United in constant Prayer

 

Sakai parish was founded on May 2nd ,1924 when the Bishop of Osaka, Mgr. Castanier sent Fr Cettour, Paris foreign Missions priest to begin a mission in Sakai. He started the church in a private home in the 2nd street in Kurumacho, in the very same year as construction work of Hanshin Koshien baseball stadium was completed on August 1st.

In 1928, Osaka diocese purchased a plot in Kitahanadaguchicho near Sakai higashi station where a chapel, hall, missionaries’ residence and rectory were constructed and consecrated. In 1929, a kindergarten and vocational center were built, and the church was really open to the locals.

We still have documents on the history of Sakai church and on the oppressive wartime. It must therefore be emphasized that Fr Cettour’s pastoral work was hard since Christianism was considered the religion of the oppressor. We are grateful to the lay people who supported Fr Cettour in his pastoral activities.

In the postwar period, Japanese diocesan priests were appointed parish priests at Sakai church. In 1954, the parish was entrusted to CICM missionaries (Scheut). Many priests have carried out their mission at Sakai parish. The postwar was a period of rapid growth. Talented people and foreign investments further contributed to the development of Sakai church. In 1964, the road plan of the city with its road extension have forced parishioners to leave the place they were used to and move to Koryonakamachi where the current church is located.      

Since 1988, as the Collaborative priests and team system were established, 54 priests and 4 nuns from 9 nationalities have worked at Sakai parish bringing a spirit of internationality. This year, Sakai church celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Greek uses two words (Chronos and Kairos) to express time. Chronos emphasizes the duration of the time, from the past to the future. It is more linear and quantitative. Kairos is more nonlinear and qualitative. Prayer is not only a time of communion with God but also a time to glimpse the eternity of time (Kairos). The 100 years of Sakai church represent a Kairos that cannot be measured. Today too, the prayers of the living and the dead are offered in this fullness of time.

                                                Fr Takabatake