St. John’s 

　Sister Dominica Ha, who made her first vows, is from Vietnam and is a hard worker who is trying her best in a country with a different environment and language. During her hospital training, patients always loved her. She spoke kindly to the elderly patients. Her own sister was present and during the celebration. Sister Akiyama, the silver jubilee celebrant, has been a nurse for many years, serving at the home and at the facility for the intellectually disabled, and since her retirement, she has been caring for the elderly sisters of the congregation. I believe that caring for the elderly sisters, the elderly patients of the congregation and the facility for the intellectually disabled is a service that requires a lot of patience. But it gives me a warm feeling when I see the caregivers whole heartedly of themselves.

　Ours is a small congregation, but I believe that each of us is trying our best to unite the thoughts of our foundress. In this world, and when darkness covers us, our congregation is a small and weak light, but I think it always lights up. It may not be a big light, so it does not have a big impact, but I think that we are serving in different ways in different places so that the warm light, even if it is weak, can reach where the light is needed. It is the same in every association, but as the number of elderly sisters increases, this is the day when I decided once again to do the service that I can do in a given place until the end, not the service that can be seen. As a person of consecrated life, I would like to testify that we are always connected through prayer, even if our last service is only to lay hands on each other until the end.

Photos thanks to MS. Miharu Antonella Furukori