Mass, only old ladies and a few men. From what I saw, I surmised that the Church in Japan, at least in Otsu, is alive and well, but the number of the faithful is few. That evening, after praying the rosary inside my room, I started reflecting on the Church in Japan. My thoughts led to China, with its over one billion people, then to Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos – all with predominantly non-Christian population. Where is God calling the community of Couples for Christ? How could CFC help in the conversion of these countries with very ancient and deeply rooted cultures? Should CFC form a group of young people who will be trained to learn their languages and culture, to be more sharply honed on the teachings of the Catholic Church, and to be better prepared to share the Gospel with people who have never or barely heard about Christ? Should we open schools for young children in these countries as a means for evangelization? Where are we going to get the funds? Who will volunteer to help in this new ministry for mission ad gentes? Many questions entered my mind and only a few uncertain answers. What, dear Lord, are we going to do? What, dear Lord, is your will for us? How, dear Lord, should we proceed? Why, dear Lord, are there still so many who do not know your Son? Who, dear Lord, are you calling to do this mission? The more I reflect on this, the more questions and fewer answers come to mind. Yes, the regional conference in December in Bangkok should provide some of the answers to these questions. Are we ready? Has the time come? Has God already chosen the men and women for this mission? My brothers and sisters, it was in Asia where Jesus was born. It was in Asia where He lived and preached. And from Asia, He sent His disciples to the rest of the world. But while Asia is the birthplace of Christianity and many Asians seek a meaningful spiritual life, Asian Christians constitute a very small minority. All the world’s major religions are in Asia – Judanism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism and Christianity. And the practices of contemplation and meditation are widespread in Asia, reflecting the desire for the spiritual and the search for the meaning of life and the destiny of the universe Christian evangelization began in Jerusalem at Pentecost. St. Peter was the first to convert over three thousand people in one day. Then Paul, John, Thomas and other disciples brought the Gospel throughout Asia. The first to be established were the Christian communities in Jerusalem and Antioch. In fact it was in Antioch where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. The apostle Bartholomew preached the Gospel in Northwest India while St. Thomas established the Church of Malabar in South India. They were followed by dedicated and courageous missionaries who brought the Good News to Mongolia and China, to South and Southeast Asia and the rest of the continent. But Asia, the birthplace of Jesus, has remained predominantly non-Christian. After centuries of missionary evangelization, Christ is still unknown or barely known to countless people in the continent. The ancient religions remain deeply rooted and form the basis of their culture. This brings to mind the Biblical account of Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth, his native place: Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house”(Mt 13:54,57). The greatest missionary to Asia is St. Francis Xavier. During a short period of just over a decade, St. Francis converted an estimated 700,000 people into Christianity and established Christian communities along the western coast of India from Goa to Cape Comorin, and in Sri Lanka, Malacca and Japan. The success of his evangelization was attributed to his visible holiness, his life of constant prayer, his unceasing catechesis and his unrelenting pastoral work. At the same time, he adopted methods that were unique to each situation and consistent with the conditions of the people. In India, Francis learned the language, ministered to the sick, preached the Gospel and taught a catechism that he had written. In Goa he established a school to train young men and women to be missionaries to their own people. After three years in India, he went to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam while still shepherding the growing Christian communities in India. One convert in Goa was a Japanese named Anjiro, who was baptized as Paul. In 1549 Francis and Paul went to Japan to bring Christianity. It was the love and concern that Francis gave to each Japanese he encountered that brought many to embrace Christianity. Within two years about 2,000 were converted. While in Japan, Francis noted that the Japanese looked up to China as the source of civilization. He thought then that if China could be converted then Japan would follow. Francis therefore returned to Goa and prepared for a mission to China. In April 1552, he sailed for China, reaching in four months the island of Santian near the city of Canton. He began preparations to enter China but he became sick. Francis died before he could enter China. My brothers and sisters, the Catholic men and women that I saw in church in Otsu City must have been the descendants of the men and women who heard the Gospel message from the men and women who were brought to Christ by St. Francis Xavier. But today the number of Catholics in Japan is a mere 0.4 percent of the total population or barely half a million out of a total population of over 120 million. If St. Francis Xavier had not died before reaching China, it might have been a different story. But God has another plan. In my reflections I sense that God plans to raise a new “Francis Xavier” for the conversion of Asia. But this new “Francis Xavier” does not need to be just one individual. In fact, it could be a whole community of committed Christians. It could be Couples for Christ. |
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