What is the ultimate superpower?
Many people around the world are familiar with the Japanese icon Hello Kitty. Yet few know that in Japan, she has been surpassed in popularity. Who could possibly be bigger than Hello Kitty?
Many of our youth today would quickly recognize One-Punch Man. But no, he is not the character who has dethroned Hello Kitty. One-Punch Man is actually a playful parody of this even more celebrated figure, further evidence of our still unidentified hero’s cultural clout. Both have smooth, round heads. Their red and yellow costumes mirror each other. Even their names echo one another. One-Punch Man in Japanese is Wanpanman.
So who is the beloved creation who has overtaken Hello Kitty in Japan? He is Anpanman.
Anpanman is the product of the imagination and deep reflection of Takashi Yanase, who was conscripted by the Japanese Imperial Army and sent to China during World War II. There, faced with strict food rationing, Yanase could only dream of eating anpan, a traditional Japanese pastry filled with red bean paste.
Yanase endured the hunger because he believed he was fighting for justice. When Japan was defeated, Yanase and his generation realized that they had been misled about the war. Disillusioned and confused, Yanase examined himself and asked, “What is justice?” The answer he arrived at: “Giving a piece of bread to a hungry man even if it means to sacrifice yourself.”
This is the truth behind Anpanman, a superhero whose head is made of anpan and whose power is to give pieces of his red-bean-paste-filled pastry head to strengthen the needy. A champion made out of bread who feeds others with his very self. And now you must have figured out why we are talking about this on the feast of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Savior who offers us his body and blood in the consecrated bread and wine. (A catechetical reminder: The consecrated bread and wine are not just symbols of Jesus but in a mysterious way, the Real Presence of Christ.)
Anpanman has been called the weakest hero in the world. What may seem like a stupid idea for a hero is actually a profound statement by Yanase. For him, “real justice is not almighty, it gets hurt.”
But from the point of view of our faith, part of what makes God almighty is that God is willing to get hurt because of love for us. To face suffering is the unavoidable consequence of the Incarnation, God taking on flesh and blood. And in the Eucharist, when he gives himself again and again as bread and wine, he risks being unnoticed, overlooked, and even rejected over and over again.
In our Gospel today (John 6:51-58), “the Jews quarreled among themselves” – and even with Jesus – when they asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Maybe instead of “How” they should have asked “Why.” But even without this question, Jesus still gave them his answer, “Because…
…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.”
He desires to give us his very self because he wants to be a part of us, even if so many times, we want no part of him. Jesus opened himself to being spurned, and he continues to do so today. This is not weakness. This is the pinnacle of strength.
One-Punch Man is the strongest fighter in his manga universe. He can defeat any opponent with a single punch (thus, the name). But for all his strength, at one point in time, One-Punch Man becomes disheartened and loses all passion for combat. Meanwhile, Anpanman keeps on sharing himself. His theme song, which was also used to encourage the survivors of Japan’s 2011 magnitude 9.0 earthquake, continues playing:
For what purpose were you born?
For what reason are you alive?
...
Just what it takes to be alive right now
Is enough to keep your heart burning hot
That is why you go on, smiling all the way
That's right, you are happy
It's a joy to be alive
Even though the pain in your heart still aches
Ahh, ahh, Anpanman
You are just so kind
Go, now, to protect all our dreams
Real power and joy is not in punching but in giving yourself away.
Anpanman is not only the most beloved character among Japanese children today. The Anpanman series holds the Guinness World Record for most characters—1768 in total. Most of these characters are bakery-inspired. There is another hero that is a slice of white bread and another who is curry bread. There is a cream bun and melon-flavored bread and so on.
For us who receive Communion, I think there is a message here. Once you have partaken of the Bread of Life, you must also be bread for others.
BTS has a song titled “Anpanman."
They sing about not having the big muscles of Superman or the fancy equipment of Batman. They acknowledge their scars, their pains, and their fears, but also their desire to be new generation heroes whose superpower is to give of themselves like Anpanman.
Your prayer assignment this week:
Last week, we reflected on awe. For me, numbered among the most awe-inspiring stories are those of self-sacrifice. I remember preaching in Payatas many years ago and telling the parishioners there about the Christmas day when we invited those we saw still picking through the garbage (on Christmas day!) to a simple merienda of pancit and bread packaged as a pancit sandwich.
Three mouthfuls into the pancit, many stopped eating. I asked them if there was anything wrong with the pancit. They said no, and then started asking for plastic bags. I asked them, “What for?” And they said they wanted to bring something home to their families. I told them not to worry because we would give them something to bring home. But they said they also wanted their families to taste the pancit. I asked them, “But aren’t you hungry?” But they only said, “Our families must be hungrier.”
When I shared this story in Payatas, I used it as an anecdote to make a point about generosity and not to solicit donations. Matapobre me was thinking, “This is Payatas after all.” But after the Mass, a group of manangs came to me with something wrapped in that day’s missalette and said, “P126.00. The people in our pew pooled our money together. We want to sponsor a few pancit sandwiches.”
What stories of giving have you been part of? Give the BTS song above a listen. Can you see that giving of yourself is a superpower?
Fr. Francis teaches Theology, Education and Scripture at both the Ateneo de Manila University and Loyola School of Theology. As a classroom teacher, he is first and foremost a student. As a professor, he sees himself primarily as a pastor.
