Japanese archbishop: Missionary life is about faithfulness to the Gospel

The archbishop of Japan’s capital city said that being a missionary is not about numbers, wealth, or fame, but genuine faithfulness to the Gospel of the Lord.

“Real missionary lives as how Jesus told us to live. Faithfulness to the Lord is the only indicator to measure the success of missionaries,” said Tokyo Archbishop Isao Kikuchi.

The prelate was delivering the homily during the priestly ordination of five members of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) on August 10 at St. Sylvanus Church in Ghana.

Archbishop Kikuchi, a member of SVD himself, reminded the newly ordained priests to focus more on the Word of God when they are sent out as missionaries and less on elevating oneself.

“Are you ready to lay down your life for your people as a Good Shepherd?” he asked them. “You may say ‘yes,’ but I tell you, it is not an easy choice to make in real life.”

Turning to the Church’s call to Synodality, the archbishop told the priests to create meaningful connections with the people they are serving.

“We have to listen to the voice of the people. We have to work with people… so that we may be able to discern the guidance of [the] Holy Spirit as a community of God,” he said.

Furthermore, Archbishop Kikuchi encouraged the priests to become “missionaries of hope” in today’s world riddled with conflict and war.

“Many human lives are lost and still facing [the] danger of death. In this darkness, we need brightly shining hope for life,” he said.

He echoed the words of Pope Francis when he met with the victims of the 2011 tsunami in Japan: “We have to find a friendly and fraternal hand, capable of helping raise not just a city, but also our horizon and our hope.”

Archbishop Kikuchi started his priestly ministry in Ghana as part of the SVD’s Ghana and Liberia Province.

One of the newly ordained priests hails from the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Osonson, Upper Manya Krobo, where the archbishop served as parish priest from 1987 to 1994.