Before I left Japan for Michigan, Collie came up with the idea that I might like to go to a fundraising dinner. When I told him I’d love to, he bought two tickets in advance and made a reservation for us. I had never been to a fundraiser in the U.S. before, so I wondered what it would be like.
I’d be talking with the other guests at the table, I realized. I should be ready to respond naturally in English. I’d like to leave a good impression as a Japanese person, if I can. Would they welcome me warmly, I wonder?
The dinner was scheduled for my second day in Michigan! As evening approached, Collie came to pick me up by car at the back entrance of the hotel. We hadn’t coordinated what to wear, so I just went with the outfit I had planned myself.
He complimented my outfit—phew😌. And I finally had a chance to wear my very first pair of about 3-inch heels, which had been sitting in my closet, waiting for a special occasion like this with him.
The PIME fundraising dinner on October 2, 2025, was held at the San Marino Club in Troy, Michigan. We arrived early and helped ourselves to a little bit from the appetizer corner before taking our seats.
The tables were round with assigned seating like this. I was nervous, but Kathy from the ITALIAN TRIBUNE, sitting to my right, was such a lively woman and spoke to me very friendly. The two men sitting across from me also welcomed me warmly. I introduced myself, saying I had just arrived in Michigan from Tokyo yesterday when I shook their hands, and surprised them.
And to my left was the reassuring presence of Collie. I couldn't quite keep up with the local topics between the locals...💦, but there I was, feeling relieved.
One of those cheerful men across from me was Fr. Piero Masolo, a PIME missionary. He even came over to me to talk and scrolled through his phone to show me photos of his friend—a Japanese woman living in Japan. He also showed me pictures of the girls he cares for so dearly. I was truly moved to see this priest enthusiastically searching through his photos just to share them with me.
The meal was served family-style, with large platters brought out one by one for each of us to share.
After returning to Japan, I read an article written by Fr. Piero Masolo in the PIME quarterly magazine MISSION WORLD (September/October 2025 issue) I had received that evening.
It was about his experience at 17 in Bogliasco (a beautiful village near Genoa, Italy). There was a woman named Maria Teresa, a friend of his relatives. She was kind, but there was something else, something special about her. Even though they were meeting for the first time, he felt like she already knew him. What she said applied perfectly to him, even though it wasn't directed at him specifically. This is weird! Maria Teresa was about to leave that place soon. He offered to accompany her to her car in the street—because he wanted to figure out why she seemed to know him so well. When he asked, she just smiled and handed him a book she had written.
He was curious and puzzled, so that same night he started reading it. It was entitled "From Heart to Heart." And that book brought him to tears—he sat there reading and crying. For the first time in his life, he felt Jesus' presence. His Heart was finally talking to his heart through Maria Teresa's words, and his heart started burning. Meeting Maria Teresa changed his life.
Fr. Piero Masolo likens his experience to the two disciples devastated by Jesus's death. They didn't realize the traveler walking and talking with them was Jesus himself. However, when the three sat down at the table together and the traveler took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, those two recognized him. This became proof of the Lord's resurrection. The first effects were their burning hearts. For Fr. Piero Masolo, the theological journey of those two disciples in the Gospel of Luke was embodied in his encounter with Maria Teresa.
Sad that my first-time event 3-inch heels are missing from the shot!😅
Back in Japan, I took another look at the PIME quarterly magazine and became curious about "From Heart to Heart" written by Maria Teresa, so I searched for it—but I couldn't find the book anywhere.
One of the cheerful men sitting next to Fr. Piero Masolo came over to me as the dinner ended and we left the table. He complimented me, told me to enjoy my time in Michigan, and shook my hand.
I'm so grateful to Collie for giving me this wonderful experience. If I ever have the chance to meet Fr. Piero Masolo again, I'd love to talk with him about "From (Jesus') Heart to (your) Heart."
"Were not our hearts burning while he spoke to us
on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Luke 24:32
The PIME U.S. Mission Center www.PIMEusa.org
27405 West 10 Mile Rd Farmington Hills, MI 48332
