Priest Gathering in Sendai Diocese

2012年12月4日（火）

　昨日、今日と宮城蔵王の温泉ホテルで仙台教区司祭の集いが開催されました。
　参加者は32名。教区司祭が13名（葬儀等の用事で5名が欠席）。教区内修道会・宣教会の司祭が12名。震災後の支援の司祭が7名（長崎教区をはじめ各地から被災地支援・外国人司牧・小教区担当などのために神父さまが応援に駆け付けて下さっております。感謝です。）
　今回の集いの話題は2014年以降の司祭派遣に関わる教区の地区制に関わること。司祭の高齢化等に伴う司祭派遣の在り方について知恵を出し合いました。
　わたしにとってインパクトがあったのは、成井神父さまの発表。震災後1年9か月を迎えようとしている現在、各地のベース（宮古、大槌、釜石、大船渡、米川、石巻、原町）で行われている支援の現状について報告がありました。また教区内外国人司牧に関するハルノコ神父さまとガリー神父さまの発表も内容のあるものでした。どちらも「寄り添う」ということの大切さをあらためて教えてくれているように思いました。

Ship Visit Update

名古屋港訪船日記　8/18
18日の夜遅く、訪船の手伝で一緒に港に行っている聖心姉妹会（城北橋）のシスタナ
リの従兄に会うために名古屋港鍋田埠頭まで連れていきました。夜が遅いのと、熱中
症になるのではと心配しながら船員の従兄にどうしても会いたいと言うので、仕方な
く運転して行くことにしました。場所は名古屋港の一番端にある中国関係のコンテナ
を扱っている埠頭で、彼が乗った船は予定より１時間以上遅くれて名古屋港に１１時
前に入港したため、それまで雨の降る蒸し暑さの中、車の中で待たなければなりませ
んでした。船が着岸するやいなやすぐに荷役作業がはじまり、本人に会えたのはわず
かの５分間だけでした。二人にとっては何年ぶりかの再会で、船は名古屋には初めて
の寄港でした。船はその朝午前７時には出航して行きましたが夜の１１時過ぎまでコ
ンテナ埠頭にいたのは今回が初めてでした。心配だったのは帰路でシスター達が最終
電車に間に合うかでしたが、後で確かめたところかろうじて間に合ったようです。
船で航海にでると長い期間会うことができない家族，親せき等がいて、家族を思う心
はどこでも同じだなと感じた時でした。
名古屋ステラマリス
山口正美

Minami San Riku group

　昨日から南三陸のフィリピン出身者の皆さんとその子供たちと一緒に、蔵王へ行ってきました。
　昨日（21日）は午前中は仙台での会議のため、行動を共にできなかったのですが、午後2時過ぎに仙台を出発して、蔵王の宿泊予定地に向かいました。同行は映像関係専門の中国人留学生。南三陸のフィリピン人共同体でのミサを取材し、その後も継続的に記録を撮っておられる方。
　夕食前に到着して、一風呂浴びて、楽しい夕食。食後はアメリアさんの部屋に集まり、歌を歌ったり歓談したり、楽しく過ごしました。途中、私は子供たちの宿題のお手伝い。手伝いと言っても、一緒にいて子どもたちが勉強するのをそばで見るだけでした。
　今日は朝食後9時にホテルを出発して、蔵王中央高原の散策路を約2時間歩いてきました。お母さん方も皆最後まで歩き通しました。鳥兜展望台から紅葉峠、片貝沼、めだま沼経由ドッコ沼。最初と最後は蔵王ロープウエイとゴンドラを利用しました。
　このような企画、もとはと言えば、仮設生活をしている子どもたちのために、夏休み中にせめて何か思い出になる企画をと考えたものです。お母さん方にとってもよい外出だったようです。ふだん一緒に寝泊まり出来ない仲間が一緒に寝泊まりしておしゃべりを楽しみ、歌を楽しみ、こうして仲間から力をもらったようです。
　昼食後、私は仙台での会議があるため、再び早めに出発して仙台に向かいました。
　米川ベースでのバーベキューには参加できませんでした。残念。

Morning Prayer

EVERY MORNING, I give thanks for all God has given me — for my bed, my breakfast, my cup of tea from my leaf-shaped teapot. But as I pray, I know that beyond my home, beyond my country where freedom and peace are taken for granted, beyond all the blessings of my life lie poverty, slavery, and corruption.

So every day, I close my eyes and pray, not only out of gratitude but also from a burden that’s too big for me. I pray that God’s righteousness will come like a flood, that the hopeless will know hope. … I pray, knowing that I have not begun to touch the world’s need, that I am privileged and sheltered from suffering. I also know that Christ was neither privileged nor immune from suffering but died bearing the world’s burden.

When I finish my prayers and enter the business of the day, I do so trusting that his arms are spread wide over us, that he still carries the burden, and that he hears our prayers.

My Prayer

LORD, I NEED a big dose of hope today.
None of the pie-in-the-sky kind.
Not even a pretty-sure guess.
I need the real kind of hope that brings lightness to a heavy day.
I am tired of gritting my teeth,
trying to swallow the pain that is my reality.
When I look back on my life,
I see how you proved faithful time after time.
There were moments I thought you had forgotten me
only to discover you were holding me so close I couldn’t see.
So if the stubborn pain refuses to subside for a while,
I will still whisper your name in praise.
Refocus my mind on you, Lord. Only on you.
It is there I find hope.

Magical Firefly show

What's more magical than a firefly light show on a warm summer night?

I happened to visit a firefly viewing area near Yonekawa base in Tome city this evening. And all I can say is that, it's the most fantastic show of light I ever seen.

Am always amazed by fireflies, I remember catching them and putting them in a jar when I was a kid. It's just amazing to see them flashing their lights. As a kid. I always look forward to catch one every night. Not until I realize fireflies comes with the seasons. That is why when the sisters informed me that the fireflies are already there, I did not hesitate to go.

And I tell you, I become a kid again. Seeing the firefly light show was being taken from a magical world. Being taken many years back, am still amazed by fireflies. And I could actually spend more time just watching them. It's the most amazing thing I saw when I was a kid and it still amazed me even now.

"Seeing fireflies for the first time is like being magically taken transported into your childhood days, into a world of fairies and dreams and of everything that's beautiful. I remember the night I say them, it was such a dark night.
All of the sunnier, there they were, guiding my path like a floating stars, stars within my reach, stars I could take home with my in the palm of my hands.

Seeing fireflies, real stars so close to heaven."
taken from

Seeing fireflies for the first time - by Joyce

Be yourself and everything will be ....

Just had a great time meeting new people at an international event in Morioka today. I never expect anything big from the event. I just went there enjoy and attend the said event.

What was unexpected is that I met new friends. People who have the same interests, values and hobbies. I never thought I would be see many Japanese who would be interested in my own country. It's was indeed a great joy to introduce ones country to the Japanese. With the hope that thry will understand us better and not see us as only entertainers, but real people who just wanted to share our culture to them.

I was just myself. I did not even introduce myself to the participants as a Catholic priest. No one needs to know. And I meet Shintaro and Yuuri san. They were both interesting young people there.

Now at least I can say that I have some additional events to look forward and meeting friends in Morioka

AOS Supported Groups and Areas

ＡＯＳ日本の皆様
ＡＯＳ津波基金の支援者の皆様


2012．6.13　から１４日の　岩手県漁師さんのこども達及び、陸前高田市の支援について報告させていただきます。





３月岩手漁民組合との支援についての話では船のモーター（3－４台）、漁民組合と子ども達への希望がありました。その後対象者になる人数が少なくなるのでそれよりは漁業に戻られなくて収入がなくて子供を抱えている家庭を優先的に支援した方がよいと漁師さんたちで決めました。中学生以下の漁師さんの子ども最初は200人くらいになるだろうと予想したが実際に漁師さんたちが集めて作って下さった名簿には320名になりました。それでは一人当たりの金額が少なさすぎると言うことで漁民組合への支援もやめて、子どもに回してもらいたいと漁師さんたちからの提案がありました。そのような提案を司教さんと相談し今回残りの基金と事務局からの支援でＡＯＳ津波基金３，２００，０００円をお伝えいたしました。

６月１３日山田町にある福祉施設に山田町、大槌、船越湾、広田、越喜来、釜石等の代表漁師さんが集まって下さり、お金を分配し、みなさんの地域に戻りＡＯＳの代わりにお金を子ども達に配って下さることになりました。難民移住移動者事務局の封筒とＡＯＳ津波基金の紹介を書いた手紙も一緒に配られることになりました。漁師さんの中には対象者にならないし、奥さんの病気で病院の送り迎えが会ったにも関わらず、少しでも他の方に役立ちたいと言う気持ちで面倒なことを受け入れて下さった方がいらっしゃいました。

皆さんは生活が困っている漁師さんたちがいでも漁業組合もやってくれないことをしてくれたと何回も感謝の挨拶をしてくださいました。
漁師さんの家族の子供たちをお会いして話ができました。一家族は仮設に住んでいるお爺さんとおばあさんとその孫、
もうひと家族は子供4人を持っている家族で船を失ったそうです。





先月に支援した陸前高田のミサンガチームのプレハブを訪問しました。

プレハブの壁は白い紙や床はビニルシートを費用節約のため女性たち力で張ったそうです。看板や物置等も手作りでした。まだ水道と電気が通ってなくて、工事を依頼し6月末には通る予定で、太陽パンネールで蛍光灯１個とパソコンを使える電力はある。

魚の加工食品は別のミサンガチームがまだ準備中なのであり、他の品物は手作りのハンガータオルや、ヘアーピン、食器、カバンなどが置いてありました。今後は手作りのカンバン等を予定しています。場所は海に近い、周りには殆ど何もない所で、売上はまたよくないですが、女性たちの仕事を増やすため、商品開発や家でできるパソコン入力作業も計画してました。それはボランティアで来た印刷会社の方にお願いして開拓したそうです。ただ、まずは女性たちのパソコンの勉強が先でプレハブの中で教育する計画している、それとノートパソコンがまだなくて、それも課題であると言ってました。プレハブはボランティアや漁師さんが集まる場所であり、地域住民が来て生活の相談もしているそうです。

また多くの女性を雇える状態ではないが徐々に仕事を増やしたり、補助金など使える制度の情報をあつめ、利用しながらより多くの女性たちに仕事場を提供したいとリーダーの方が言ってました。特にリーダーの方の収入が少ない状況で夏からは港でのアワビ処理の仕事をしなくてはならないが、今の仕事が楽しいといいながら希望と意欲が満ちていました。



私の個人的な考えですが、みなさんがせっかく作った物が売れればと思います。今思っているのは　もし教会のバザーで売るのはどうかということです。　陸前高田の女性が作ったタオル（300円）の写真をお送りいたします。皆さんのご協力お願いいたします。


金スンホ

Small Step

How can we choose love when we have experienced so little of it?  We choose love by taking small steps of love every time there is an opportunity.  A smile, a handshake, a word of encouragement, a phone call, a card, an embrace, a kind greeting, a gesture of support, a moment of attention, a helping hand, a present, a financial contribution, a visit ...  all these are little steps toward love.

Each step is like a candle burning in the night.  It does not take the darkness away, but it guides us through the darkness.  When we look back after many small steps of love, we will discover that we have made a long and beautiful journey.

Creating jobs for Rikuzen Takata Hirota Hanto

Inspirations just come in places and time you don`t expect. I had the opportunity to meet a person whose dedication to create jobs for the people in Rukuzen Takata Hirota Hanto. Her dedication can really be seen in her job and in her service to the people around her.

She opened a shop called Smile Banya, a shops the sells handmade products by the locals and also a shop where they can have a place to do their project. As we were listening to her stories about the situation in the area, she mention that there is an increasing rate of suicide and divorce in the area. This is not the first time i heard about this, when i went to Yamada cho in Otsuchi Shi yesterday, the same thing was mentioned about the suicide rate. It really sad because these things are never mentioned in the daily news. its sad because we could in our small ways prevent this to increase.

As i see her dedication to her work, i can see that she radiate that light to others, Maybe its difficult for her to start all these things. Starting a volunteer network, create jobs and work as volunteer, even give up most of her own time and money for her work. She is a source of hope for people who cannot see what is the future. She is the source of inspiration for people like me who sometimes wanted to give up when things are not doing well

By the sea

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.

Meeting People

We have this tendency to easily judge other from hearsay. We have not personally met that person or we just met that person once, then that first impression and the things we heard about him or her makes us label  that person.

Yet mostly, when we meet the person whom we label as this or that and took time to have a chat on the person, our perceptions and judgement on him or her will change. Sometimes, it  changes your attitude on that person and you even wanted to know more about him or her.

People says that, meeting people will considerable change their life or outlook on that person. When someone makes a difference in someone's life they become meaningful to them as well. A simple gesture of inviting for a tea, a simple gift giving is enough to change ones outlook of the other.

We may still based our judgement from hearsay and stop there, but why not take time to go out and have a little chat on that person. You might just know that you share the same interest and you have many things in common.

Be Patient

Being patient . Be patient. Patience could be very hard on people who wanted to finish some things fast. I myself would be very impatient especially that waiting moment in the hospital or the waiting moment of the plane ride. 

But sometime you just stuck on these places and you have no choice but to wait. And waiting needs alot of patience. 

Sometimes we just need to learn how to wait, be patient and learn the art of waiting.

For my personal note, I have noted somethings i read about how to be patient and here are some of it

1.  Figure out what make you impatient

Sit down and make a list of things that makes you impatient. It helps a lot to keep your cool when you know or you are aware of things that bothers, or makes you anxious .

2. Write it down.

Make a journal of your journey.  Journal making will help you pin point what makes you anxious and the circumstances that trigger it.

3.  Always have a positive outlook in life

Being always positive is very imperative as possessing a sense of patience. Remember life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

4. Expect the unexpected

Accept the twist and turns of the events in life gracefully. Keep ones expectations realistic. Remember sometime you don't have the control of the situation.

5. Give yourself a break

Take a few minutes to do absolutely nothing. Just sit quitely and think. Don't watch tv or even read. DO NOTHING. You may become impatient at first but by taking some time, you can essentially slow down your world and that is necessary to develop  the attitude to be  patient. 

Remember me and Pay it Forward

“One day a man saw an old lady stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

“Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

“He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put into you.

“He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'

“Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty, and his hands hurt.

“As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

“Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need – and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

“He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance needed – and Bryan added, 'And think of me.'

“He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

“A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

“After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. While the waitress went to get change for her, the old lady slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote. 'You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do – don’t let this chain of love end with you.' Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

“Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.

“She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right.

Being Honest to God

JACOB, IN CRISIS, knew that it was God’s nature to bless, and he needed that blessing. … However, God did not immediately bless him; God wanted to know his name. There needed to be an honest disclosure about who he was. For Jacob to receive the blessing that God wanted to give, he had to be willing to come clean.

There is a clear message here for those of us in crisis and in need of God’s blessing. We must tell God our names and share with God who we really are and what we have done. Usually we want our relationship with God to work the other way around. … But that is not the way God works. If we want God to bless us, we need to face up to ourselves honestly.

-Trevor Hudson
Questions God Asks Us

Presence

I AM AFFLICTED with the cultural plague of busy-ness. Trying to find time each day to write, walk, meditate, or make art and work makes it painfully obvious how busy I am. While I would not call myself a workaholic, I do tend to keep moving and I keep busy.

Spirituality is the experience of the presence of God. Spiritual practices are those attitudes or activities that open a person to the experience of the presence of God. The ones that first come to mind are prayers, meditation, reading the Bilbe, and attending church. In recent years many Christians have been adding to the list so that we now think of a walk in the woods, sitting in a sunny window with a cup of tea, or even knitting as spiritual practices. Anything that allows us to be still or to focus or attention on the Holy One can be a spiritual practice. Anything we come back to day after day, anything to which we give our attention, can be a spiritual practice. Washing dishes, walking the dog, even taking out the trash.

-Jeanette Stokes

Disciplines 2010

Volunteerism

I just happened to join the volunteer work for a day last Friday in Ofunato and i could say it was a fulfilling experience. I have been here for six months in the area, but have not really tried to say yes to the invitation to join any volunteer work for some reasons that my work does not allow it. Or i could say some very very personal reason.  I never thought that one day, while working as the diocesan coordinator for foreigners here in the Diocese of Sendai, i would be working cleaning some debris that is still left after the tsunami last Mar. 11, 2011.

We were helping a local restaurant owner who is rebuilding his shop. What is amazing is that, that spirit of being of service to the other is very alive in the group. i happen to work with amazing people and it was that camaraderie which leave a mark for me and made me decide to do another volunteer work again, next week.

Gambarimasu.

Like

Like us on Facebook." is the most common statement we associate with the word like. Like and Facebook are too common and one that we cannot even imagine to separate them.

But what is really the real meaning of liking ones status on Facebook? Let me summarize some of the ideas I got when people "like" your status.

First, liking ones status is just the normal liking. I like what you posted and I like what you are sharing. Most of these would be some inspiring words or prayers. Or any quotations taken from the Internet. Your lucky no one accused you of plagarism.

Second, liking someone's status could also mean, hey I like you, no matter what that person is posting you just simply like it. It could also express your interest on that person, or just simply saying don't forget I am existing.

Thirdly, liking could also be , a way to express yourself to that person indirectly. Yes most of us might be limited with words, or just simply not really expressive in our way to say "I like you". So this status thing provides us opportunity to express our feelings to that person whom we wanted to know more.

Fourth and last, maybe it's just simply to let that person know that I am here. Always seeing your status , (looks like a stalker to me), but it's simply to say that hey am here. Don't ignore me. Remember the days we were together, especially during our first meeting.i have enjoyed those days you were here, and I hope to meet you again in the future.

I may not be able to express what you wanted to say when you like other people's status, but this is just a short attempt to summarize what you feel. When you push the "like" button

Survivor

I had taken my time to walk to the port of Ofunato after a month. I feel I really need to have a walk around today after that long days of being out of the town.

I pass by the church hoping to offer some prayers and greet the blessed sacrament, unfortunately it was locked. So I just decided to pass by and pray outside. I plan to visit the place where we had the celebration of the one year anniversary of the tsunami, near the port. So I headed to the port and while passing through some areas, I could sense that people shoot suspicious looks on me, as I stop to watch the garden near the destroyed railway. It's amazing to see how vegetables grow in that area. I reach then the area of the Ofunato station. A taxi is waiting for a passenger that of course would never come because there is no one coming in that area. Then I pass by a sushi restaurant near the river. It's a good place to visit too when I have some visitors later.

As I am nearing my destination, I begin to see some trees around that destroyed park and wonder why, only the surviving Matsu tree received so much media attention, when in fact there are trees too that survived the tsunami here at the port of Ofunato.  Although broken, they have bear their beautiful flowers last season during the Sakura blooming period. 

I can compare these trees to our life, we can be like that Matsu tree of Rikuzen Takata, a survivor, yet dying. And it has allowed itself to be helped by others in order to survive. Or this Sakura tress, which are broken by tsunami, yet had shown signs of liveliness and vitality. A truly independent survivor. Some people are survivor too yet they stop living and stop to hope that one day everything will be back to normal. Or some people broken, yet they ride wite the season, living their life not as it used to be, but as it come. Yet hoping for a brighter future, a future that all these things is but a bad dream, a nightmare. And that one day, everything will be in their order.

"It`s not a tourist place, its place where people had lost their lives." Please Respect it

Watching a documentary in NHK about the tsunami has taught me so many lessons. First its about the respect for the feelings of the families of the people who lost their  loved once especially those who have not yet found.  As of now there are around 5,000 unaccounted bodies. The families of these people are still hoping to find even just a bone to confirm that their lost family members are really gone.

I was assigned in Ofunato seven months after the tsunami and i can say, that like most of the people who come and visit the place, the first impression is just awe and wonder. How on earth this happen,  and without any respect to the place i took as many pictures as i can, just like a tourist who wonder on the newness of the place.

But as i stay longer here and meet some people who lost a love one and hearing their stories. I begin to realize that this is a sacred place, people lost their lives here. Even in front of our apartment a body was found there. I even saw some things, personal belongings of people, wondering if the owner is still alive or not. But  with the efficiency of the Japanese in terms of returning things, i could only think of the worst scenario, these people might have died on that day or even the whole family that is why no one claimed those things.

As I reflect deeper, i feel that my mission is to tell the people who are coming to visit the disaster areas not as a tourist spot.  But places where so many people had lost their lives and need respect for all of us. So if we happen to come and visit these place, take time to offer a prayer for the victims and their families. Those who are left behind suffer much. They need our understanding.

We Received our blessing from the sea, it's natural that sometimes the sea takes it back

This was the statement I heard from the locals here in Iwate ken during my visit today. Most of us who will hear that will surely say "what kind of thinking is that?" For people who survived the great tsunami, their relationship with the sea is unbroken. Most of them get their livelihood from the sea. The sea is a treasure, that supports them.
Upon hearing this words from the local fishermen, I feel that there is a great hope within their hearts. That they will never abandon the sea and their livelihood despite their experience of the tsunami in this area. The hope that one day everything will go back to normal and that the sea once in a while will take what it his own.
It's a mutual relation, we can never be enemies forever but we have to live in harmony with one another with the sea and the nature.