Culture Corps

One of our very outspoken elder priests, 86 years old, who has been president of the  Catholic University and a professor at Sogang University, was interviewed  by one of the Korean dailies on the present situation in the country. Though the priest was not enthusiastic about either the past or present political conditions in Korea, the interviewer said he would always end up on a hopeful note. 

He gave his opinion on the state of affairs with the North. The regime in the North, he feels, will not last long. We had the tyrannies of  Mao Zedong and Stalin and our own tyrannies of past dynasties. But 29-year old  Kim Jong-eun, who has studied in Europe, will have difficulty following in the  steps of past dictators and keeping control of  the country.  Once the internal structures are in place, the priest believes that Kim Jong-eun will be open to giving his people more freedom. Having learned and seen a lot outside of the country, he will try to realize these dreams by changing the way the country is governed, the priest said. 

He reflected also on our recent Seoul mayoral contest between candidates from the two major parties, neither one getting much support from the voters, compared to the non-aligned candidate. Next year's election for the presidency also has an independent candidate who is popular with the voters. The young especially are showing distaste for the two  major parties. Attempts of the government to reach the young people have not been successful. The reality of  the current situation is that Korean college graduates are not finding work or are underemployed, and that the suicide rate for the young is high. Some of the younger people, the priest  said, are members of the '88 Generation' because they are taking jobs for an average of less than a thousand dollars a month, a very low salary for a college graduate. 

Korea is a small country, and it is impossible  to put all the college graduates to work. His solution is to send them overseas like our Olympic ice skating queen Kim Yuna. If the young are kept in the country, he believes it will foster the leftist philosophy of our future leaders.
 
His solution is to create a Culture Corps. We have learned a great deal from the time of the Korea War, he said. It is time now to help other countries by sending our graduates where they are needed: to eradicate illiteracy, to help schooling the disadvantaged, and to setup medical projects.  At least 200,000 workers will be needed and should be given from 2,500 to 3,000 dollars monthly, a very attractive salary. It will be a great drain on the country, he admits, but he believes it will all come back to us when they return. This will help alleviate the conflicts between the younger and older generations and be a  good example to the rest of the world. 

He points out that they will not be going out as workers with specialized skills but simply as persons intent on helping others live a better life. Is there any other work that will have so many good benefits? he asks.

That we will ever see this happening is not very likely. But to  have one of our elders thinking these thoughts may inspire others to do the same, and in time maybe what now seems unlikely may become reality.

Mutual Joy from the Sacrament of Reconciliation

In the Peace Weekly, a columnist writing about his experience in pastoral work recalls when he was a young assistant.  He had finished his Sunday evening Mass and was on his way to the rectory when he was met by a grandfather and grandmother. They told him they left the Church many years ago, and now, an extended family of 30, they wanted to go to confession.

The priest asked how long they had been away (average is about 25 years). They had left the Church 50 years ago. The priest was not in the mood to hear confessions; the prospect of hearing 30 confessions at the end of a long day was not a pleasant thought. However, realizing what he was called to do, he went to the  confessional.

The family, one by one, went to confession and the grandfather was the last to confess. He made a general confession, mentioning all the sins he could remember from the time he was baptized; it included all his hurts and complaints over a life time.

There was little that the priest had to say in admonition, hearing what the grandfather had to say and his contrition.  He was happy, knowing that the grandfather was to begin a new life, and found joy to be part of it. When the priest  left the confessional the grandfather was sitting in the last bench of the empty church; they both hugged each other and started to cry. The grandfather thanked him for hearing what he had to say.

The priest looked at his watch; it was 5:00 am, just one half hour before his morning Mass. He went into the rectory to wash up a bit, and returned to say Mass.  All 30 of the family were there to attend and go to communion.

Although he had been hearing confessions for 8 hours, he was surprised by how little he was conscious of the time that had gone by. If they had told him he would be in the confessional for 8 hours, he wonders what would have been his response.  Yes, he was tired from the many hours in the confessional but at the same time the joy he felt by helping the family to return to the Church was a great consolation.


The numbers going to confession in recent times has dropped.What happens in one part of the Catholic World appears shortly in another part. There is no easy answer to the situation.  Many  do not have time to reflect on their lives. Experience tells many who spend time in the confessional that it is the spiritually advanced that have a greater grasp of their sinfulness:one of the paradoxes of life--the closer one gets to the light the more one sees. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a better word to use than Confession. It is God that seeks with love,to reconcile us with ourselves, others and Himself. Not understanding that what we do has reprecussions on all of creation may  help to understand the distancing from the Sacrament. 

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