By Father Jude Genovia SSC

Father Jude Genovia’s missionary journey has taken him to Japan as a seminarian (1995-1997) and to South Korea as a priest (1999-2003). From there he went to Chicago, USA, for studies that he is now continuing in the Philippines.

One evening in May 1996, I was eating dinner with my Japanese host, Mrs Misho, watching the evening news as we always did. That evening it showed a group of old ‘comfort-women’ from the Philippines - women who were sexually abused by Japanese soldiers during World War II. They were demanding a public apology and some form of compensation from the Japanese government for the unimaginable atrocities done to them. Mrs Misho and I were silent and I was most uncomfortable. I felt we were both on the spot. I didn’t say anything and tried not to show any reaction. But deep down inside was this tremendous disgust for the Japanese and at the same time an overwhelming sympathy for the ‘lolas,’ the ‘comfort women.’ Meanwhile, Mrs Misho uttered some words of embarrassment and discomfort. I tried to let the news pass as if I hadn’t seen it. Just as we were about to finish the meal Mrs Misho looked at me and said, ‘Jude, on behalf of the Japanese people, I am deeply sorry for the terrible things we did to your women.’

For a second, I was wondering if I had heard her say these words. For a moment I was confused why she had said them. But when I looked in her eyes, I immediately knew that she meant them. I sat at the table speechless. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to accept her apology in Japanese. But I did know that God had let that evening be very special. I felt a heavy burden being lifted from me. I felt peace going all through me. I felt a door opening inside me. Most of all, I felt my wounded history as a Filipino beginning to heal.

My journey to Japan began in September 1995, my first mission assignment outside the Philippines, with my classmate Rolando Aniscal, now a priest in Peru. We joined two Columban students from Ireland. Essential to mission is to know the language and culture of the people. It was very painful learning Japanese. Something blocked me from taking this beautiful language to heart. Something within me was resisting. It was only when I moved in with the family of Mrs Misho for my ‘home-stay’ experience that I discovered this. For a long while I didn’t realize that the painful stories I’d often heard from my grandparents and parents about World War II had placed a ‘wound’ within me. Reading history and seeing some of the sites related to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines had deepened this.

Mrs Misho was the widowed mother of two. Her husband had been a painter and her elder son is a sculptor. She was over 70 when I moved to her home, a devout Catholic, as are the family of her son who live in the extended house. Her unexpected apology opened the possibility of my ‘wound’ being healed. It also made me appreciate the Japanese people and their culture more. The pace of my learning the language advanced dramatically. It also gave a new dimension to God’s missionary call. I began to believe that God brought me toJapan not only to heal my ‘wound’ but also to become a ‘wounded healer’ to others. Even though my time with the Misho family was short, I was able to continue seeing them because I was given my pastoral assignment in their parish, St Mary’s Sekiguchi, the cathedral of Tokyo. I devoted my time to building relationships in and around the parish. Although my presence and participation in the parish were limited, it didn’t really diminish my ‘reconciling’ presence. The longer I stayed the more I felt the acceptance and care of the priests, sisters, the youth and those directly involved in parish activities. My reconciling ministry wasn’t confined to Sekiguchi parish. I volunteered at the telephone-counseling center managed by the Anglican Church set up to provide psycho-spiritual services to migrants in the Tokyo area. I saw it as providing a safe space for people, especially Filipinos, to seek refuge, support, education and healing. Being part of it was a source of joy and humility.

My healing journey didn’t end in Japan. On 29 December 1998, after my return to the Philippines, I was ordained to the priesthood with my classmate Father Rolando Aniscal, a very memorable occasion for our families and for the communities where we belonged. What was most amazing was that three months after my ordination I had three visitors from Sekiguchi, two Japanese and a Columban. They came to Cagayan de Oro City to share their joy in my ordination. My joy was overflowing. It was a sweet reunion. They visited my family. My parents, grandmother, siblings and nephews and nieces were all anxiously gathered in the living room when our visitors arrived. The house was filled with an indescribable tension when I took them to the living room. What followed next was something I found hard to imagine. After the formal introductions our grandma and the rest of my family reached for the hands of my visitors to welcome them, our grandma who had discouraged me from going to Japan, and our parents who were so anxious during my stay there warmed to them. Something was transformed in that meeting. An incredible breakthrough happened that day. Someone had allowed that brief but extraordinary meeting to happen. We proceeded to the Columban house where I celebrated the Eucharist in the small chapel. I felt the healing journey that had begun in Japan concluding that very special day. What a day to celebrate the joy of reconciliation! I believe that my family was not only reconciled with our wound of the past but also with our God.

My visitors left the Philippines knowing that I wouldn’t be going back to Japan but to South Korea. It was a sad day indeed. Though the possibility of being reunited was slim, we parted knowing that deep in our hearts there was a precious seed of friendship growing.

I share this small but very significant part of my life because I believe it became a defining moment in my call to missionary priesthood. I believe Christ called me to the Missionary Society of St Columban in order to carry out HIS Mission, a mission that didn’t end with his resurrection but which he commissioned his disciples to carry out to the ends of the earth. Part of that mission that I share in my missionary journey to South Korea can be summarized in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians:

Well then, reject all that: anger, evil intentions, malice; and let no abusive words be heard from your lips. Do not lie to one another. You have been stripped of the old self and its way of thinking to put on the new, which is being renewed and is to reach perfect knowledge and the likeness of its creator . . . Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God’s chosen people, holy and beloved of him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is any occasion to do so. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another. When you have put on all these, take love as your belt so that the dress be perfect. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. Let the word of God dwell in you in all its richness. (Col 3:8-10, 12-16).

You may contact Father Jude Genovia at genoviajude@hotmail.com or St Columban’s, PO Box 4454, 1099 MANILA.