Christmas in the time of COVID-19

This Christmas is quite different from Christmases past. For one, there is a guarded feeling about it and around us as we found ourselves reeling from COVID-19. Large gatherings, the ones we usually have during Christmas, are discouraged if not prohibited. We are asked to exercise self restraint and caution vs. gatherings that may spark infections at this time of year. Yet, we find ways to make up for these restrictions. "Tuloy ang Pasko!" as we say. It is a defiance to the gloom brought about by the pandemic, and reflects our hope of the latter ending soon.

After all those months of restrictions, we decided to put up our parol (Christmas lantern) in October, even before Halloween. To be honest, we had never removed our lantern for a couple of years but then had to make some house repairs after quarantine was eased. We removed the lantern from our balcony and tested it to see if the lights were all functioning. They weren't and we had our parol repaired before re-installing it way before Christmas. Anyhow, we like to joke about the Christmas season in the Philippines beginning when the first month ending in 'ber' arrives. I got this parol around in 2016 in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga. It replaced an older one that was damaged and which hung from our old home.

It felt great to hear Christmas Eve Mass from the Sacred Heart Cathedral (Yamate Catholic Church). It brought back a lot of fond memories. I served in both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses there in the 1990s. I did one reading for Christmas Eve Mass and two during the Christmas Day Masses, when most people were at work and few if anyone volunteered to serve (December 25 is not a holiday in Japan). I usually took the day off from my laboratory. I have a fond memory of one time I came to school after church. My sensei reminded me that it was Christmas and told me to go home or be with my friends. He laughed as we shared some wine that evening before we called it a day.

We have two belens at our home. This one that we got at the Padre Pio shrine near Eastwood is set-up at our living room and is a permanent fixture there.

This second belen we acquired last year (2019) and we intend to set-up during Christmas in order to preserve it. We have another, older belen, which was a gift from our Ninang Mila when I was still single and residing in Yokohama. It is made of crystal so we chose not to bring it out while our daughter is still quite clumsy. She turns 7 in January though and perhaps next year, I will bring out this belen.

From our family to yours - A Blessed Christmas! May we all find peace, love and hope in this celebration of life!

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"Revisiting" Yamate Catholic Church

I purposely used quotation marks for 'revisiting' in the title of this post as this was a virtual visit to Yamate Church (Sacred Heart Cathedral). By chance, I read in the church's weekly newsletter that there was an online Mass. And so I decided to attend this instead. The 8:30 AM (PST : 9:30 AM JST) was about the same time the English Mass was celebrated there when I was residing in Yokohama. Here are some screenshots of the altar before and during the Mass.

The altar is how it was the last time I was in Sacred Heart in 2013. I was not able to go there in 2014, the last time I was in Japan but I assumed little has changed in the interiors of the church.

The priest is from the Philippines and his homilies are well worded and articulated for an international congregation. I recall that during my 3 years + in Yokohama, a Filipino priest celebrated Mass at Yamate only once a month and on a Sunday afternoon for the Philippine Mass (in Filipino or Tagalog). I must confess I did not attend those Masses as I usually served in the morning 10-11AM Mass. Sunday afternoons were usually spent in Tokyo with friends who are mostly based there or, if I felt like it, on my own personal adventures.

I will try to write about my memories and experiences at Yamate. I still am saddened when I think about all the photos from the 1990s and early 2000s with friends and our activities there. I am just glad I can keep in touch with some of them after we have all left Yokohama for our respective countries.

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Remembering an old friend - Fr. Alfred Burke, OSA

One of the regrets I have for visiting Japan several times after I had returned home after my post-graduate studies in 1999 is not being able to see an old friend again before he passed away. Friends have informed me about his having a stroke when I visited in 2008 but being busy in Saitama prevented me from looking for him. I was told he transferred to Totsuka Church after a long stay at Sacred Heart Cathedral or Yamate Church (Yamate Katoriku Kyokai as I used to say to the taxi drivers who brought me there when I was running late for Mass or a meeting.).

There is a nice article about him online from the Midwest Augustinians:
https://www.midwestaugustinians.org/news/2018/6/21/we-remember-fr-alfred-m-burke-osa-1930-2018

Fr. Burke had that winning smile and calmness that made you feel comfortable whenever you're with him.

I came to know what he was really made of and what he stood for in a couple of occasions when the Japanese immigration bureau together with the local police held a stakeout around Yamate Church. They likely got a tip that there were many illegal aliens going to the church on Sundays and they probably thought they might be able to pick up (arrest) a few those days. I witnessed Fr. Burke talking to one of the Filipinos who aired their concern. It was clear from their expressions that they feared being arrested. Fr. Burke calmly instructed them to proceed to the church basement where we usually had food and other stuff for churchgoers on a Sunday. He told them to stay there and that they were welcome to spend some time there until he called for them when it was clear outside.

Few Filipinos probably knew or know about how Fr. Burke protected those who were the least of us in Japan. Yokohama being a major port meant there were many foreign ships docking there. "Bilog" as they were called usually entered Japan via its seaports. Many were seamen or crew of maritime vessels. Yokohama and Tokyo are major ports in Japan where many jumped ship to try their luck there. Many engaged in various employments including odd jobs where their employers did not mind that they were illegally staying in Japan.

The last time I saw him was when I visited Yokohama in 2001, 2 years after I returned home after finishing my doctorate studies in Japan. One of my regrets is not being able to visit him and talk with him one more time before he passed away. I guess that's an example of procrastination getting the better of us?

 

It's the first Sunday of Advent and attending online Mass from Yamate Church only made me sentimental as it reminded me of the more than 3 years there and the many friends I made and still regard as so. I do hope everyone's safe from the pandemic.

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Ramen Sundays and missing an old friend

It's a post on a Sunday but we actually had the ramen yesterday, a Saturday. I was just reminiscing about Sundays in Yokohama and the mornings I spent at Yamate Catholic Church (Sacred Heart) or Yamate Katoriku Kyokai. It was a rainy daw yesterday and we had a craving for ramen. Fortunately, we had recently gone to check out a new Japanese grocery near our place so we had the ingredients for good ramen.

I have very fond memories of our community in Yokohama and how we got together on a Sunday for church and afterwards. Sometimes, if there were enough of us who had the free time, we went out for lunch at the nearby shopping street. But most of the time, we just ate a heavy snack or an early lunch at the church basement. Most Sundays were 'Ramen Sunday" as the late Fr. Alfred Burke announced just before giving the final blessing for the 10:00-11:00 AM English Mass. And he would usually join the community after post-Mass greetings at the church's main door to chat with us or perhaps have a bowl of ramen himself. I recall a couple of Japanese parishioners made good ramen almost every Sunday and people looked forward to it. I will write more about Fr. Burke in future posts. There is a lot about him that other people, especially Filipinos in Japan, don't know about that he did that I appreciate so much. Here's to a good bowl of ramen on a Sunday or any other day when you feel like having one. :)

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On Yakult

I started drinking Yakult on a regular basis (daily in the evenings) when I first came to Japan in February 1996. A very close friend had suggested it to me as I was recovering from amoebiasis and just finished my antibiotics regimen when I arrived in Tokyo. My tummy improved faster than I thought it would with my daily dose of Yakult and soon I could have also have some alcohol during those winter days in Tokyo. I've had at least one Yakult a day since then, to which I have attributed (partly) my general well-being. Probiotics, I thought, worked with me.

Typical 5-pack Yakult you can buy at the supermarket. There's also the blue Yakult Light, the less sugar version, but I haven't seen those in the supermarket lately.

I used to purchase 2 packs of 4 of these. Yakult 400 had almost double the amount of regular Yakult and you could only buy these from Yakult distributors (remember the Yakult Lady?) in Japan.

At the height of the lockdowns, some people hoarded Yakult, not for themselves or their families but to sell. Reports of this practice prompted supermarkets to place limits on the Yakult you can buy. The company also issued the above statement concerning this including an item on the prices of Yakult.

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Reminiscing: Yamate Catholic Church

I found a few photos I took of the interior of the Yamate Catholic Church the last time I was there in 2008. I had a few photos taken back in the 1990s while I was still a student in Yokohama, Japan. Many were taken with friends from the Sacred Heart Guild and most of these that were printed (We couldn't afford the digital cameras back then.) perished with the flood of Typhoon Ketsana in 2009. Fortunately, I was able to find a few photos here and there with church mates. They helped a lot in my adjustment to life in Japan and many remain good friends despite the distance and limited opportunities for correspondence.

The pulpit is no longer used in regular Masses but in one Christmas Mass, I remember it being used for readings. The stained glass in the photo was a gift from Europe (I think the former Czechoslovakia.) depicting a saint praying to the Child Jesus (Prague?).

Retablo dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, I usually sat in the pews in front of this retablo, which is located on the left side of the main altar (facing the altar). For one, my seat provides easy access to the lectern when I read in Mass.

The interior of Sacred Heart has always evoked calmness for me. I felt at home inside Yamate Catholic Church where I served as a reader during my 3 years in Yokohama and volunteered during some long stays in Japan afterwards. Behind the main altar is a statue depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The choir loft had a pipe organ though at times, church singing was accompanied only by guitar. We had an excellent choir master at the time who was able to integrate people of various nationalities into the choir.

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Yokohama flashback: Christmas Mass

Better late than never so before January ends and before I forget again, I'm posting about Christmas in Yokohama, Japan. Among the experiences I love reminiscing about and retelling to family and friends were the times I served at Sacred Heart Cathedral (Yamate Catholic Church). The church is a brief climb from Ishikawacho Station of the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line through a residential area in the Naka Ward of the city. It is near the Motomachi shopping street, which is a popular commercial and dining area and particularly for expats in the area.

For two Christmases, I volunteered as a reader during the midnight Mass of Christmas Eve and the English Mass on Christmas Day. December 25 is not a holiday in Japan and so most of my friends at Yamate including fellow members of the Sacred Heart Guild had work. As I was a post-graduate student, my schedule was relatively flexible. In fact, my sensei even told me I could take the day off during Christmas Day. I usually did take half the day off and would be back at the laboratory in the afternoon.

As Christmas Day, if it fell on a weekday, is not an official holiday in Japan most would come to the late night Mass including non-Catholics and non-Christians who celebrated with us. These include Japanese who were married to Catholics (mostly foreigners) who also lined up during Holy Communion when the priest-celebrant would also give God's blessings to non-Christians in the congregation in lieu of the Host.

I fondly remember the Midnight Mass of December 24, 1998 (my third and last Christmas in Yokohama) when it was the Bishop of Yokohama who concelebrated the Mass and I was all dressed up to deliver the First Reading (in English) on the special occasion when both Japanese and expats celebrated in a Mass where the choir was from the Protestant Church in the same neighborhood (Yamate's choir in turn sang at the Protestant Service over at Ferris.). Afterwards, there was no noche buena and we had to commute to our homes on the last trains. The following day was easier because the English Mass was from 10:00AM (just like the Sunday schedule) and there were fewer people in church. Fr. Alfred Burke, OSA celebrated the English Mass on Christmas Day.

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Sacred Heart

When I was a student in Japan from 1996 - 1999, I was introduced to this beautiful cathedral in Yamate in the Naka District of Yokohama. I don't exactly remember if I wrote about the Yamate Catholic Church, but is also known by its other name - Sacred Heart. I attended Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart and eventually became involved in the parish. I started out by volunteering to read at the Mass. There was a clipboard at the main door of the church and parishioners were encouraged to sign-up to read at Mass. The choices were quite easy as there were only two readings during High Mass. The one assigned to the First Reading, however, had to speak at the start of the Mass by introducing the celebrant priest and also had to read the Responsorial Psalm. The response was usually sung by the choir. The second reader was also assigned to read the Prayers of the Faithful.

At first, I was very nervous but I tried my best not to show it and I think I did pretty well my first time. This was the start of a long and rewarding experience as an active member of the parish and the Sacred Heart Guild that invited me to help out more in the activities of the church. My work with the Guild deserves its own write-up and I shall do so soon if only to reminisce about the bazaars and picnics we helped organize and hold successfully. Indeed, as people say, those were the days.

When I read at Mass, I always started by first reading the introduction. I had observed that this part was usually omitted by other readers but that the content was valuable in setting the tone for reflecting on a reading. Eventually, other readers adopted what I practiced including my friends at the Guild who were among the first who appreciated what I did. In fact, this was encouraged by the parish priest at the time, Fr. Alfred Burke, OSA, who was always there to guide us. I always have fond memories of Sacred Heart in Yamate and have always returned to hear Mass there whenever I could like when I was in Japan for stints at Saitama University when I was visiting researcher under the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

It is a pleasant coincidence that as we settle at our second home in Singapore, we found and have started attending Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Singapore. It is an old church and the congregation seems warm. There are also similarities with Yamate since many or most in attendance for the English Masses are Filipinos. I shall write in detail about my experiences in Yamate as it is the people and not the structure which compose a church. And there are just so many stories told and that need to be related again about life in Japan back in the 90's that still seem to be so relevant today even in another setting.

Quick review

Whew! It's been quite a while since the last blog...actually, almost 3 months since I started this revival of what used to be my home on the net. I used to have the original Regin's Realm in Geocities but it somehow disappeared along with all the valuable material I had gathered during my 3-year stay in Japan.

Among others are memories of a wonderful and prayerful stint at the Sacred Heart Cathedral also known as Yamate Catholic Church. Katorikku Yamate Kyokai was a home away from home and its very warm community will always have a place in my heart as I reminisce services, stories, lunches, bazaars...and friendships. The parish priest at the time was Fr. Alfred Burke, who was a reassuring presence for ones like me who yearned for a figure who would stymie the onset of depression, of sadness while in a foreign land.

I have always made it a point to visit Yamate whenever I was in Japan and I've always marveled at how the community has continuously grown since I returned home in 1999. It is only fitting that I start, or shall I say re-start, Regin's Realm with thoughts on Yamate.