Glory to the Newborn King

Imperial Birthday

Today, December 23, is the current Japanese Emperor’s birthday, and since it falls on a weekend Monday will be a day off.  My only complaint is that the King of Kings and Lords of Lords’ birthday is also not a day off.  Even in Iraq as of this year Christmas is a government recognized holiday.

For more on Emperor Akihito who’s wife went to Catholic school by the way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihito

Bongo Drum Mass

Not in Japan that I know of!  No I experienced this remnant of Life Teen while visiting my parents.  Life Teen has disbanded in their parish but the band has not and gets a slot at the noon mass.  The church has a large and wonderful pipe organ that is played at a couple of the other weekend masses, however, one weekend the only mass I could attend  was the noon mass I dubbed the hippie mass.

The band has singers, guitars, and for percussion on that particular Sunday bongo drums.  After complaining to my Mom she said the drummer usually has his whole drum kit up there!  I grimaced.  The songs they played were better suited for a Protestant worship service in a hall without the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus present, and that is where one of my complaints lies.

The music is not appropriate for the setting.  It was not transcendent, it doesn’t really lift the mind to heaven for one hour, it is an insult to two thousand years of Catholic history and culture, and an insult to the intelligence of its target audience.

One excuse that is given to have this kind of music is that it attracts young people to church and helps to keep them attending.  I refute that by saying the Eucharist is why they should be going and what will keep them going.  We are the only religion, that I am aware of, where we eat our God, and such an awesome thing deserves better music than that.

I also find the band to be insulting to the intelligence of its target audience because it presumes the Eucharist is not enough, that people need something more, that basic Catholic doctrine and tradition is not enough, too hard or too old to understand.

Comparing the atmosphere of a mass where the pipe organ was played, and where the band played I would say there is more reverence & less talking during mass than at the band mass.  Before, during, and after the band mass I noticed an increase in volume of the tone of voice people spoke in.  After the band mass people lingered in  the main church in the presence of the Tabernacle talking loudly with friends and family.

All of this combines to make young people less interested in mass and lees likely to go since they are less likely to see anything special about the mass at all.  How can Go be truly present there if people talk, act, and sing like He is not? 

Catholic Mass and Japanese Tea Ceremony Meet

I’m not an expert but it seems against the rubrics to include a tea ceremony following the homily, or at any point in the mass!

http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/jcn/dec2007.htm#8

Challenge secular culture, Pontiff asks Japanese bishops

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55398

“…he also argued that Christian belief “is not foreign to Japanese culture,” but reaffirms the best elements of that culture.”

You tell them Papa!  I have read quotes from some Japanese bishops saying things along the lines of how Catholicism should be modified to fit Japan.  Thank you B16.

 If interested here is the text of the whole address

http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-21320

Christmas in Japan

I spent my first couple of Christmases in Japan after which I ended going to visit my parents each year instead, even though the airfare is more expensive, and travel can be a bigger hassle at that time of year.  In the end it is worth it to be around people with the same mindset as myself at Christmas time.

Yes I know Japan is not a Christian country and no I do not expect there to be a Christmas anything like there was where I grew up  but I find the way Christmas is done in Japan to be very alien, and dare I say not really Christmas at all.

My own hypothesis is that the time of year that is called Christmas in Japan  (I say time of year because the actual day is just a regular work day) is a hybrid of customs adopted from U.S occupation forces after WWII, and the Japanese people’s own interest and fascination  with pretty lights and such.

 Certain areas in big cities, like Roppongi in Tokyo put up big Christmas lights displays.  Stores play music and put up decorations, and a lot of public places in general try to be very Christmasy.  Yes it is strange to be in a country where you can hear songs like Hark the Herald Angels Sing in public, no one minds, and probably most people don’t really know much of the meaning behind the words.  A friend told me that growing up in a rather rural area that carolers from a local church would sing in a courtyard area of her family’s apartment building, and the residents would all come out and listen.

Families may buy what is called a Christmas cake but what is most often a $30+ strawberry shortcake with some decorations on it.  This is eaten on Christmas Eve along with Kentucky Fried Chicken special holiday meals.  KFC does a lot of business in Japan at Christmas time!  Most families that I know of do not put up a tree because 1 its not their custom and 2 they probably don’t have room for one.  Parents of young children may leave a small present near the child’s pillow to unwrap in the morning.

Young adults, and adults who are are not married often have a romantic view of Christmas almost like another Valentine’s day.  With this in mind on Christmas Eve or a convenient weekend before they will go out for a fancy supper, they may exchange gifts, and quite often a night is spent at a hotel.  It causes me to wonder how many babies are conceived and aborted around this time of year. 

With Christmas Eve over and the 25th a regular work day the decorations come down from the public places and are quickly replaced with New Years decorations.  New Years is a much more important time, similar to my idea of Christmas where families gather together and eat special meals.  New Years in Japan is nothing like in China or many other countries, as it tends to be much more quiet.

In spite of all the decorations and such for me Christmas in Japan lacks its soul because most people deep down probably don’t know the true reason behind everything so it just ends up feeling cold and far too commercial.  Everything looks like Chrismas but peoole’s hearts truly into it.  I found myself thinking one year how it would be better if for me if it was just ignored much like Easter is.

At least that was my impression of Christmases past in Japan.  Here is to my, and every reader’s, present and future Christmases that we find joy in the celebration of Jesus’ birthday becasue it is His birthday, wherever we may be no matter what is going on around us.

Shooting

A couple of days ago a man went into a sports club in Nagasaki and shot up the place killing two people and injuring six others.  Several hours later he was found dead in what looked like a suicide outside a Catholic church.  The news stories I have seen don’t say what his connection to the church is.

Here is a link to one story

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/422934

and another

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071215p2a00m0na002000c.html

In a Hotel Room

Here is an unusual but common couple found in hotel rooms around Japan, especially in hotels that cater to foreigners.  Yes it is a copy of the New Testament in Japanese and English and a copy of the Teaching of Buddha in Japanese and English.  The bible was placed by the Gideons, and the Buddhist book placed by some Japanese Buddhist group.

I have stayed at various types of hotels in Japan and from what I have noticed either the books are there together or not at all.  There may be cases where it is solely the New Testament or Teachings of Buddha but I have yet to see that.

Hotels that cater mainly to business men are less likely to have these books and much more likely to have the tv remote placed next to the porn channel guide on the desk.  Ive stayed at the business type of hotels because they are cheap and clean.  For example near Mount Fuji I stayed at a place that had business hotel in the name but lots of budget travellers stayed also.  I don’t watch porn but for the Catholic visiting Japan who might be tempted you might want to choose a bit more upscale hotel where the “adult” channel pamphlets aren’t so noticeable, and the New Testament is.

Environmentalism the New Religion

While visiting my home country I noticed  that some people around me were a lot more vocal about “saving the planet” then they had ever been before.  Before the reason to shut lights off when not in a room was to save money on electricity, now the reason is to save the planet.  To these people, who also aren’t regular church goers, it is more of a sin to not recycle or to leave a room with a light on then to miss fulfilling their Sunday obligation, or to live together outside of marriage, and so on.  It hasn’t struck those around me yet but it is also increasingly popular for people to buy carbon offsets in a way that seems to me sort of like buying indulgences long ago.

I grew up hearing reduce, reuse recycle and I do those things but my duty is to follow God first, to work for the salvation of my immortal soul first before I work to “save the planet.”

This article contains  a quote from Vladimir Solovyov http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1459003.ece

about how the antichrist would present themself as  “a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist”   My concern is to not be an antichirst myself first then I can work on the environment.

Church Crimes in Japan

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/422633

“A male accountant of the largest Protestant church group in Japan has pocketed about 69 million yen in donations…”

My idea behind posting this news story is not to point fingers or make fun but just to show that church related crime does happen even in Japan.  I am surprised they are not pressing charges though.