Vassula in Japan

August 2 - 9, 1999

First I want to thank God and praise Him for the unique opportunity he has given me to be a witness of one of the missions of True Life in God. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you who became witnesses as well of this Celestial Manna and for the way in which your faith is spoken of, all over the world.

This living God and Father to all sent His echo Vassula to Japan to tell them, once more, that truly they are 'children of the living God'.

Arriving in Osaka, Bernard Kuhn welcomed Vassula and her company and to the countryside where the 'Foyer de Charite' is located up on the hills, surrounded by rice fields. Fr Quenuille and the ladies gave everyone a warm welcome and later on informed Vassula about the progress in Osaka, Kobe and of the whole of Japan.

Right the next day the meeting at Kobe was held with success (view the report). The people of Kobe filled the place where Vassula was speaking, thirsty to receive the message of hope Jesus has entrusted her with. There were people sitting even outside the hall on the floor, because there was no more room inside. The translator was excellent, giving to the people not only the messages in Japanese, but also transmitting the love and the fire with which Vassula was speaking. The Holy Spirit, through her words, touched everybody’s heart as she was sharing Jesus' message.

The next stop in this mission was Hiroshima (read the report) the next day (3 August). Francesco and Angela Uchida were the hosts and had arranged for Vassula to be there and to speak on the anniversary of the bombing in Hiroshima. The invitation came from one of the Buddhist Temples in Hiroshima, where Vassula was called to speak about God’s love and proclaim this saving message to a people that has suffered so much the last decades after the bombing. Among the people who attended was the Catholic Bishop of Hiroshima who greeted Vassula and welcomed her in private before her speech, and stayed till the end, the Buddhist Abbot, who invited Vassula to speak in the Temple, and a Bonze, to whom at the end of the meeting Vassula gave a big wooden rosary. To the Abbot she gave a statue of our Lady of Fatima, that she had brought with her from Rome. Before the trip to Japan, Vassula was told that these Buddhist priests in the past had visited in France our Lady of Lourdes and that they had taken back with them an icon of the apparition site of Lourdes, which they had placed in the Temple. And this was true. In one of the halls of the Temple this icon was there and also a bottle of holy water from the apparition site of Lourdes. Our Lady opened the door of the Buddist Temple so that Vassula would go and proclaim Jesus’ message to them.

A visit to the hospital were the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima are hospitalized was arranged for the next day (5 August), Vassula was accompanied by one of the doctors to one of the rooms where the mild cases are, to greet them. She was welcomed with tears in the eyes from the patients in the room. This experience was unforgettable, showing Jesus' love and compassion for the ones who suffer.

Late in the afternoon we attended the True Life in God prayer group meeting in Hiroshima and right after that went to the evening mass, celebrated on the eve of the Hiroshima bombing anniversary. As it was the last night in Hiroshima, Angela and Francesco arranged for dinner inviting also the Buddhist Abbot and his wife to share with Vassula and the rest of the group the unity God brings to His people when love fills the heart. Vassula was inspired to ask him to come next year to Jerusalem, attending the International True Life in God Conference and he accepted saying that it is his honour to be invited to participate. After driving us back to our hotel, Francesco had a car accident (ruined his car, some cuts in his hands and a slight concussion from the shock). Satan really showed his fury because the Echo of Jesus, Vassula was accepted from the Buddhists in Hiroshima!

Early next morning (6 August) we went in the centre of the city were there is a monument in remembrance of the bombing. Thousands of people were gathered to pray for the victims as they kept One Minute of Silence.

Later on that day we took the train for the south-west of Japan, Fukuoka. A group of cheerful and warm people, some of the organizers, took Vassula and her companions to their hotel.

Vassula's meeting was held the same night with great success. When Vassula finished speaking, nobody wanted to leave and they asked her to pray over them and she did with her Cross containing the relic of the True Cross. The presence of the Holy Spirit was very powerful, touching the people's hearts, healing.

Tokyo
Tokyo was the next stop (August 7). Fr. Valera, S.J. (read his introduction) reports on this meeting:
Vassula's talk on the 7th, before an audience of some five hundred people assembled in the hall of Arcadia Hotel, was a smash. Simple, direct, to the point. The kind of talk that conveys directly the Word and establishes an immediate communication from heart to heart. Spontaneously, Newman's "Cor ad cor loquitur", comes to mind. Vassula's charism is perceived not only in her written word, but also in her oral communication. Vassula's presence confirmed one opinion I had of True Life in God. It is a manual for the democratization of mystical experience. Mystical experience is touching the Lord through the Holy Spirit, and touching the Lord in that way is not the privilege of a selected few, but the bread of the People of God. "Take up the book and eat it", said God to Ezechiel. True Life in God, in its modest fashion, tries to convey the same message.

A further point I noticed in Vassula's talk was our Lord's effort to teach her the technique to recover the traditional "Lectio Divina": the life giving reading, meditating and contemplating of the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures. Vassula spoke about the book of Daniel, Revelation and the 24th chapter of St. Matthew. The relevant passages illuminate each other and become light and strength for the believing and loving heart. But that technique can be generalized. Any Christian, in the Holy Spirit, can learn to read the Scriptures, using the parallel verses, and make the experience of "the whole in the fragment": As the whole sky is reflected in a dewdrop, we can make the experience to meditate the whole of the Scriptures using a single verse. In this way the People of God will rediscover their "milk and honey", and True Life In God has a contribution to make.

I had also the opportunity to see, from my vantage point, Vassula's patience and touching humility. We then went on to Bangladesh (see report) before returning to Tokyo, via Hong Kong. Our last day in Tokyo, and Mr Hiro (a Japanese writer who interviewed Vassula in Rome) with his wife came to the hotel to continue his interview with Vassula to write a book about her.

After dinner Fr Faroni, one of the priests in the south Japan brought a family and asked Vassula to pray for the younger daughter who was there with them. We all went up to Vassula's room. Mr Hiro the Buddhist writer and his wife also came with us and participated in the prayer for healing. Vassula prayed over each one of us including Mr and Mrs Hiro who approached voluntarily to be blessed with the relic of the True Cross. Mr Hiro was also the first to take the medal of Jesus' Face that Vassula offered to whoever there wanted to have one.

It was really their day of grace! At 13.15 the next day, we flew back to Europe. One more mission of the echo of Jesus was accomplished. She is travelling around the world, giving her time for Jesus to use, to gain souls, for His glory.

Catarina Andritsaki