Happy Easter! This article was actually written for the Japanese Bulletin called MAGIS, the Jesuit newsletter, upon their request. With it are accompanying pictures. 

The crowd lining up for the 12 p.m. Easter Mass was so long! Three lines were already created yet the line snaked way outside the church gate – families, familiar faces, tourists, some with luggage in tow. “Will we be able to enter?” some asked anxiously. It was the biggest crowd after three years of pandemic restrictions.

“GOD IS NOT DEAD! NO, NO, NO, NO! GOD IS NOT DEAD! HE IS ALIVE!”, sang the children of the Sunday English School during their Easter Celebration.  After listening to the Easter Story delivered “kamishiba” style by two “onesan” and further refined and deepened by a Catechist, they sang with all their might. Then there was the much-awaited Easter Egg Hunting, each child shrieking with delight upon finding one!

The St. Ignatius International Youth Ministry (SIIYM) was huddled together in a dark cramped room. After eating boxes of pizza and their favorite snacks, they were watching a documentary, THE POPE ANSWERS. It was about a face-to-face meeting of Pope Francis with ten young people. They asked him about what to them are important issues - migration, sexuality, gender identity, religious freedom, etc. Some of the youth watching were nodding, and others wanted to ask more questions.

Easter 2023. The atmosphere was definitely different! So much eagerness to hear the Word of God and receive the SACRAMENTS! So much energy released! So much joy! Yes, even the once or twice-a-year mass-goers remembered when the Church celebrates the RESURRECTION OF THE LORD!