Korean Religious Sisters

Globalization can include the less publicized idea that we are coming closer together, not only economically, but by sharing our thinking and acting in other areas of life. This increasingly smaller world of ours is influencing us for good or ill. And this merging of cultures will exert its influence, knowingly or unknowingly on each of us, depending on the values we hold. A daily secular paper refers to this particular 'globalizing influence' as possibly contributing to the recent lack of women entering the convent in Korea.

A sister, in her sixties, meeting the wife of her brother, laments, "We don't have any young sisters anymore. Not having younger sisters available, parish work is no longer going as smoothly as in the past, she said. One sister said that her community in recent years has had no prospects.

What we have seen in Europe, where Catholicism was once strong, we are beginning to experience here in Korea. In the year 2000, 318 sisters entered the order; in 2013, 112 entered.

Although the number of Catholics has increased, the number of vocations to the religious life has decreased. Those who have studied the issue believe that the changing, more secular values of the younger generation and the change in family life are mainly responsible for the lack of vocations.  A religious sister teaching in the religious studies department of the Catholic University says the more open a society becomes, the fewer are the  number of vocations. Today, women have easier access to the workplace, and more opportunities to develop themselves in the way they want. This greater freedom in the workplace for women will make it difficult for them to choose the restrictive lifestyle of the convent.

Devout Catholics, for the most part, have looked upon a vocation to the religious life as a blessing. And even though the desire for grandchildren was strong they were willing sacrifice for what they considered a greater good. Today, with many families content to having one or two children, this way of thinking is disappearing.

With less sisters available, the work in the parishes is taking a serious blow, as well as the welfare work of the church. In the 60s and 70s, the sisters were working with orphans, nurseries and day-care centers. Now they are working with unmarried mothers and the elders--perhaps the clearest sign of the changing values of our society.

A seminary rector said, "This is not just a Catholic thing; we see this happening in most of the religious world." What is not easily seen, he went on to say, is overlooked by society. One sister said that the values of society, materialism and pleasure seeking do not fit in with the values of the religious life. One sister who has worked in the medical field feels that if this trend continues, the future prospects of Catholic hospitals will be jeopardized.  

Another opinion was expressed by a sister who said that the religious were doing the work that society should have been doing all along. Now that the government has gotten involved by providing the necessary personnel and finances, the work of the sisters is no longer necessary. She believes there is no need for concern.

We All Want to be Happy

St. Augustine said, "All persons want to be happy and no one is happy who does not have what they want." An obvious fact, perhaps, but a layperson writing in the Seoul diocesan bulletin believes that what we want must not  be influenced by our moods or by any particular environment we find ourselves in. It must be based, he says, on something more permanent than these transient things.

He recalls his days in the military, in his early 20s, at which time he received word that his mother had died in an accident, and a few years later his father  died following an illness. 

His whole life changed in the coming years. He had to work part-time while going to school, and for a number of years, he was faced with both mental and physical problems, which he said were difficult to describe.  Some years later, he met his future wife, became a Catholic, and started a family. He now considers himself a very happy man and is able daily to find meaning in life.  He feels this was all arranged in God's providence: the call we all have received.

As a family man, a worker, and a Christian, the value he considers primary is happiness. For this reason, he has as an aim in life to help others find happiness. We all have been created to be happy, he says. Our loving God wants us to be happy, having sowed the seed of happiness within all of us. Only those who want to be happy will be happy, he says;  those not happy can do nothing to help those who want to be happy.

Happiness does not come to us as if it's separate from our daily lives. It's always there: On our way to work, at the workplace, in the family, in our meetings with others. Happiness is nurtured with politeness, attentive listening, and caring conversation. Sharing happiness we increase it, not only with material things but by our visible concern and by our smiles--whatever will serve to show our interest in the welfare and happiness of others.

Happiness also comes by acknowledging a certain personal lack. It does not mean to have more but to be interested in what we presently have. We have many things right now but are we taking an interest in what we have?  Balance and  leisure are necessary; living in the fast lane will not bring us lasting happiness. How much of the 24 hours that we have each day is set aside for God? he wonders. Pope John Paul II before he died said,  "I am happy; you should be, too." What did we do today to be happy? 

Resignation of Pope Benedict

The coming resignation of Pope Benedict at the end of this month did not generate much sympathy in the mass media of the West, according to the desk columnist of the Catholic Times. The media generally saw the resignation as resulting from the clerical sexual abuse scandal, from the so-called Vatican leaks and the infighting within the Vatican itself.

Although a well-respected journalist writing on the Vatican says it's difficult to say these problems had nothing to do with the resignation, and another journalist, quoting a Cardinal, believes the Vatican Leaks probably did have something to do with the pope's decision, our writer believes it's necessary to see the issue with a little more impartiality.To say these problems were the only reasons for the resignation, he says, is to deal in sensationalism and exaggeration. That the Vatican is in need of purification  and reformation is nothing new. The Church is not a community of  angels but of human beings with all the faults that come along with being human.

Are the problems faced by the pope  any different from the scandal of worldwide poverty? Of abortions? The frequency of local wars and terrorism? The relativism and secularism that threaten religions? Are they really any different from the scandals in the Vatican? Can one say with any certainty that Vatican-related problems had more to do with the resignation of the pope than the problems that threaten the stability of the whole world?

Most likely the reason for the resignation, the columnist imagines, is the pope's desire to see someone replacing him who is younger, with the vigor and enthusiasm that comes with youth, and thus better able to deal with the present crisis facing the Church and the world. There is no need to look for worldly motives, or to look at the resignation with gloom as something full of intrigue. He believes it was simply the humble move of a pope who, because of age and health problems, decided that what the Church needs now is someone who would do a better job than he's capable of doing at this point in his life.

Small Basic Christian Communities

In January of this year,  an Intercontinental  Symposium was organized by Adveniat, Missio and the University of Tubingen. The general manager of the Bishops' Committee for Small Christian Communities, who attended as a representative from Asia, reported in the Catholic Times on the 3-day meeting.

In attendance were about 240 pastoral workers, theologians and students of theology, ranging in age from 20 to 80. The theme of the symposium was taken from  I John 1:3, "What we have seen and heard we proclaim," which was to be an overview of how the teaching of Vatican II was implemented, a preview of the possible direction the Church would take in the future, how the different continents have fostered the small basic Christian community movement, and what they have learned over the years. Europe is having great difficulty in  continuing  the ways of the past. Old and in crisis, it is searching for new ways of being church.The lack of priests and vocations, the closing of churches, and the aging population of Christians were the reasons given for the increased interest in moving toward Small Basic Christian Communities.
  
A Sister from South America talked about their small communities which were working for justice and peace in order to establish God's  kingdom of love. They passed through difficulties and opposition, she said, but because of the laity's enthusiasm and creativity, they were able to persevere, and the communities have thrived. A professor from the Philippines said there is a tendency to see the small community movement as a special program or organization rather than, more accurately, seeing it more as a vision for the future Church.

A professor from Germany told about the help that was given to Germany by the LUMKO Research Institute so that the Scriptures could more easily be shared with one another. Since 2000, the German Church has been looking for ways to make the Basic Christian Community fit into their culture.

Each continent will have to find ways in which the movement will best find a home in  their culture. The effort is to meet Jesus in the word that he has left us and  to experience the fellowship  of being together with others, especially the poor and those  alienated from society; our efforts will thus be channeled in the direction that Jesus wants us to take in these difficult times. The Korean Church has put much effort into developing the movement.  There has been problems but they continue to see the importance of educating the participants for greater understanding and  efforts made  to increase the numbers participating in these basic communities.
 

Using Our Leisure Time Wisely

In the Seoul diocesan bulletin, a person working in the field of communications writes about buying  a smartphone about a year ago. He had a feeling of satisfaction in having become one of the smart ones and used the phone in a variety of ways. He could send messages without cost, listen to music, and keep up with the news. This small instrument no bigger than his hand was giving him a lot of pleasure.

Waiting for a bus or an elevator, he would be bent over the smartphone toying with the keyboard. Seemingly, he was using his spare time wisely, but the reality was very different. The number of books he was accustomed to reading decreased by one fourth.  He was always busy and concerned about such matters as how much battery time did he have left. Even when he was with his family, he would be busy at the small monitor of the smartphone. The day would start with the smartphone and end with the smartphone.

According to the ads on TV, having a smartphone was being chic and happy; according to the writer, it was just the opposite. What was unnecessary to do he found himself doing diligently and smartly. What was happening to him? he began to wonder. He came to feel that he wasn't using his smartphone; his phone was using him. At the beginning of the New Year, he resolved not to use it during weekends and after work hours.

This was done not to distance himself from the digital world but to bring more balance into his life. When the smartphone was turned off no catastrophic change came into his life. He was able to spend time reading, meditating and praying, and was able to spend precious time with his family, and to appreciate the beauties of creation. The time between the busy and slow times in his life were now opportunities he used to make them creative, restoring the balance in his life that he had lost. 

Time is God's precious gift. We are like a container, prepared to receive many precious seeds but we can also fill the container with bad seeds. We should be  vigilant in discerning what we are filling our container with. Avoiding the so-called "smart" commodities that we are being induced to buy, may in fact be the smartest thing we can do in our aggressively commercialized  society. 

Partnership Within the Church

Most pastoral workers, including priests, would like to see more cooperation among workers who have been entrusted to care for the parish community. Writing in a bulletin for priests, a pastor discusses the difficulties of activating the Gospel message of love and unity within the community setting.  But when this does become the common responsibility of all Christians, the pastor said, the attraction of Jesus' message is made visible for all to see.

Even though many pastoral workers have this ideal in mind and work diligently to achieve a viable community, knowing it was Jesus' intention in sending his disciples out  in pairs, we know, said the pastor, that working together with others is  difficult. It requires planning together, drawing up the steps to be taken, and going ahead together to promote the work. It's a painstaking process that often brings disharmony, and a reason many are tempted to do it alone; it's much easier and the results come more quickly--but at the same time, the community becomes less vital and less important. 

The difficulties of working together are easy to understand: the Korean family structure is patriarchal, shaped by the Confucian culture that influenced the society for hundreds of years. It's the reason many give for explaining why priests tend to push ahead with projects on their own, not knowing how to work well with others. Living alone, a priest does not find it easy to work with others, and the longer this is the case the more difficult it will be for him to leave the comfort of doing it alone and work with others.

Despite these difficulties, the pastor stresses the necessity for a priest to periodically discuss matters important to the community, to hear various opinions and then decide together how best to proceed. It is during this process, the pastor said, that we receive encouragement, face challenges and are able to acquire wisdom and experience.

There are many cases, however,  where the priests, assistants, religious, and laity are working together but do not find satisfaction nor are they happy in the results of their efforts. The pattern of working together is there but the expected satisfaction is missing. There is often an unfulfilled need for feeling more at ease when expressing opinions, especially when they don't agree with those of the priest, and a need to create a more enthusiastic and creative working environment where everyone feels like an equal participant.

The priest should be able to ask everyone he's working with--his assistant priest, the sister, the president of the pastoral council, all those involved with managing the community affairs--Are you happy working together? At first, they may not speak from the heart, but with time, knowing the sincerity of the question, they will have an honest answer to give. Jesus was always interested in what people expected from him. The pastor feels that another good question to ask those working in community is, What is it that you desire? The answers to both questions could help define the future direction of the parish community.

Selecting One who is Wise and Holy

With the disappearance of the last moth the chapter on small white caterpillars appearing on the kitchenette ceiling of the rectory came to an end. Some two months ago each morning the ceiling would be crawling with caterpillars. Each morning an effort was made to rid the ceiling of  the  unsightly creatures and  figure out where they were coming from.

Faced with the daily appearance of the larvae, I took a few of them and showed them to the Christians. They surmised that it could be some animal  that had died somewhere about the ceiling. It looked like the larvae you would find in a bag of rice, they said,  and recommended looking for the dead animal, or fumigating the house.

After a few more days of ridding the ceiling  of the larvae I called the community to the  rectory after Mass. About 10 of the Catholics came to the rectory and starting examining the area. Some looked for places that would allow the caterpillars to come down from above and one woman, in particular, started opening all the cabinet doors and checking the contents.  This had been done many times before without results. Suggestions were coming from the group when the woman took a box of oat meal  that had never been opened: took off the top and   showed us the origin of the larvae. They had eaten most of the contents.

Without doubt the discovery would have been made before efforts at fumigation or looking for dead animals. The  woman who made the discovery was  working from  personal  experience, knowledge and natural wisdom, sure that it was coming from below rather than  above. The  caterpillars disappeared gradually from the ceiling and in their place the  moths.

In this situation everyone knew the woman had found the reason for the larvae. There was no argument only acquiescence  at the discovery. Most of our problems however are not of this type but opinions without the possibilities in most cases of a  clear and unequivocal answers.

And  yet the wisdom of the past both in the East and West  acknowledged that  certain persons were better adept in judging and giving solutions. In most cultures they were the  wise  and holy people, standards that were not always the same. These person were for one reason or another persons you went to  for help.

Money, numbers, sympathizers and the mass media, for good or bad, are what seems to move us and take the place of the 'enlightened' ones of years past. As bad as the system may be,  many believe it  still is  the best available. However, the Cardinals will be getting together in a few weeks to select the new pope. Each of them will, in effect, want to select a person who for them is a wise and a holy person. They will pray that it is the choice God wants at this time and trust they can do it with simplicity and humility.