TUESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER, MAY 18, 2021

MASS READINGS

A Reading according to Acts 20:17-27

From Miletus Paul had the presbyters of the Church at Ephesus summoned. When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia. I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me because of the plots of the Jews, and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes. I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus. But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.

“But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”

REFLECTION:

"But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me."

In this passage of Acts, St. Paul is saying farewell to all his friends and disciples. He has been preaching the Gospel and bearing witness regardless of rejection and persecutions. He even knows that more sufferings are to come. And yet, he obeys the call of the Holy Spirit to continue preaching the Gospel everywhere he sets foot.

As of lately, I've been reading about Catholicism in Japan, from feudal times until the 1950's. Japan was catechized first by St. Francis Xavier, and later by Jesuits, and other religious orders. Eventually the main feudal lord, the Shogun, ordered 26 martyrs to be tortured, and persecuted local Christians.

While they could, priests would arrive at the shores of Japan to replace those priests that were killed by the state. Eventually when the Emperor rose into power he completely banned Christianity in the land. Many faithful fled to northern Japan and the islands to live in hiding until the return of the priests.

The subsequent Japanese Emperors would reject Christianity even further and their government placed spies everywhere to inform them of any Christians in the land. For over 25 decades they lived their faith in secret and fear of the government. Yet they persisted, and knew that Christianity would one day return to the land.

Eventually Commodore Perry would end Japan's isolation in 1853, opening commerce between the East and West.

Churches were allowed to be built; however, only for foreigners. Japanese people were forbidden to set foot inside them. Still, the brave people that lived around Nagasaki decided one day to make an excursion into the city and visit a Church they thought would be of the same faith of their ancestors.

In the simplicity of how they lived their faith, their ancestors left them with the message that one day Christianity would return to Japan. They were to recognize which was the true Church by these. 3 signs:

* The priest would be celibate

* There would be a statue of Mary in the Church.

* The priest will obey the Pope.

These brave souls met the French missionary priest that had built that church. After that encounter, he would meet them at their homes to say Holy Mass in hiding until a whistleblower gave them away. They were arrested, sent to re-education camps, and tortured. Still, many persevered regardless of these horrible hardships. Once the Emperor died they were able to return to their ravaged homes to reinitiate their lives. Christianity was no longer forbidden, but still seen as an anti-Nationalistic / Western way of life.

For a while they lived in relative peace and some freedom of religion until the events of the atomic bombing. Many of these Christians assisted the wounded and dying despite their own wounds and after effects of radiation.

What has made these quiet people of Japan so different than others is the way they lived their lives, their faith, regardless of being considered traitors to their nation for following Jesus. And how throughout the centuries they awaited for the true priesthood established by Jesus Christ himself to return to their land.

Please continue to pray with us the PAPA Prayer for Priests everyday, so we can recognized the beauty of the Sacred Orders and the sanctity and perseverance in faith of our priests.

God bless y'all!