Here am I, send me (Isaiah 6:8)
The full text of the message follows:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I wish to express my gratitude to God for the commitment with which the Church throughout the world carried out the Extraordinary Missionary Month last October. I am convinced that it stimulated missionary conversion in many communities on the path indicated by the theme: “Baptized and Sent: the Church of Christ on Mission in the World”.
Continue readingLike Jesus Christ, forced to flee.
Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating
internally displaced persons
Bradly Rozairo OMI – In order to respond to the message of Pope Francis when he visited Japan in November 2019, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan has introduced “Protect all life month”: September 1 – October 4, every year starting from 2020.
Continue readingAhead of the 75th anniversary year of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Pope Francis visited both cities. At a solemn event at the Hiroshima Peace Park in November 2019, Francis declared the use of atomic energy for war to be “a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home.” “How,” he asked, “can we speak of peace even as we build terrifying new weapons of war?”
Continue readingBradly Rozairo OMI – The late Pope St. John Paul II announced the “Appeal for Peace” in February 1981 at the Peace Memorial Park of Hiroshima with these words, “War is the work of man. War is destruction of human life. War is death…To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future…Let us promise our fellow human beings that we will work untiringly for disarmament and the banishing of all nuclear weapons.” His appeal was an invitation to everyone in the world to abolish nuclear weapons, denounce nuclear wars, and commit oneself to peace. In Response to this appeal, the following year the Catholic Church in Japan instituted an annual “Ten Days for Peace” (August 6 –15), a special period to think about our responsibilities toward peace, to learn about peace and to work for peace and human rights.
Continue readingTo our Brother and Sister Catholics of Japan and All People of Good Will:
On the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan issued the message “Resolution for Peace” in light of the situation at home and abroad.1 To mark the 60th anniversary, the bishops’ message was “The Road To Peace Based On Nonviolence – Now Is The Time To Be Prophetic.”2 Then for the 70th anniversary, the message was “Blessed are the peacemakers – Now especially, peace must not depend upon weapons.”3
Continue readingPope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today.
Continue readingBradly Rozairo OMI – When I look back at the schedule we had during my years of formation in the seminary, one of the things that come to my mind is the time spent in the garden doing some manual labor. Every day a good amount of time was given to till the soil, remove weeds, plant flowers and water them. In other words, in the daily schedule, there was time to interact with nature. We are part of nature, and therefore there is a need for each one of us to connect with nature and experience its beauty.
Continue readingJerome Novotny OMI – Many individuals in today’s society understand the pain felt by mothers after they have aborted their babies. But what about Post-Abortion Syndrome which affects men? As the body count of unborn babies continues to increase, research shows that more and more fathers are desperately crying out in pain as a result of these abortions. Recent studies show that a father wants to protect his child even though the child may have a defect or disability. I refer you to an English article: “My ‘Friend’ Assumed I’d Be Pro Abortion for Cleft Babies Like Mine & He’s Dead Wrong”
Continue readingJerome Novotny OMI – Recently, I read an article about the suffering of Sri Lankan tea workers and the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the country’s poorest people, the plantation workers face more hardships due to their low income. Their jobs have collapsed due to the coronavirus, and there are no additional sources of income for them.
Continue reading
(St. Eugene de Mazenod, Founder)
What a ravishing ceremony for Christians, how the heart was bursting, what joy as one joined with the whole Church of heaven and earth to celebrate the glorious Resurrection of Our Saviour.
After journeying with him through the sad event of his Passion, after weeping over the torments that our sins made him endure, how consoling it is to see him rise triumphant over death and hell, and what gratitude must fill our hearts at the thought that this good Master has really willed to make us sharers in his resurrection, destroying the sin that is in us and giving us a new life.
