The Importance of Chance Happenings in Our Lives

This month, September, the Catholic Church in Korea remembers the martyrs.  Retired Bishop Dupont spoke at the Myong Dong Cathedral in Seoul on the martyrs; he wanted those in attendance to reflect on the times we have experienced "chance happenings."

Jesus often spoke of "faith and understanding," the bishop said. Martyrs not only believed  but understood Jesus. Isn't that their experience of Jesus? The bishop asked.

In our lives, there are many things that we consider chance happenings. They are the  means by which God wants us to experience him. Jesus often said, "Believe God....Believe my words."  In the believing of belief, we understand. Jesus asked the apostles: "Do you still not understand?....Now do you understand?"  What is understanding as it relates to faith? the bishop asked.  It is mature belief, belief that is not shaken, belief that accepts Jesus; it is tranquil faith. The martyrs lived a belief that was informed by understanding.The martyrs understood they would  be with Jesus even in death.
 
 We can also experience Jesus in daily occurrences, but we don't make much of  them, letting them pass, and so we miss the opportunity to benefit from these "chance happenings." In Korea, dreams, what we hear or see has a deeper importance but the bishop would like us to focus more on small happenings in our lives.  The bishop says they are the way we encounter God. These small incidents can nurture the faith experiences from which understanding will come.

The bishop quotes Einstein as saying there is no such thing as chance; there are reasons for everything that happens.  Let us suppose, the bishop says, that while wearing his  bishop's  clothing  he helps an old man who has fallen by the side of the road; this will make  the newspapers. If he does it in his ordinary clothes, no one hears about it. In  the same way, he says, God is involved in our lives, but we are not conscious  of it.

The martyrs, however, were conscious  of God's presence in their lives, and we too can become conscious of God's presence in our lives, the Bishop says, if we look more closely at the small things that happen and try to see the hand of God in those events.

We often say all is grace. All is a gift. All is a miracle. We try to find words to describe this world that is seen and understood only with the eyes of faith. It is a world that awaits all of us in the "chance happenings" that come to us repeatedly. We need only observe with the eyes of faith not to miss these movements and moments of grace.

Mission of the Korean Catholic Church to Asia

Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of India  gave one of the talks at the recent Asian Lay Peoples Meeting in Seoul. He began with a story of a priest in his diocese who went  frequently to a grocery store in the neighborhood.  On one occasion, the owner asked him to recommend a good book to read. The only book he had in Hindi was the New Testament, which he gave to him. 

A few days later when he returned to the store, the owner asked, excitedly, "Is it  true that Jesus rose from the dead?  It says that he died and rose from the dead, did he really come back from the dead?"

"Yes that is true," said the priest.  He is alive today and is working through me." The owner again asked,  "Why wasn't  it mentioned  before? You should make this wonderful news known." We, the bishop stresses, have been called to deliver this news here in Asia. 

The Cardinal then told the story of the Jesuit priest Constant Lievens, the apostle of the Chotanagpur, and  the tribal people of central India. Before he arrived in 1885 they  had no hope; they worked at menial tasks to eke out a living.

When the Jesuit arrived, there were only 56 Catholics. At the end of seven years, at which time he had  contracted tuberculosis, it increased to 80,000.How could he  move the hearts of so many of these poor tribal people? He   listened to their sad stories. He learned their language. He learned the laws having to do with the ownership of land and then helped to free them from the control of the landowners.   He gained  their  trust   and they began  to trust in God and themselves. This is the miracle of Chotanagpur.
 
Asia is the land of many poor. Pope John Paul II  had the hope that Asia would become a fertile field for the harvest in the third  millennium. Following the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, we know we have to go to the poor.

There are two dimensions  to missions. One is the missioner, the other the message of the Gospel. We can't all go to the missions, but we can, with our way of life and thinking, be a witness to the missions.

There are three areas in which we have to witness. The first is the strong call of the Gospel to go out to the poor,  weak, and the suffering to love them. The second is to stand up to the corrupt political and financial powers and with courage speak the truth and witness to Jesus. We are not called to do religious activities but to be a light and the salt for the world. The third follows from this understanding: Follow the simple example of our Lord. The Cardinal finished his talk with a quote from Paul VI: "And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the Good News not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ, and who are willing to risk their lives so that the kingdom may be proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of the world" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 80).

The Fascination of Eugenics

 A retired professor from Seoul National University, in an article in the Peace Weekly, discusses the science of Eugenics and recent efforts to remodel our gene pool. The fear of death brings many strange things to mind, and he reminds us that we are learning beings from the time we are in our mother's womb, and learning to die well is an important part of living well.

Genetic engineering is often mentioned as a means of producing "better" people, starting with the children. Our children, he says, are to be accepted as given and not to be considered as products that we can design  at will to meet our tastes and ambitions.  Using our recently developed technologies in this area to design our offspring for "success" is an evil, he says, we all should acknowledge. Any attempt to control the future of children by these means is to ignore the mystery of life and belittle the gift that it is.

It is true that when sickness comes our medical practitioners do everything possible to correct the problem. It is an attempt to return the person to health, health that was enjoyed, or that we should expect. This is medical treatment, a therapeutic intervention, and  not genetic engineering.

In the sports world, using drugs to enhance performance is prohibited, yet throughout the world of sports it is widespread.  If genetic engineering becomes part of the attempts to enhance performance, this will obviously not be detected with urine samples, and the athlete will become yet another victim of commercialism, the writer acknowledges.

But even in areas that appear benign--improving memory and taking hormones to make us taller--who are most likely to benefit? The wealthy. Obviously  unfair, but does this mean that if we can make it accessible to all there is no problem?  We are playing God, he says, when we use the new science to make radical changes in our bodies and mental faculties.

This genetic manipulation to improve the species is not accepted by the Church; gene therapy to cure a disease or eliminate defects of an embryo and similar interventions are permitted, with appropriate restrictions.  The professor believes that efforts to change the makeup of our species will intensify in the years ahead. Being captivated by the same fascination that prompted the Nazi atrocities and the racial discrimination in  the United States, we are coming closer to the day when we play at being masters of our fate. A prospect that should be a concern to all of us.

How Do We View the Handicapped in Society?

In Korea the treatment of the handicapped has  changed a great deal  since the  proclamation of the welfare law for the  handicapped in 1989. The "Window of the Ark" opinion column in the Catholic Times, written by a director of a Welfare Service, describes the problems that remain even though much of the prejudice has  disappeared. Policies enacted for the handicapped have improved their living conditions, handicap-friendly facilities have continued to appear throughout the city, and the welcoming for the  handicapped is noticeable in many business establishments.

The law forbidding discrimination of the handicapped was passed in 2008, and amended to strengthen the law the following year. Good news, but it also means problems still existed which necessitated the law. The basic principle affecting the welfare of the handicapped is their entitlement to the same  human rights and dignity we all share. Although they may be bodily or mentally disadvantaged, they should enjoy the same benefits given to all other citizens. This is basic and has to be stressed.  Strange  as it may seem, there are many who do not realize how basic this is.

Some look upon these disadvantaged persons as if they were faulty products. Typical attitudes are reflected by such statements as: "He is a simpleton; if you speak, he doesn't understand; if you feed him, he will work. To feed them and give them a place to sleep is all that is necessary;  give them wages you say?  They do  little work, and  don't   do it well."

Although there is, in theory, a difference of opinion on how to treat the handicapped, the statements above indicate how many are treated in the practical every day situations by some  who hire the handicapped.  They not only do not give them a wage for the work they are able to do, but also take the government subsidy that the handicapped receives.The disadvantaged, the director emphasizes, are not dispensable; it's good to remember that if they are dispensible because of their handicap, all of us are potentially handicapped. As we get older, there  is a good chance we will be in their position. We are all preparing to be handicapped. And some, even before reaching old age, might also be considered handicapped, even though society fails to acknowledge the handicap.

We do not consider, for example, persons wearing glasses handicapped. They choose to wear glasses to remedy a defect in eyesight, and no one gives it a second thought. However, if someone feels embarrassed when wearing glasses, or goes without them when needing to wear them, or when wearing them avoids appearing in public, then that person is handicapped.

The same can be said about someone using a wheel chair. When he is not embarrassed and those who see him do not consider it strange, he is not handicapped.When this simple fact is routinely accepted by all, then we will realize what it is to be living  in God's world.

So Close and Yet so Far-- My Birthplace

Two reporters from the Hankyoreh  newspaper visited our mission station a few days ago to talk to some of the Catholics who are refugees from  North Korea. Today is the Harvest Moon Festival, the most popular holiday of the Korean Calendar, and a time for families to come together to celebrate and, like the three men interviewed by the reporters, to remember their homes in the North and those they left behind.

Matthias, one of the three men interviewed and now a white-haired member of the community, left the North when he was 25 to avoid the fighting. He took a boat from Yeonbaek County in the North to Gyodong, which is only 3.5 km away. He left his father, his wife and three year old daughter, planning to meet them again when the fighting was over. That day never came.

He spent the next 10 years traveling around  Korea  working as a laborer and as a civilian in the army. In 1960 he returned to Gyodong to work as a farmhand. On one occasion, he went to Chiseok village here in Gyodong where he could see the middle school for girls and his house beneath the pagoda tree. It was there that the unbelievable happened.
He saw his wife that he had left behind 10 years earlier; she was standing there also nostalgically looking toward the home they had left. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. His wife, shortly after he left, also made the trip to Gyodong hoping to meet him. She told him that their daughter, who she carried on her back during the long trip, died from lack of food. She also lives with the regret that she did not bring her father-in-law. This was the beginning of a  new life for the homesick Matthias and his wife.

Matthias took the money he earned as a farmhand and bought land in the mud flats, turning it into productive farmland. At the age of 38, he could now prepare a table for the rites of the dead with the rice from his own land, a small fish and a pear; it was his first harvest as a landowner and the first ritual of remembrance for his dead family members.
 
That day of the interview, the three parishioners interviewed stayed around after the reporters left to reminisce on their own. This time of the year brings sadness to the lives of many. Many have died or moved to the mainland, and those left from Yeongback number only about 20. The Hankyoreh interview ends with a poem written by a member of the community in memory of her husband.

Separated only by the river some 1000 leagues away
A home I can see but can't go to.
Where the Han meets the Imjin and Yeseong
And flows into the sea.
We are the lord of creation, they say,
But I cannot do, alas, what even birds can do.

One of the Unsung Martyrs of Korea

The young man who was killed at the age of 24 for being a communist, Song hae Bung, is the subject of a recent column in the Cathoic Times. Written by the author of two books on John Song, her brief account of his life serves as a reminder, during this month, our "month of  martyrs," to celebrate all Koreans who died for their faith.   

Song was born in 1926 in Incheon in a family of six siblings: two boys and four girls. He was the eldest son of a very devout mother, and this showed in the life he led. After graduating from the public trade school in Incheon, he went on to the seminary, where his devotion to his vocation was very evident. Even during vacation time, feeling that too much ease in life would make him lazy, he would go out in the coldest of days to different areas of Incheon to preach about Jesus.
 
After liberation came in 1945, the seminary in North Korea was closed, and he returned home and began to teach. He founded a night school for children who could not go to school during the daytime because of the need to work in the rice paddies. Education was necessary, he believed, for without it there could not be a genuine love of country and of God. He would make his own hymns and continued to evangelize. Students liked the way he taught, so they studied until late at night. Calling himself a jackstone, he would often say: "take me lightly and after being used, you can throw me away."
 
At the end of the Korean War when the South recovered its territory, there was a period of lawlessness when so-called vigilantes took things into their own hands. Since  John Song had been active with the young people of the area and was popular, he was accused of being a communist and shot dead by men in the area who did not care for his popularity among the young. Although it came late, his family brought his case to a court of justice where the accusations against him were proven false. Soon after, his grave was found with the help of those who had buried him. Although buried in a mass grave with many other corpses, his body was quickly found because of the black suit, the rosary in his pocket, and a blood-stained picture of St Theresa.
 
John Song died as he wanted to die, a martyr.  When Fr. Cha  started his parish in that area he heard about a group of elder Christians who called themselves "Master Jackstone's Group." Shortly after, Fr. Cha started his Future Pastoral Institute. When he bought the land he was told that land was where Master Jackstone used to lecture.  This perked his interest and after making contact with the family and talking to John Song's sister, he was convinced of the saintliness of the man.
 
Later when Fr. Cha bought more land to extend his institute, he learned the land included the spot where John was killed. This was the third time he had made "contact" with the saint. This motivated him to ask the Catholic novelist who wrote the column used for this blog to write his biography. Her first book  was titled: "A Burntout Flower and Not 24." Later, with information gathered from those that knew John Song, she wrote her second book, "The Eternal Young Man."

Confession No Longer Seen As a Holy Gift--Sacrament

Most surveys of those who have left the Church in Korea show that Confession (the Sacrament of Reconciiation) has been their biggest stumbling block. A detailed study made by  Catholic Peace Broadcasting, the Peace Weekly and the Future Research Institute confirmed the survey results: The requirement to go to  Confession is seen as a burden to many Catholics.

Personal obstacles such as work, school, and doubts about the Church would be the reasons often cited in most surveys.  But when we look at the obstacles that stem from the organization of  Catholicism itself,  Confession would be cited as the most important reason for leaving the Church, followed by meaningless liturgies, being hurt by members of the community, too many financial burdens,  poor sermons, the Church having little influence in society, and the bad example of clergy. 

Two similar surveys in Seoul and Suwon had the same results. Combining personal and Church-related reasons for leaving the Church, most indicated that being too busy was the most important reason, next in importance was Confession. In another survey, when asked what can the Church do to facilitate their return, answered: make Confession less of a burden

In Korea if you go three years without confession you would be considered tepid statistically. In many parishes, twice a year a ticket is given to Catholics and returned when they have gone to confession, placing it in a basket in the confessional.  According to Church teaching, frequent confessions are recommended but there is no obligation to go to confession if one is not in serious sin. This is a teaching that is not well understood, but it is part of our Catholic tradition and Church law (Code of Canon Law #989).


Although Confession, being the Sacrament of Reconciliation, should be a consolation and settling of accounts, we have learned mostly from the survey results that many of our Catholics consider it a great burden. The Catholic Weekly, in a recent article on this subject, mentions that many who  are not in the state of grace  and  not prepared to go to confession stay away from Church.   Furthermore, many who are in the habit of sin find that going to confession is meaningless, so they also stop going to Mass; they do not feel they can break the habit of sin. The article mentions that the teaching on Confession has not always been good, nor have our Catholics understood it correctly.

Can the Church make it easier to go to Confession? Some attempts have been made to lessen the burden.  However, the difficulties of  going to Confession are also a blessing for those who can overcome the difficulties; they may come from an incomplete understanding of sin and the difference between confessions of devotion and of obligation. With more clarity on the essential nature of Confession, what is now seen as a burden might be seen as an opportunity for self-renewal, a second baptism.