A friend of mine recently suggested that if we, referring to the words of Jesus, could explain how Christianity became a world religion, starting from Rome, and if we could slowly interpret the grand themes such as Jesus on the cross in the Gospel of John, his relationship with Pilate and the Centurion, and the Roman reign, we might be able to understand what we want to understand, i.e., where God's will is and to where we are being led. I have been thinking about this for some time. 

The New Testament has a history that people today may not immediately understand, including the involvement of Pilate and the centurions, as well as the Roman rule. We have the opportunity to study the process of Christianity's rise from Rome to a world religion in Western history, but the view we see from there is far from the sensibilities of Japanese people living in the farthest east. Considering all this, I thought it would not be easy to explain that process. At the same time, I think that Japanese people may have some geographical advantage. Perhaps it is a certain feeling that comes from being outside of Christian history.

 It is the Holy Spirit who enlightens us, interpreting Jesus’ words. The Holy Spirit is with all people, each and every one of us, so it may be helpful for us to be more aware of our own geographical location and to be conscious of it in working with the Holy Spirit. Just as I was thinking this way, I came across the following reflection. At first, it seemed like a trivial matter, and I was about to pass by. But when I stopped and looked at it again, I realised that it is a matter that supports the daily lives of the Japanese people, and that it is a surprisingly good hint. 

In Japan, the Japanese calendar (based on Gengo or imperial era names) and the Western calendar coexist. I have often found this dual calendar system inconvenient, but I have never paid attention to this situation. However, I was intrigued by the idea that Japanese people routinely accept a dualised sense of time. It was a strange feeling when I drew attention again to the fact that we live between two time scales: Japanese time (imperial eras) and world time (Western calendar). 

Japanese people were not under this condition until after the Meiji Restoration. It is said that January 1, Meiji 6 (1873 AD) is the date of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar to Japan. One hundred and forty-five years later, the Nikkei Newspaper of 20 August 2018 reported that "The government has decided not to require the Western calendar to be written on official documents upon the switchover to the new imperial era on 1 May 2019. It will not indicate a policy of writing both Japanese and Western calendars or unifying them with the Western calendar, and it will leave this to the individual decisions of ministries, agencies, and local authorities." When I heard this, I thought it was quite remarkable. It is said that very few citizens are still living in such a condition in the 21st century. I thought that the character of the Japanese people might be manifested in such a way. 

Gengo is a delimiter of an era. With names such as “Reiwa” and “Heisei”, it renews the value of each era and marks a fresh start. The Western calendar, on the other hand, is a solar calendar introduced in 46 BC as the Julian calendar, which Pope Gregory XIII revised in 1582 to correct deviations from the seasons and make it more accurate. It gives us a strong sense of linear time, like BC → AD → 2025. Thus, Japanese people, who have accepted the dual calendar, Gengo and the Western calendar, in their daily lives, may have had from the beginning a sense of what could be called an intermediate worldview. They have a sense that time is not only something that flows, but also something that ‘expresses a relationship’, and they accept and use the dual calendar. 

When we look at the history of Catholic teaching, which was nurtured in an environment where only the Western calendar is the norm, it looks like a linear, torrent-like run through the historical time in which Christianity, with its capital in Rome, became a world religion, with grand themes ranging from the Old Testament to the New Testament. In addition, there is a highly dense growth process in it. So, if the Japanese try to carry that history on their backs as it is, they would already be exhausted. I think that is why we have the feeling that if it is preached slowly, we might be able to understand what we want to understand, where God's will is, where He is leading us. That is what I feel. 

The Holy Spirit works on the individual, as Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come" (John 16:13). Jesus repeats the part "declare to you" twice more in a further passage (cf. 16:14-15), for a total of three times. That must be because it is so important. 

The Holy Spirit "will guide you into all the truth." It happens as each of us is personally involved with the Holy Spirit. Engagement with the Holy Spirit is initially individual anyway, even if it can become shared and communal. Unlike the times of the Old Testament when God spoke to His people through prophets, God wants each believer who seeks and desires to know His plan, as seen in the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's letters, to receive it by turning to and engaging with the Holy Spirit. God wants to preach slowly to each person and let them know where His will is and where He is leading them. 

Eight hundred years after the believers had received the New Testament, which was not available at the time of Paul's ministry, St Francis of Assisi encountered the "San Damiano Crucifix." It depicts the people who stood by the cross in John's Gospel, and below them is the Roman soldier who speared Jesus in the side, and another who offered him a sponge containing sour wine. Furthermore, next to Jesus' left calf is a small rooster, as if to remind us of Peter. They, too, like the centurion, are all looking earnestly at Jesus on the cross. Hidden in this cross seems to be a prophecy that time is not only something that flows but also "something that represents a relationship." I think we can discover that now, 800 years after St Francis. 

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

Maria K. M.