When I got there, this reality was already present. I just happened to be assigned there, because the Bishop learned that given my Central American background, being born in El Salvador, I speak Spanish, come into the United States, becoming an American, I learned English ... Eventually I was sent to the Philippines by Maryknoll before this assignment, and I learned the language of the south of the Philippines, and also Japanese, which I studied as soon as I got there. I studied it for three years, full time. And so with that in mind, he said that he needed to move me to this particular new assignment, so that I will pay attention to the new reality of the Catholics in Japan, because that's what is happening.The Japanese Catholic population is declining, due to the aging population, and the low birth rate, but the Catholic population of migrants is making it to go up. So we have now a different reality than let's say right after the war, where everyone was Japanese Catholic. Now we have 56% of the Catholic population is foreign-born migrants, who came to Japan, and 44% born Japanese. So that's the new reality of the Catholic church. It's not everywhere, but primarily in the metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Saitama, Nagoya, Osaka. And so the people that are responding to the needs of the migrants are basically the missionaries from diverse communities, because they come not only with the need to be tending to, let's say their spirituality, the celebration of the Eucharist, the sacrament, but also with other necessities such as in occasion legal assistance, because they broke the law, or they lost their job, or they were injured and they are not being compensated, or sometimes they just get into trouble.

In this One On One Interview, Robert Ellsberg along with Christopher Pramuk and Fr.William Hart McNichols discuss "All My Eyes See: The Artistic Vocation of Fr. William Hart McNichols"https://maryknoll.link/71a074“All My Eyes See is a profound conversation through which the theologian elicits from the artist the panoply of experiences, reflections, and insights that tell the story of his artistic journey. Fr. Bill’s art is the language he has created to make the invisible visible and to explain the inexplicable. It is a book about seeing and not seeing, knowing and not knowing, joy and sorrow, hope and despair, faith and doubt, success and failure, triumph and defeat, all of which finds a home in the human heart.”—Alan C. Mitchell, Georgetown UniversityGet your copy of the book today at https://maryknoll.link/71a074 #Robert Ellsberg  #orbisbooks #ReligiousArt #Vocation #ChristopherPramuk #WilliamHartMcNichols

Feast of Saint Mark, EvangelistMk 16:15-20Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:“Go into the whole worldand proclaim the Gospel to every creature.Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;whoever does not believe will be condemned.These signs will accompany those who believe:in my name they will drive out demons,they will speak new languages."

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of EasterJn 12:44-50Jesus cried out and said,“Whoever believes in me believes not only in mebut also in the one who sent me,and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me."

On this episode Among The People, we are joined again by Fr. Larry Radice, M.M. who discusses his experience and importance of alternative energy sources. Solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal heating have both positives and negatives that should be part of every discussion because they can provide major benefits for communities. From growing up on a small farm in Colorado to serving on mission after his ordination in 1985 in Tanzania, Africa, Fr. Larry has had a sensitivity to and keen interest in the Care of Creation.

Friday of the Second Week of EasterJn 6:1-15When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him offto make him king,he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Traditional forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart, also known as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have waned among Catholics in recent decades. Here, Mary Frohlich, a sister of the Sacred Heart, seeks to reinterpret this traditional devotion as central to Christian spirituality in the 21st century. Facing our impending ecological disaster she sets out to discover the Heart of God as truly the heart of all creation.https://maryknoll.link/aulDrawing upon recent theologies that have embraced the “new animism” that regards every being including humans as a node in webs of living relationality, this book chooses twelve themes relevant to the concerns and needs of today’s world and explores what story of the Heart of God may be told in relation to each one.Mary Frohlich, RSCJ, a noted scholar of Carmelite spirituality, taught at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago from 1993 to 2020. A former president of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, she is editor of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series) and author of Breathed into Wholeness: Catholicity and Life in the Spirit (both from Orbis).Get your copy of the book today at https://maryknoll.link/aul#MaryFrohlich #Robert Ellsberg  #orbisbooks #ecology

Tuesday of the Second Week of EasterJn 3:7b-15"No one has gone up to heavenexcept the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,so must the Son of Man be lifted up,so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

Hello everyone, my dear brothers and sisters. Let me wish you all the blessings of Easter as we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.This year, many of us may feel uncomfortable celebrating this season of great joy due to news of unrest and the horrors of war. It is natural that our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine. Their suffering is evident.I wish it was something unusual.But it seems that wars and suffering never end. Right now, in addition to the conflict in Eastern Europe, there are wars, insurgencies, and ethnic violence in every region that Maryknoll priests and brothers serve.Even if they are not in the midst of misery, or shootings, like the ones we see on our screens all the time, they are not far away. People displaced from their homes become refugees in need of shelter. Children need to be educated. The hungry need to be fed.When I have looked at the faces of those people, I have been able to catch a glimpse of the face of our Lord. Human suffering, in a war-torn land or on a cross atop Calvary, reduces us all to the same state.Dear friends, in the Gospel of Saint Matthew the Angel of the Lord tells the women who go to the tomb: “Do not be afraid”. In a way, that sums up the glory of the Resurrection, which is God's gift to us.When we let go of our fears, we can help each other transcend suffering. Alone we cannot end or win a war. However, together we can change the lives of those affected by it.Your support and your prayers are what make the work of my fellow Maryknoll missionaries possible. On behalf of all the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, I wish you all the blessings of Easter.And I ask that you continue to pray with us as we serve our less fortunate brothers and sisters who are suffering in the world.And now, my dear brothers and sisters,May the merciful God, who by the resurrection of his only begotten Son has redeemed you and made you his children,...

In this One On One Interview, Robert Ellsberg and Diarmuid O’Murchu discuss "Ecological Spirituality (Ecology & Justice Series)"https://maryknoll.link/pelThe changes that we must make to address the complex ecological crises today are unlikely to happen if we do not experience a spiritual revolution. In Ecological Spirituality, Diarmuid O’Murchu invites readers to the revolutionary work of a life-promoting spirituality for our time. He explores how we must move beyond understandings of holiness that emphasize detachment from our world in favor of something beyond.In his welcoming style O’Murchu reintroduces readers to the long history of humanity’s relationship with the creative Spirit of God, including and transcending religious traditions in a growing horizon of faith. As we rediscover the sacred here on Earth, we are called to connect spirit with Spirit, discerning and living an ecologically-focused spirituality for the well-being of creatures and ecosystems around the planet.Get your copy today: https://maryknoll.link/pel#EcologyAndJustice #SpiritualRevolution #EcologicalCrisis #EnvironmentalJustice #QuantumTheology   #DiarmuidOMurchu #RobertEllsberg #EcologicalSpirituality #SpiritAndSpirituality #SacredEarth #FaithAndEcology

Monday of the Fifth Week of LentJn 8:1-11“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Welcome to this special episode of Among The People, with Fr. Joe Veneroso. On today’s episode, we’ll be joined with Fr. Joseph Healey and Fr. Daniel Kim, as they reflect on the celebration and meaning behind the lent season, how it is celebrated across different cultures our missionaries work in, and how we as people of faith can use this holy week to help us all during the challenging times. RESOURCESJoseph Healey and Donald Sybertz, Towards an African Narrative Theology, (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa.https://www.amazon.com/Towards-African-Narrative-Theology-Cultures/dp/1570751218Diana Hayes, Were You There?: Stations of the Cross, Paintings by Charles Ndege, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Bookshttps://www.amazon.com/Were-You-There-Stations-Cross/dp/1570752788