@abdimarihotmarbun: 250 YEARS WITHOUT THE CHURCH I keep coming back to this story, because I think it says something every Catholic family needs to hear. In 1614 Christianity was banned in Japan. By around 1644 the last priests were gone. No Mass, no confession, no Eucharist, no bishop. Being Catholic could cost you your life. If I'm honest, I would have assumed a Church like that simply dies. But it didn't. The faithful held on to the one sacrament anyone can give in an emergency: baptism (CCC 1256). Fathers and grandmothers baptised the babies. They memorised the prayers and passed them down, parent to child, generation after generation. When Japan finally reopened its borders, a French priest named Bernard Petitjean opened a new church in Nagasaki. On 17 March 1865, while he was praying at the altar, a woman knelt beside him and whispered, "Our hearts are the same as yours." Not every community held on. But thousands did. That convicts me. I've come to realise the faith isn't only handed on from the pulpit. It's handed on at the kitchen table, in the prayers we teach our children and the way we live in front of them. Jesus promised that "the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). I believe He keeps that promise through ordinary families like yours and mine. So I've been asking myself: if our parish lost its priest tomorrow, would my family still pass on the faith? Comment Below who first taught you the faith, a parent, a grandparent or a catechist? Share this with a friend who needs to hear it, and follow me for more authentic Catholic teaching every day. God bless you. #catholic #catholicfaith #catholicism #hiddenchristians #catholichistory credit video IG reels catholicbrian

Adie Marbun

Open In TikTok:

Region: ID

Friday 30 October 2026 14:22:08 GMT