People live in their own time and space. He often thinks about this simple proposition. Time and space have a profound effect on thoughts and bodies. These days, his main concerns are life in old age and the reality of the Korean church. What does it mean to live in old age? How does one endure life in old age? How does one analyze and understand the reality of the church? What small things can he do for the change and renewal of the church?
He lives in Korean society. As a citizen, he has no idea what to do in this era. How should he behave with hatred, aversion, incitement, lies, and violence? How does he respond to the endless rush of capitalism that emphasizes identity as a rich person rather than identity as a human being and pursues only selfish pleasure and enjoyment rather than moderation and consideration for the common good? Whenever he comes across an explanation of artificial intelligence (AI), bio-industry, and quantum computers, which are called the three major ‘game changers’ of the future era, he feels dizzy. Where will the rapid development of science and technology take us? He has more anxiety and fear than hope about the future of society.
He is growing old as a priest of the church. It means that personal and ecclesiastical existence is stronger than social existence. The radius of thought and action focuses more on faith and church life. It does not mean that he gave up his role as a citizen. As Japanese popular thinker Uchida Tatsuru put it: “A sovereign is a person who thinks that there is a connection between his or her personal fate and the fate of the country.” However, he looks at the world through the eyes of faith and the church. As a believer and a church member, he participates in social life.
He does not know why self-consciousness about the passage of time and growing old becomes excessive in old age. The primary emotions about old age are regret, sorrow, and fear. In the reality of retirement, he feels like he is being robbed of the joy of work and accomplishment. The aging of the body makes him feel the exclusion of perspective. The premonition of death and extinction is sometimes daunting.
Can we consider growing old as “an act of enriching oneself in the sense that it is an act of experiencing a state of mind and body that has never been experienced before”? “Young elderly, that is, people belonging to the third stage of life between the ages of 65 and 84”. Can we live freely, without the greed and foolishness of our youth?
Sometimes, when he realizes that he will die someday, he feels suffocated. Looking at the starry night sky, he sometimes thinks that he is nothing more than dust in the universe and that life is just a result of chance. The church and theology’s explanations of the end and salvation are not convincing. Nevertheless, he believes and hopes. Isn’t faith more a will to believe than a conviction?
Old age, death, and even after death will all have their own meaning and some kind of solution. It is hope and trust in the mystery of existence and life. Despite the barriers of reality called death and extinction, there is faith and hope that there will be an ultimate solution to life and existence. That hope and trust may be based on humanistic intuition and reflection or on a scientific explanation of the fundamental operating procedure at the core of all life called ‘homeostasis’. Of course, Christians base their hope and trust on the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and their faith as a gift of grace.
The answer is always common sense. Old age and death also have their own meanings. When we naturally accept them, we can live our old age freely and abundantly and face death well. “A life lived in a parting attitude is a creative life.”
We often witness discourses on the crisis of the church. However, discourses are simply discourses. The phenomenon of de-religionization and secularization still darkens the reality of the church and faith. In addition to challenges and threats from outside, the loss of power within the church poses a greater danger. The parish, the forefront of faith and church life, is losing its vitality. Are believers truly experiencing spiritual unity and communion with God in the Eucharist (Mass), the pinnacle of faith life? Are believers experiencing communion as well as human fellowship in the various events and activities of the parish? Are the parish’s religious education and devotional practices helping believers grow in faith and spirituality? Are the parish’s liturgy (sacraments), education, communion, and service activities functioning properly? It seems time to ask honestly and fundamentally to reconstruct the parish’s way of life in a direction that can specifically function in the present through the true inheritance of tradition and new interpretations.
Through parish life, believers should be able to feel and experience faith's true meaning and joy. Through parish life, believers should be able to learn and embody the beauty and meaning of community and the value and preciousness of the common good. The church should help believers deeply experience, learn, and practice the joy of faith and community through parish life so that they can concretely realize their religious beliefs in all places where they live and live a life that practices community values in the world. However, are today’s churches and parishes truly fulfilling such roles?
In a society where school education and the media are being ruined, religion should be the last bastion protecting community values and beliefs. However, ironically, in Korean society, we often see religion destroying community values. This is a sad reality. Is today’s church functioning as a sacrament that proclaims community values and beliefs against the rampage of capitalism and the unbridled gallop of selfish individuals and groups that have lost their sense of reflection?
Hope is gradually disappearing on an individual, church, and social level. What can and should the church and believers do in a world filled with only gloomy prospects for the future? Why did Pope Francis proclaim a Jubilee of Hope in these grim times? “When living seems like renewing sadness.” What does it mean to live with hope?
We must live by honestly asking questions, listening, conversing, learning, and studying. He hopes many small groups within the church will ask questions, listen, converse, and study. Talking about trivial daily responses amid a vast reality may seem regrettable. However, small daily lives always come together to form a vast world. Practice is not in grandiose slogans and ideologies. Love is always realized in everyday attitudes and behaviors.
