Art of Living

Ideas on the meaning of spirituality--its role in the world and its place in our personal lives--have been hotly debated for centuries. Recently, a journalist for the Peace Weekly has given us her ideas on this important subject after reading the book, Art of Living, by the German Benedictine priest Anselm Grun. By discussing spirituality in a very practical manner, Grun lays out nine ways we can go about giving spirituality a more prominent place in our daily lives.

-accept ourselves as we are and not as we think we ought to be  -make time for leisure and enjoying life
-find meaning in whatever we do
-maintain a deep relationship with others
-relate with friends
-practice the virtue of charity
-turn difficulties into opportunities
-continue to search for your dream
-live each moment.

We are asked to look for the ability and courage to live; only we can do that. Too many of us are trying to escape from ourselves, from our discontent, from guilt, from other people. We can't do it by running away from our conflicts, Grun says, and no one can do it for us, so we should resolve to face our problems bravely and come to a reconciliation. The first step in this reconciliation, he says, is to permit ourselves the time to face the situation.

Grun asks us, the journalist says, to be conscious of time; it will show us the true meaning of death. When death is always before our eyes, we will relate correctly with our work, with material goods, and with those around us; it will be our way to peace. To live with the thought of death means to live in the present totally and with awareness, and come to appreciate life as a gift. 

Grun advises that we also slow down the pace of our lives, in order to lessen the anxiety that develops from living a fast-paced life. Anxious people can't stop, wait, and take the time to look around before deciding on what to do next. Everything tends to be done quickly, without much thoughtful preparation. They live frantically, run around in circles, and fail to live well. 

To live well, to allow our spiritual nature to flourish, we have to have time for leisure; without it, we will not take full advantage of the life we have been given. Only those who have found this deep rhythmic spirituality in their lives are able to live a fully meaningful life.

Moving Hearts -- The New Evangelization

Spreading the Gospel is the mission of the Church.  Each year the next-to-last  Sunday of October, the month of harvest, is Mission Sunday, during which we hear sermons on ways to carry out this mission.  On this Sunday all collections are sent to Rome and distributed to the areas of the world most in need.

It's also a time to reflect on the need for mission work and how we can help in this harvesting.  What is in question is not the mandate but how to put it into practice. The columnist of View from the Ark, in the Catholic Times, feels  using words to carry out this mandate no longer has the results  it once did in the early days of the Church.

In the time of Jesus, for the most part, words were the only way to  express our thoughts; this is no longer the case. Today it can be done in many ways: with our hands and feet, our music, books, pictures, and films, our poetry and the internet, among many other possibilities. He feels the printed page, although important, no longer influences us as much as it did in the past; the electronic revolution has changed all that.

Because of the  enormous amount of information we have to deal with today, it's becoming difficult to  distinguish what's true from what's false, and so we tend to question whatever we hear and read, often adopting a doubting attitude about everything. Because of this tendency, the  columnist feels that the influence of words to change our lives is greatly reduced.

So what do we do? he asks. In Korea we say "Confucius said," or "Mencius said," but what does that mean if we do not act and live by what is being said. This is true also of the words of the Gospel, which we aspire to make known to all.

The bishops of Japan made a study of this problem and concluded that in the Japanese and Korean cultures words have li ttle to do with the way we act. Actions, the examples of others, are what moves and inspires us to want to change.

Two men who lived what they preached, according to the columnist, and influenced the lives of many were Fr. Lee Tae Seok and Cardinal Kim. The documentary on the life of Fr. Lee in the Sudan moved many people, and Cardinal Kim's visits to refugee villages, saying Mass at the Seoul City dump, spending time at Easter with women prostitutes and with those in prison moved the hearts of many.  It is this kind of evangelizing that should be the focus of our present concerns. Moving hearts, says the columnist, is what the new evangelization is all about.

An Extrodinary Japanese

We don't find too many Koreans praising the Japanese but the editorial board of a Korean bulletin for priest does just that. Founder of the Panasonic Company, Konosuke Matsushita has been praised for spreading his life-affirming message to today's young people.  

Matshusita was born into a wealthy family that lost everything while he was still very young. Never finishing grammar school and struggling with poor health during his youth, he worked at minor jobs before starting a small electronic company in 1918, which in time developed into the Panasonic Company, one of the world's largest company, with over 130,000 employees.

Much of his success, according to the Bulletin article, came about because of the gifts he had received. Because of the gift of poverty, he had to work as a shoeshine boy and as a paperboy, receiving in the process a great deal of experience on how to live.

Because of poor health, he had to exercise to regain and maintain his health. And because of little education (his formal education ended at the age of nine), everybody he met was his teacher. He never lost the opportunity to ask others for help in improving whatever he was doing.

He was praised for his ability in dealing with others, which he credited to his seeing others as his superiors. His attitude was that they were likely to know more than he did, and were likely to be more competent than he was. Lacking formal education he had to gather as much knowledge as he could from other people. By admitting to knowing nothing, he said he was at all times always learning.

The Bulletin article points out that many who have made a study of Matsushita say he was a very ordinary man who became an extraordinary man because he completely embraced his ordinariness as few others have done. His secret for economic success was to enable those working in his company to work to the utmost of their capabilities. He was for a time an innovator in improving cooperation between labor and management, in developing talent, and in making the workplace a lifelong commitment.

He used to say that the difference between the jail and the monastery is the difference between living with discontent or living with thanks. If in prison and you give thanks, you are in a monastery; if in a monastery and not content, you are in jail.

Here is a man who grew up with adversity and yet could see the beauty, the value and opportunities of life without having any religious beliefs to guide him. He became a great leader in our world where so many others, having struggled with adversity, have given up hope.

There are many who live according to what Catholics would call natural law or right  reason. We can only thank God for their sensitivity to the dictates of right reason. When we see a person who has money as his object and in search of profits  and behaving the way Mitsubishi did it is  extraordinary.

Maryknoll Sisters 100 Years of Service

Starting today, October 24, Maryknoll Sisters will hold a week-long celebration commemorating 100 years of service to those in need, a worldwide service that has been praised recently by Catholic media as their "All Weather Apostolic Ministry."

Many events have been planned for the week, beginning with a symposium on "Mission: A Way of Showing God's Love," and having on hand the illustrated book, in comic-book format, of the life of the founder of the Maryknoll Sisters, Mollie Rogers.  Talks will be given during the week by sisters discussing their work in North Korea, the labor apostolate, their medical work, and their work with women in society. On display will be photographs of the 123 Maryknoll Sisters who have worked in Korea for the past 88 years, and an exhibition of paintings by a Korean Maryknoll Sister working in Hawaii.

The Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic: M.M.--the full name of the congregation--was started by Mary Joseph Rogers with three sisters in 1912, becoming the first American women's missionary society. Today, there are 550 members in 30 countries of the world.

The Sisters began their missionary journey in the country in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 1934, working as teachers, doing parish and medical work, and founding a vocational school for women. They were also involved in starting the first Korean Sisters Community: the Sisters of Perpetual Help, in 1932. Because of the Second World War and the Korean War, the sisters who were American had to leave the country. One of the Maryknoll Sisters,a Korean, remained behind and  is presumed killed by the the Communists during the  ordeal in the North.

On the return of the sisters to Korea after the war, they started the Maryknoll hospital in Pusan, a clinic in the Chongju diocese and a hospital in Kangwha in the Inchon diocese.  They worked in welfare, in the labor apostolate and in education. The first credit union in Pusan, an innovation in Korea, which was started by Sister Gabriela, spread throughout the country. In 1968 the sisters turned over the Maryknoll Hospital in Pusan to the diocese, and in 1978, the Nursing School to the diocese.

As the society began to flourish, the sisters went to the country and farming areas to help, while continuing their medical work on a number of islands. The sisters who remained in the city were involved in justice and peace issues, the labor apostolate, building communities, teaching English, and helping battered women. About 10 Koreans are now working with the Sisters as affiliates.

The sisters have played a significant role in building the Korean Catholic community and now, having turned over most of their works to the Church in Korea, have moved on to other countries where their ideals and charisms are more needed.
  

Religious Matters in New China

Praise for China is rarely heard coming from the Catholic press. A recent exception appeared in a bulletin for priests, praising the country's policy in caring for their citizens who live overseas, while finding plenty to criticize on how they deal with religious matters.

The writer recalls, when he was a child, seeing the school for foreign Chinese in his hometown. Wherever Chinese were living overseas, these schools were setup to help the newly arrived Chinese accommodate to the new culture, and they have been successful, he says, except in Korea.

The schools failed here, he feels--though admitting he's not an authority on the subject--because of the many regulations that made it difficult for foreigners to settle easily within the culture and earn money; the regulations being motivated, it is believed, by the aversion toward foreigners in Korea of the past.

This was especially true in running a business. On the menu signs in front of Chinese restaurants, 'jajangmyeon' (noodles with black  bean sauce) because they could not sell rice. This has all changed today but 20 or 30 years ago the perception of the foreigner was not what it is today.

The China of  today also is not the China of the past. Though he noticed the rigidity of the culture on his trip to China in 1999--a feeling of uneasiness in the air--as soon as he landed at the airport, a recent trip to Beijing convinced him this is no longer true.

In many ways China has come a long way since the middle of the last century. 21st century China is the only country, says the writer, that can vie with the United States for the dominant role in world affairs. China is increasing its influence throughout the world by forgiving the debt of African countries and giving assistance freely. The writer says, reporting on what some people are saying, that if China doesn't  buy part of the national debt of the European Union and the United States, they would be ruined--though he believes this is a bit of an exaggeration. And in 20 or 30 years, many believe that it will be difficult for any country to keep pace with China. But, says the writer, one problem remains: China continues to restrict the free expression of religious belief.

According to their laws, only Chinese can give religious instruction, in effect keeping foreign missioners out of the country. Those that do enter China have to sign that they will not do any missionary work in the country.This paper--signed, sealed and thumb-printed--along with a duplicate copy of the plane ticket and the address of the hotel where they will stay, has to be  given to the consulate. Those without a religious connection are not bothered with this annoying step to get a visa.

The writer strongly believes that if China intends to be a leader in the world, they will have to be more flexible concerning religious liberty, adding that this suggested change is not only motivated by his religious beliefs. Whether or not you accept religion is immaterial, he says, in this case. Religion has been an important element in the history of the world and trying to control it by force is not a sign of a developed country, and even less a sign of a country intent on becoming a major player on the world stage.

The New Comfort Women

What is sexually suggestive is often in the eye of the beholder and yet when music videos are involved, according to the Catholic Times' weekly column on sexuality in the media, there are clear indications that the suggestive material is 'out there', and the entertainment industry is not unaware of this fact. In the Korean pop industry, some of the videos are subtly sexual, some overtly; and the government is trying to do something about it, especially when the participants in the videos are minors.

There have been serious scandals in the industry and more calls for regulating the industry. The Catholic Times' columnist mentions the popular 2009 video, "Mister"--a big hit in Japan--by the Kara Girl Group. To perform their "butt dance" special, he says the five Kara girls prepared for the routine by going on a severe diet regime. And at that time one of the girls was 16 years old.

Scenes of undressing, along with the choreography and lyrics, are enticing males to enter very naturally into the scenes. Typical of the rambling words accompanying the scenes: "Looking pretty good, you catch my eyes slowly, I develop interest toward you, tock, tock, the clock keeps flowing, I keep sending small glimpses toward you, I send small smiles toward you, now look at me, hey, hey, you, you mister, look over here mister, yea, that's right, you, mister, come next to me, mister (la la la la la la)."

The columnist points out that in the video there is a strong hint the sexual act is being performed when the words and actions are put together. He asks, "What is likely to happen after watching such a video? He tells us of the possibilities, including--if only in thought--having  sex with a minor.

He reminds us that Japanese culture has a reputation for toying with the Lolita complex--having sex with the very young. The culture justifies what he believes are the unconscious instincts of Japanese society, and advances and fulfills that desire to win popularity and to  make  money.

When you  reflect on this possibility, says the columnist, the Kara Girl Group can be seen as being cleverly manipulated by the Japanese culture to satisfy the "uncle fans" with their peculiar sexual desires. He concludes that we are exporting, once again, "comfort women" for the pleasure of Japanese males; he feels this assessment is no exaggeration. Historically, this description was applied to Korean women who were forced to serve as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers. It is an issue still not acknowledged by the Japanese. The columnist believes the term can be used to describe what is happening today, though more subtly, in the music video industry.

I Will be of Service

"I am the best." A billion-dollar baby, look at me: words of a   Korean pop song, popular and with  many awards. No doubt the words are said mockingly, but the thinking is  not that  rare, opines a journalist of the Catholic Times. "I am the best" is not the kind of understanding of self the  journalist wants to see influencing the world. Focus on the Ego is not what the world needs. Its opposite, service of the other is what Christianity is all about and without humility, one doesn't  go very far in unfeigned service of the other.

We hear the word service often in society. The politicians use it with the voters: a pledge to be of service to those who vote for them. In the Church, it is a topic frequently brought to our attention: Jesus who bent low to wash the feet of the disciples is the unprecedented  example of service. Service to others  is a concept we do not want to reflect on, for at the end of the day we know the outcome.  

Those served, are the ones who will have the hardest time in serving others. This is true, especially in the vertical Confucian society that we have in Korea. To ask those who are on top to serve those below,  without any self-servicing, is not easy: political leaders in society serving  citizens, parents--children, chairpersons-- members, clergy and religious--laity, seniors -- juniors, those who have-- those who don't. The journalist wonders if the words of our Lord about the camel, and the  eye of a needle  would not be appropriate in these cases.
 
Without being on our guard it is difficult not to serve ourselves. Reflecting on her job and the little authority  she has, she  wonders how easy it is to have it go to one's head. Humility does not come easy, a virtue that we have to work with and ardently desire.

She reminds us of our ancestors in the faith in their struggle against pride and their way of dealing with  it: 'Conquering the Seven'(Chil Geuk). These were the seven virtues used to overcome the seven capital sins: humility, love, patience, alms-giving, moderation, asceticism, and diligence.
 
One of the dioceses,  celebrating their 50th anniversary, has decided to deepen spirituality: "I will be of service." The clergy, religious and lay people are all to be of service to others. This is the duty of the whole Church. Not by words alone but by our actions, and she concludes, when we all bow our heads deeply to the other, the Church community will be what it is meant to be.