In the Lenten season of 1998, I met with some Missionary Fathers of Charity (the male branch of Mother Teresa’s religious family, which also includes a Lay Brothers branch.) Attracted by their lifestyle and apostolate, I asked if I could have a little experience in their house in Via di Tor Fiscale, Rome. I took a week off from work during Holy Week for this “come and see”, as they call these experiences. I had an extraordinary experience of prayer and apostolate touching somewhat firsthand the miserable situation of the Italian capital of the time. But something told me that I had not yet arrived at the end of my spiritual quest; hence, I resumed my daily life trusting that the Lord would once more show me the path I should take.

Entering into contact with the Sisters of Mother Teresa brought me generous gifts including that of many friends within the circle of volunteers and collaborators in the apostolate, both in Milan and in other parts of Italy. I befriended quite a few also among the Lay Missionaries of Charity, an international movement of lay consecrated to God who make private vows of conjugal chastity and also of poverty, obedience and a fourth one of total, free service to the poorest of the poor. Some of the poorest might be found within their own family members. Their spirituality is inspired by the Holy Family of Nazareth. I owe it to a member of this lay movement, a lady by the name of Magda, through whom a little later in May of 1998 I got to know Fr. Adriano Cadei of PIME in Milan. On her advice, in response to my desire to know the PIME missionary institute and its Charism, I contacted a youth missionary group at the Milan Mission Center. Thus, my journey of vocational discernment began with this group that gathered monthly at the PIME Villa Grugana (Lecco ) Retreat Center. The beautiful outcome of this journey was leaving my former secular lifestyle to enter the PIME seminary in Rome. This happened on October 4, 1999, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, just before the opening of the Great Jubilee of 2000. But before I could realize my dream of becoming a missionary, I had to face years of rigorous preparation with an occasional healthy sweat?. I did three years in Rome taking philosophy courses followed by a year of spirituality. After that I spent a year in Detroit to learn English and five years in the Philippines (Tagaytay) for theology courses. During these years I was able to visit several houses of the Sisters of Mother Teresa, and to preserve and to practice my previous experience of prayer and apostolate with them.

After my priestly ordination in 2008 I arrived in Japan, a country easily considered “wealthy” but, at the same time, a country that knows the reality of poverty, suffering and miserable condition in the family and in other social spheres. Unfortunately, these realities are not always visible due to the culture-imposed tendency of keeping one’s situation under wraps. I remember the words of a Japanese nun whom I met last year in Bangkok: “The difference between Thailand and Japan is that here the poor are a bit everywhere, in my country you have to go and look for them.”

Just over three years ago, thanks to Father Marco Villa, I got in touch with the Sisters of Mother Teresa in Nishiarai (Tokyo) and since then I am often invited to their celebrations on various occasions and to preach their monthly retreats. During my pastoral work in the Church of Soka (Saitama) twice I have taken Confirmation candidates (2014 and 2016) to the nuns’ community to experience their spirituality and apostolate with the elderly.

I conclude by borrowing the words full of affection and gratitude for Mother Teresa that the Holy Father Francis expressed in his homily at the Holy Mass of Canonization on Sunday, September 4. That day also marked 2016 as the Jubilee of the operators and volunteers of Mercy.

“Today I present this emblematic figure of woman and religious to you and to the whole world of volunteerism: may she be your model of holiness! Perhaps, I think that we’ll have a little difficulty in calling her ‘Saint Teresa:’ her holiness is so close to us, so tender and fruitful that we will continue to spontaneously call her ‘Mother Teresa’”.