tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11159269285143816612024-03-29T05:31:29.794-07:00Catholic American Eyes in KoreaMaryknoll Priests Working in KoreaCatholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.comBlogger3968125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-27644624092230937752024-03-29T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-29T01:00:00.160-07:00Benefits of Belief<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEig90UwZqLVnF8yrx-DcRGYLOlFnsk0aes-Mq7vREYGj5zfixbd5rsqi0FFrhfS7jM5E5jLL8pPBQKC42Q9QWcAZvJGJrHiB9Ii1u98JiBQ-ZY5XCtqUdSVttVPa6kQ7scksb2Son2RqZCts-Bb1U01-40S99ZHgI6p1Z2HAyy9fkxXr2kG3TNW23JT" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEig90UwZqLVnF8yrx-DcRGYLOlFnsk0aes-Mq7vREYGj5zfixbd5rsqi0FFrhfS7jM5E5jLL8pPBQKC42Q9QWcAZvJGJrHiB9Ii1u98JiBQ-ZY5XCtqUdSVttVPa6kQ7scksb2Son2RqZCts-Bb1U01-40S99ZHgI6p1Z2HAyy9fkxXr2kG3TNW23JT" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">”</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">What’s the benefit of believing in God?” This question was asked of a broadcast writer and in her Catholic Peace column gives the readers her answer.</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">She was confused by the question and was contemplating what to answer and her friend added: “They say religion is something you have to have as you get older.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The proper thing to do was invite her friend who had an interest in God to church, but she didn't do that. She felt a sense of disappointment that her faith life was seen as one asking for blessings, which she thought was hidden. She overdid it and answered: “I’m not here to get help.” My friend was even more surprised. "Wow! Going to places that don’t help?" She answered ‘pretending to be strong’ —"I go because I want to be of help to God."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Even though she was satisfied with the answer, she felt uncomfortable. After that, her friend never brought up religion with her again. She felt that her answer had ‘cut off’ any trace of curiosity her friend may have had about God. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Would it not have been better to respond to her friend's understanding of religious belief? Such as: "if you go to church, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">you will meet a lot of good people and have many volunteer opportunities related to the environment that you are interested in?” She should have met her friend as a beginner in spiritual things. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">It bothered her that God seemed to be reduced to a Being to fit our needs. There are not only good people in churches, and we have many ways outside of churches in which people can be of service to society. She is still looking for an answer as to how best to respond.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> "If I don’t believe in God, will I go to hell?” This was a question asked in a word-sharing session in a catechism class by one of the students. This question was asked after hearing the teaching in class. </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> “The God I know is not like that,” she told the concerned catechumen but somehow she did not like the answer. If I had to believe, God would be too strict and without mercy, and if I didn't have to believe, the meaning of baptism would be meaningless. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">“Where do you think hell is?” Asked the Religious Sister of the class. Before she became a believer, she thought that hell was a ‘place’, but after becoming a believer, she could say that hell is ‘a state without God'. The columnist felt she had solved one of her religious problems thanks to the nun. As she shared this good news with the sister, she told her that the heart that fears God is also the grace of the Holy Spirit. This is because ‘fear’, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is, in other words, a heart that does not fear anything but God’.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We can sometimes reduce God to be our ‘servant’ to serve our needs or fear Him as a ruthless 'judge'. What is clear is that living with awareness of the existence of God, no matter how big or small, means that there is hope of finding or returning to the Lord at any time. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">"How God will respond to each of us is His choice; I am merely here to wholeheartedly welcome those who wish to approach God and to seek the best answers together."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-55426149519159444942024-03-27T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-27T01:00:00.135-07:00Education for Life — Paideia—<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSKYyhVr4FC1721cV5o6PYp1zuvSd-UpoIOn5m0LWJIQrBHfuc87Jqsn4AUsqxyftp1wojqZrRsbPH3Zp5ELtEPERo8ajbqDW8KtIpPztHCbFafn4T2B_FeGywYMOdSHEiZBhVlaA1cjXO9Mx1iFVGxIs150FixyUwxlGs2PefXP9iJJux5qn45uGd" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="600" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSKYyhVr4FC1721cV5o6PYp1zuvSd-UpoIOn5m0LWJIQrBHfuc87Jqsn4AUsqxyftp1wojqZrRsbPH3Zp5ELtEPERo8ajbqDW8KtIpPztHCbFafn4T2B_FeGywYMOdSHEiZBhVlaA1cjXO9Mx1iFVGxIs150FixyUwxlGs2PefXP9iJJux5qn45uGd" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">The early church fathers who theologically established the teachings of Jesus had extensive knowledge of Greek philosophy, especially Platonic philosophy. Based on this philosophy, the early church fathers were able to firmly establish the foundation of the church. A Catholic University professor gives the readers of The Catholic Peace Weekly some understanding of the church's philosophical tradition.</span></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Today's elaborately systematized theology: Christology sacramentology and ecclesiology, were only possible with these theoretical works. This is why philosophical understanding is essential for understanding church teachings. The Didache, which expanded church teachings into practice, was possible within this tradition.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Plato explains that the human soul has memories of the world of Ideas, the essential world and that philosophy is the work of recalling these memories. So he used philosophy with his passion for this world. He also defines the training to walk this path as </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">paideia</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. The Church Fathers accepted this concept and understood the relationship between God and humans as education. Education was not only a way to acquire knowledge or achieve some practical goal but was an essential element of cultivating the path to becoming a human being. Therefore, scholars such as Karen Armstrong, who is well-versed in ancient religions, say that philosophy is a spiritual practice.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">To understand the teaching and grow as true Christians, we must deeply reflect on the path of </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">paideia</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. As Christians, we must follow the process of enlightenment, constantly training and growing on the path to the source of life and existence.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Life, from its early primitive forms, has increased in complexity through its long history in various forms. It is not correct to definitively say that this history is one of progress, but within it, the emergence of consciousness and intelligence through self-awareness can be understood as part of the history of life. Humans endowed with such intelligence have the task of deeply reflecting on the history of life, thereby revealing not only the mystery and dignity of life but also its ontological meaning more clearly. This can be understood as the process by which humans, within this history, work with God, who is working for the ontological completion of all life. </span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Depending on how humans with this task act here and now, the history of life can reach completion, but it can also lead to destruction. Since God entrusts this task to humans, he does not physically intervene in the laws and history of life. The task is repeatedly left in the hands of humans. We must choose. The choice lies between the leap to life or destruction.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">To this end, a philosophy of life is needed that educates about life's meaning and reveals life's mystery and dignity. When the church establishes a philosophy of life that newly reveals the meaning of life in a changing era, as the early church fathers did, the church will be able to advance the history of life and accomplish the task of completing the mystery of life based on this. Life education is a way to reveal its meaning.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">To achieve this, it is necessary to educate about the meaning of life and to establish a philosophy of life that reveals the mystery and dignity of life. Just as the early Church Fathers did, when a philosophy of life that reveals the meaning of life anew within the changed times is established, the Church will be able to leap forward in the history of life and accomplish the task of completing the mystery of life. Life education is the process for this, and it is also the way to reveal its meaning.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">If today's higher education in the Church merely maintains the institution and phenomenon of the university, it will be abandoning education as paideia. The Church's education must contribute to achieving the Christian task of accomplishing the salvation history of life. The path will begin by breaking away from the demands of a capitalist society that the educational authorities, who cannot think of the existential meaning of life, require. The Church's power to protect the dignity of life in an era of excessive science and technology and capitalism will never be possible without a philosophy of life and life education.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-41619955085267986872024-03-25T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-25T01:00:00.146-07:00The Fetus and Artificial Intelligence<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7oXEQCCiCMyUdZxXsPDG3mv7Iuz0mBA3l7FGUexllAl1ZKAMMWo7beca9_90YzWUAQqhBS-IfM5I1vJ4NKmG8MNb3EobG-SWp0v6K9c74lJgKc4k5QpvUHWzWgHpRWtLrWIjff_rvbPVm_WLOOS3YLw5oPc1u_WHVRGZUCSSx6a-fh5qobFzbkUqZ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7oXEQCCiCMyUdZxXsPDG3mv7Iuz0mBA3l7FGUexllAl1ZKAMMWo7beca9_90YzWUAQqhBS-IfM5I1vJ4NKmG8MNb3EobG-SWp0v6K9c74lJgKc4k5QpvUHWzWgHpRWtLrWIjff_rvbPVm_WLOOS3YLw5oPc1u_WHVRGZUCSSx6a-fh5qobFzbkUqZ" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the recent Catholic Peace Weekly Peace column, a Korean researcher living in the States gives us his thoughts on the fetus and artificial intelligence. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Pro-Choice camp, which advocates allowing abortion, emphasizes a woman’s right to choose an abortion and argues that a woman’s individual “right to decide on her own body” takes precedence over the “right of the fetus to survive.” Although they view social, economic, or other reasons as grounds that can justify abortion, they do not believe that the same reasons are justifiable reasons for depriving a born, breathing child of life. Everyone agrees that humans have special values and rights and that these basic rights must be protected. Ultimately, the key difference between the pro-choice camp and those with opposing views is whether or not the fetus is considered a full human being.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The basis of the pro-choice camp's argument is the idea that a fetus cannot be considered a human being because it does not possess the abilities that a full human being should have. In fact, from the ‘perspective of ability’, a fetus before a certain period has no brain activity, no ability to express itself, and no ability to survive on its own outside the womb.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In contrast, looking at the rapid development of artificial intelligence, there are more and more examples of artificial intelligence that achieves performance similar to or better than that of humans. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly advanced, with the ability to understand and create language, test knowledge in specialized fields, and even mimic emotions. Artificial intelligence is now able to accomplish areas of art that were thought to be something only humans could do. The pace of development is so fast that you can almost feel the difference between artificial intelligence from just a few months ago. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Looking at a fetus that can't do anything and an artificial intelligence that can do things better than humans; we must ask what are human values based on? So, does artificial intelligence have greater ‘human value’?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Suppose we claim that brain activity, cognitive abilities, and the ability to survive on our own are essential elements of human value, which the fetus lacks. In that case, we will denigrate the human value of people with severe disabilities and the many people who cannot survive without help. Suppose you argue that a being that can create and speak language is valuable. In that case, an artificial intelligence that can freely speak dozens of languages and draw anything in the drawing style of every artist in the world now has greater human value than a child who cannot speak. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Human value comes from the existence God gives us, not from ability. No matter what other standards you set, you will fall into the error of denigrating human value or giving human value to non-human things.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The fetus is God's creation created in God's image, and artificial intelligence is a creation created by humans to assist human life. Therefore, the human fetus, God's creation, has infinitely greater value than artificial intelligence created by humans. The fetus is not only a valuable being in itself because it is a human being, but it is also the weakest being without the ability to survive, so it needs greater protection. The Bible teaches that we must protect the weak. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the future, we will increasingly encounter artificial intelligence with abilities similar to humans or superior to most humans. There will be positive changes that artificial intelligence will bring to the world, and there is no need to unconditionally be hostile to or fear artificial intelligence. However, more than ever, it is a time when we need to reflect on where the source of human dignity and value come, and time to see changes in the world through the eyes of faith.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-7090148240130873972024-03-23T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-23T01:00:00.142-07:00Importance of Trust in Life<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJbiT76xc-a5c1qnti-WNEomTxcEw8W6vPw2wcXfv_l7Ihh3U2LdOZf_Ei1q_lsheatTE8hT7D5zTCNeW5GAQK0y3gt4r5e5kSDrBRr4S8ZKKhEnT5bz9tw4jmnReL1Vj2c1r7v8tBR2iJmPzWrGsBtw3u6-1tEM-WfJHtQQuLmcVffCyZ51aK1E7l" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJbiT76xc-a5c1qnti-WNEomTxcEw8W6vPw2wcXfv_l7Ihh3U2LdOZf_Ei1q_lsheatTE8hT7D5zTCNeW5GAQK0y3gt4r5e5kSDrBRr4S8ZKKhEnT5bz9tw4jmnReL1Vj2c1r7v8tBR2iJmPzWrGsBtw3u6-1tEM-WfJHtQQuLmcVffCyZ51aK1E7l" width="308" /></a></div></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span>What do people live by? Some people will hear this question and ask: But isn’t this a question we must seriously ask ourselves at some point in our lives? People will give various answers to this question, but ‘trust’ is as important as anything else in a person’s life. </span><span>This is the beginning of </span><i>My Faith Like Gold </i><span>column of the Catholic Peace Weekly by a priest professor.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Trust, in its dictionary meaning, is ‘belief and reliance.’ This may contain the meaning that humans are inherently trustworthy beings. For believers, trust is the basic attitude they have toward God, but trust is also a basic principle of all human life. Human beings are born and grow up, form a family, live in society, and live until the end, although it is invisible, trust acts as a greater force than anything else in human life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">First of all, trust is the fundamental foundation of family life. During the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds put on rings and the words they exchange with each other show that marriage is achieved not only through love but also through faith and loyalty. “Please accept this ring I offer you as a token of my love and faithfulness.” Trust relationships between spouses and parents, children, and siblings are the foundation that supports a family. Of course, human trust is indeed very fragile and easily broken. As family members have deep trust in each other, the wounds suffered when trust is broken are deep and great. Repairing a broken relationship requires a lot of time, patience, and sacrifice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Trust is also important in interpersonal relationships at school or in society. Where trust abounds, every day is a joy and celebration, but there is no place more hellish than a place where distrust prevails. When people trust and wait for others, they grow and achieve a lot by making full use of their capabilities, but in the opposite case, they lose confidence and become intimidated and unable to do what they can. It is said that ‘praise makes even whales dance,’ but wouldn’t it be possible to say that trust makes people dance and even revives dying people?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">On the other hand, it is an irony of human life that we realize the important value of trust only later. In particular, when you go through a big crisis or trial in life, you realize how much trust you have received in your life. A person who has lived his whole life as he pleases, but reaches the end of his life, realizes that his life has been meaningless and that he has been searching for something in vain all his life and regrets it. And as he recognizes how much trust his family and acquaintances placed in him, and how much he has lived betraying that trust, he beats his chest and regrets it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Many years ago, the columnist's brother, who was suffering from a serious illness and was about to undergo major surgery, asked him for prayer. He said that he had lived confidently all his life without bowing his head in front of anyone, but when he fell ill and was nearing death, he experienced his life completely falling apart and realized how futile he had been living his life. And he said that he realized how much love he had received from his family and how badly he had treated that love. He added that surgery is just around the corner, and if he survives, he will live the rest of his life with gratitude and repayment for the love he has received.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Trust and love are connected like two sides of a coin. Trust and love are passed on to each other and make each other live. Before it's too late, let's consider how much trust and love we receive from our family and acquaintances. Let's think of the people who pray for us, cheer us on, and support us. If we could realize that we couldn't live even a moment without their trust and love, wouldn't our lives be completely different?</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-75367943106535962082024-03-21T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-21T01:00:00.135-07:00The World Our Common Home<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVG3s1knYQd6BFZYLYc4kG6-WXc6SxuHrDzuIFOhnRTnzo1jG5H0fBPY31FRV8rwozHnqPX2ql_zShzBIE-4GuXXkVpEUglmy9vVDFoVl6noKMZQXkyLuOTbO44H1kTwH6qoMT-CvGo_aMiVZirWW6QwShtQWrBmddFR_YRF8jmO79P8bTF0zziNBk" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="376" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVG3s1knYQd6BFZYLYc4kG6-WXc6SxuHrDzuIFOhnRTnzo1jG5H0fBPY31FRV8rwozHnqPX2ql_zShzBIE-4GuXXkVpEUglmy9vVDFoVl6noKMZQXkyLuOTbO44H1kTwH6qoMT-CvGo_aMiVZirWW6QwShtQWrBmddFR_YRF8jmO79P8bTF0zziNBk" width="237" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">A few years ago, a university conducted a survey among students on ‘climate crisis and fast fashion’. More than 70% of respondents said that shopping for fast fashion has an impact on the planet, but fast fashion is sensitive to trends and is cheap. Ultimately, the temptation to consume often goes beyond concern about the climate crisis. So begins the Diagnosis of the Times column in the Catholic Peace Weekly by an author in Environmental Spirituality.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Regarding the change in weather on February 15, a weather broadcaster used the expression: "I was ‘bewildered’ by the weather that went from spring to winter in one day,” but did not explain that the cause was climate warming. As a result of the first greenhouse gas observation at the Daesan Industrial Complex in South Chungcheong Province on January 14, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide was 480 ppm. The Korea Meteorological Science Research Institute only explained this as the level of emission concentration caused by artificial pollutants. If the global average is 480 ppm, this is a threshold that exceeds the global average temperature of 2 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The increase in greenhouse gases is entering an irreversible state. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There was no response from the media. Whether it has value as main news, or will it make advertisers uncomfortable seems to be a more important criterion for judgment. The media's indifference based on commercial and selective criteria also shows that the climate crisis is just 'changeable weather' for the public.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Preparing for a climate crisis is preparing for natural disasters caused by extreme weather changes that future generations will experience. We should be preparing for the ‘common home’ crisis mentioned by Pope Francis. However, when these countermeasures come up against the problem of reducing the pleasure and happiness of current consumption, most people choose a ‘private home’ where they find happiness through consumption, and the climate here becomes an area that has nothing to do with them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The economically wealthy perceive it as a secure personal home for living in an environment unaffected by climate issues. Ultimately, the victims of ‘extreme weather changes’ are the economically poor. However, among climatologists, some do not hesitate to make skeptical remarks that there will be no future damage from extreme weather changes. This is because it is a story about something we have not experienced. Moreover, they also dismiss the climate crisis theory by saying that the increase in greenhouse gases related to climate change is meaningless.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Humans living in a common house only perceive their current home as their personal home. Do current generations still need to take responsibility for future generations? Rather than being concerned with these questions, parents are only interested in the current problems such as the academic competition among children. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There is controversy among scholars regarding the climate issue but in reality, the current situation is evolving from indifference to climate issues to a nonissue. This is because, in many public discussions related to responsibility for future generations, there is more interest in current happiness rather than the problems future generations may receive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span>The current situation is one in which we do not agree with Jeremy Bentham's ‘utilitarian’ understanding that the happiness of the majority is true happiness. In such a situation, those who believe in God, who created the world, do not recognize the words of St. Paul: </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">For in him</span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">were created all things in heaven and on earth, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">the visible and the invisible, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">all things were created through him and for him</span> (cf. Col 1:16). Are not our parishes also a 'private home' rather than a 'common home'?</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-90105990028109485092024-03-19T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-19T01:00:00.142-07:00Walking For Peace<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv9h5pYI7mlk5uqSq8xSWuTlE9mdQWDOCSVJFrk4jKJEMowlet30OTMgb1lr9Wjh1RBDk-pQiVZ0ebJ_66E17v3F0lWOUeuM7A01V-Gt6vswgPVCQ0iC9wUYnWcS6i1aiKIMeexNtg3tYEAVuwYvZ4jnN26RLc1brS98gLMW9zwbO8D3tKTpSZnaXL" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1500" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv9h5pYI7mlk5uqSq8xSWuTlE9mdQWDOCSVJFrk4jKJEMowlet30OTMgb1lr9Wjh1RBDk-pQiVZ0ebJ_66E17v3F0lWOUeuM7A01V-Gt6vswgPVCQ0iC9wUYnWcS6i1aiKIMeexNtg3tYEAVuwYvZ4jnN26RLc1brS98gLMW9zwbO8D3tKTpSZnaXL=w200-h113" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In early March, people wearing green vests with the inscription ‘Life Peace Pilgrimage’ walked in rows along the riverbanks, fields, mountain paths, and roadsides of the border areas of Paju and Yeoncheon. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: verdana;">Paju is located just south of Panmunjeom on the 38th parallel.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the <i>Building Bridges </i>column of </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the Catholic Times,</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> a</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Taizé</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Brother introduces the readers to t</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">he ‘2024 DMZ Life and Peace Pilgrimage’ with Catholic and Anglican priests and nuns, Protestant pastors, Buddhist monks, and Won-Buddhist clergy who departed from the Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju on February 29. About 20 people from the four major religions will participate and walk 400km, finishing at the Unification Observatory in Goseong on the east coast on March 21st. Several will walk the entire distance.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">On the second day of the pilgrimage, March 1st, about 500 people participated in Imjingak, and events such as bell ringing and reading of the pilgrimage declaration. Many people, including migrant workers, were participants in the pilgrimage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The pilgrimage group went to Jangpa-ri and spent the night, and on the third day set out for Yeoncheon. After receiving an invitation to lead a prayer meeting that evening, the columnist went with three pastors and joined the pilgrimage group. The temperature in the morning was -10℃, but it warmed up slightly in the afternoon. Among the people walking, he saw many familiar faces. It is all the more meaningful because it is the first time that the four major religious denominations pray and walk together in the border area.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">An Anglican priest who served as general secretary and gave directions, said, “We walk together all day and eat together, so even the sound of snoring next to us feels familiar.” A Japanese monk who has been praying for peace on the Korean Peninsula at the Cheorwon border area for the past 10 years, is also walking the entire route with a young monk practicing in Nepal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Because it was cold and he walked quickly, he arrived at his destination two hours earlier than scheduled. The group learned the song of Taizé and immediately began praying. The sound of people from different denominations and religions singing with one voice was loud and beautiful. He read in Korean and one passage in Japanese.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">“Each nation will beat its swords into plowshares and its spears into pruning hooks. No nation will raise swords against one another, nor will there be military training anymore. Everyone will sit comfortably under the fig tree and in the shade of the vines that I have planted” ( Micah 4:3-4).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The long period of silence in the middle of prayer brought religious people together even more. We prayed and remembered those who suffered from war and violence not only on the Korean Peninsula but also around the world, including in Palestine, Ukraine, Myanmar, and South Sudan. Since inter-Korean relations have become strained and the spirit of reconciliation has disappeared, this pilgrimage is a prayer exercise by religious people trying to revive the spark of peace.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">One participant who introduced himself as "I have no religion" said: "It’s great to see the four major religious denominations coming together and making a pilgrimage in an age of conflict and division. When I go back, I want to spread the word to people around me."The sight of them crossing boundaries and walking together touched him more than any sermon. </span></p><p><br /></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-39445305240295187852024-03-17T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-17T01:00:00.126-07:00Granfpa Chefs<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirebyvCbFY5kuZW2XQPq5TsIbhzkGwrFsFHwAN2kn4u6rWsMm5rLWds7CLlrkHT1pu58t3PiqNUmqQgQ0vOLwTIxCmNVvYtBnO8OtvFpny8Mv3iF8nbVHl0dlI94AAh1W25yuMWFN7quoxD_R63A_tgXSS2V1lbYfhBfrG7JpevlxoyTXGQDMipXrY" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1146" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirebyvCbFY5kuZW2XQPq5TsIbhzkGwrFsFHwAN2kn4u6rWsMm5rLWds7CLlrkHT1pu58t3PiqNUmqQgQ0vOLwTIxCmNVvYtBnO8OtvFpny8Mv3iF8nbVHl0dlI94AAh1W25yuMWFN7quoxD_R63A_tgXSS2V1lbYfhBfrG7JpevlxoyTXGQDMipXrY" width="172" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The sight "Would you please taste this? I don't know if the seasoning is right." This is a conversation between grandfather chefs preparing food. 'Grandpa Chef' is a program to support and improve the life skills of male seniors living alone. A religious sister gives the reader of the Catholic Weekly a look into the workings of the program.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Grandpa Chef! A name that is not unfamiliar. Once a month, it is time to transform into a grandpa chef and learn what food to serve to yourself. Most people who spend their days waiting for someone in a dark, humid, single room in the basement are the ones we affectionately call 'grandfathers'. A scene not easily seen in the past. What kind of men learn how to cook? "If you have it, just eat it. If you don’t have it, don’t eat it, right?" This was a program that they rejected with a wave of their hand. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">A man cooking wearing a white chef's hat and an apron is not an uncommon sight. The menu is not of fancy dishes, they are satisfied making the dishes themself. Laughter bloomed along with their happy appearance. "I can live for another month with what I learned today and the menu from last time, so I don’t have to worry anymore."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The chefs recorded a year of memories and published the cookbook 'Grandpa Chef’s Secret Recipes'. Although simple, they held a publication commemorative party and served homemade sandwiches to all who attended. They all had big smiles on their faces.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Currently, the aging of our society is progressing at a rate unprecedented in the world. Unlike in the past, in this era where the number of elderly is increasing, the desire to lead a humane life is increasing. Still, it is also true that families and society feel the burden of the elderly as dependent beings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">When they grow old and live alone, “men are more lonely and depressed” (Seoul National University Nursing Department research team) — This is the title of a report based on in-depth interviews with 1,023 seniors aged 65 or older living alone in Gyeonggi-do between August and October 2018 about their overall quality of life by gender. According to the report, male seniors living alone were more depressed than female seniors living alone. It probably has something to due with men living in a man's culture for a long time and ending up alone. Accordingly, building a social environment to promote independent life and social integration in old age is necessary.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Even healthy people worry about the sudden rush of leisure time as they lose their social and occupational roles. Men due to sociodemographic characteristics, they are much more vulnerable than women who form relationships more easily. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In many cases, relationships with family and neighbors are severed, and there is a fear of mental illness such as dementia or depression or dying alone, so efforts are needed to establish a social and religious safety net for elderly people living alone, especially male elderly people living alone, who are prone to isolation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Grandpa Chef seniors go beyond preparing their own food and engage in sharing activities by participating in various local events. They are invited to university festivals every year to operate a food booth and use the profits to expand their activity through sharing, exchange, and meeting within the region. We hope that the elderly will increase their sense of presence, will not stop building emotional relationships in their daily lives, and will be able to contribute to society, even if only in small ways, with the skills they have acquired late in life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Our society is rushing like a rocket into an aging society, and even those who are not yet in that stage need to imagine themselves in the future and plan how to live. It's already late. At this point, shouldn’t we take a closer look at what welfare is available for the elderly in our society?</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-25483788291207803892024-03-15T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-15T03:04:15.055-07:00Korean Unique Catholic Culture<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqz1GMwoyQtCI7kmwHqRAgfENXLs6ZMHF98hG143-hSD52YZd3gjCzIcEQoQiig0sJGOQk4AyBne6crBwzKTUm-onz7LgrCgZEID-eAPsD3Gjyh98ayJwNIF8eI9-Y3o70Yhb8j6vphjkdgzMSrQOfH3eGjhlkZ51fIj9jl_ITaq-rQsmyMWrLxI3U" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2961" data-original-width="1974" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqz1GMwoyQtCI7kmwHqRAgfENXLs6ZMHF98hG143-hSD52YZd3gjCzIcEQoQiig0sJGOQk4AyBne6crBwzKTUm-onz7LgrCgZEID-eAPsD3Gjyh98ayJwNIF8eI9-Y3o70Yhb8j6vphjkdgzMSrQOfH3eGjhlkZ51fIj9jl_ITaq-rQsmyMWrLxI3U=w213-h320" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We are going through the season of Lent. To joyfully welcome the Feast of the Lord's Resurrection, a period of repentance and penance exists in which believers receive a 'Sacrament Ticket' from their parish. Korean believers consider this a long church tradition—the 'Pangong Sacrament' during Lent as well as Advent, which precedes the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord. The Catholic Times features an article on the Pangong in their recent issue, unique to the Korean Catholic Church.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">'Pangong Sacrament' is a culture formed over a long period in the Korean Church and serves as an opportunity for believers to prepare well for the upcoming feast day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Even believers who normally feel burdened by the Sacrament of Confession can observe their duties as believers through the Lenten Sacrament.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Any Korean church believer who lives a religious life in a parish will hear the term 'Pangongseongsa'.This is because, before the Advent and Lent seasons, we are told to “receive a Pangong Sacrament ticket” through announcements in the parish bulletin or during Mass.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">'Pangongseongsa' is written as ‘判功聖事’ in Chinese characters, it refers to the sacrament of confession practiced by Korean Catholics twice a year, before Easter and Christmas. The term literally means "judging one's merits and demerits" and it implies that the faithful examine their conscience, repent of their sins, and receive absolution.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Believers receive a confessional ticket, go to confession, and then submit the ticket to the parish, and the church records this in the believer's church register. The records of 'Pangongseongsa' recorded in the church register serve as a yardstick for believers to check their own religious life. At the same time, they are used as important data at the church level to determine the condition of the community's spiritual life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">“Every believer, after reaching the age of discernment, must sincerely confess his or her serious sins at least once a year,” which can be interpreted as requiring them to go to the Sacrament of Confession at least once a year. However, in the Korean Church, since the period of persecution, believers who had difficulty meeting priests have formed a tradition of meeting priests twice a year and receiving the Sacrament of Confession.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">As priests were not able to meet believers freely during the persecution, they closely examined the believers' religious lives through interviews and home visits before giving them the Holy Sacrament. It was natural for believers to reflect deeply on their faith before going to confession.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">To lessen the burden that the Pangong Sacrament places on believers, the Korean Church decided at the 2015 Autumn General Assembly of the Bishops' Conference to recognize believers who go to confession after the Pangong Sacrament period as having received the Pangong Sacrament. This provides flexibility so that you do not feel burdened even if you do not go to confession during the official approval period.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Although believers generally receive the Pangong Sacrament at their own parish, the location of the Pangong Sacrament is wider than the home parish. Since the Pangong Sacrament is for the church to help believers live their faith and identify indicators of their faith life, even if it is not necessarily the parish they belong to, they can go to any parish to receive the sacrament. All they need is to get confirmation with a signature from the relevant parish and submit it to your parish, it will be properly entered in your church register.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Pangong Sacrament serves as a way for believers to reflect on their own faith and for priests to understand and care for the believers' spiritual lives.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">If you don't go to confession for more than 3 years, you are classified as a tepid member. In years before the Second Vatican Council, the community members during the Christmas Pangong period would take an exam on a certain part of the Catechism of the Church and come before the priest as individuals or family for the exam. It would be a way of meeting all the Catholics answering questions and helping the individual in his or her spiritual life. One can see how this part of the 'Pangong culture' did not continue in our modern society.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-32991142737180687662024-03-13T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-13T01:00:00.135-07:00Korea and Cuba Establish Relations<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOWQE5K88iCZ6qRMnmbvOS_wQbog7B6NhYS1m3veeuvJ3H4ahSoeDet9Tw0O57DnF-uLkZWDcyppgOWtHh9d3HJ0DiC9mAZOHElR2UD5YRugCtti-CEBspDiRF2OEug7hSTaoOwZXH6L3csHJ_LyAOxcFquxGFikN8zLd-jLYNLXfIv7KuwCLcN0Dn" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOWQE5K88iCZ6qRMnmbvOS_wQbog7B6NhYS1m3veeuvJ3H4ahSoeDet9Tw0O57DnF-uLkZWDcyppgOWtHh9d3HJ0DiC9mAZOHElR2UD5YRugCtti-CEBspDiRF2OEug7hSTaoOwZXH6L3csHJ_LyAOxcFquxGFikN8zLd-jLYNLXfIv7KuwCLcN0Dn" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the Catholic Peace Weekly, a columnist gives the readers an account of the recent establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">With the establishment of relations between Korea and Cuba, the Vatican's mediation diplomacy is once again attracting attention. As it is a diplomatic matter, there is no specific information about what role the Vatican played. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">A former Minister of Foreign Affairs said in an interview that there was a lot of help and lateral support from friendly countries. He mentioned Mexico, the United Nations, and the Vatican as allies who helped. He especially introduced that the Vatican showed special interest in Cuba because it is a Catholic country.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In Cuba, an island nation in Central and South America, 85% of the total population (11.17 million people) are Catholic. Since Fidel Castro took power in 1959, it has not escaped the limitations of socialism. After the revolution, the Castro regime pursued atheistic communism and oppressed the church. However, starting in the late 1980s, Castro acknowledged the existence of the church, and the relationship between the government and the church became considerably smoother than in the past.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">However, this fact was revealed in an extremely exceptional situation in the diplomatic history of the Holy See. The former Korean ambassador to the Vatican, said, the Vatican does not issue a single press release even when it accomplishes something that will remain in world history. Therefore, most of the achievements of the Holy See’s diplomacy are only talked about ‘behind the scenes’ stories. This is to thoroughly consider and respect the parties involved in mediation and neighboring countries.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Vatican pursues universal peace based on justice and love, promotes harmony and cooperation between church and state, and thoroughly emphasizes basic human rights. As a mediator of disputes and conflicts, the Vatican refrains from providing unilateral support and maintains complete neutrality in international organizations. To this end, the Vatican's diplomat candidate priests are dispatched to local churches for a year to gain missionary experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Vatican currently has diplomatic relations with 183 countries. Regardless of religion or ideology, they carefully and persistently build diplomatic and missionary bridges with any country where there are Christians. The diplomatic activities of the Holy See are different from the diplomacy of individual countries that prioritize their own interests. They do not reject requests for mediation for peace and actively mediate between the other countries even without a request.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">It cannot be denied that the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Cuba is a great achievement that expanded the horizons of Korean diplomacy through close cooperation and multifaceted efforts of relevant ministries, as explained by the President's Office. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">However, the proposal to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba was first made in the 2000s. Both progressive and conservative regimes attempted to improve relations with Cuba and made great efforts. Therefore, this establishment of diplomatic relations was not a short-term achievement, but rather an accumulated achievement of Korea's diplomacy over the years. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Cuba was because both countries needed each other for their national interests.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-31571133093027805262024-03-11T01:00:00.001-07:002024-03-11T01:00:00.137-07:00Contagiousness of Loneliness<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9TiTfefSMaiFV3-D8XkJilaC9ySJnvM-0rsnvm3cV3OyBiFq8qN6CqlPM5fdmrU5Ys2iDYq7b4fNBQ0yz--D3OqKyBENF_KZXOH5N6ZQ6gmUCrXNzp9d6tRU0FQJqLXyE0oRsDq8a_500f1_uWxynFJxWH5qsn6UGlX0nFqlAnFE1ZR5kDYkYe85h" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9TiTfefSMaiFV3-D8XkJilaC9ySJnvM-0rsnvm3cV3OyBiFq8qN6CqlPM5fdmrU5Ys2iDYq7b4fNBQ0yz--D3OqKyBENF_KZXOH5N6ZQ6gmUCrXNzp9d6tRU0FQJqLXyE0oRsDq8a_500f1_uWxynFJxWH5qsn6UGlX0nFqlAnFE1ZR5kDYkYe85h" width="160" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Charles Darwin wrote a book called “Emotional Expression in Humans and Animals” along with “Origin of Species” laying the foundation for the theory of evolution. The Jesuit director of a human rights center writes in the Catholic Peace Weekly, Diagnosis of the Times column on the contagiousness of loneliness,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Chimpanzees are said to have almost the same level of social attachment as humans, so they express sadness and joy similarly. People experiencing deep grief sometimes find comfort in easing their loss and grief through intense body gestures, and the same goes for bereaved chimpanzees. They may cry out strange noises, slam their bodies against the iron bars, or stick their heads under straw bales and moan as if their hearts will break. It is a way of facing the fear that comes from the loneliness of being left alone.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Humans are much more social than chimpanzees. We crave intimacy and cannot survive without it. Before the 20th century, only 1% of the world lived alone. But things have changed. Historically, as competition, polarization, and individualism intensify, the need for privacy increases, and the price is loneliness.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Currently, 3 out of 10 people in Korea are one-person households. Six out of ten people feel isolated, but at the same time, many more say they prefer to be alone rather than with family. You can live alone without feeling lonely, and you can be lonely without living alone, but loneliness and ‘living alone’ are connected. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">At this time, loneliness becomes a state of ‘homelessness.’ Feeling a sense of belonging means feeling at home. Anywhere can be a home, but this does not happen to those who experience existential loneliness or those who are homeless. Loneliness is not ‘cultural’ but ‘social’. Living alone is not a choice, but a result of the society in which we live.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Loneliness is not an empty sentiment or a personal emotion, but a state of deep anxiety and worry, both personally and socially. It is expanded sadness. Often the reason for numerous problems such as anxiety, violence, trauma, crime, suicide, depression, political apathy, and even political polarization. Not everything in the world can be reduced to loneliness, but it is one of the important causes and a new social problem.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In 2018, US health authorities declared that loneliness was an ‘epidemic’, and the UK appointed a minister ‘in charge of loneliness’. ‘Social isolation’ and loneliness are also related. The two share common symptoms and results. They are all associated with bereavement, old age, living alone, low levels of education, low income, and childlessness, particularly evident among the vulnerable and sick. If loneliness continues and becomes a chronic condition, it is no different from poverty. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In Catholic social teaching, poverty is ‘exclusion’. This is because it is not only economic poverty, but also social, political, psychological, and spiritual. The persistent feeling that one's unique value is denied or the suspicion that one cannot share the value in the lives of others is the poverty of relationships and existence. Existence and relationships are everything to humans. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The causes of loneliness are very complex and multifaceted. Loneliness is now a policy agenda, but also a universal problem so there is something we can all do, no matter how small. Loneliness is one of the deepest pain we can testify to. We can do the work of friendship, the work of being together in places of such deep pain.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">These are the words of Henri Nouwen. “When someone listens faithfully to us and shows genuine interest in our difficulties and suffering, we sense something very deep is happening within us. Slowly fear and anxiety disappear. “The experience of being valuable and precious to someone is a tremendous creative force.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-43383723046546005162024-03-09T00:00:00.000-08:002024-03-10T00:12:34.088-08:00A Listening Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhESGHR5VCtkFSA35f9jepR2psIWQKHUijRi7wGMZgTHMWpURgQbHVbkaXE1kW1dft6dBMhppVu-JRSUkLZw-6gLkSCrpckm_LByACRopzXjYZAHZ7brF7oNhW9wpQWFY8_i_8WLMfvuDtvz7RA2xZuQLML2GJqtzrHDiiMEzsPqk0IkYSO0wMQ8YG9" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large; text-align: left;">A</span></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDmHl0JjxeAguMJhBjmfMulovjcHXpyCbStArk-jjOAx2MmG1fRSbzfNgjgzvP1oyE_FdaqvSsrBUXcCE8wVPInmaCmo-5EbLMkNcfCdPQzwJU6Mu8O62kDvaC9iT917jEZeypM1FpHwc1drovBPOmH9BPLky2CsfyeT76g2FRVTzPMnGehSl-H_uu" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDmHl0JjxeAguMJhBjmfMulovjcHXpyCbStArk-jjOAx2MmG1fRSbzfNgjgzvP1oyE_FdaqvSsrBUXcCE8wVPInmaCmo-5EbLMkNcfCdPQzwJU6Mu8O62kDvaC9iT917jEZeypM1FpHwc1drovBPOmH9BPLky2CsfyeT76g2FRVTzPMnGehSl-H_uu" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The students she teaches come from a variety of religious and non-religious backgrounds, but there is something special about students with Christian backgrounds, both Catholic and Protestant. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the past, people went to church with their families, but now many who went to church no longer go. There are cases where people naturally become distant after entering college, but there are also many who are waiting to do so on entering college. For these people, the church is not the place they want to return to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Young people are often seen as selfish individuals and “a generation that seeks only material goods and enjoyment” based solely on outward appearance, but what she observed was different. Just as much as the older generation, they long for new insights and wisdom beyond the horizon of reality, pursue a community where they share thoughts and experiences, and are interested in the climate crisis and a sustainable future. The way they express themselves, connect with each other and form a community are just different from the older generation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Young people's spiritual pursuits do not necessarily lead to Christianity. She is more concerned about how the church is seen through the eyes of young people. When discussing with students what role and contribution religion can play in our lives and society, unfortunately, many of them show hostility and indifference. For young people, the church is “a group rife with hypocrisy, exclusion, sexism, hatred, and egoism.” They are no longer even disappointed in the church since they have no expectations. The church not only does not understand the difficulties they face in life, nor willing to listen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The pain that young people face varies depending on the situation they are in but is usually expressed as depression, anxiety, and isolation. These are issues that the Church has paid pastoral attention to for a long time, and the Church's spiritual tradition also has abundant resources to examine and comfort them. It is not that the church is not interested in young people. Both dioceses and parishes have already made great efforts to retain young people for a long time. Nevertheless, young people still, or increasingly, turn their backs on the church. Where did it go wrong? The problem is not a lack of interest, resources, and effort, but rather the fact that the church is "unwilling to listen?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Last January, she watched a website discussion hosted by the American Jesuit magazine America. Priests, religious, and female believers who attended the first session of the Synod of Bishops on Synodalitas (October 2023) were invited as panelists to share their experiences. Participants agreed that this general meeting was surprisingly new in terms of methodology and process. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Since the beginning of Synodalitas, Pope Francis has emphasized that a change in thinking and approach is needed rather than resolving individual issues that have piled up. The Pope's vision was embodied in deep listening, with no interruptions allowed throughout the General Assembly. No one interrupted the participants, including women and young people in their twenties, to fully share their stories. After listening to each other's stories, there was mandatory silence to prevent spontaneous and emotional responses. Participants learned how to listen before speaking, and to express different opinions without breaking the consensus, and discussed how they could work together with different positions. I saw hope in that experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Isn't the attitude and skill of listening what the church needs most? In an attitude of learning and accepting rather than teaching and demanding, and in the process of stepping back and making way for the church and creating a space to go together rather than insisting that the church is always right, perhaps young people and the church can meet again.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-59480925478291977652024-03-07T00:00:00.000-08:002024-03-07T05:41:42.765-08:00Changing the Way we See<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeSZYwzY9xfc3W8NdoFh4KGviNCMpIMLbno61jrQ4rxDaATZb2UCyHsNKjgch8GOA8mO1rrfcC5VWR6frIM551p4iVoZULMbkI4M77-sb6CyKGegIoPTR5Wf5mufR1At3xD72aqSRVNN-opChC5PN9r0GmoJUNEuoOsHRH8V0S3clKgB8dEPfD-ZdN" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeSZYwzY9xfc3W8NdoFh4KGviNCMpIMLbno61jrQ4rxDaATZb2UCyHsNKjgch8GOA8mO1rrfcC5VWR6frIM551p4iVoZULMbkI4M77-sb6CyKGegIoPTR5Wf5mufR1At3xD72aqSRVNN-opChC5PN9r0GmoJUNEuoOsHRH8V0S3clKgB8dEPfD-ZdN" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The artist (Maria), who has Down syndrome, became famous after appearing in the drama ‘Our Blues.’ The 'strange' Lawyer Woo ’ significantly changed society’s perception of people with autism spectrum disorder in the drama in which he stared. It's not easy to meet people like artist Maria or lawyer Woo, but it would be good if prejudice against the disabled decreased.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At a Night School in Seoul, people with severe disabilities and people with developmental disabilities gather once a week and collaborate to create songs. A member of the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Taizé Community in the Catholic Peace Weekly gives the readers a look at their efforts. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Under the motto,' We make our own songs', they tell their stories through songs. A songbook containing sheet music and activity photos of 45 songs created here from February 2022 to December 2023 has been released. The album ‘Our March’ included the following song.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">"Every Thursday we go here and there, take a walk around the neighborhood / Let's get out of the facility and go outside. I want to live as I want. / I want to ride the buses and subway. We've been saying the same thing for too long. / Still we need to sing. When we march, the world changes."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">On the Nodeul Song Factory website (nonogong.kr), you can listen to the songs they wrote and sang themselves and download sheet music and sound sources. This was made possible through the ‘Seoul-type rights-centered public jobs customized for people with severe disabilities’ project. The ‘cultural and artistic activities’, ‘rights advocacy activities’, and ‘disability awareness improvement activities’ of students with severe disabilities were recognized as customized labor. The students who participated were able to say to others that they were ‘going to work’ for the first time in their lives and received wages. This public job, a one-year contract position, was obtained by Nodeul Night School as a ‘part of the share’ of disabled people excluded from work after occupying and fighting the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled for three months.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This year, the city of Seoul cut its entire budget for rights-centered customized jobs. As a result, 350 severely disabled people and 50 dedicated workers lost their jobs. The city of Seoul started it as a pilot project in July 2020 and is spreading it nationwide, but this has been eliminated in Seoul. Still, the ‘workers’ at Nodeul Song Factory gather every week to sing. The reason the 76-page songbook costs 38,000 won is to raise publicity and raise funds for the continuation of this song factory.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Maria the painter with Down syndrome, was able to complete her college education thanks to the great efforts of her parents, but she was unable to find a job and because of the prejudiced gaze towards her, she suffered from gaze obsession and schizophrenia. She was healed with her painting and socializing with others. She received a lot of love for ‘Our Blues’.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The writer hopes the new songs will continue to be heard at the somewhat noisy but wonderful’ Song Factory in the glass building behind Horse Chestnut Park in Seoul. You don't have to be a genius. We await the day when the songs created together by our neighbors and citizens, the severely disabled and the developmentally disabled, will be loved like the drama, 'Our Blues'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-90773832304296968672024-03-05T00:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T04:56:46.682-08:00World's Lowest Birthrate<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCaIRWCOBPrWeAQE0l-9qzKL93-TwGeHMNT2CPh1quXNelffmEmnK3pmYoU6c9KfDImyg14JqdyDwuhgt9EHUooqwORW-349cmxIXYHVC_qRXuposLlorJ7GdqqdWatxgroRD9SL8wGmmXHzSRnISAldRKyV6kI_HM-Po4bkr0t0OvbC6liqhwZokR" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="612" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCaIRWCOBPrWeAQE0l-9qzKL93-TwGeHMNT2CPh1quXNelffmEmnK3pmYoU6c9KfDImyg14JqdyDwuhgt9EHUooqwORW-349cmxIXYHVC_qRXuposLlorJ7GdqqdWatxgroRD9SL8wGmmXHzSRnISAldRKyV6kI_HM-Po4bkr0t0OvbC6liqhwZokR" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Diagnosis of the Times of the Catholic Peace Weekly by a Catholic University professor gives the readers an interesting look at our Korean birth rate.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Our country's low birth rate is unprecedented in world history. In 2022, the total fertility rate (the average number of births a woman is expected to give birth to during her childbearing period) was 0.78, and predictions are made that it may collapse to 0.7 in 2023. The New York Times diagnosed that Korea's ultra-low birth rate was a result of a population decline greater than that of Europe during the Black Death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">If this diagnosis is correct, our country’s ultra-low birth rate phenomenon is a disaster. Korea's total fertility rate entered the 1-point range (1.74) for the first time in 1984 and collapsed to the 1-point level in 2018 (0.98). In 2003, low birth rates began to emerge as a social agenda in our society. In 2002, the total fertility rate was the lowest in the world, recording 1.17. Since then, our society has dealt with the birth rate issue as a social agenda for over 20 years. As a result, a large budget was invested that was previously unimaginable. However, Korea's budget investment remains at the bottom, ranking 31st out of 38 OECD countries as of 2022. At this point, it can be said that our country's low birth rate measures have failed, despite efforts made over the past 20 years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Various diagnoses were raised regarding this ‘failure’. One of them is that women's avoidance of childbirth is believed to be at the root of the failure. They argue that we need to create policies and a social atmosphere that encourages women to give birth. Examples include restricting women's participation in the labor market or providing incentives to women who have given birth. The idea that childbirth can be encouraged is at the root of the recent anecdote in which the chairman of a certain company offered 100 million won per child to employees who gave birth. However, this one-time provision alone cannot solve the low birth rate problem. Because the problem of low birth rates is not this simple. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The low birth rate problem cannot be solved with money alone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">To look back on past ‘failures’ and find solutions, the low birth rate problem must be viewed as the result of people’s rational choices based on cost calculation. In other words, the low birth rate problem is not due to people's wrong actions, but the result of people's rational choices to survive. People believe that to adapt and live in Korean society, they cannot get married, and even if they do get married, it is foolish to have children. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">When we view the ultra-low birth rate problem as a rational choice of people and a natural phenomenon, the low birth is not solved simply with money. Policies of various government ministries must be actively implemented under long-term plans with changes in the overall educational system including the cost of private education for children, cutthroat competition and long working hours, lack of cultural infrastructure, and expensive housing costs. However, it seems impossible to expect this from the current government. This is because the current government's family policy is mainly limited to raising the existing benefit level for childbirth and childcare. The basic birth income and housing support measures proposed by the opposition Democratic Party are somewhat advanced from existing policies. However, it is not known whether these alone will solve the low birth rate problem.</span></p><div><br /></div>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-32382701917192274252024-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:002024-03-03T01:01:27.764-08:00Church Interest in Climate Change-<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAkZUyvGlELqRvChIiCtQhn3CUP1zFXGZehNlfXwUajhHWN8BOJY_Dn8S_EitDCtHYZZk03rcwt4GaTf7cVSYYLl02P7SiuZq6ztsAjM9ik-TCGATQyCal15VnnzJpmdAf27sGqxKJYtixKUslF6zHxgaskp6OaKSTkAx_-WOjYjTAMD7j-2d_BN3w" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="640" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAkZUyvGlELqRvChIiCtQhn3CUP1zFXGZehNlfXwUajhHWN8BOJY_Dn8S_EitDCtHYZZk03rcwt4GaTf7cVSYYLl02P7SiuZq6ztsAjM9ik-TCGATQyCal15VnnzJpmdAf27sGqxKJYtixKUslF6zHxgaskp6OaKSTkAx_-WOjYjTAMD7j-2d_BN3w" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">A member of the Catholic Climate Action Steering Committee gives the readers of the Catholic Times some thoughts on Climate Change and what we can do.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a specialized agency of the United Nations, announced that human influence is the cause of climate change in 2023 and that carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has reached its highest level in the past 2 million years. In addition, it was announced that a 1.5°C rise in global temperature has been advanced from the previously predicted period of 2023 to 2052 to the near future, 2021 to 2040, making short-term response important. We are entering an era of global boiling, not global warming.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">In a global climate crisis, the present government is going backward. The target for the share of renewable energy generation, which is important in the transition from fossil fuel energy, was lowered from 30.2% to 21.8% by the previous government. In addition, among this year's budget increases and decreases, the project with the largest budget reduction in the 'Industrial Small and Medium Business Energy sector' was the 'Renewable Energy New Industry Revitalization Program', which decreased by a whopping 463 billion won (-40.3% compared to 2023).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">What about the Church? Last year, Pope Francis announced the apostolic exhortation “Praise God” (Laudate Deum) targeting the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). Through this recommendation, the COP28 General Assembly called for an effective and binding energy transition centered on renewable energy and a binding policy agreement for the elimination of fossil fuels. However, as a result of the COP28 conference, a decisive plan for reducing important greenhouse gas emissions was missing. It focuses only on reducing coal power generation, rather than a phased reduction, and omits reductions in major emission sources such as oil and gas due to the influence of oil-producing countries.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">It appears that Pope Francis is working alone to respond to the climate crisis in the Catholic Church. Of course, since the publication of the encyclical “Laudato Si’,” the “Laudato Si Movement,” a climate movement group of the church in solidarity with Korean Catholic Climate Action, has been active. However, the movement of local churches appears to be minimal. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">In 2020, the Korean Church also presented practical methods to protect our common home, Earth, by announcing a special pastoral letter, ‘Before Our Crying Mother Earth’, and practical guidelines following the 7-year journey of ‘Laudato Si’. However, except for a few dioceses, that have declared carbon neutrality, news of efforts and actions to respond to the climate crisis are rare.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">There was a general meeting of Korean Catholic Climate Action not long ago. At the meeting, activists read the 10 oriented values of the ‘Laudato Si’ movement and shared how they felt called to the climate movement. In an era of global boiling, we seek hope by sharing the 10 values of the ‘Laudato Si’ movement to respond to the climate crisis in local churches.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">1. Grounded in faith. 2. Committed to spiritual transformation. 3. Caring for one another. 4. Being Prophetic. 5. Taking an integral approach. 6. Cultivating unity in diversity. 7. Being in the Church and the world. 8. Building Bridges. 9. Embracing contemplation in action. 10. Living in hope. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">"I ask everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more beautiful because that commitment has to do with our personal dignity and highest values"</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">(Praise God paragraph 69).</span></p><div><br /></div>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-44259223736455963302024-03-01T00:00:00.001-08:002024-03-01T22:25:53.006-08:00The Cardinal and Theologial Virtues<p> </p><p><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 18pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiExSEpSt0JwlQJrpozf0BwuYHY9nOMSzw1sRyLEycApuCSH2YWcYT07UdZt4S4Y0opVHjwN0V9jzsr8xT7Z-mZsXmmXA4GVS9c8Deu-kDcE7wO-yMw8B4fLN_Dtewv87kCSpGiWSuLrR4vrupERKkmDc23Bg74o1FACFaJ7yRC4lpd34k3j3tAKe3Q" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="159" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiExSEpSt0JwlQJrpozf0BwuYHY9nOMSzw1sRyLEycApuCSH2YWcYT07UdZt4S4Y0opVHjwN0V9jzsr8xT7Z-mZsXmmXA4GVS9c8Deu-kDcE7wO-yMw8B4fLN_Dtewv87kCSpGiWSuLrR4vrupERKkmDc23Bg74o1FACFaJ7yRC4lpd34k3j3tAKe3Q" width="254" /></a></span></div><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The</span><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1115926928514381661/2752784439443304435"><span style="color: blue;"> catechism defines virtue as a </span></a><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1115926928514381661/2752784439443304435"><span style="color: #202124;">“</span><span style="color: #040c28;">habitual and firm
disposition to do good</span><span style="color: #202124;">” (1833). They
are the building blocks for Christian moral living.</span></a></span></span><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Both in the
East and West we have the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Justice, Courage and
Moderation. (the word <span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"> cardinal
goes back to the Latin adjective cardinalis, which meant '</span><b><span style="background: white; color: #5f6368;">serving as a hinge'.</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;">The root of this word is the noun cardo,
meaning hinge of a door permitting its opening and closing. </span></span><span face="굴림" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">They are
considered natural moral virtues and have a history that goes back to the Greek
and Roman Philosophers and also appear in the Catholic Bible in the Book of
Wisdom. The Stoics considered these the road to happiness.</span><span face="굴림" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In the old
Chinese Culture connected with Confucianism, we have the maxim: The brave
general is not as good as the wise general, and the wise general is not as
good as the virtuous general. They have added in modern times, a lucky general
is better than the three of them but here we have the misunderstanding of
virtue which may be the result of humor but a more serious misunderstanding of
virtue.</span><span face="굴림" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In the Book of Proverbs, we are reminded that "Better
an equable man than a hero, a man master of himself than one who takes a
city" (16:32).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">A priest in the Catholic Times gives us some thoughts
on these virtues that come from one's own efforts.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">We hear often the saying that heaven helps those who help
themselves. To gain these Cardinal Virtues that lead to Christ, we must
give up our obsession with worldly things. If the wise men had not dared to
give up everything they had for the true meaning of life, they would not have
followed the star. If you don't grow in the Cardinal Virtues you won't feel the
attraction of the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(242, 239, 232); color: #5c5c5c;">The theological virtues are
the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its
special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are
infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as
his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence
and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are
three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(242, 239, 232);">(1813)</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The wise men from the East had these cardinal virtues
allowing them to see the star in the sky that led them to the Savior. The star
in the sky were the Theological Virtues.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The Cardinal Virtues are the basis of all virtues that
humans should pursue and which depend on our efforts. They provide the true
meaning and direction of life. </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">"The human virtues are
rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for
participation in the divine nature: for the theological virtues relate directly
to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity."
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1812).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; word-break: keep-all;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: 굴림; mso-fareast-font-family: 굴림; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-19556223115400270822024-02-28T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-28T22:02:08.747-08:00Offline and Online Church<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLA_xglfhBiW4Z3f0TsT_hqcG2AQenpBGlQDB5lPxdJhmkQ9aACc5mXN3-0DHELR1N8_9lQT0Vt8v3JVJLM-lu0KHNqzDTVuwC478Ff-X5s-7LO5UJs77IzGs6c_9klBmDmc3-zvrGE1HTzfCo7_ZRbMvJ2ePbcGVQagTdqYzpJEtvYWLB7FU0ilah" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="1500" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLA_xglfhBiW4Z3f0TsT_hqcG2AQenpBGlQDB5lPxdJhmkQ9aACc5mXN3-0DHELR1N8_9lQT0Vt8v3JVJLM-lu0KHNqzDTVuwC478Ff-X5s-7LO5UJs77IzGs6c_9klBmDmc3-zvrGE1HTzfCo7_ZRbMvJ2ePbcGVQagTdqYzpJEtvYWLB7FU0ilah" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Catholic Times in its featured article gives the readers a pastoral observation of the church since the past-corona era.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The “Korean Catholic Church COVID-19 Pandemic Pastoral White Paper” published on January 31st by the Korea Catholic Pastoral Research Institute of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference states that the pandemic has affected Korean society and the church. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">‘Pastoral Outlook in the Post-Corona Era’, contains contributions from experts in eight fields, including society, religion, medicine, religious orders, liturgy, youth/young adults, ecology, theology, and pastoral care. Focusing on the fields of religion, liturgy, theology, and pastoral care, we reflect on the reality of the church community that has gone through the pandemic and forecast the church's pastoral care in the future.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">‘The impact of COVID-19 on our lives and faith’ included in the pastoral white paper are data that provide a glimpse into the reality and immediate tasks of the Church. One priest introduced the salient features of the survey results and said: "In the journey of secularization, religion has been reduced to an element of culture, for people faith is taking a lower priority than economic life, health, and various existential issues." The importance of faith and religious life in the life of a believer is not that great.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">A pastor who wrote a pastoral paper in the liturgical field with the title ‘Our life and faith about liturgical life after COVID-19’, also said: "Even if I don’t attend Sunday Mass or participate in devotional group activities, there is no substitute for that in my life. There is a lot to do." This was a problem revealed in the survey.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">What problems have become more evident due to the pandemic and how can we solve them? “The time ahead should not be limited to resolving the problems that have arisen, but should be a time to newly recognize the problems within us that have been highlighted again by COVID-19 and seek alternatives.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">"We must remember that COVID-19 has asked the fundamental question of faith, ‘Why'? Those of us who have been living only worrying about ‘How'? should not worry only about applications and methods according to changes and trends in the world. Rather, ‘why’ we must live our faith and ‘why’ our faith is important?" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">"The purpose and direction of faith must be found especially in Baptism and the Eucharist. Considering social changes where face-to-face and non-face-to-face methods coexist, it is important to experience the presence of God in the same space and at the same time." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">COVID-19 has clearly shown the limitations within the church, it has been suggested that an accurate diagnosis and analysis of the reality and phenomenon of the church should be made and that public discourse should be formed toward change and renewal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">“The survey results show that the people, regardless of whether they are believers or not, believe that the church should strengthen its social publicness. Based on a strong change in consciousness that the church must make efforts to lower the church’s threshold and widen its doors.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In an age of secularization, paradoxically, expectations for religion still remain. People hope that religion will awaken the importance of mental and spiritual values through its public role and become a source of alternative values.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Along with the reflection that the localism of the church could fall into crisis as the non-face-to-face culture spreads, there was also a suggestion that the possibility of changing into a hybrid church that utilizes online and offline simultaneously was reviewed. There is a possibility that the combination of offline and online will become common. Focusing on the face-to-face liturgy, education, and care for faith maturity in a non-face-to-face manner should be complementary, not a replacement.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Another participant also said: Considering the continued aging and reduced mobility of believers who are currently active participants, face-to-face meetings continue but— A hybrid church that actively accepts and utilizes online methods, which are also the communication method of future generations in addition to offline methods will expand the reach of Church. </span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-3987108816772177922024-02-26T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-28T23:28:26.449-08:00Remembering the Birth of the Korean Church<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVgZeFBG358OMeWFyQVKMGQlEES5aq6AIeQc_0rrbZesQHg4b0WmgcIkfJT-lb0TCPkOdQwCslL92MOPv86hduoSlSNdFXRbhYQAKqEgKfNPETDm77w4g1ja_sozfZzFHjinV_LJBb4BTJp528TtJqhVwTQj1zIp7TV1v_yfOC-gUhL5-YCNWvYcYE" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="612" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVgZeFBG358OMeWFyQVKMGQlEES5aq6AIeQc_0rrbZesQHg4b0WmgcIkfJT-lb0TCPkOdQwCslL92MOPv86hduoSlSNdFXRbhYQAKqEgKfNPETDm77w4g1ja_sozfZzFHjinV_LJBb4BTJp528TtJqhVwTQj1zIp7TV1v_yfOC-gUhL5-YCNWvYcYE" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This year, 2024, is the year of Gapjin (甲辰年 a Chinese term that refers to the 41st year of the 60-year cycle in the traditional Chinese calendar). The Catholic Times in the </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">View from the Ark Column</em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> gives us a brief summary of the beginning of the Catholic Church in Korea in 1784. The Columnist is a Catholic university professor. </span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Korean Catholic Church celebrated its fifth Gapjin Year. The Korean Church was born 240 years ago, in the spring of the first Gapjin year of 1784. At the recommendation of Yi Byeok (John the Baptist), Lee Seung-hun (Peter) was baptized with the name Peter at a Beijing church in China and returned, sharing some of the books and sacred relics he received from missionaries with Yi Byeok. After studying the books of Western learning in detail, Yi Byeok met again with Lee Seung-hun, and others to discuss and preach the gospel. The year in which these great, beautiful, and holy events occurred was the year of Gapjin, 240 years ago.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Yi Byeok spoke of ‘gospel,’ ‘good news,’ and what living by accepting the gospel proclaimed by Jesus meant. It was life-threatening. When Yi Byeok was spreading the gospel, the nobles who heard this news sensed that this was 'overturning' the religious customs and social order of Joseon at the time, and tried to make Yi Byeok return to Confucianism.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The person who took on this task was a scholar who followed Confucianism faithfully and a person who served as a magistrate. He was the son of Lee Seung-hun's sister. He visited Yi Byeok and held a discussion to persuade him to return to Confucianism. Even though they debated for three days, he could not persuade Yi Byeok. On the contrary, he was persuaded by the new teachings of the Catholic Church. However, had no intention of publicly accepting this teaching. He said as he left: "This doctrine is good and true. However, it will bring misfortune to those who follow it." (History of the Korean Catholic Church by Charles Dallet)</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The magistrate was right in his evaluation of Catholicism— for a century this was to be the situation. However, although Yi Byeok was himself a victim he did not die a martyr's death but his last years ended in mystery since his family was opposed to his newfound faith.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">What is the gospel? Jesus’ first proclamation was delivered in the Gospel of Mark: "The time has come he said and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News." What is clear is that we are in the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom is within us.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">That we are in God and God is in us, this is the ‘gospel’. This means that God is our father and mother, and we are his children. That we exist as His daughters and sons in His kingdom. Imagine the ‘son who has found his father’ being filled with joy and not knowing what to do as he welcomes this good news into existence. </span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">He ends his sharing with the question that arises as he meets Yi Byeok in Gapjin year. "Does our church live in God? As His children?" Let's remember this beginning in Korea was without the help of the clergy.</span></span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-21952057371330429432024-02-24T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-24T00:00:00.143-08:00Church's Confession of Fault First Step<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRtmTDiGIQi0BiMpBG7ut9vW0C59FZL4cj_eSC2WOyegcmWe6hxlygl047F8BUqZOWjz4YK4LjtK4XHN8XeZ8ahGZShlTD628H0GYbgI3yEuriEc1Xorw0QctgvnIqk_DoIvsRjS35-gAxBpMXPH6Wa28zHYq7TjZW-4rIon6E3W_YQizeMh0zWivj" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="640" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRtmTDiGIQi0BiMpBG7ut9vW0C59FZL4cj_eSC2WOyegcmWe6hxlygl047F8BUqZOWjz4YK4LjtK4XHN8XeZ8ahGZShlTD628H0GYbgI3yEuriEc1Xorw0QctgvnIqk_DoIvsRjS35-gAxBpMXPH6Wa28zHYq7TjZW-4rIon6E3W_YQizeMh0zWivj" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">In the Catholic Times Readers' column, the director of a Theological Research Institute gives his opinion on where the changes in the church need to begin.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The steady decline in the number of believers over the past several decades in Europe, a Christian cultural area, is due to a combination of factors, including secularization and cultural change, and the debate between the teachings of the Catholic Church and modern social values, such as contraception and abortion, same-sex marriage, and the role of women in the church. Above all, the impact of scandals related to sexual abuse by Catholic clergy was significant. These scandals not only caused immediate shock and anger among believers and ordinary citizens, but also had a long-term impact on perception and trust in the church, and the effects are still ongoing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">When the report on the sexual abuse investigation commissioned by the bishops' conferences of major European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, and Poland, was published, although it was not well covered in the church media, the Catholic bishops' conferences in those countries humbly accepted it and announced follow-up measures. The German Catholic Church’s ‘Synod Path’, which was controversial due to a conflict with the Vatican over the level of reform, also started with a report published in 2018.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In 2018, when the 'MeToo' movement’ was active, the Catholic Church in Korea also promised an apology from the bishops and a promise to prevent a recurrence. At the bishops' conference level, follow-up measures were implemented, including a public apology press conference, gender equality education for priests, the establishment of a committee on countermeasures, and the operation of a 'MeToo' hotline, but there is no way to know what activities have been carried out even after six years. Although it is important to clearly confirm the facts of each victim's case, the European Church's report on sexual abuse is important to remember that it was a process of reflection on the Catholic Church's failure to confess and take action promptly despite being aware of these facts. This is so since the investigation into sexual abuse was conducted by external agencies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The Catholic Church and its leaders in countries that commissioned external experts to release reports on Catholic sexual abuse suffered a severe blow to their trust. This had a direct impact on church attendance, and the financial burden on the church was significant enough that many dioceses were sued by abuse victims. In some cases, dioceses have declared bankruptcy. Following the release of the report, believers, civil society, and the state called for important reforms within the church, including greater transparency and accountability in the church and the participation of laypeople in church management.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">It takes great courage to confess that the church does not always heal the wounded, but at times hurts them. The reason why this shameful picture of the church was confessed through the sexual abuse report is probably because church reform can take its first step properly from such an honest confession. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Among the 20 themes in the comprehensive report of the first plenary session of the Synod of Bishops, item number 9, ‘Women in the life and mission of the church,’ contains the shameful confession of the church facing a reality that cannot be hidden. "Many women expressed deep gratitude for the work of priests and bishops but also spoke of a church that was hurting them. Clericalism, male chauvinism, and inappropriate use of authority continue to mar the face of the Church and damage communion. … Sexual abuse, power, and economic abuse continue to call for justice, healing, and reconciliation. … When dignity and justice are compromised in the relationships between men and women in the church, the credibility of our proclamation to the world is undermined. The synod process shows that a renewal of relationships and structural changes are needed."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The reason why the voices of women in the Korean church were not heard well, unlike in the Western churches, during the listening process at the diocesan stage of this Synod of Bishops is not that the synodalitas with women was well implemented, but because there are few women left in the church to raise the necessary voices. The columnist asks— would this be an exaggeration? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">What if the church first honestly confesses how it has hurt the people of God, including women, and civil society before it is too late?</span></p><div><br /></div>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-18676531825829219952024-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-22T06:07:08.787-08:00The Science and Philosophy of Life<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivuyXtuGT7b_tJSro6m3IhJJsKzEI7q88rWh6PjA0XvgvVrLGKq51f4B1OJJFKCiv-WSHWUdnBr2GwO8amlG-cPaJhwV855777mlA94GJjZOuIQWX3AqJpMa1WYGqCh8H3e3TXNVBHwNJhQE0-TkyQa96Vbu_p7TWRJm2qJo_Tv5CsqQp05lmUyJBP" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivuyXtuGT7b_tJSro6m3IhJJsKzEI7q88rWh6PjA0XvgvVrLGKq51f4B1OJJFKCiv-WSHWUdnBr2GwO8amlG-cPaJhwV855777mlA94GJjZOuIQWX3AqJpMa1WYGqCh8H3e3TXNVBHwNJhQE0-TkyQa96Vbu_p7TWRJm2qJo_Tv5CsqQp05lmUyJBP" width="320" /></a></div></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the Diagnosis of the Times column of the Catholic Peace Weekly a Catholic University professor gives us some thoughts to mell over on the Philosophy of Life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The perplexity experienced by many Christian believers when Darwin published his theory of evolution in 1859 is well known. This book, first published under the title: "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection", clearly confused Christians at the time who believed that life was created in its current form. But no serious Christian today would renounce faith in God or the relationship between God and humanity because of knowledge of evolution. What is the reason?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Pope Saint John Paul II also declared that the Church has no opposition to any knowledge revealed about life by natural science. Nevertheless, the Pope went beyond such knowledge and clearly stated that the fact that God is the owner of life is the firm foundation of our faith.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Are these two declarations contradictory? Not at all. This is because scientific knowledge and the truth of faith have distinct hermeneutical horizons and diverse realities. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">First, the truth of faith is related to the area of trust and commitment to the source of existence and its meaning. The source of life and its meaning is based on the relationship with God, the source of all existence. The confusion arises when we cannot distinguish between an object and its existence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Natural scientific knowledge reveals coherent facts about objective reality. Natural science presents this as scientific knowledge. The ontological meaning and interpretive truth of that knowledge lie outside the realm of science. The philosophy of life is the study of thinking about these truths about life. Life philosophy does not elucidate coherent knowledge of life sciences or is overly concerned with knowledge in such areas. Rather, we work to understand and explain the meaning of life and its ontological context, which is not the object of Science. Philosophy is not separate from objective knowledge, but it also does not remain within it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Today, the idea that knowledge in life science appropriates the truth about life is widespread. This is nothing more than narrow scientific thinking that does not truly understand the meaning of life. Human thinking does not just remain in objective knowledge. Rather, the essence of thinking lies in going beyond this factual realm and revealing its ontological meaning. This is why philosophy is essentially transcendental.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Hannah Arendt's book "Eichmann in Jerusalem" (1963), which covered and analyzed the trial of Eichmann, who drove countless innocent lives to execution in Nazi extermination camps, is commonly known to speak about the banality of evil. However, the banality mentioned here does not mean that evil is widespread but exposes the problem of not thinking about it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Sensitivity to life and existence, loss of respect for human life, and obsession with the unimportant issues in daily life blind our eyes to evil. When we lose the wonder of existence and become immersed in the banality of everyday life, when we do not go beyond this, even our goodness can flow into evil. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The philosophy of life contains a transcendence that goes beyond this banality of life, the everyday buried life. When the sense of wonder and beauty in life disappears, and the respect for life becomes a mere formality, the philosophy of life tries to overcome this banality through reflective thinking. Life is inherently transcendent, and this philosophy of life speaks of this transcendence.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-18950252991822669682024-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-20T00:00:00.136-08:00Our Attitude In the Age of Hatred<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0GMycDzrTzwczKp-UE3zw4pddp3z6js2VOFW2Y2WaZilJ_iWvj-CfNVpg6mwYw2-JUkBZH5O6vsDpzgwlIF1OLOF360_OtMwxrRKiyHZsU4RYAsloOzlSmJkMEuTTIFRdX62Ms_JWMBRhacWGuvKZkuWByCjnxkIpI-F4e7YdedqKrgf71vTnIHqQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0GMycDzrTzwczKp-UE3zw4pddp3z6js2VOFW2Y2WaZilJ_iWvj-CfNVpg6mwYw2-JUkBZH5O6vsDpzgwlIF1OLOF360_OtMwxrRKiyHZsU4RYAsloOzlSmJkMEuTTIFRdX62Ms_JWMBRhacWGuvKZkuWByCjnxkIpI-F4e7YdedqKrgf71vTnIHqQ" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">The Winter edition of Theological Perspective has three articles on a serious problem both in Korea and the world— How to deal with differences? Sadly often followed by hate, and disgust in society. We do have a response from the Pope in Fratelli Tutti. The authors were all Catholic professors in Catholic Universities.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Hate speech is a topic that is present in our society. Disgust based on gender, age, physical characteristics, economic conditions, etc...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This theme of disgust is related to individuality, dignity, and otherness and the problems that arise in accepting differences. It is not extending mercy to all and every behavior, but making a distinction between error and the person. The object of disgust should not be the person.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This is not to condone relativism, for love and mercy require there be valid principles and truths.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">One of the writers sees the problems in Korea coming from three areas: the uncertainty and social vulnerability of our society; the structural makeup of our internet SNS; and the carnival-like environment in the new tribal era.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">The social vulnerability of society came to a head in 1997. Korea accepted the thinking that if you worked hard you would do well, which was experienced with Korea's economic development in the 1960s. This all changed in 1997 with the takeover of the economy by the IMF— International Monetary Fund. The coronavirus pandemic also showed the weakness in society. All need to be prepared to be losers: accidents, disease, fired from their jobs, natural disasters, etc... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">The second influence is the internet and populism. Populism is a range of stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group with "the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">With the internet and handphones all seems easily accomplished: shopping, amusement, hobbies, leisure, finding a job, etc., we have all the information at our fingertips. The person-to-person way of dealing with others has changed. Rather than sincerity, we have authenticity we can see this as 'Individualism'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">In this virtual world, more important than rational argument, and truth— interest, narrative, and the possibility of anonymity are the values.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">The third understanding is the tribalism and carnival aspects of society. When they face hostile others, interest in what is objective gives way to the subjective feelings of the tribe: tastes, rank, and what pleases them is what is right.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">The talion principle is a legal concept that means "an eye for an eye" or "like for like". It is based on the idea of exact retribution or proportional punishment for a wrong </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Ekstasis is a philosophical term that means "outside of oneself" or "a removal to elsewhere". It is used to describe a state of being in which one transcends one's normal place and time and experiences a different mode of existence or consciousness.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">To move from the talio principle to ekstasis means to shift from a rigid and narrow view of justice and reality, to a more flexible and expansive one. It means to go beyond the limits of one's self and one's situation, and to explore new possibilities and perspectives. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Pope Francis reminds us of the teaching of the Church in his Encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti. He offers us a comprehensive reflection on the fundamental spirit, works for the common good, and the imitation of Christ in our daily lives.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-18241237118682374682024-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-21T19:21:04.660-08:00Understanding the Introvert<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNvd3-k2sKJMdvz-69nXH4p5IpmjySEuVwFDNlaw54WM2HEiNGpP-pTL4aV1BMh0CTajs9JzRCq_a_PTzZ4x0M0D9Rzm6gFhDVCPZJUn8FQ-OPLrttoGwk6PcVA79gBHGfdqNSUV5im4QLK86bOIcHqcGk8Zmqpgj2jJx0Z7T7C4TOupRArxXT_IzD" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNvd3-k2sKJMdvz-69nXH4p5IpmjySEuVwFDNlaw54WM2HEiNGpP-pTL4aV1BMh0CTajs9JzRCq_a_PTzZ4x0M0D9Rzm6gFhDVCPZJUn8FQ-OPLrttoGwk6PcVA79gBHGfdqNSUV5im4QLK86bOIcHqcGk8Zmqpgj2jJx0Z7T7C4TOupRArxXT_IzD=w213-h320" width="213" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">What questions do you ask when you meet someone for the first time? A question often asked these days is probably: "What is your MBTI?" (Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator). This is the question that begins the Sunday Chat column in the Catholic Times by a Psychological Counselor.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Although it may be absurd to understand a person holistically using a framework categorized into 16 categories, the popularity of MBTI is welcomed if you see it as an attempt to understand another person. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The columnist feels that her perception of the first letters of the MBTI type classification, I and E, which distinguishes the attitude of responding to the environment as Introversion and Extroversion, is different from before. In the past, introverted people were sometimes seen with negative connotations, shy or timid, and mentioned as a personality that needed to be improved or changed for a smooth social life, but now they are understood with an innate temperament and treated as such. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Compared to extroverts, introverts feel uncomfortable in situations where they have to demonstrate social skills and often feel awkward when many eyes are focused on them. Because the direction of psychological energy is directed inward, introverts often find the ‘broad and diverse interactions’ that extroverts like to be daunting, and prefer ‘a small number of intimate relationships’. Therefore, there is often a misunderstanding, that introverts like to be alone and do not like interacting with people. However, as an introvert herself, she assures us that introverts also like people, a lot. However, she prefers individual, close, one-on-one interactions, not multiple people at once. While extroverts are building-wide networks, introverts may be busy forming a smaller number but deeper relationships.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Recently, she hosted a meeting where introverts were the main focus. It’s called ‘Introverts' Secret Brunch’. A thought came to her as she received inquiries from people who wanted to participate in a support group but were hesitant due to anxiety about unfamiliar situations. ‘Let’s just get together with introverts!’ The condition for participation is that you must be an introvert. Ten minutes before the meeting was to start, the quiet tension as each person cautiously entered the room was enough to make her sweat. Then an idea occurred to her. ‘Oh, we’re all introverts.’ She let go of having someone speak up first and naturally faced silence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">So, how did our meeting go? We introverts, who do not open our mouths hastily and are considerate of each other and observe the atmosphere, naturally join in the conversation at our own pace. Before she knew it, she had put down the bag she was holding sat back against the chair, sipped her coffee, and ate the cookies, getting comfortable, and our time was filled with warmth, well over 3 hours.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">For the first time in a while, we had a comfortable, slow conversation, and it became deeper and more fulfilling. Introverts also need communication. Maybe even more so than others, she doesn't know. They want to communicate, many environments in this society do not wait for introverts until they are ready, so this desire is often frustrated and suppressed. She wants to create a space where people can freely express their desires and hopes that introverts will be more understood and accepted in our society and that our understanding of others will deepen.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-37824993529528194102024-02-16T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-16T00:00:00.359-08:00What Makes Us Happy?<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjjI3frK3G22mQxfdkLvXvq36esKAdH1b6E8YCVffkZnL4NWD_OGpCm_j3hHjrGNPmN2FIkn2YdmeZKvPq7mvu4SIcot9F9jFfUpm9HhsAUvsslrFfTa07Bvsu60X7sQChwOWO6Gm0a1SJABFFYfrlVK4Q81VwjW57Fb1Dumx4-Xqs2vZ30OrKTj0h" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1380" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjjI3frK3G22mQxfdkLvXvq36esKAdH1b6E8YCVffkZnL4NWD_OGpCm_j3hHjrGNPmN2FIkn2YdmeZKvPq7mvu4SIcot9F9jFfUpm9HhsAUvsslrFfTa07Bvsu60X7sQChwOWO6Gm0a1SJABFFYfrlVK4Q81VwjW57Fb1Dumx4-Xqs2vZ30OrKTj0h" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the View From the Ark of the Catholic Times a Religious Sister gives the readers a meditation on her experience from the Philippines many years ago but it still remains fresh in her thoughts.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Payatas in the Philippines was called the Garbage Mountain. This landfill was located not far from downtown Manila and was formed into a huge trash mountain. [This site was permanently closed in December 2017. and in 2023 was developed into an urban park for cycling]</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The people who gathered here in the past lived by picking up trash from this mountain. As long as they could eat and walk, everyone, whether children or the elderly, went to the garbage mountain to pick up trash to help make a living. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Years ago with welfare center employees, she had an 'on-the-spot field experience' in Payatas. She picked up trash, ran programs with children, and experienced life with them. We were invited to stay overnight with one family, like a homestay, but there wasn't enough food or water to wash. This was even more so when it came to sleeping. For this family of 9, one room was all they had.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In this small space, was a shabby bed (for the grandmother) that had been picked up and repaired from the mountains and a plastic rug. Even in this environment, what was truly surprising was the simple, happy laughter of the family as they gave everything they had to welcome the guests. My whole body was covered in dust from digging through trash all day, and my hands and face were stained with sweat. She couldn't wash properly due to the lack of water, but with the smiles and laughter of the family who held out their hands and welcomed her, she felt that she had everything in the world at that moment. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The children and their families, wearing t-shirts and shorts with holes in them, forgot that they were hungry. The children and their families let us know the happiness that exists, filling everything they lack with the laughter that never disappears.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The next day, during Mass at the church, the hymn ‘Like a child having fun’ came to mind. Mass filled with children, the excited sounds of participation from children shouting “Me, me” in response to the priest’s questions, the rhythm of the children’s restless voices, the hymns, even though the pitches were different, the sound was like blessings pouring from the sky. She met Jesus in these poor children.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The desire to have everything in the world, perhaps the desire to have it all, but more often than not, we are unable to satisfy even a small fraction of our desires. So even though happiness is just around the corner, we cannot feel it and live our lives longing for it. However, the children of Payatas did not say that they had a lot of happiness and learned a lot, but they gave her a gift that reminded her that a person who knows how to be satisfied with even small things, that person, is happy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">She was finally able to recognize the happiness that lay deep within her heart. When will she be able to help others discover the Jesus that is within us? It still remains a big task. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The next time she goes to the Philippines for a conference, she'll make a plan to go see the children who helped her realize where happiness comes from and where it is. They will not be the children that she met back then...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-23463829630444272622024-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:002024-03-10T19:22:45.849-07:00Religions In Korea<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVtHjx1lBm1hV54h22cgDQiJy7Rr8ngYZ9Itpj0m_RJ3UHk6jCMjowjgND3CpdBmVY5X07JhQKPO0xnb6-SMSxeGyUiqhFfW6_T6IVfKuz3crKtpfH7agNY77Tkb-c4Ijntb9eowe-qW_NYB5HcE64QCP5t-dEFZKTkfmfwLLKV22YZ2eHGPxZwOA7" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1594" data-original-width="3634" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVtHjx1lBm1hV54h22cgDQiJy7Rr8ngYZ9Itpj0m_RJ3UHk6jCMjowjgND3CpdBmVY5X07JhQKPO0xnb6-SMSxeGyUiqhFfW6_T6IVfKuz3crKtpfH7agNY77Tkb-c4Ijntb9eowe-qW_NYB5HcE64QCP5t-dEFZKTkfmfwLLKV22YZ2eHGPxZwOA7=w320-h140" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">The Catholic Website </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here and Now </em><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">has an article by a theologian with a doctorate from Sogang University. He gives the readers his understanding of the religious situation here in Korea in recent years. One of his books is The Saint Next Door. </span></span></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Those who choose a religion in Korea do not concentrate on one specific religion but tend to choose from among various religions. The religion with the highest social trust would monopolize new members, but this does not happen. Although the situation has changed recently, Catholicism always ranked first among Korean religions in social trust (the most trustworthy religion in Korean society) until 10 years ago. There was always a large gap with second place. At this time, although Catholicism was not a monopoly, it gained more believers than other competing religions. </span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">According to a recent survey, Catholicism has been ranked second in social trust, behind Buddhism, for several years. Although it is a small difference, it feels like a world away from 10 years ago. However, Catholicism still surpasses Buddhism in the number of converts. Protestantism has always had the lowest credibility among the three major religions but has gained the most believers. So why does this happen</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There are over 250 religions in Korea. Among these, Protestantism, Buddhism, and Catholicism account for 98% of the total religious population. In terms of religious affiliation, the order is Protestantism, Buddhism, and Catholicism. This Protestant supremacy has never changed since 1907. However, the fact that Buddhists outnumber Catholics has become unclear, at least after the 2015 population census. Before that, there was no need to doubt this as many surveys showed that Buddhist believers were greater than Protestants and Catholics combined. However, since 2015, the proportion of Buddhist believers has fallen to less than half of the religious population. </span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In any case, Koreans choose and join different religions regardless of the results of the ‘popularity vote’ (social trust survey). This trend has not changed at least since the religious survey was conducted. Therefore, researchers like us see this as a result of the preferences of converts. Of course, when choosing a religion, those wishing to join are influenced by the results of the popular vote, but most follow their own preferences.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Over the 1,700 years of Buddhism, 240 years of Catholicism, and 140 years of Protestantism, each religion has interacted with Koreans and formed its own unique image. Of course, the doctrine had a great influence here. In particular, it greatly influenced the external appearance of buildings, worship styles, clothing, and the behavior of believers. Relationships with state power and social behavior patterns also influenced non-believers in forming images of the religion. All of these factors combined to create social trust (and image) in the religion. This difference is clearly evident in the reasons why converts chose the religion in question.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Looking at the survey results corresponding to these reasons, it is clear that Koreans have a taste for religion. People who prefer Buddhism dislike Protestantism, and people who prefer Protestantism dislike both Buddhism and Catholicism. Relatively speaking, one dislikes Buddhism more than Catholicism. People who choose Buddhism have an affinity with Catholicism. Conversely, people who choose Catholicism prefer Buddhism over Protestantism. These clear tastes of Koreans have prevented the monopoly of certain religions.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">People who like Buddhism cite openness as the reason for choosing Buddhism. Regardless of affiliation, 'it doesn’t matter if you believe in it with your heart, and it’s good not to say that other religions are wrong'. However, perhaps because of a weak sense of belonging, the number of believers fluctuates wildly every time\ surveys are conducted. People who choose Protestantism say: ‘I like the bright and cheerful atmosphere.’ I also prefer a tight believer management method. At least on the outside, it seems that an atmosphere that welcomes new believers is helpful to beginners. Those who prefer Catholicism highly value the solemn and holy atmosphere and active service to the Great Society. In particular, those who prefer Catholicism tend to view the lightness of Protestantism as frivolous. Even when these people leave Catholicism, they rarely switch to Protestantism. So, it seems that this difference in taste is one of the main criteria for choosing a religion.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In one of the writer's previous studies, he shows how Catholicism is becoming a family religion,. he based this claim on the fact that more than half of new believers come from families. Of course, in terms of the rate of family transmission of faith, Protestantism is by far the best among Korean religions.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This is the secret to why Protestant churches always come first in terms of the number of converts, even if they come in last in the popularity polls. This phenomenon continued even when the popularity of Protestantism hit rock bottom. Protestantism was once the religion of the family. So, despite the worst social reputation, the number of believers continued to increase. Of course, Protestant believers' missionary zeal and the reality of mass production of pastors even during a period of decline in the religious population also had an impact.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This is also the secret behind why Buddhism ranks first in popularity polls but ranks last in the number of converts. Buddhism has the lowest rate of family transmission of faith among the three major religions. Since believers do not recommend their children to join them in belief there is no way they would recommend it to anyone else. Therefore, if the current trend of increasing the rate of family transmission of faith continues, Buddhism will be the first to decline. If we assume this, Protestantism will be the religion that continues to grow.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">When one religion holds a monopoly position in a society, discrimination against minority religions occurs. In these societies, religion is often a threat to peace. In reality, most societies that experience religious conflict are places where there is a serious imbalance in religious affiliation. Peace can be broken even when small or medium-sized religious sects compete with each other. The most severe case is when there are multiple monotheistic religions within one society. In this case, if there is a large difference in religious affiliation between sects, conflict almost without exception arises.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In light of these general cases, Korea is a rare case in the world where various religions coexist and peace is maintained on the surface. I believe this primarily comes from the pluralistic nature of Koreans. Next is the religious population ratio. The current structure in which the religious population ratio is less than half of the population and no particular religion forms a dominant majority among the religious population is also seen as a factor suppressing religious conflict. If this is true, the Korean characteristics of free movement between religions and religious preferences not being biased towards one side serve as a background for maintaini</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">ng religious peace.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-6295424709896026152024-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-12T00:00:00.124-08:00The New Korea<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpm4iWff9Um62RtlbI1lYvYODhVm1yLzyYHd1OlyXthohcpHCxXhitIM2-xu96-MExG8aMOQ7lbSMSmA2gzhDjFja-7n4Y9n9o1j-OH9fXtuH2avK8BYZI45jrtApefrn_peyCdNAGavguyHc8pCTkomAxdtKE8hnsl4MVbjF8s0eq0m2l26PGQyAa" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1380" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpm4iWff9Um62RtlbI1lYvYODhVm1yLzyYHd1OlyXthohcpHCxXhitIM2-xu96-MExG8aMOQ7lbSMSmA2gzhDjFja-7n4Y9n9o1j-OH9fXtuH2avK8BYZI45jrtApefrn_peyCdNAGavguyHc8pCTkomAxdtKE8hnsl4MVbjF8s0eq0m2l26PGQyAa" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span>In the Catholic Peace Weekly Eyes of the Clergy Column, the priest columnist gives his opinion on a serious situation experienced presently by Korean society. </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Korea was a country where 1 million newborns were born every year. However, in 2002, the number of births was halved to 490,000. In just one generation, it was reduced to half that of the parents' generation. Now, it is cut in half again, and the number of births in 2022 is 240,000. Exactly every generation that passes, the population of the parents' generation is decreasing by half. Korea's rapid population decline, which is surprising to the world, is creating a new Republic of Korea that has never been experienced before.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Military units are disappearing. According to the Defense Reform released by the Ministry of National Defense in 2018, the standing force of 600,000 will be gradually reduced to 500,000 by 2022. This is because there are no soldiers to fill the unit. Accordingly, the Army's 27th Division stationed in Gangwon-do was disbanded. The disbandment of the division led to the disappearance of the community in the area where the unit was located. Local commercial districts are collapsing regardless of industry, and the number of school students, most of whom are children of military personnel, is plummeting. As the number of students plummets, the quality of education deteriorates, and the vicious cycle of people moving to new departments continues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The decrease in students does not only occur in Gangwon-do. Closed schools also appeared in downtown Seoul. Dobong High School in Seoul will close in February. This is the first time for a general high school. The closure of elementary and middle schools in Seoul has already begun, and now even general high schools in Seoul are closing. The playground has been converted into a parking lot, and the school building will be remodeled and used as a government office. Although the number of kindergartens is decreasing, the number of senior day care centers, known as ‘senior kindergartens’, is steadily increasing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Churches are also decreasing. The Protestant Church feels the crisis caused by population decline and is responding. According to the ‘2023 Status of Korean Religion’ report released by the Ministry Data Research Institute on January 16, it is predicted that Protestants in Korea will account for only 12% of the total population in 10 years. The cause is population decline and leaving the church. Some pastors within the Protestant church even argued for preparing to become a religious minority. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Foreigners are taking up the positions vacated due to population decline. Local universities, where mass admission shortages occur, are filling their ranks with foreign students to maintain their universities. The national flags of many nations fly over the campus, and the wine shops in front of the schools, which used to sell makgeolli, are now ‘little Itaewons’ for international students. It has become a daily occurrence to meet international students serving people at restaurants with poor Korean. Is it just local universities? Industries that require hard labor, whether agriculture, manufacturing, construction, or service, are now paralyzed without foreign workers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">What is happening in society is happening in the Catholic Church. Foreign workers were the biggest help in restoring a parish church in Pohang, which was damaged by floods from a typhoon last year. On a day when a Mass for Filipinos is offered, the front of Hyehwa-dong church in Seoul is crowded with Filipinos. Parishes in areas with a high rate of foreign residents, such as Dongducheon Parish in Uijeongbu Diocese, prepare and offer separate Masses for immigrants. Moreover, 100 Filipino domestic helpers (housekeeping managers) will come to Korea as part of the ‘Foreign Domestic (Childcare) Workforce’ pilot project being prepared by the Seoul Metropolitan Government this year. The number of foreigners among us is expected to increase.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Because of the population decline the Church needs to accommodate to the new reality. In particular, pastoral care for the increasing number of immigrants is urgent. Rather than viewing immigrants as people who need help, we must recognize them as partners. Moreover, preparing pastoral alternatives for immigrants must begin with listening to their voices. If we listen to their voices and take a sensitive and warm approach to immigrants individually, we may encounter a synod church that ‘walks together’.</span></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115926928514381661.post-21907528913990308452024-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:002024-02-10T00:00:00.139-08:00Finding Serenity In Life<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCBJIq2mrlu9HHS8K4kND0MTtqgfbU5OtjPb1dyNKnLlmyCbOFnDc9Z4xHGzU7aLtDZdEe7umWgicrrkzZbI2nkbqDD9O2TcdKh9niV3jpFfBThxyhuCGNvNR8zxLOcw9smYECAH_NSkMrMg_YNl7Oe-u4SD28hSqpO_1OyjBWgKl9F1U9U47NVxlw" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCBJIq2mrlu9HHS8K4kND0MTtqgfbU5OtjPb1dyNKnLlmyCbOFnDc9Z4xHGzU7aLtDZdEe7umWgicrrkzZbI2nkbqDD9O2TcdKh9niV3jpFfBThxyhuCGNvNR8zxLOcw9smYECAH_NSkMrMg_YNl7Oe-u4SD28hSqpO_1OyjBWgKl9F1U9U47NVxlw" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span><span>On the <i>Here And Now, </i>Catholic Website a diocesan priest gives us his thoughts on using 100 percent of your strength all the time. We are all familiar with the Serenity Prayer: </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3e3e3e; line-height: inherit;">God, grant me the serenity </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;">to accept the things I cannot change, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;">the courage to change the things I can, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;">and the wisdom to know the difference. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e;">Amen. The writer gives us his solution to arriving at serenity.</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In the article, he mentions the opinion that came to mind from an article he remembers from the past. According to the priest author, we cannot live by giving 100% of our strength all the time. If you do that, it won't be long before you give up. Therefore, you usually live with 80% of your strength, but when you need 100% of your strength, you use that strength, and when the work is finished, you go back to 80%.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Whether we know it or not, we were asked to always do our best from a young age. He doesn't know how it is these days, but when he was young, the goal of all elementary school kids was Seoul National University. At that time, to get into Seoul National University, you had to be in the top 1 percent, but with a competition rate of 100 to 1, how much effort would you have to put in to become that number 1? Naturally, all children were forced to study hard and did not think it was strange. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">At that time, we did not know how unfair and unreasonable it was to demand that every child be one in a hundred. He remembers a girl in 5th grade who put her head down on her desk and cried when her homeroom teacher berated her for getting a zero in her graded test papers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The demand to always do your best was not limited to studying. In Korean society, where college admissions and jobs are determined based on grades, the stereotype that poverty is due to not studying hard makes us feel bitter. It is a very big aspect of an unhealthy society that good performance in national affairs determines the future level of the economy. This is a social ill that must be fixed, but since this problem is directly connected to very strong vested interests, it is probably the most difficult problem to fix after the real estate problem.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><span>With a father, mother, and older brother who graduated from Seoul National University, he was not poor at studying, but he could not enter Sky University. (</span><span face=""Google Sans", arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156;">The SKY abbreviation is the first letters of the names of South Korea's most respected universities: </span><span face=""Google Sans", arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(80, 151, 255, 0.18); color: #040c28;">Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University)</span><span face=""Google Sans", arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fortunately, his parents were not too concerned about grades, and he became a priest, a way of life that was even less concerned with grades. However, more and more was always attached to his belief system, which had a strong desire for recognition. He continued to need a better ‘me’ than what he had presently achieved. When he entered the seminary, at some point he came to the realization that becoming a </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">better me, would not bring satisfaction and only served to occasionally call me back to keep moving forward. There was no way he could properly understand the request to accept himself as he was, which is the first condition for happiness. He didn't really know what that meant. What does it mean to accept things as they are?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In fact, it was only after 20 years since he became a priest that he became aware of the meaning of ‘as it is’ to a certain extent, and now knows that it will take a long time to truly realize it. This is because knowledge about it belongs to experiential knowledge. In other words, it is a knowledge that can only be understood by experiencing it yourself and living it— relying on the Lord. It is impossible for someone who has not done the training to explain this to others. That's because they have not gone through the process.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Anyway, without understanding the expression “just as you are,” which he encountered as a seminarian, his goal of becoming a good priest was connected to a desire to do more things well, and he ended up trying to do too well regardless of his capabilities. If you live with these thoughts, you will not have much leisure in life and will become frustrated. In short, it's because you're trying to use 100% of your strength the whole time, but the real problem is that this doesn't produce the best results. Let's think about it. Have you ever seen someone who always does their best in life? Personally, he hasn't met anybody yet. When we think of ourselves as people who do our best, we don't just look at working hard at the tasks given to us. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The admonition to always do our best in everything leads us to impossible goals and ultimately leaves us discouraged. He thinks the true wisdom is to live your daily life with 80% of your strength and to distinguish when you need to exert 100% of your strength. When we try to reach an impossible goal, we often experience situations where we fail, so we always feel a sense of disconnection. The satisfaction or reward that comes with this does not last long, and you end up feeling stressed because you always feel like you are not good enough. You think more about what you did poorly than what you did well, and you become sensitive to mistakes. In the end, your overall life energy becomes depleted as you age, and you may fall into workaholism or other addictions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Everyone has a desire to do well, so it's natural to have that kind of desire, but trying to do too well is bound to be unreasonable, as it means always wanting to give 100 percent. There is a saying that moderate tension brings good results, and I think this is possible with an 80% mindset. This is because the remaining 20% includes the mindset of accepting our shortcomings, limitations, and mistakes that inevitably occur. When this happens, leisure comes into our lives and we can accept our shortcomings as they are, allowing us to see others the same way. How bleak would it be in a place that does not tolerate mistakes? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">God the Father, whom we believe in and follow, does not always demand 100 percent from us. There are times when you have to give 100 percent, but never always. However, this does not mean that 80% of daily lives are lived in moderation. And even if you put in 100% of your energy and the results are not as good as you hoped, the accepting attitude will be over 80 percent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Catholic American Eyes in Koreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04312901777904223298noreply@blogger.com0