The meeting with the youth at Nagasachi

By Mrs. Izumi Sakura

Tokyo, Japan, 19 August 2017 -- Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, SDB, Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples visited Japan from 12 to 19 August. The main purpose that brought him to Japan was to participate in the “2nd Papa Francesco Volunteer Service Camp” being held in Nagasaki since 16 August. Before and after this meeting with the youth at Nakamachi Church, Nagasaki, Msgr. Savio had meetings with Archbishop Okada of Tokyo, Archbishop Takami of Nagasaki, visited the Nunciature in Tokyo, and visited with part of the Salesian Family in Japan.

The “Papa Francesco Volunteer Service” was started by Korean students who participated in the Asian Youth Day held in Daejeon, Korea in 2014. They responded to the Holy Father’s appeal to “rise up and shine forth the light” and called on to not only students in Korea, but also to fellow students in Asian countries such as Taiwan and Japan to develop friendship and to work together. The camp in Nagasaki is the 2nd one after the 1st was held in Seoul last year. (Asian Youth Day was also held this year in Indonesia.)

Msgr. Savio Hon, who had participated in the AYD Korea 2014, was invited to the Camp to give a talk, celebrate mass, and share with the youth. In his talk, Msgr. Savio, mentioning the newly blessed Takayama Ukon, St. Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci, the missionary to China, encouraged the youth on their life journey, emphasizing the importance of friendship to cultivate virtues and wisdom, to be open to universal friendship and also to the transcendence of life (to God). In his homily during mass, Msgr. Savio took up Blessed Takayama Ukon’s life and sanctity in order to be inspired from him.

Before and after the Camp with the Asian students, in a very cramped schedule, Msgr. Savio visited the international parish of Hamamatsu run by the Salesians, the Bible Camp on the shores of Lake Nojiri, and met with the Salesian Family in Nagasaki. In Hamamatsu, he enjoyed the amiable sharing with the vibrant community, had an experience of the “tea ceremony” by the Japanese parishioner, and at Nojiri, saw the vocational ministry effort of the Salesian Province, and had a brief visit with the girls’ camp run by the FMA sisters.

Responding to the interview a few hours before leaving Japan, Msgr. Savio shared that he feels there are two major challenges that the youth face today: “respect for life” and “identity”. He left us the following message: There are many incidents in which young people commit suicide nowadays. It is difficult to be aware of the sacredness of life, your own life and of others. Situations of broken families and migration influence the young people’s lives and often make them disoriented, living superficially, not knowing who they are, unable to find their identity. With the youth facing such challenges, we are called to accompany them with the Gospel and help them in “discernment” as the Holy Father says so they can have life to the full. Don Bosco’s spirit, the Preventive System is precisely a way of education of the “heart” in order to accompany the youth, to convey “God’s love for the young”, it is a way to bring “joy”, the “family spirit”, “hope” so much needed by the youth, by our world today.

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