Two Hills in Nagasaki

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24; Mark 6:7-13

In Mark 6:7-13, we hear about Jesus sending out the Twelve with nothing but a walking stick. Relying completely on God, they are to preach repentance, heal the sick, and drive out demons, even in the face of rejection. But first, we heard from the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews, who contrasted two of the great hills of Judaism: Mt. Sinai, where God’s presence evoked fear, and Mt. Zion, where Christ invites us into communion. These two hills remind us that faith requires mission, trust, and sacrifice, and they also mystically point to two hills far away in Nagasaki, Japan: Urakami and Mugenzai.

The hill of Urakami is home to Urakami Cathedral, once the largest church in Eastern Asia, built by many Japanese Catholics whose community endured centuries of persecution. On August 9 1945, an atomic bomb detonated almost directly above it, reducing it to ruins and taking the lives of thousands of the faithful. Despite this devastation, Nagasaki’s Catholics did not lose faith. Like the apostles sent into a world that would reject them, they forgave and continued their witness, rebuilding the Cathedral and proclaiming Christ even in the midst of great suffering. Their endurance reflects the words from Hebrews: they were not standing before the mountain that made Moses tremble, but before Mt. Zion, the city of the living God, where suffering is transformed into salvation.

Not far from Urakami is the hill of Mugenzai no Sono, where in 1930 St. Maximilian Kolbe and his friars built their monastery. Kolbe chose Nagasaki, inspired by the witness of the martyrs St. Paul Miki and Companions. When the bomb fell, this monastery, shielded by the mountains, survived and became a refuge where the Franciscans consoled and tended to the wounded, a light in the darkness. Mugenzai reminds us of the mission given in the Gospel: to bring healing and hope, relying not on material security but only on God’s providence.

Together, these two hills – Urakami, marked by suffering, and Mugenzai, marked by mission – tell the story of our faith. Urakami shows the cost of discipleship; Mugenzai, the power of trust in God’s plan. Today, Jesus sends us out as he sent the apostles, as he strengthened the persecuted Japanese Catholics, as He guided St. Maximilian Kolbe. The question is, will we trust Him enough to go where He calls us? Will we, like those who walked the two hills in Nagasaki, witness to Christ no matter the cost? May we, like the martyrs St. Paul Miki and Companions and so many others, stand on the true Mt. Zion, where faith, even in suffering, leads to eternal life.

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