It was last year (2024). I came across a book titled "The Sealed Martyrdom" written by Hiroto Sasaki, a journalist and parishioner of the Ogikubo Catholic Church in Tokyo. When I read it, I was moved by his enthusiasm and attitude in pursuing the truth, and I attended his lecture, held at the Seijo Catholic Church on March 17. As I listened intently to his sincere words, something clicked within me. It was a somewhat strange sensation, which was as if the truth he was conveying was alive. I had never paid attention to such things before. I realised that I had been so absorbed in scrutinising the information being disseminated that I had failed to receive the intentions of those who sought to convey the truth, even though I had received the information itself. That made me feel disappointed in myself.

I spent the next year or so reflecting on this. Eventually, I decided to try submitting an article to Catholic Ai, a magazine I had been reading regularly. I wanted to become a living reader myself. I thought that by doing so, I might be able to receive the intentions of those who try to convey the truth. Mr. Sasaki passed away last November. The news came so suddenly. I regretted not being able to visit him, but now I believe that he is with Pope Francis, freely meeting with him and praying for us.

For a long time, I have been very interested in Ananias, who played an important role in Paul's conversion. Reading the Acts of the Apostles, I found it remarkable that he seemed accustomed to hearing the Lord speak to him in visions and that he conversed with the Lord as if it were normal (cf. Acts 9:10-19). I wondered how he could do such a thing. That scene begins very simply: "Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Anani'as" (Acts 9:10), but the description here seems to convey something extraordinary.

Ananias had encountered Jesus. That is because it says, "The Lord said to him in a vision, 'Anani'as.' And he said, 'Here I am, Lord.'" (ibid.). In this situation, the Holy Spirit sent in the name of Jesus (cf. John 14:26) could naturally interact with him and lead him to rescue Paul. In contrast, Paul heard the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4), to which he replied, "Who are you, Lord?" (Acts 9:5). This was Paul's first encounter with Jesus. I think the Holy Spirit does not work on people based on whether they know Jesus or not but rather on whether they have an attitude of accepting the truth. Through his powerful experience, Paul believed that the name of the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament was Jesus, and he understood that God had saved humanity through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. He then left behind numerous teachings that are to make up his theology.

Meanwhile, Paul urged his disciples: "Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart" (Ephesians 5:19) and "Attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13). Furthermore, he wrote, "the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:15-16). The "scriptures" Paul refers to in these letters are the Old Testament. I think he used hesitant expressions such as "are able to" and "profitable for" because the Old Testament contains prophecies about "Christ" but never mention the name "Christ Jesus." Paul, having encountered Jesus Christ, been born anew through baptism, and been transformed into someone like Christ by the Holy Spirit, no longer needed to rely on the Old Testament. However, he had nothing else to offer his disciples that would serve as training to support their daily lives.

Later, Paul recounted that Ananias' words had restored his sight, which had been lost, and that Ananias had testified to him, urging him to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ: "The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard" (Acts 22:14-15). However, as for Ananias himself, Paul simply described him as "a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there" (Acts 22:12). Paul seems not to have considered Ananias to be highly trained as a disciple of Jesus.

We have the New Testament, which did not exist at the time when Paul preached. I thought that there must have been training to become a disciple like Ananias in it. That is training to experience Jesus. Just as Paul judged that his disciples needed training to support their daily lives, the Holy Spirit, who descended upon us believers, would not have failed to prepare a means of training for us. After studying these matters for about seven years, I came to realise that the Book of Revelation is a training book of Jesus Christ from the words, "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near" (Rev 1:3). I thought that it might be writing about the blessings of those who read this prophecy aloud, hear it, and keep it in their memory. I have now been reading the Book of Revelation aloud a little each day for nearly four years. I hope to share my experiences and reflections during that time in future posts.

For me now, the words "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" (Rev1:1) at the beginning of the Book of Revelation seem to guarantee the training hidden in the book. Following this, it says, "[John] bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw" (Rev 1:2). These words seem to echo those at the end of the Gospel of John: "This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true" (John 21:24). Here too, we see the desire to convey the truth. I suppose they were also "good journalists."

(This article is the one I contributed to Japanese Internet magazine, Catholic AI.)

Maria K. M.