A View of the Tragedy in Japan from Korea

A Religious Sister at one of  the Catholic Universities writes about the generous response of the female students to the earthquake and tsunami destruction in Japan. They collected a sizable amount of money and publicized the needs of the victims and asked for prayers. Pictures of the devastated regions were placed on classroom walls and the corridors of the school, covering them like wall paper. It was a heart-felt expression of their desire to help the Japanese materially  and spiritually.
 
Korean society, from the famous to the ordinary citizens, in a short period of time, generously contributed large sums of money for those hurt by the catastrophe. However, what was most surprising was that the 'comfort women,' who have been asking the Japanese government for compensation for using them as sex slaves during the second world war, and have demonstrated every Wednesday before the Japanese Embassy, met to show their grief for what happened. They can see the difference between what was done to them and the current tragedy in Japan. 

There have been all kinds of reflections on the terrible tragedy by those who believe in God. How can God allow something like this to happen? Where is God in all this? Some see it as a punishment. Others see it as a warning. There are also those, she says, who see it as a punishment for not accepting God and being immersed in materialism.

Sister says if she were asked the same question, her answer would be that God is not the cause of what happened. God is present in those who are suffering and, she believes, participates in their suffering. The scope of the suffering experienced is immense, but we also see the growth of love and  mercy and the greatness and goodness of humanity. She notes that what the students did in response to the tragedy brings all of us closer to a feeling of oneness with them.

Every year since 1993, 20 students from Japan come to their school in the summer, and in the Fall, 20 from Korea go to Japan. Following the visits and for many years after, they continue to exchange messages and news. At the end of one exchange, a student said, " Japan is no longer a place on a map but a country with a face, extending not only to  the students but also to their families." The sister hopes there will be more of these exchanges that will put a face on a place that usually is just a place on a map.

The Place of Competiveness in our School System

The  premier Korean National Government Science and Technology School has been in the news lately. Since the beginning of the year, there have been five suicides at the school: four students and one teacher. The Desk Column in the Catholic Times reports that some blame the way the school is run for the suicides, including a grading system that can determine tuition costs, and other policies that put the students under a great deal of stress. The journalist feels that the competition engendered at the school is the primary cause. It is the way we have made our society, she says, and not surprisingly it tends to  appear in our schools of higher education as well, leaving students with few other options but to compete among themselves. But this competitive atmosphere is not conducive to learning.  Our colleges, long touted as temples of learning, have been invaded by the same competitive spirit that has infected our society, becoming  places for getting employment at the expense of learning. The students, the teachers, and the governing bodies of universities are all primed to compete, and the stress affects each of them at their very core: Professors are pressured to excel and to do research in addition to teaching, leading to time-management problems that disrupt the relationship of trust between teachers and students. Obligations to make  financial capabilities public, ratings by the government, and decreasing student enrollment--all make for a competitive workplace.  Consequently, in many cases, the students take subjects with little relationship to their major but simply to get good grades.  Professors also become interested in increasing their capabilities and the temples of learning are no longer what they were meant to be. The rector of the school  felt it necessary to breed this competitiveness to attract the best students, and then educate them to contribute at a high level for the future benefit of the country. This is the present thinking of the government: competitiveness and efficiency. Not all think in this mode for we have those who feel we should not only be moved by financial reward but also by our own dignity as persons. Many teachers at the school are skeptical of the direction the rector has taken the school over the years to revolutionize the school.    And now the public has weighed in after the recent suicides with questions concerning how we run our educational system; the tendency now is to take another look at the schools to see what improvements can be made. Our writer concludes with a desire that the Catholic school system also be given another look to see if it also has taken on the competitive mode of our society, keeping in mind what it means to be faithful to the Catholic vision of education.

Making a Difference in the Life of Others

A priest recounts his experiences while on a spiritual pilgrimage to India, during which he visited the ashram of Vinoba Bhave (1895-1984) at Paunar.  He remembers Vinoba's room at the ashram as being sparse and simple, similar to that of Gandhi's. Although a Hindu, he had hung on the wall in the passageway in front of his room a crucifix, a reminder of the Christ spirit that Vinoba meditated on and that influenced his life--the same spirit the writer felt in making the rounds of the ashram.

Vinoba was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. He was one of his most intimate followers and his spiritual successor. "Love," he said, "is the strongest force there is. What changes the world is not knowledge but love." Love for him meant a life committed to  non-violence, which was the spirituality he pursued throughout his life.                                                                                    
Many considered him the second Gandhi; for 13 years he traveled barefoot throughout the countryside, urging landowners to give some of their land to the poor. "Steeling is a crime but saving up a great deal of money is a bigger theft. If you have five children, consider the poor your sixth child," he said, "and put aside 1/6 of your land for that child." The result of this movement, called the Land Gift Movement, was more successful than any government program that had been tried.

In one of his literary works, Vinoba wrote: "The work of women has not been seen.  We are not able to get peace with only the work of men. In the future women will also have this role; we have to become conscious of women's mental strength." (He was one of the first to have an ashram for women.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
The priest, along with others on pilgrimage, was able to see the caste system up close by spending time with the untouchables. The guide told the pilgrims that religion made it possible for the untouchables to face death peacefully. It was an expression that stayed with the priest even on his  return to Korea. "Religion," he said, "is what makes them able to face reality and gives them a goal in life.  In this world of darkness, they have hope." Isn't this what we mean by salvation in religion? he asks.  Seeing the faith of these untouchables made him see his own faith life differently.

In a movie they saw at the ashram, Gandhi was quoted as saying that in the beginning he thought that God was Truth; later he came to believe that Truth is God.                                                         

Marx famously said, "Religion is the opiate of the people."  A remark often used to show how religion can turn one's attention from this world to a pie-in- the-sky view of life that makes life bearable for those who live in this 'vale of tears.' In the case of the untouchables, this view of life is easily understood. But for most of us the dignity natural to humankind should inspire us to work to better the lot of those who suffer, replacing the pie-in-the-sky with a down-to-earth understanding of human dignity that religion endeavors to teach us. With this as motivation, we can in some measure do what Vinoba was able to do: make a difference in the lives of those who because of their lot in life find it difficult to experience this dignity. 

Medicine as an Art

The Catholic Medical School has a program that is different from the other medical schools in Korea. Started in 2009, the program, called omnibus omnia: Latin for "Being all things to all," will provide students with a Christian vision of society. Not only will they learn how to diagnose and treat disease, but along with the typical medical school courses they will learn to see and treat the whole person and acknowledge their rightful place in society; it will be a holistic medicine

The Peace Weekly headlined their article on the program: "Fostering Catholic Identity in Medical Training." The program will require students to have 300 hours of classroom study during their four years in the medical school. The first two years will focus on the Catholic vision and holistic approach to medicine; the next two years will concentrate on the practical application of this vision and what medical expertise should mean.

It is not an exaggeration to say the education program will include all areas of study, including religion, history, literature, philosophy,  psychology, economics, politics, and sociology. It will attempt to see the medical profession from as many different angles as possible, in order to educate the whole person in all its many dimensions. They will bring in leaders in these areas of study to give lectures. And there will be efforts to present first-hand accounts of the disease process by those who are suffering the disease.

In this way the students will get a chance to speak to those suffering from different diseases not only in a clinical way but also in a human way. Rote memorizing of course material will give way to a dialogue approach, which will be one of a number of approaches to make the program more effective. And instead of the passive cramming method of education, there will be a more participatory approach on the part of students that will allow them to express themselves both in speech and in writing.

The professor of  medical humanities and the social science curriculum will be in charge of the program.That there was a lack in this area, he admits, and this will be remedied in the omnibus omnia program in the future. The school's goal is to graduate holistic physicians who have a broad vision of what it means to be in the medical profession. The professor says that this vision will be one that permeates all the teaching that is done in the schools affiliated with the Catholic University and not only in the medical school.

This lack was felt in Korea for some time and it was good news to hear that the Catholic Medical School has decided to do something to remedy the situation. The limitations of the specialist can sometimes be detrimental to the the overall goal of healing the whole person. To bring in the 'catholic' approach to life and incorporate it in a curriculum for a medical school will do a great deal in making medicine not only a science but an art.           

New Research Center of the Korean Catholic Church

At the Spring meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference, the bishops decided to set up a pastoral research center to examine and organize the present  pastoral efforts, and give direction for future efforts.

The bishop of Chejudo, and  president of the bishops' conference, Peter Kang U-il, who gave an interview to the Catholic press on this issue,  will head the research center. They will attempt to do what the dioceses would have difficulty in doing independently: gathering knowledge and expertise from resources throughout the country in order to develop programs for the whole country, form lay leaders, and provide for the on-going education of  clergy.

Catholics in Korea number over 5 million, but how much of the teaching of Jesus  has become part of their life? How much has it influenced the way we live? Because we have been baptized does not necessarily mean, the bishop says frankly and with some disappointment, that we have been evangelized. We have to examine again what  this new evangelization means for our future. Working with small Christian communities will be a big part of the evangelizing vision of the Church, and leadership programs for lay people will be tied in with these  small Christian communities.

Although the number of priests has increased greatly in recent years there has not been, after the seven years of seminary, any formal program for the continued education of the clergy.  To do this on the diocesan level in a unified way is beyond the capabilities of the different dioceses.

From the 7th to the 28th of October, 2012, some 300 bishops from around the world will meet in Rome for the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to reflect on the new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith. In preparation for this meeting, the bishops have the task to report on what is being done in our country to promote the new evangelization. Usually this is done by individual dioceses but with input from the research center we will have a unified white paper on the issue.

The intention of the research center is to work together with the many research institutes and pastoral centers in Korea, exchanging information and acting as a go-between. Our participation next year in the Synod of Bishops in Rome should be greatly benefited  because of the resources that now will be available to the new research center. 
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Unreciprocated Love is not Complete

Many years ago there was a popular Korean pop song 'Kap Do-ri and Kap Sun-ni'. The lyrics told the story of boy and girl who lived in the same village and  loved each other from afar. Their love, they thought,  was non reciprocated. Both got married to others, crying  on the inside and making  light of it on the outside.

A Sister professor who teaches Scripture and Hebrew at the Catholic University starts her article in the Kyeongyang magazine with this anecdote and mentions  they probably tried to show their affection for each other, but it wasn't understood for  otherwise the situation would have been different. Non reciprocated love to become complete love has to be reciprocated.

God has been writing love letters to us from the beginning, but we often miss the message. He showed this love by  creation, in history, in Scripture and In Christ. He approaches us but we  fail to adjust to his wave length. Our glory is that of all his creatures we alone have  the capacity to return that love.

We do realize, at times,  that he is sending us a message of love but   fear that if we accept this  love, we lose our freedom. Many others  see God as not interested in the problems of humans and not necessary: he prevents humans from progressing. Others find his message unpleasant--to deny ourselves, be protective of nature, and accept those who are not to our liking. Our first ancestors were faced with the same problems, and thought it would be better to be like God.

God is not free to demand love or a response, for it is no longer loving or dialogue when it is not entered freely. We can see this relationship right from the beginning in the Scriptures: the refusal to accept God's love, thinking we lose if we do.

God is answering our thirst for life. It is necessary for us to have experience of life to be able to see  our thirst and realize it is only God that can satisfy it. This experience of God working in us, Sister sees as most important.  Listening to the Word  enables us to be what he wants us to be. We can't reach this with reasoning and by proofs of science,but by  going into our hearts and seeing how his words correspond to our desires.  God created  with his word and continues to create with his word. It is when his word is conceived and given birth in us that we have life and can respond to love.

One of the Benefits of the Religious Profession in Korea

The daily papers recently reported on a study by a  research team from Wonkwang University that  compared the average life span of people from 11 professions. The data shows that those who work in the religious professions have the longest life span, those in the entertainment business the shortest. 

Based on data from the office of Korean Statistics and on obituaries for the past ten years, the study shows that clergy, professors and politicians are more likely to enjoy longer lives, while journalists, athletes and entertainers tend to live shorter ones, clergy, on average, living 82 years, professors and politicians,79; journalists,72;  athletes, 69; and entertainers, 65.

The research team suggested that the longevity of clergy results from a temperate lifestyle. However, due to the widespread interest today in staying healthy, there's less of a gap in life span among the various professions in this 10-year study than in a similar study with data compiled from 1963 to 2010. Clergy is still at the top of the list with an average life span of 80 years, followed by politicians, 75; university professors, 74; business people, 73; legal professionals 72;  high-ranking officials 71; and, at the bottom of the list, entertainers, artists and sport figures at 70 years of age. The only career where the average life expectancy is declining is show business: from a life span of 75 years in the  90s to the current 65 years, partly because of the substantial number of show people who have taken their own life in recent years.

A priest writing for priests quotes a Buddhist monk as saying: "In  Korea those in ministry usually have serious financial problems after they retire. The Catholic priests' financial needs are cared for by the diocese while only about 20 percent of Protestant ministers have guaranteed support.  Buddhist monks also have a similar problem. Depending on how much they have saved, help is provided by the larger temples or by individuals. This is the reason they do not get involved in society after retirement like the Catholic priests."

Catholic priests do have guaranteed financial support from the diocese which does take away much of the stress from their retirement years, unfortunately this is  not always the case in the other professions.