"Life is the Here and Now"

Columnist in the Catholic Times in his  'semitransparent notes on life,  reflects, now in his early eighties, on what he would say if asked, "what is human life?" His answer: "Life is the here and now." Even if, he goes on to say, the place and time will never be repeated, the here and now can always be experienced.
 

For us who have lived through the important places and times of our lives: infancy, adolescence, middle years, and now old age, it is not meaningful to ask what was the best. However, it is naturally thought that the youthful years were the best. He reminds us of Hesse's novel Youth, Beautiful Youth  which gives us this view of life. Even more so the sculptor Auguste Rodin, who extolled youth; for him this was the time to enjoy life: romance, feasting, adventure, physical vigor, dreams, and the like.
 

However, our writer for the Catholic Times returns to the here and now, which for him is the important place and time on life's journey. But there is no absolute standard of judging this place and time, he says. As our inner life continues to change, it tends to bring lasting changes into our lives as well.

The columnist looks at a picture of his years in kindergarten; obviously the same person but hardly recognizable. The movement of life has been one of continuation and non-continuation. If we had a graph of the time from infancy to old age, he claims that the middle years would stand out like some mountain top. However, it would not be difficult to see the similarities of the first and last stages in life.
 
Both in the early and later years one cannot go it alone. Someone has to be there to help. And life becomes simpler. We cannot go after the competitive goals of life, and sex is something no longer of interest if we are old, or not yet of interest if we are infants. Comparing ourselves with others has ceased to be important or not yet entered our awareness. Overall, life tends to become orderly.

In conclusion, the writer reflects on his 80th birthday party, during which he said he is now entering his best years. He made the remark, he said, without thinking but in retrospect, he believes it to be accurate. He considers every day important, and lets distracting thoughts go by the wayside; it was this feeling he was expressing. He now experiences a peace he did not know when young; each day is filled with joy. It is like a three-part harmony: memories, joys and sorrows--and the melody, life. And it's beautiful. 

Human Rights Day 2011

Today, Dec. 10, is Human Rights Day. The day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948. "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." This first article of the declaration sounds as if it were taken from the Bible.
 
Throughout the country this week, the Catholic Church, in its many parishes and institutions, has examined the social teachings of the Church. Many will hear a review of Catholic Korean history concerning human rights, and specifically about an incident that happened in a small country parish on an island in Incheon during the 1960s.

The Young Catholic Workers Movement (JOC) was started in this country parish in 1965 by the Maryknoll priest-pastor. Many of the members worked in the textile factory on the island. Because of their membership in the JOC movement, they were sensitive to the human rights abuses they experienced and decided to start a labor union within the factory; management was opposed and the young workers were fired. About 30 Catholics were detained at the police station, and the pastor was threatened by the president of the company, government officials, and the police. No Catholics, it was decided, would be hired in the future.

The president of the JOC was the bishop of Masan, who at that time was Bishop Stephen Kim, later to become the cardinal-archbishop of Seoul. He strongly backed the workers, and Bishop McNaughton of Incheon also proclaimed the right of the workers to unite. This response to the incident in Kangwha, the first formal declaration of the Bishops Conference on a societal issue, marked the official entrance of the Church into the problems of society. The company did rescind its order and rehired the workers and all, at least temporarily, returned to normal.  
 
Some years later, another Maryknoller was forced to leave the country because of his involvement with a so-called spy conspiracy plot by the members of the Peoples' Revolutionary Party, who were considered communist spies. They were arrested and quickly executed. The Maryknoll priest very vocally sided with these men and was forced to leave the country. However, with the change in the political climate of Korea, many years later he was invited back with a hero's welcome and invited to the Blue House by the president. The eight men who were executed were later declared innocent, and their families given a large sum of money in reparation.
 
Many of the very visible problems concerning human rights violations have been solved to a large extent in Korea, and past history will be part of the education for the future. The Church hopes the consciousness-raising during this week of proclaiming the social teachings of the Church will help to open the eyes of our Catholics to an important teaching that many still are not sufficiently aware of. It will give added meaning to the first article in the Declaration of Human Rights.

Steps to Self-actualization

On the opinion page of the Catholic Times, the columnist brings up Abraham Maslow, the psychologist who made us aware of what he called the hierarchy of needs. The title of his opinion piece is "For what does one live?" 

The first need, according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is for physiological, biological fulfillment: food, clothing, shelter and sex. Food is not everything, but without it nothing else matters.
 

The second need is safety. When the physiological needs are filled, we then look for security. But this  also is not enough and there is a search for love and belonging. Since this also  does not fully satisfy there is the search for esteem or self-worth.  Here, we have the desire, according to our columnist, for  recognition, feeling of superiority over others, confidence in  one's capabilities, search for status,  fame, and  the desire for a good reputation, to receive rewards and to control  others.

However, here again a person is not completely satisfied. So we go to the last level, which is self-actualization, which Maslow also called 'growth motivation.' The columnist feels this is where God has an important part to play in the self-actualization process.
 
This does not mean that each person has to follow these steps to self-actualization. Gandhi, the columnist argues, did not follow the usual steps, as many others did not, but he feels this is not how it's commonly done.
 
The columnist mentions that he has heard of many who have made a name for themselves in life, but when death comes they look back and wonder what they did with their life that could have been done better,expressing remorse for not having lived a more fulfilling life.The desire later in life for self-examination  often leaves many with a feeling of dissatisfaction. But many reach the 4th level of needs and rest there, content to enjoy the pleasures of life and indulge one's self-importance.  

In the fifth level, self-actualization, the columnist says we should not underestimate the part of religion in reaching this level and going beyond it. It is in the here and now, in the place where we find ourselves, that we realize our ideals. This is not to impress others or be acknowledged by others, but to satisfy our own need for personal growth. 
 
He ends the article with the Genesis story of Joesph and his growth from a selfish young man to a person that could forgive and overcome all he had endured in the past. Helped by the grace of God, he had become a self-actualized human being.

Caritas Internationalis-Korea Group Meeting

Caritas Internationalis - Korea Country Group Meeting

5 December 2011, Seoul

Statement

Caritas Internationalis member organizations gathered today in Seoul, South Korea, to promote a better understanding of the current situation in North Korea and to discuss the directions and strategies for its future program there. On behalf of the participants of the 2011 Seoul Meeting, we express concern about the dire situation that many North Korean people are facing and the tense atmosphere between North and South Korea and make the following statement:

1. Foster peace on the Korean Peninsula

The increasingly tense relationship over the years between North and South Korea stems from mutual distrust and nationalism, and it has led to an unproductive arms race on the Korean Peninsula. This situation causes deeper wounds between the people and increases distrust and anxiety about future armed provocations. Caritas calls on all to resolve the tensions between the two Koreas in the spirit of Christ’s Peace and to seek a path to coexist and harmonize. In addition, Caritas calls on all to engage in an authentic dialogue leading to practical outcomes that improve the quality of life for the North Korean people.

2. Continue humanitarian assistance to North Korea

The North Korean people who are suffering from a lack of food and medical services must not be victims of these tensions. Caritas Internationalis has, for the last 16 years, carried out humanitarian assistance programs to support vulnerable North Koreans, especially children, the elderly, and pregnant women. This humanitarian assistance must continue without conditions and evolve into longer-term development programs based on mutual trust and cooperation.

3. Strengthen cooperation and solidarity

On behalf of Caritas Internationalis, we express our deep gratitude to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea for their decision to make their support for North Korea more intensive and efficient by unifying under Caritas Korea the programs of various Catholic organizations, including the National Committee for the Reconciliation of the Korean People, the Catholic Medical Association of Korea and other organizations. Caritas Korea, the facilitating partner of Caritas Internationalis’ programs in North Korea, works in solidarity with 164 global member organizations. Together, we commit to continue to express solidarity and cooperation through moral, financial and technical support for sustainable social development especially in the area of health, agriculture and food security programs

Michel Roy

Secretary General, Caritas Internationalis

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.