The Art of Conversation

The Church in Korea for many years tried with great effort to establish Basic Christian Communities (BCC), or Small Christian Communities( SCC) (the concepts are basically the same). They are small groups of Christians who live in similar geographical areas of a parish and who get together usually monthly within the territorial parishes to share their faith and life with others. In Korea, they have not been successful for the most part, and not only because of the Covid pandemic.

The efforts in the different dioceses to begin these small groups began at different times and with different rates of success. Some of the bishops have considered this one of their most important efforts in the diocese.

Today we are concerned with the preparation for the Synod in 2024 and the Synodalitas way of being Church. The word listening is used prominently but speaking with the help of the Spirit is also a requisite. Listening and speaking with the heart.

This is no longer something that comes naturally, is desired, or is found useful. Conversations about matters that are important, without pretense that come from the heart are rare but the exchange of words has no doubt increased.

And yet sitting down together and talking to one another about important matters seems to be a wise pursuit in this very confusing world in which we live. However, many see the art of conversation disappearing for a multitude of reasons.

Individualism is one of the values that society has succeeded in imposing on us in recent years. The sense and need for community that was necessary are no longer present.

Social Media has been introduced and is greatly used; the eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart encounters have greatly diminished. Technology in its many forms has become ever-present. Secularism, consumerism, competition, and success are values that motivate society, and what was considered common sense has become ambivalent.

Voices in society have been saying these same things for years but they no longer have an audience and life continues the course of least resistance, our default status.

For Christians, the test should be the results of what we have chosen as a people. St. Paul in 2nd Corinthian chapter 13:5 says: "Put yourselves to the test and judge yourselves, to find out whether you are living in faith. Surely you know that Christ Jesus is in you?—unless you have completely failed." Once one knows that Christ is living within us, joy can't help but follow and we have a lot to learn and a lot to communicate.

It is surprising how we have lost the importance of conversation for growth in wisdom. When one has a deep conversation, not afraid of difficult subjects, where we speak from the heart and listen with the heart we will come away from the encounter as different persons.