“Come and See!”: A Call for Discovery and Collaboration!
As a semester of Green Science and Engineering studies in Japan concludes, I find the words “Come and See!” A best fitting summary description of my mission in Japan. A mission filled with blessings and encounters. An eye-opening chapter that reshapes the understandings of Jesuit missions and collaboration in new and profound ways.
The phrase “Come and See,” spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ to the disciples of John, resonates deeply with this. When John’s disciples inquired about where Jesus stayed, He invited them to explore and experience it first-hand. Similarly, when Nathanael doubted that anything good could happen/come from Nazareth, Philip responded with the same words: “Come and See.” This invitation is not just about observation. It is about immersion, transformation, and the realization of the missionary possibilities beyond.
The Jesuit Mission in Japan presents unique circumstances. The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. In many ways, the mutual unfamiliarity between Jesuit Missions in Japan and in the Eastern African Province calls for collaboration. The symbiotic nature of strength and weak-links between the two missions further affirms the need for collaboration. While Africa is growing in vocations it is still facing a challenge of resources. While Japan is resourceful it is facing the challenge of vocations.
At this cross juncture, nothing better captures the discernment of collaboration path than that of St. Ignatius of Loyola. When he contemplated whether to journey to the Holy Land or to Rome, the Lord assured him, “I will be favorable to you in Rome.” Just as Fr. General believes the Lord will be favorable for the Jesuit missions in the East through Africa. I believe the Lord will just be as favorable to missions in Africa through the East. In this same spirit, we are called to embrace a new chapter of collaboration and partnership. A call to look at things anew in Christ. May the Lord continue to send the laborers into His vineyard, and may we respond magnanimously to His call.
In the same spirit of A Call for Discovery and Collaboration. May the Lord be favorable to the missions in East Africa as in Japan. Amen.
