My Last Will and Testament

Writing in her weekly column in the Catholic Times, the columnist mentions a talk she gave on death before a parish women's club. November is the  month dedicated to the souls in purgatory, and the columnist tells us the women's group was well informed about what the liturgical month of November meant, but many said they had not thought of death. Daily life is like being on a roller coaster, she conceded, with little time to think of what is not directly in front of us. Death, she said, in the minds of these women was always connected with parents, older relations and friends, but was of little concern to them.

After finishing her talk with the group, she distributed a blank sheet of paper and asked them to write what they would like to see engraved on their tomb stone. On the reverse side of the paper they were to write the names of their family members, and what they would want to leave their family in their will. Judging by the expressions on their faces, she saw that they were mostly confused by her instructions. But they began to write.

After a while, she heard some sobbing from the group, as the thoughts coming to mind were difficult to keep under control as they proceeded to write. The thoughts surprised them; the women had never had the time before to entertain such thoughts because of their busy lives.

She mentioned the epitaph that was left us by George Bernard Shaw, the famous Irish play writer, who lived to be 94. On his tombstone is his light-hearted thought for all to consider when the thought of death seems difficult to accept. "I knew if I stayed around long enough, something like this would happen."

In the past death was seen as a part of life and all would stop to reflect on the death of a loved one. Rites would be at the home. The culture still sets aside days for the remembrance of the dead: New Years Day, the Autumn Festival, and the 105th day after the winter solstice, when families go to the grave sites to eat cold food and conduct the rites for the dead. During these days of festivity the ancestors are in the thoughts of family members, employing rites that bring the ancestors more easily to mind. The Church has very wisely promoted these rites, which continue to mean a great deal to the Koreans.

The columnist reminds us that thinking of death will help us make this Year of Faith more meaningful, especially if we write our last will and testament as a reminder to ourselves of how precious is the gift of life we have been given.

           

Women in the Church

Confucian society, without delving into subtleties, is both patriarchal and hierarchical. Simply put, the men are in command. In contrast, Catholicism, even though influenced during its short history in Korea by Confucianism, acknowledges that women have an extremely important role to play in the Church, but that they have not received the support one would expect. And yet the ones who are keeping the parishes functioning as loving communities of service are the women.

The Church has appointed women chancellors in dioceses around the world. They are experts at synods and world-wide meetings, professors of theology in universities, and papal-appointed theologians serving on International Theological Commissions. Because women are different from men, having complimentary natures, this diversity should be reflected in their roles within the Church. However, the teaching is also clear that women's rights and equal dignity with men have to be defended.
 
In the Korean Church, women have been given positions of authority over many areas of community and parish life. They are parish council members, even presidents of these councils, as well as leaders of other organized groups. The Peace Weekly introduces us to Cho Cecilia, the woman who is the parish council president of the Myeongdong Cathedral parish of Seoul, the face of Korean Catholicism.

Cecilia, the 22nd president of the cathedral, says: "I  will work with my feminine qualities to find those alienated in the different sectors of the parish and work to enable better communication and fellowship within the community."
 
58.5 percent of the Catholics in the diocese are women. Although there are more women than men in the diocese, only five parishes of the 220 parishes in Seoul have a woman president. Seeing the determination and resolve of Cecilia, the journalist interviewing the new president said we have another model of what can be accomplished by women, following the example of the first parish president, Kang Columba (1761-1801), who died a martyr.
 
"Women from 40-50 years of age are the majority of those working within the community," Cecilia said. "Although the women are the workers there are few who are members of the parish council. Their numbers have to increase. There had been talk of a woman parish council head for over ten years; that I finally became the president was the resolve of one pastor who worked to bring it about."

The selection as the parish council head is decided by the past presidents of the council who make up the advisory board. They present the names of qualified candidates for the position to the parish priest, who makes the final decision. Having been a parish council member for the last 15 years, also serving as its vice president, she has a good grasp of what is needed and how to achieve stated goals.Her intention is to have more cultural events and to help make the community more vibrant and attractive to the young and the many foreigners who come to the cathedral.

Postmodernism and Religious Life

 The desire for healing, not only of our disease-prone bodies but of our minds and spirits, is so pervasive in Korean society--spawning numerous health gurus and organizations--that it seems to have invaded  every nook and cranny of our society. The Catholic Times makes the healing quest the cover story of its recent edition.

The key to understanding much of what is going on in society can be found, according to the cover story, in this effort to heal ourselves from the unhealthy values of a materialistic, excessively competitive society. We turn to music to give us peace, food to cure our physical ailments, and trips to the country to sooth our troubled spirits. Items that promise healing are big sellers in markets; books on healing are best sellers. People seek to eat healing  foods, and  listen to healing music. During breaks at the office we participate in healing meditation; on weekends we go on healing journeys to famous places, and even when going to the bank, we are sometimes given items that are  meant to heal as bonuses.

Why do we have this emphasis on healing? The cover story suggests that it's a sign that something is wrong in our society: disparity in wealth, high unemployment, the house-poor, the wedding-poor, and the many who are in debt, and the number of suicides. The number of those going to hospitals for stress-related diseases has also increased greatly, even among 20-year-olds, and among both men and women reaching retirement age.

A religious sister at the Catholic university cites individualism, materialism, and consumerism as causes for fatigue, a common complaint because of our fast-paced lifestyle. We no longer can determine the direction of our future. Everything changes so quickly it's difficult to adapt, which moves many to search for healing. Another professor feels the postmodern mindset has added to the problem, with its emphasis on the individual and its rejection of absolute truths, leaving many to question the traditional truths that gave meaning to their lives. 

 Science and industrialization have brought material progress, but in the aftermath we lost ourselves, the sister said, adding that the popularity of internet social networking is an attempt to be grounded, and is at its core a search for healing.

We have been in search for utopia, she said, and it has turned into a mirage,many feeling they have been used, treated as slaves and tools. Consequently, the desire for healing has given us an excess of healing programs with many adverse side effects. The many different marketing methods and goods have not been tested and at times has brought more stress.

Adding to this stressful situation, Postmodernism plays up the individual: a me-view of life.  A book discussing  postmodernism and Christian morality,  quoted in the article, stated that postmodern ideas are in opposition to a religious understanding of life. Narcissism is the underlying premise for much of our thinking. Ignored are the traditional values that emphasize service to others, the 'we' understanding of relating and sharing with others.

This has given rise to many religious movements. A 1999 Gallup poll showed that 66 percent of the respondents mentioned peace of mind as the reason for their religious beliefs. A sign that the postmodern understanding of life has seeped into our understanding of religion. 

If it is peace of mind that one wants, then religions are irrelevant, their teachings and truths are not important. This is why some  Catholics have sought out practices like meditation, Zen, Yoga, energy training and the like.  It is all part of the same flow. There are some who say the Church has to understand this thinking and adapt to the needs of the time. This tendency in our society should alert the pastoral workers to the work that the Church should be doing. If we are dealing with Catholics who see peace of mind as the motivation for their religious practices, then this will give pastoral workers much to do.

Fifty Years after the Second Vatican Council

Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council there was a need to meet and talk about what has happened over the last fifty years in Korea. Sogang University sponsored a symposium with a number of authorities in their field of expertise to discuss the issues. The head of the sponsoring theological research center  expressed the need to make clear that what the Church wanted by convening the council was renewal. In order to do this, he said it's necessary not to be rigidly tied to traditional structures but to be open to reconciliation and dialogue.

Both Catholic papers gave a good deal of space to the meeting. One participant felt the rapid economic development of Korea, the disparity in wealth, the disappearance of concern for justice, peace and human rights, has brought on serious problems for the society. Within the Church, we have our own problems, he said, and wonders whether diocesan synods are legitimately convened to resolve Church issues or more likely just another reason for a social gathering.  Catholics do not have the leisure to digest what they hear, he said, being too involved in living, He questions whether the Church understand this.

Speaking for the women in the Church, another participant said women did most of the work in the Church, but are often not recognized for their contributions. Leadership in the Church should be shared by those who provide their service to the Church, and it is the women who are doing this, she said. Instead, in many cases, the men are in command and the women in helping roles.

Another participant mentioned the 1957 book by Yves Congar, "Lay People in the Church." Before the council when clergy had absolute authority, Congar made it clear that the laity also had the calling to priesthood, prophet and kingship roles. He wanted to see them given positions of leadership within the parish community.

At the beginning of the symposium, the president of the Korean Bishops Conference said, "It is not only the laity but also the priests who do not realize that the laity at their baptism have received the call to the universal priesthood of all believers. Each diocese and parish should make use of lay charisma and capabilities  so that they may more actively and positively  participate in the work of the Church."

The president also feels that as the Pope works with his bishop in the running of the Church, each diocesan bishop should work together with the other bishops in the work of the Church and not work independently of the Bishops Conference.

The idea of partnership within the Church is something we are hearing more of in recent years: the pope with his bishops, the bishops with their fellow bishops, diocesan bishops with their priests and laity, and the pastors with their congregations. Hopefully, these partnerships will blossom in the years to come. 

Future problems in society, concluded one of the articles, will not arise because of conflicts between the left and right, progressives and conservatives, but between those who are looking for the ultimate meaning of life and those who are not, between those who find it in the scriptures, and those who shortsightedly want to find it in what they see.

The Mandate to Live

In Korea like many other parts of the world, we are seeing a devaluation of the preciousness and  dignity of life. The rate of suicides in Korea is just one of the manifestations of this devaluation. In the Kyeongyang magazine  a professor emeritus introduces us to Ham Seok-heon(1901-1989) the Gandhi of Korea, a member of the Quaker movement  and a national cultural figure,  who suffered much for his convictions.

Ham's life pursuit can be summarized by three words: life, truth and peace.  By life he meant God's order to live, all life having this order from on high to burn with life's energy. We are given to participate in the workings of the universe, not solely with a cerebral understanding of how it works but with an understanding that is supported by the living of this reality.

Truth comes when we confront life with all that it brings. The many ordeals of daily living are ways to knowledge and wisdom, and understanding heaven's will

He was not happy with importing words from other languages. 5000 years of Korean history have given us, he insisted, enough words to understand life. If we cannot put it into our words, we should not be concerned. Life is always evolving, and it will have its fullness in heaven. God is participating in this imperfect world we live in. The universe is the root of life, and life is its flower, he said; they work  together for life. In history the will of God will be discovered.

Truth can't help but be related with life. Where can we find truth? For Ham, life is truth. The writer asks how does Ham come to this conclusion? Life at its beginning, he said, always has an order, a mandate. For a Korean this is an easily understood notion. The word life in Korean is made up of two  syllables. The first is the ideogram for life: a sprout from the earth, and the second ideogram signifies an order, a mandate. We have an order from above to live. It's not a choice to live or not to live, but an absolute order from God to live. We do not find truth in all the facets of life. The truth of life is found by going in the direction pointed out to us by God. For Ham, realizing this truth is the journey we are on.

Truth is already within us, according to Ham. Our hearts are in search of the truth; not only for those who search for the good but for those who are doing evil in one form or another. They too are searching for the good but are not finding it because they are looking in the wrong places and in the wrong way. We should look for the truth, says Ham, by living uprightly, with genuineness. The way to truth is found by cultivating our minds in faith, and by being born again.

Striving for truth will bring us more fullness of life. Though being finite creatures and never perfectly achieving this goal in this life, we must not cease from striving, recall the words of Jesus, "In a word, you must be made perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).

The conditions for the good life are based on our willingness to communicate, to share with others our openness, strength, passion, vitality, information, heart, mind, spirit; when they don't work together life comes to a standstill, preventing the flowering of life, and obstructing the real meaning  of our evolution, with the usual consequences of finding satisfaction in material possessions, in money and in pleasure. In the present moral atmosphere, Ham's words, according to the professor, are like talking to the wind, words empty of meaning for many.

"Life," says Ham, in a brief summation of his thought, "is something that we cannot exchange for the whole universe. Our hearts are what determine whether it's one day or a thousand years that we have lived. We are not on the earth to live for a hundred or a thousand years. But to live for eternity."

Learning to Live with Cancer

"I am relating with my cancer as I would with a friend. I am not pushing it out of my life and do not hate it." These are the words of the well-known poet Lee Hae-in Claudia, a Sister who has been fighting cancer for the last four years and has learned much in the battle.

She is 67 years old and, as the interviewing journalist notes, still exuding a great deal of happiness despite what she's been through. And still very active, traveling to all kinds of events and giving even more lectures than before the cancer was discovered.

Becoming depressed because of cancer is a normal occurrence, but for Sister Lee it did not happen that way. Every day, every moment, is filled with energy; there's no time to be depressed, she explained. The journalist was mystified by her ability to be happy despite the cancer, and expressed this to the poet. Sister said she had the same feelings the journalist had mentioned when she met Mother Teresa of Calcutta back in 1994 and asked her, What she found the most difficult thing in her life. Mother Teresa said it was when she felt Jesus was not there. The journalists scolded her, sister said, for not  asking Mother Teresa when she was the happiest, instead of when she was unhappy. But Sister Lee began  talking  again  about her own periods of difficulty and how they had made her stronger.  

Giving  oneself completely to living the religious life is not easy and becoming famous has brought even more difficulties. Things that I didn't want were happening, the Sister said, and she feared  being exposed to the world. She was not comfortable traveling and giving lectures. But after 30 years of being lauded for her poetry she has grown used to it, and can now harmonize her religious life and her public activities.

After the discovery of colon cancer, her life was bound to change a great deal, she admitted. And the thought of being kept in a room and being treated for the cancer did enter her mind, but it was not what happened. She did not have to wrestle with her inner feelings and took it in stride.  When she went for chemotherapy, it was like going on a picnic. When she gave talks to those battling cancers, she said their tears were a consolation to her. The cancer has prompted much of her poetry; without it, she says, she would not have written.

Those who have met sister only by reading her poetry believe she must be a quiet, meditative person; those who know her personally, however, see her as a strong and joyful person.  She mentions that as a child she was very self-conscious but realized that this was perceived as being smug. She entered the convent and  worked at becoming  a joyful person, where she has found, she says, the happiness she was looking for.

What is your key to happiness? the journalist asked her.  "To live each day as the last and to live each moment to the fullest," was the response.

Autumn Visit

North Korea Autumn Visit

(October 16^th – November 1^st, 2012)

The following is a short report on the most recent visit by the Eugene Bell Foundation to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

This autumn’s trip took place from October 16^th – November 1^st. Our delegation was invited by the North Korean Ministry of Public Health. It included Dr. Stephen Linton; his wife, Cecilia Lee Linton; Dr. Justin Seung, medical director and tuberculosis specialist; Fr. Gerard Hammond M.M., Eugene Bell Foundation board member; Fr. Michael Roncin MEP, Fr. Christopher Berard(Lyons Archdiocese) and Mrs. Leslie Horne, Seoul Foreign School teacher.

We picked up our visas at the DPRK Consulate in Beijing

on October 15^th and took the Air Koryo flight to Pyongyang the next day. We were met by a 7 member team composed of officials from the Ministry of Public Health, tuberculosis specialists and technicians. The North Korean team traveled with us during the entire sixteen day visit. As usual, our delegation stayed at the Kobangsan Guest House, a facility located about 20 kilometers northeast of Pyongyang operated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On our first day we visited EugeneBell’s warehouse at the Central Medical Depot in Pyongyang. This guarded facility is the main distribution point for medications donated to the Ministry of Public Health. We arranged for transport of medications and supplies to six of the eight multi-drug tuberculosis treatment facilities supported by EugeneBell. Because arranging separate shipment to distant facilities is difficult, we loaded medications and supplies for the two most distant facilities on our own trucks.

EugeneBell has been assigned to North Korea’s two northwestern provinces (North and South Pyongan) where approximately 1/3^rd of the population lives. We have approximately 800 multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients under treatment this autumn. EugeneBell’s program is the only one available in North Korea and reaches only about 5% of the multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients in the North Korea.

We left for the Sunchon MDR Tuberculosis Treatment Center, North Pyongan Province at 4 am the next morning (October 17^th) and did not get back to the Guesthouse until after 10 pm that night. Travel to and from another T.B centers took even longer due to rainy weather and bad road conditions.

At each center we visit the procedure is the same. Our team collects sputum samples and takes X-rays of all registered patients. Sputum samples from prospective patients are tested using the three GeneXperts machines we bring with us. (The Taejon Diocese, Maryknoll and Seoul Foreign School each donated one of these high-tech machines. Within two hours GeneXperts are able to determine whether someone has tuberculosis, and whether their tuberculosis is resistant to the primary drug for treating tuberculosis.) New patients are selected according to the results of these tests. While the other members of our delegation help with collecting sputum, weighing patients, copying medical documents, and taking pictures to confirm patient identities, our medical director consults with the local North Korean physicians to determine which patients have completed treatment. We hold a ‘graduation ceremony’ for all patients who are being discharged. One of our final tasks is to distribute another six-month supply of medication to all old and new patients.

Completing all of these tasks takes at least nine hours and makes for a very long day as we process approximately 100 patients at each center. Because tuberculosis is an airborne disease, all of our work with patients must be done outside as it would be dangerous to be in close contact with highly-infectious patient’s in-doors. This is the primary reason our visits take place in spring and autumn. This visit we only had two rainy days and the weather did not turn cold until our last day, for which we were grateful.

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is a difficult disease to treat, particularly in patients who have been ill for as long as most North Korean sufferers. Our cure-rate has risen from about 50% to 60% and we expect results will continue to improve as the program becomes more established. As a consequence, these visits have both happy and sad moments. There are many deaths and some patients do not respond to the medications we bring, despite our best efforts. Someday we hope to have hospices for those who fail treatment but as yet we can do little for them. On the other hand, we are encouraged when we see cured patients discharged to return to their families in good health.

Ambassador Edward Pietrzyk invited me to celebrate Mass at the Polish Embassy on Sunday October 28^th. He sent invitations to other members of the 24 diplomatic missions and members of the international community in Pyongyang. There have been six Masses offered at the Polish Embassy since 2010. Attendance has ranged from 48-62 Catholics and Protestants, including children. After each Mass the Ambassador invites everyone to a luncheon reception. This time the new ambassador for Sweden attended the Mass. Though he is not a Catholic, he invited our delegation to visit his Embassy. His wife is a fervent Catholic.

On The Feast Day of All Saints we said our goodbyes to our North Korean Ministry of Public Health team members. We also thanked the employees at the government guesthouse who go out of their way to make our visits as comfortable as possible by providing meals for us no matter how late we return from our visits to treatment centers.

Although we have just returned, we are already making preparations for our next visit scheduled for April 2013. Eugene Bell’s multi-drug resistant program may expand to North Korea’s east coast next year.

Catholics are an important source of support for the Eugene Bell Foundation’s work in North Korea, both for funding and for personnel. Due to North Korea’s reluctance to allow South Korean citizens to visit undeveloped areas, the Foundation depends on non-Koreans who speak Korean to staff its delegations. Persons with these qualifications who are willing to volunteer their time are not easy to find. I hope more Catholics; particularly members of religious communities in the Republic of Korea, will become involved. This is a unique opportunity to minister to people who suffer from a deadly disease in desperate need of help.