Kindling Fires Anew: Celebrating Mission & Jesuits’ Return in Japan
By John Francis Mukulu, SJ
On the culmination of this psalter week is the World Mission Sunday, the October 19, 2025. The Church universally celebrates missionary zeal, and here in Japan it is intertwined with celebrating Jesuit missions’ milestones in Japan.
The Return of the Society of Jesus to Japan (1908): In Yokohama’s harbor on October 18, 1908, Frs. Josef Dahlmann, Henri Boucher, and James Rockliff arrived, fulfilling Pope Pius X’s mandate to establish a higher education mission amid historical persecutions. Their mission gave birth to Sophia University (上智大学) in the year 1913! The first landmark embodiment of St. Ignatius’s spirit of Magis to Go above and beyond. Like St. Francis Xavier’s earlier voyages, they echoed biblical calls for labourers (Mt 9:37), turning exile into enduring grace.
Sixty Years of Jesuit Life by Br. Mike Milward (1965–2025): This month we also celebrated Br. Mike’s arrival in Japan on October 16, 1965. A Jesuit in Japan for Sixty Years! Br. Mike, who received me at the Airport just a year ago, marked his diamond jubilee, a testament to his missionary fidelity. A living embodiment of Ignatian contemplation in action (CN.352), imitating Christ’s kenosis (SPEX#63).
Visit to Kamishakuji Jesuits in Loyola House: In the same spirit of the week, I visited our very own Loyola House, a Jesuit infirmary. I had a chance to encounter the elder missionaries that carried the torch thus far. It was a chance to share the memories, laughter and the joy of the gospel (Evangelii Gaudium). St. Ignatius reminds us, wherever there is consolation, stay there (SPEX#73-90)! May the Lord continue to grace us with joy, consolation and thirst for mission.
As we recall all these graces and encounters, we pray for Jesuit missions in all corners of the globe. May the Lord continue to send laborers, igniting Ignatian flames for greater love and service.