A dying woman overcomes her aversion to the Church, finding her peace and leading her family to God’s loving embrace.
By Fr. Barry Cairns

"Faith is a gift.” How often in my 50 years as a missionary priest I have said those words. For the last seven years, however, I can say them with deeper conviction. That’s because I know the Takama family has been an instrument of God.

Mrs. Kimiko Takama had been a non-Christian pupil at a Catholic high school in Japan. The super-strict discipline and minute rules imposed by the Sisters went against the grain. Furthermore, the equally strict and narrow pre-Vatican II emphasis on mortal sin and hell given in religion class had left her with an aversion toward Christianity.

Yukio Takama and his son, Taro, prepared for a recent Mass. The father and son followed in the footsteps of their wife and mother, Kimiko, who was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church weeks before her death.

The first days were tiring. After walking some distance from her home the first day, Kimiko urgently needed to rest. She found a seat, on the local church grounds, in front of Our Lady’s outdoor statue. In her tiredness of body and heart, the serenity on Mary’s face touched her. However, the wounds of previous experience with Christianity were still with her.

During her walks over the next few weeks, she used the same seat as the halfway point for her walk. Mrs. Takama felt a movement of her heart—some would call it curiosity; others, a calling. She said to herself, “I will just go in to look.”

The church’s atmosphere touched her. She sat down, and a wave of peace enveloped her. She felt at home. This peace continued even after the results of further tests warned that the cancer was spreading slowly. This peace came in spite of worry for her two sons. She was especially concerned about her younger son, Taro, who was a slow learner at school and a victim of bullying.

Her first taste of peace was strengthened with each visit. She would first sit on the outside seat before Mary the Mother, then enter the Church to an inside seat where she poured her heart out to a God who was still vague, but becoming gentler.

Then came the day when Kimiko asked her second cousin, a parishioner, how she could become a Christian. Given the gravity of her illness, I worked with our parish Sister to have her attend a series of 10 meetings about the faith.

Mrs. Takama was baptized and confirmed, taking the name Anna, which means “God is gracious.” Anna was introduced to the community at Mass and received a standing ovation.

Two weeks later, Anna was re-admitted to the hospital. Her faith, trust and intimacy with Jesus and His mother were profound. Two months later, still at peace, Anna Kimiko Takama died. She was indeed gifted with faith.

Husband & Son Follow
Anna’s non-Christian husband, Yukio, and two sons attended the funeral at the Church and, as is Japanese custom, at the interment of ashes 49 days after the death. Again, as is custom, relatives and friends had a memorial meal on the first anniversary of death. During this meal, Yukio thanked all present and announ-ced that he and Taro were beginning instructions for baptism.

The gift of faith came a second time to both father and son. Five years after his baptism, Yukio, baptized Joachim, told us this story in a faith-sharing session:

“When I was in my teens, I had a yearning for I know not what. I belonged to a hot-rod car club. Even after I was married and had two sons, I still needed the thrill of speed.

I paid many a fine for speeding on the expressway between Yokohama and Nagoya.

“I realize now that speed was an addiction, but also that it indicated a deeper yearning. I sorely miss my deceased wife, but it is because of her that I have met Jesus and His community, the Church. I have at last found peace and contentment in my heart.

“One of the satisfactions I now experience is to use my car to take physically and mentally incapacitated children for picnics. This just seems a part of my faith. But that is not all. My son, Taro, who received baptism with me, had suffered bullying at school because he was slow and walks awkwardly. He now attends a sheltered workshop. His greatest joy is to go to the church’s youth group meetings and activities where he is accepted just as one of the group.

“My heart almost exploded with pride and joy the first time he took his turn for the readings at the monthly youth Sunday Mass. This meant a lot to Taro and to me, his proud father. I thank God for my wife. I thank God for gifting me with faith.”

As the Takama family’s pastor, I, too, thank God for really teaching me that faith is a gift.