Three Jesuits of the Japan Province pronounced their Final Vows in St Ignatius Church, Tokyo on 26 February. Japan Provincial Fr Renzo De Luca SJ received the vows of Fathers Yasuhisa Kogure, Bony James Moozhiyankal, and Thomas Varkey Njaralamkulath. Covid-19 restrictions limited attendance to local Jesuits. The music was performed by the youth of the parish, and the Mass was live streamed on YouTube.
Fr Kogure is presently assistant director of the Tokyo Retreat House, and Province Promoter of Vocations. Aside from his Jesuit studies in Tokyo, he took part in the international juniorate in the Philippines, studied spirituality in Melbourne, and returned to Manila for tertianship.
Fathers Bony and Thomas came to Japan from Kerala after philosophy, studied the language, and did theology in Tokyo. Fr Bony made his tertianship in Kenya, studied pastoral theology at Fordham University, and is presently Associate Pastor of St Ignatius in Tokyo.
Fr Thomas did tertianship in Manila, studied missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and now teaches English while serving as chaplain at the Sophia University Junior College Division. All three having experienced considerable time away from Japan are known to Jesuits on other continents.
In his homily, Fr De Luca quoted the reading from Jeremiah about being called and overtaken by God. Each of the three Jesuits was called by God and surrendered to Him, allowing His grace to reach into their lives. At the end of the Mass, Fathers Kogure, Bony, and Thomas thanked all those who have supported them along their life’s journey toward this final acceptance into the service of the Lord in the Society of Jesus.
Watch the Mass for their Final Vows