Protect All Life Month

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Bradly Rozairo

Bradly Rozairo OMI – In order to respond to the message of Pope Francis when he visited Japan in November 2019, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan has introduced “Protect all life month”: September 1 – October 4, every year starting from 2020.

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75 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vatican is providing moral guidance on nuclear weapons

Posted on August 5, 2020 by editor

Ahead of the 75th anniversary year of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Pope Francis visited both cities. At a solemn event at the Hiroshima Peace Park in November 2019, Francis declared the use of atomic energy for war to be “a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home.” “How,” he asked, “can we speak of peace even as we build terrifying new weapons of war?”

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TEN DAYS FOR PEACE AND CALL FOR A WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Bradly Rozairo

Bradly Rozairo OMI – The late Pope St. John Paul II announced the “Appeal for Peace” in February 1981 at the Peace Memorial Park of Hiroshima with these words, “War is the work of man. War is destruction of human life. War is death…To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future…Let us promise our fellow human beings that we will work untiringly for disarmament and the banishing of all nuclear weapons.” His appeal was an invitation to everyone in the world to abolish nuclear weapons, denounce nuclear wars, and commit oneself to peace. In Response to this appeal, the following year the Catholic Church in Japan instituted an annual “Ten Days for Peace” (August 6 –15), a special period to think about our responsibilities toward peace, to learn about peace and to work for peace and human rights.

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75 Years after the War: A Peace Message from the Catholic Bishops of Japan – Protect all life – Peace is the path of hope

Posted on July 19, 2020 by editor

To our Brother and Sister Catholics of Japan and All People of Good Will:

On the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan issued the message “Resolution for Peace” in light of the situation at home and abroad.1 To mark the 60th anniversary, the bishops’ message was “The Road To Peace Based On Nonviolence – Now Is The Time To Be Prophetic.”2 Then for the 70th anniversary, the message was “Blessed are the peacemakers – Now especially, peace must not depend upon weapons.”3

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Seek God’s face in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners

Posted on July 13, 2020 by editor

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today. 

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Gardening

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Bradly Rozairo

Bradly Rozairo OMI – When I look back at the schedule we had during my years of formation in the seminary, one of the things that come to my mind is the time spent in the garden doing some manual labor. Every day a good amount of time was given to till the soil, remove weeds, plant flowers and water them. In other words, in the daily schedule, there was time to interact with nature. We are part of nature, and therefore there is a need for each one of us to connect with nature and experience its beauty.

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I leaned down and kissed my son

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Jerome Novotny

Jerome Novotny OMI – Many individuals in today’s society understand the pain felt by mothers after they have aborted their babies. But what about Post-Abortion Syndrome which affects men? As the body count of unborn babies continues to increase, research shows that more and more fathers are desperately crying out in pain as a result of these abortions. Recent studies show that a father wants to protect his child even though the child may have a defect or disability. I refer you to an English article: “My ‘Friend’ Assumed I’d Be Pro Abortion for Cleft Babies Like Mine & He’s Dead Wrong” 

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Do we walk alone?

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Jerome Novotny

Jerome Novotny OMI – Recently, I read an article about the suffering of Sri Lankan tea workers and the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the country’s poorest people, the plantation workers face more hardships due to their low income. Their jobs have collapsed due to the coronavirus, and there are no additional sources of income for them.

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Caring is Involvement

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Bradly Rozairo

Bradly Rozairo OMI – When I was studying the Japanese language in Nagoya many years ago, I used to read the magazine “Hiragana Times” which helped me learn the language. Once when I was asked to give a presentation in the class, I chose an article from that magazine titled ‘Homeless in Japan’. This title shocked me because coming from a third world country like Sri Lanka, I imagined Japan quite differently. But that article not only highlighted the poor in Japan but also changed my image of this country.

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Message of His Holiness Pope Francis For the 54th Communications Day

Posted on May 26, 2020 by editor

“That you may tell your children and grandchildren” (Ex 10:2)

Life becomes history

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Japan’s elderly workers suffer as pandemic closes businesses

Posted on May 23, 2020 by editor

On a recent Saturday in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district more than 100 people, many of them elderly men, stood close together in a long queue waiting for food hand-outs.

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Interaction with Nature

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Bradly Rozairo

Bradly Rozairo OMI –  These days as the lockdown continues in many places, people are being urged to connect with nature so that it will be beneficial to both their physical and mental health. Whether there is a pandemic or not, I think that being in touch with nature makes one healthier.

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