TOKYO: 19 June 2012 -- On
Sunday
afternoon, 17 June, fifty or so confreres gathered at Meguro
for
the annual Province Feast Day celebrations for the Tokyo area.
The event began with a conference from Fr
Urata
Shinjiro who has only recently returned from Rome where he
gained his
Doctorate in Theology from the UPS. Using a well-prepared
Presentation,
he described his doctoral thesis in which a very practical,
clear
picture of Don Bosco merges, as someone very like us, very
close to us,
as represented in the “Cronichetta” by Fr Barberis, first
Novice Master
of the Congregation. questions (and answers) like “When, how
much and
what did Don Bosco eat?” gave the speaker a chance to let us
know just
how Don Bosco lived out his holiness and spirituality in
concrete terms.
This all fitted in very well with the first year of
preparation for hte
Bicentenary, focusing on the history of Don Bosco.
then there was the Mass at which Fr Kosaka
presided. He is
celebrating his Golden Jubilee of priesthood. In the homily,
the
Provincial, Fr Aldo Cipriani, who is gradually improving from
his
health setback, following serious surgery, emphasised that a
true
witness to community life is 'an effective prophetic sign of
religious
life'.
Then of course the fraternal agape, brightened up with
songs by
the young men in formation at Chofu then followed by
festivities in
honour of the confreres celebrating various jubilees. at the
heart of
these was Fr Michele Moskwa who despite his 97 years had
heartfelt
words of thanks for achieving his 75th (diamond) jubilee of
profession
along with Fr Nicodemo Pisarski who, for reasons of health,
was unable
to be there. Way back in 1937, when these two veterans made
their first
profession, the Japan Province came into being; until then it
had been
a delegation of China Province.
Then came the traditional Housy-Housy (Tombola)
which
everyone enjoyed, winners or not.
The day concluded with the Good Night and
Blessing of MHC
from the Provincial
