Danse Macabre

The Dance of Death--Danse Macabre--from the middle ages was the subject of the Culture of Life column in the Catholic Peace Weekly. Pictures were included that personified death dancing with the Christians, death giving no warning and in an instant becoming the partner in the dance. 

The many epidemics of the middle ages helped people see death as always imminent, and very much influencing the culture at that time. This Dance of Death was most often seen in the morality plays and in the visual art of the middle ages. It was also an attempt to see death in a positive way and to prepare us to meet it. Taking no notice of anyone's social status, it shows us the emptiness of life and the impermanence of personal achievements.
 
 What is unique in this dance of death, as performed in the middle ages, is that death is the only one dancing. The living stand by stiffly or turn away from death in silence, refusing obstinately death's summons to join in the dance. The lesson? Be prepared for death.

These portrayals of death were usually in churches, monasteries or cemeteries. They begin with scenes that show the inevitability of death and its inclusiveness--not even the most fortunate among us is spared. And at the end we are shown the dead who are saved, dancing with the angels. Death is in God's plan and for believers filled with meaning.
 
It all begins at birth and ends with death, which completes life's journey. Death signals the attaining of our goal and the realization of life's meaning and hope. 
Though meant for all, death is experienced individually; it's a special time, the conclusion of our earthy life. In life we have all types of hopes but the hope that we have facing death transcends all these hopes and is the ultimate hope, the hope to be one with Christ in his resurrection. Death is not the last reality, although this is how it is seen by many, but rather the opening to a new, fuller life, consequently there is no place for despair, but a time for grace and joy.  
 

Older Koreans had an easier way with death for they spent many hours at the cemetery each year and remembered the dead on their big holidays. As was true in other traditional cultures, death was close at hand for them. With the change to a more modern lifestyle, death is masked,pushed out of consciousness, and we tend to lose sight of death as our on-going 'silent' partner in life, whose presence should remind us of life's more enduring values that await us after death.

 

Unemployment and College Education

Many young college graduates in Korea are now unable to find work. The bishop writing for the Catholic Times on economic problems in society discusses this serious problem. Judging from the coverage it's receiving from the mass media, it's not difficult to surmise that it's not only a present problem but one that will influence the future of Korea.  

In the past, the problem existed,  but   today we have the colleges trying to help the students to study with an eye on their future work. Consequently, learning has taken second place to finding a job. Colleges are rated on the number they have that are able to find work.

In 2011, 83 percent of students graduating from high school went on to college, a figure you would not see in the developed countries of the world. But business enterprises in Korea do not need more college graduates; more jobs are needed, which will require the unified efforts of government, society and the business enterprises.

Government and politicians alone will not solve the problem. In fact, the bishop mentions government as being partly responsible for the problem by giving permission during the past 10 years for establishing more than 90 new colleges. Though the opening of so many colleges can be seen as a successful development, the supply of qualified job applicants has outstripped demand, and we are seeing the unfortunate results:  decrease in pay, internship contracts, short-term contracts, and even, according to some, young people not caring to work for the  small and medium-sized businesses. 

When the needs of the market decide what will be taught in colleges, another unfortunate result--regrettably overlooked by many--is less interest in the search for truth.  
 
If this concern for finding employment continues to trump our search for truth, leading inevitably to more specialization in the classroom, it will not bode well for the future of the country. When the need to learn the fundamental truths of life takes second place to financial profits and status in society, the foundation of society, which is sustained by these basic truths, will crumble. We will forget the truths founded in God of conscience and morality and, instead, become players in a game of monopoly where everyone loses no matter how large the bank account. As Christians we must do what we can to see that this does not happen. 

Week Devoted to the Social Teaching of the Church

'Good body', 'nice face', 'very classy' are words that have become popular and are used often by our comedians--a sign of the 'supremacy', some would say, of outward appearance. "When the face is pretty, all is forgiven" is said not entirely in jest--the importance of physical appearance is a reality in our society--these words have been chosen to introduce the book on the social teaching of the Church, issued by the Seoul Diocese. 

However, this is not the way we as Christians should judge outward appearance. We have to rise up against this way of thinking. Seeing reality in this way goes contrary to the will of God. In Sirach 11:2, we read, "Praise not a man for his looks; despise not a man for his appearance." The effort to change this way of thinking is making itself felt with the bishops' decision to include in the Church calendar "Social Teaching Week," following Human Rights Sunday.

Both Catholic weeklies gave Human Rights Sunday and the following week a great deal of space. and were written up in the editorials of both papers. It will be the 30th Human Rights Sunday, but the first week devoted to inculcating in a formal way the teachings of the social Gospel within the liturgical year. Effort is being made to see the different aspects of our life: political, financial, human rights, labor, and so on, in the light of the Gospel and to examine and see what is our response.

The bishop responsible for the Justice and Peace Committee of the Conference writes in his message for Human Rights Sunday that the sudden change to an industrialized culture has brought to the fore the importance of money and the ever-present competition in society. Money, power and honors now precede dignity and life. The weak of society are losing hope, and gloom is spreading.
 

The effort of the Church is to shine the light of the Gospel into the dark places of the society we have made, to emphasize the law of nature impressed on our conscience, and to bring to our attention the life of virtue, justice and the common good that will inspire us to look for a fuller development of our humanity.
 

It is hoped that those who have found this way of thinking not to their liking will come to a different understanding with the exposure to this teaching. The bishop quotes from the canon law of the Church (#747): "The Church has the right always and everywhere to proclaim moral principles, even concerning the social order, and to make judgments about any human matter in so far as this is required by fundamental human rights or the salvation of souls."

Because of the way the Church is involved in society, it is hoped that the action of the bishops will help clear up misunderstandings about the social teaching of the Church, and lessen the friction among Catholics in this importance part of the Gospel message. It is also hoped that it will give life and meaning to our call to be the light and salt of the earth.

Human Rights Sunday

The second week of Advent is Human Rights Sunday, followed by a week of teaching on the Social Gospel of the Church. Writing in the Catholic Times, the director of the Bishops Office on Justice and Peace delves into history to remind us of why we have a Human Rights Sunday.
 
18th century Europe saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution that brought into the lives of workers many unwelcomed changes: unsanitary and dangerous working conditions, low pay, long hours, crammed back to back shoddy housing near the factories, which led to the spread of disease.
 
The Catholic Church, in the middle of the 1800s, began to take an interest in the plight of these workers, first in Germany and then in England and the United States. To address the issue, Pope Leo XIII, in 1891 wrote the encyclical Rerum Novarum (New Conditions). This was the first encyclical dealing with social doctrine. It focused on the dignity of the workers, their right to organize and receive a just salary, the duty of the government to protect workers as well as to protect private property, and to ensure the harmony between the different classes in society.
 
Catholic social doctrine has also influenced the Church of Korea. In 1960 we had the labor movement; in the 70s and 80s, the opposition to the military dictatorship and the movement for democracy. Cardinal Kim's influential support for human dignity and freedom were instrumental in receiving for the Church much good will from society. In the 90s, however, outside of abortion and culture of life issues, the Church has been rather hesitant in promoting human rights issues.

This is changing; with the lead of the bishops, we have seen Church-backed opposition to the 4-River Project, the naval base in Cheju-do and the nuclear power plant.
 
These issues have added to the polarization of the progressive and conservative groups in society.Some Catholics choose to ignore the bishops' directions, and prefer to  hold on to the beliefs of the social strata they belong to, and the benefits that come with it. The Church is not interested in the partisan concerns of society but in truth, love, justice and peace--goals that should motivate all Catholics.
 
The Bishops Justice and Peace director hopes that Catholics will become better informed on the teachings of the social doctrine, enabling them to become the salt and light of society. If Catholics are only interested in comfort and material blessings the Church will have a difficult time in being true to the mission it has received from Christ.

Persistent Patriot-- Dr. Park Byeong Seon

The Korean scholar Dr. Park Byeong Seon (Lugalda) was written up in the Korean press for her lifework: finding the books taken from Korea by the French in the 19th century, and having them returned to the country. She died last month in France, at the age of 85, after a lifetime studying Korean antiquities. 

The editorial in the Peace Weekly recalls that she was treated coolly by the French and was considered a nuisance by some in our society. But she nevertheless devotedly continued with her studies.
 
It was Lugalda who discovered the oldest extant moveable metal type book in the French National Library. The book, referred to as Jikii, an anthology of the teachings of Buddhism to be used in meditation, was printed by a Buddhist monk in 1377. Prof. Park proved it was printed 78 years earlier than the Gutenberg Bible, which was printed in 1455. Her work has been officially recognized by the Korean government and she has received many awards for her achievements. She will be buried in the Korean National Cemetery.

She graduated from Seoul National University in 1950 and went on to work in her field of history because of the request of her professor. In 1955 she continued her study of Korean antiquities in France, where she received her doctorate and went on to lecture at the Paris University and to work as a librarian in the National Library. Before her death, she did see the return of many of the books taken by the French troops in their invasion of Korea in 1866, which was a great consolation for her many years of work.
 
The books--297 were returned--dealt with the protocol for royal funerals, weddings and other ceremonies during the Chosun Dynasty which ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1910. She learned of the looting of the books by reading the history of the Church of Korea by Claude-Charles Dallet, and made it her lifework to find and return those books to Korea. After retiring from her salaried work, she spent her later years in full-time study of Korean antiquities.
 
In 1972 she became a French citizen to facilitate her work, but never forgot she was a Korean; she had great love for her country. She is quoted as saying, "In France, I'm considered an enemy and hated. In Korea, I'm considered a nuisance for continuing to ask for the return of those books, but never for one moment have I regretted what I have been doing. I have seen it as my mission from God."
 
 Funeral Mass was offered at the chapel of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, which she often visited. Her books and over 200,000 dollars were donated to the Catholic University of Incheon.

Shamelessness

Shamelessness is seen all too often in our society laments the writer of the column on spirituality in the Catholic Times. In the press and on TV, we see so many that do wrong, and very calmly see it as an unfortunate quirk of fate, as the wrong-doers persist in maintaining their innocence. It makes the columnist angry.

These persons, he maintains, either lie, mitigate what happened, give excuses, cover it up with great audacity, showing no embarrassment or sorrow, or recall moments in their lives to show how upright they have been. Which reminds the writer of the problem Jesus had with the Pharisees and the lawyers. 

"Wanko," the Korean word he uses, meaning stubborn, obstinate, lack of adaptability, expresses this mindset and is understood by many to describe a person not able to see his own faults or understand another's position; a person living in his own world, his heart locked, judging the world with his or her own measuring rod.

The columnist tells us the story of a priest friend who had an experience while in middle school that exemplifies this kind of attitude. His friend was not well prepared to take the exam on music theory, so he surreptitiously opened the book on the subject and was seen by the teacher, who told him to come to the front of the room. He had never done any cheating before and was judged a good student by his teachers. So when the teacher asked him why he had cheated, he was so confused that he blurted out, "I was planning to look, but I didn't."
 

The teacher, seeing the student trying to justify himself, hit him and took him to the teachers' room. All the teachers were surprised to hear about his cheating. His homeroom teacher was called in. He showed no anger and asked for the circumstances and the student repeated that he was going to look but didn't. His homeroom teacher told him that the teacher who discovered the cheating was a wonderful teacher and usually overlooks a lot. If only you had acknowledged doing something wrong, he was told, it would have been all over. But now he had to ask the student to bring his father to school.

We can all imagine how the student felt. Now a priest, he told the columnist that if he had simply said he did wrong it would have been all over. However, with the words "I was going to look, but I didn't," he had unleashed a chain of unwelcome events: being hit, going to the teachers' room, having his father come to the school, and the embarrassment of it all.
 

This attitude, which can be compared to hardening the muscles of the mind, insisting on ones own way, is something we have to fight against. This will reduce our stress and make us more attentive to the words of others, more honest with oneself, and more willing to admit to being wrong. In time we become more generous, and as we open up to others our world also opens and becomes less stressful.  

Divination in Korea

Catholicism has always seen divination, better known as fortune telling, as something that should not be done. Why is that? asks a columnist in the Catholic Times, and he proceeds to answer, giving three reasons for avoiding fortune tellers.
 

The first reason: When we indulge in divination, we are denying our free will. When we believe what the fortune teller is saying, putting ourselves in a position to be controlled by the fortune teller, our free will is taken away. 

The columnist tells us about a high school teacher who, whenever he considered moving, would visit a fortune teller. If told to go West he went West; if told to go East he went East. He was generally pleased with the results. His life was controlled by the very skillful fortune teller.

The second reason he gives is that a skillful fortune teller who seems able to predict the future may be working with the help of the devil. Which means that nothing good will come from the results.

The third reason is to prevent the possibility of addiction to divination. The columnist then tells us of his own difficulty with the addiction. Every year at the beginning of the year he would consult Tojeongbigyeol (The Secrets of Tojeong). As a young man he would at times want to know the future for a number of years. Ambition, he thinks, was the motivating force. What was not a laughing matter was a daily need to look at what the stars had to say about his day. It made for the day's joy or gloom. At the age of 40, he stopped and has not returned to the habit.
 
The columnist concludes his article by saying that though he did give up going to fortune tellers, from that time on something else took its place. Koreans are born, he feels, with a desire to know the future and to prepare for it. After he gave up turning to the astrology page of the paper, whenever he found himself out walking and came across a small pebble in the way, he would give it a kick. If it hit the telegraph pole he would have a good day. This action and similar habitual actions, he believes, are natural to those who have a strong sense of responsibility and a natural curiosity.

Koreans have a beautiful saying: "Do all as if it depends on you and leave the rest up to heaven." And whatever the results, with St. Paul, be thankful.