The Catholic Church
of Korea asked Catholics to
read 33 spiritual books a year during the three years from 2005 to
2007. The second phase of the program will start this coming June,
during the Year of Faith, with the same goal: reading 33 books a year
for three years--the 33 referring to the years of our Lord's life. For
the third year another book was added to make it 100 books
for the three years. The reading will not only benefit the person but
also promote our religious tradition and culture, as the the
Catholic Times' latest issue points out in its cover story.
The
results of the earlier program were very satisfying; it helped develop
the habit of reading, formed book seminars and clubs and, less formally,
parish discussion groups. Books were seen as a means of continuing
pastoral care of Christians, and of correcting the misunderstanding that
Catholics do not read very much. The Catholic Times, with the help of
the Seoul Diocese, took a poll of the readers to determine the
effectiveness of the program.
One of the main reasons for the
program can be summed up in the phrase: To read a book is ultimately the
process of reading life. In other words, what we read is going to
determine what we put into our heads and hearts, which will largely
determine what actions will follow. Consequently, the first step is to
prudently decide what to read. However, in our digital society many have
difficulty setting aside enough time to read because of easy access to
hypertext information, which militates against deep thought and
examination. Rather than reading to search for meaning and values, we
often prefer to read whatever provides the immediately useful. To
eliminate this difficulty, a book selection committee will select two or
three books each month for those interested, and set up programs to
encourage meeting with others to discuss what was read.
The poll
of 241 Catholics showed that 30 percent read from 3 to 5 spiritual books
during the year; 25 percent read 1 or 2 books; 19 percent read more
than 10 books; 16 percent read 6 to 10 books, and 10 percent read
nothing. Several reasons were given for not reading: not knowing what to
read (30 percent), difficult to understand (28 percent), difficulty finding suitable spiritual books (27
percent), books were not interesting (15 percent).
Korea has a community of Christians that is sufficiently united, making
possible this type of program, with expectations of achieving positive
results. Even though the Christians are being asked to do
something many will find difficult, there will be many who will
participate, making for a deeper and more mature level of faith life,
along with developing the leaders of the future.
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