Everything Will be Well

"Everything will go well. Everything will be fine. All manner of things shall be well." (Julian of Norwich) A religious sister in her article in the Catholic Times gives us an idea of the times of this contemplative nun.

Julian of Norwich is a 14th-century mystic and anchoress who lived during the time of the Black Death which brought great confusion to society, at a time when the church was struggling with power squabbles. 

In Julian's autobiography, there is a phrase that says: "everything will be all right" repeated three times. This is her core message, which says, "God is love, and God's love will eventually win." 

These words of Julian, who survived the pain of death and did not lose hope and trust in God, reverberate in the hearts of believers who have to deal with this long period of quarantine and exhaustion from the Coronavirus Infection.

She wants to meditate on these words of infinite affirmation in a time when we on the feast of Easter were not able to meet to celebrate. What are we to take from this unprecedented situation? She wants us to have us remember: "God is love, and God's love will eventually win."

Pope Francis began Holy Week by sending video letters to families worldwide. The Pope's warm advice reminds us to remember many who have worked hard in these difficult times, especially those who are alone, and those isolated with Corona 19, he urges us to find ways with the 'Creativity of Love' to send messages in the spirit of love to those around us.

The hermits of Julian's day were also isolated in small rooms, but spiritual liberty connected them to others, as healers and counselors. 

Recently, unable to meet directly with believers in each parish, priests and religious encouraged believers by phone calls and messages. Besides, various videos of consolation and encouragement introduced by the social media were seen as a new form of communication that showed 'Creativity of Love' beyond the difficulties.

Corona 19 brought many unusual phenomena, both good and bad to our attention. As the world pauses for a while, we see how the outcome of some development for human convenience, not for our good, is being restored to a healthier state. As industrial activities decrease, the atmospheric environment improves, the sky opens transparently, and in the homes, families spend a lot of time together and relationships are recovering. 

The virus doesn't discriminate it infects anyone, but the structure of inequality that has been established in human society has a sad phenomenon that results in a more letal mortality rate for the socially disadvantaged. 

However, because of this, the 'public health system' is better maintained, 'basic income' so that everyone can evenly maintain human dignity is systematically introduced, and a 'social safety net' is established so that socially disadvantaged people are helped. Also, structural and institutional alternatives have been proposed to overcome the 'climate crisis', a major cause of the corona problem.

Human pride has done much harm to creation and 'Corona 19' has shown us why. God will turn crisis into opportunity through our change of heart. 'Post-Corona' should be a time to make a transition to a sustainable society that lives in harmony with all creation. 

"We are in God and God whom we do not see is in us."

 

 

Grace of TV Masses

To prevent new coronaviruses, not only the Korean Catholic Church but also the Vatican has ceased all Masses. Pope Francis, says Mass daily without believers, broadcast live on the Internet for the first time. A priest writing in the Eyes of The Believer Column of the Catholic Times gives his ideas on TV Masses.

In Korean churches, the number of Internet YouTube channel Mass inquiries has increased tremendously, and the weekly broadcast Mass from the Catholic Peace Broadcasting TV is on the rise from 3 to 5 times, and the weekly broadcast Mass has increased 10 times. Compared to the days of the past, when only Christmas or the Easter Mass were celebrated by the Pope. We have a big change.

The main audience of TV Mass is composed of believers. Among the believers, the elderly, the sick, pregnant women, and those who are unable to participate in Mass due to travel or business. Of course, TV Mass viewers can actively participate in the liturgy of the Word, but cannot receive Holy Communion. It's not the same as attending Mass in church but the second-best.

TV Mass has the effect of conditionally substituting for the obligation of attending Sunday Mass but there are other advantages. First, provide opportunities for evangelization, directly or indirectly. TV Mass plays an important role in encouraging the religious life of Catholics belonging to the community, mission stations, various groups, foreign migrants, etc. Also, TV Mass contributes to the evangelization of the culture by informing society that the Catholic Church exists in this culture impregnated with materialism and individualism.

As a second advantage, it makes the Mass more intimate; the viewers see the actions of the priest at the altar from different angles and closer than would be the case in church. The third advantage is that TV Mass helps spiritual life. As individualism becomes more prevalent, young married people, elderly people living alone, those disconnected from their neighbors, many are experiencing human alienation, consequently, the deeper need for spirituality to find meaning, to bring inner calm. In this situation, TV Mass can fill one's spiritual thirst and remind the viewer they are members of a community of faith. The church should develop and expand these TV Masses in a way that makes them more effective.

As a pastor of a community, the writer mentions how he notices over time that the numbers attending Mass continue to decrease. The increase in apathy plays a part, but also travel, weekend leisure, or work, aging, etc. However, according to a survey conducted by the US Pew Research Center in 2019, Korea's smartphone penetration rate was 95%, ranking first in the world. In a situation where the majority of people spend a day with their smartphones, it would be good to emphasize the benefits of religious life through more active promotion and use of TV Masses. 

God works through the media. In the Encyclical Communio et Progressio: The Church sees the media as 'gifts of God' by His providential design, unite men in brotherhood and so help them to cooperate with His plan for their salvation. "It is the mission of those with responsible positions in the Church to announce without fail the full truth by the means of social communication, to give a true picture of the Church and her life. Since the media are often the only channels of information that exist between the Church and the world, a failure to use them amounts to "burying the talent given by God" (#123).

Therefore, the church needs a more active attitude towards the media suitable for mission and ministry. God's grace comes in many ways. Those who watch TV Masses will be open to grace. Sometimes, comforted, renewing one's identity as a believer, and the feeling of belonging to the church community.

Freedom Needs to Have Limits

We continue to be flooded with news, special video reports, articles, all kinds of media keeping us updated with what is happening here and the rest of the world with Corona 19. The Peace Column of the Peace Weekly gives the readers some thoughts to reflect on during this time.

The articles the writer reads about the corona 19 outbreak, are messages to him coming from the earth to humankind.  He understands them coming from the 'Creator God' and related to global warming.

Updating to [April 12, in the United States, a world's superpower, the number of deaths from corona has exceeded 20,000] so the global village is panicking. In Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom, the death toll could range from thousands to tens of thousands. It is not an exaggeration to say that the corona crisis will result in the largest number of deaths since World War II. 
The bigger problem is that we don't know how serious and long-lasting this crisis will be. Even if in June and July with the temperature rising and we see a change, without a vaccine, it can recur at any time. The various effects such as economic, social and political are difficult to measure. It is also predicted that the U.S. unemployment rate will exceed 30%, the highest since the Great Depression.

In Korea, the decrease in demand has led to an increase in the closure of businesses dealing with travel, flights, food, furniture, clothing, and electronics. This leads to unemployment. The service industry is more than 60% of Korea's industrial output. It doesn't sound ridiculous to say that economic paralysis is more frightening than more deaths.

Corona 19 is said to be a common infectious disease such as SARS, swine flu, and MERS. It is caused by pathogens that spread between animals and humans. The habitat of wild animals has been greatly reduced due to the destruction of the human ecosystem and contact with humans has increased. More than 70% of the new infectious diseases that occurred in the last 20 years are common animal/human infections.  They can develop more often in the future.

Ecosystem destruction is known to have the greatest impact on global warming. This is due to greenhouse gases from excessive use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal. Because of this, wetlands are disappearing and dry areas and desertification are increasing. Due to extreme weather conditions, the frequency and intensity of drought, flood, typhoons have also increased.

Human ethical corruption is always present. The neoliberal system is the foundation for unlimited growth and consumer desire. Neo-liberalism promotes free markets, deregulation, and minimization of state intervention in the market because of reduced efficiency.
 
"Everything that is as vulnerable as the natural environment in front of the interests of the market, which has become an absolute rule, must be defenseless. In the meantime, economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority tends to be given to speculation and the pursuit of financial gain, which fail to take the context into account, let alone the effects on human dignity and the natural environment. Here we see how environmental deterioration and human and ethical degradation are closely linked. Many people will deny doing anything wrong because distractions constantly dull our consciousness of just how limited and finite our world really is" (Laudatio Si #56).

Pain is said to be a school of love. The Corona event can be God's way of instructing us that the way we are living needs to be changed. If we demand to be free to do what we want when we want, life in the global village will suffer. We need to respect God's creative order, respect all creatures in the global ecosystem as well as people, and live a life of solidarity.
 
This period after the Resurrection is to be freed internally to continue to refrain from the unhealthy desires we gave up in Lent. The church, which has postponed offline Mass indefinitely, should be a sign of the times and suggest new standards and new ways of spreading the good news of new life.

Searching For Happiness

In the Weekend Letter column of the Catholic Times, a novelist introduces us to a four-letter Chinese expression 邯鄲之步, (Citizens of Handan were admired for their walking style). Lesson learned: Beware of being enamored by what we see and forget what we can't see).  

A young man in the time of the Yuan Dynasty (BC 403~BC 221) admired the way those in another area of the country walked. He leaves his own country and goes to Handan to learn but before he succeeds in learning the new gait, he forgets his own way of walking and crawls back home. 

As a believer in God, our spiritual life often imitates this way of acting. Humans constantly want happiness, but, inevitably, we never find what we seek. In search of happiness, we are filled with many false ideas and forget that for Christians happiness is a gift—grace.

Anxiety is a component of the human condition. It afflicts humans in many forms: deficiencies, demands, sadness, suffering, and death. We can't give up our human desire for earthly happiness even if we know it will not be realized; this effort is the essence of will, even when goals are reached, other aspects of our desires will appear for the will to pursue. 

So, while trying to expel anxiety you can't do anything other than try to change the appearance of the anguish bothering us. This anxiety is inevitable, and one pain is expelled by another, and when one pain disappears, new pain appears. 

When we don't get what we want, its value seems to surpass everything, but once we get it, it looks different and a similar desire captures us and we hunger for it. In other words, lack is a prerequisite for all joy. Hence, satisfaction or happiness is nothing more than emancipation from what we lack.

Therefore, even if we strive tirelessly from hope to hope we may never end satisfying ourselves. This is because we don't realize we are pouring water into a bottomless jar. In this way, even if it is not realized, it leads to desire that cannot be given up, and this desire ends only by being blocked; if left alone, it goes on infinitely.

These desires appear differently to the lower and the upper classes in society. Poverty is the scourge of the lower classes but the upper classes have a more severe scourge, boredom, the search for sensory stimuli to be rewarded with pleasure. At this time anxiety is the choice between truth or pleasure. 

With a strange type of vanity, I try to be happy in this life with my own powers, but I cannot live properly with these powers. With faith and prayer, we need to realize that without the help of the one who gave us these powers we will not achieve what we desire.

We should accept the difficulties of life that we can't change; a true believer is not uneasy about life but has gratitude for graces received and responds in prayer.

Living the Paschal Mystery in Corona 19 Era

On this Holy Saturday, our hearts are filled with many thoughts, prayers, and anxiety about the future.

Lent began without Mass, no ashes on Ash Wednesday. We expected to begin several times with a date, only to be told the quarantine would be extended; finally, extended without a date.
 
Lent was without the liturgy but with the opportunity to internalize it in a way never imagined. Many are those that found it difficult: families who have lost a loved one, the sick and those filled with anxiety and not least of all, those prepared for baptism at the Easter Vigil.

We are all trying to live the Paschal Mystery. The catechumens and all of us are desiring to make this movement from one way of life to another—a Passover. This is the Paschal Mystery that is so important in our lives as Christians. Is it not the pivotal mystery of Christian life?
 
During Lent, the readings for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays give the catechumen and all Christians the message of the Scrutinies. These are the readings for the liturgical A year.
 
In the first of the readings, the Church is asking the persons to be baptized if they have personally encountered Jesus in their preparation. The Samaritan woman meeting Jesus changed her whole life in a very dramatic way and the Church is hoping this will happen to the newly-baptized. It was a meeting that the woman never imagined was possible, changed her thinking, way of life and the lives of those she had difficulty living with.
 
The second reading on the 4th week is the blind man. The church wants us to accept the fact that we are spiritually blind, deaf and dumb but don't realize it. The blind man in the reading knew of his handicap and desired a change. The catechumens during their months of study should come to a realization of this reality and have a strong desire to be healed. Spiritual blindness is a more serious handicap than physical blindness, but not easily comprehended.
 
On the third Sunday, we have the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Life is much more than just breathing and moving and doing our daily tasks. We hear often that many go through life never having lived. God is calling us to come out of the tombs we have made for ourselves, and in the reading, it was not Jesus that freed Lazarus to move, but the community was asked to "unbind him, let him go free." We need others to grow and begin to live.
 
Lent ends with the beginning of Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper and the start of the Holy Triduum— Holy Thursday, Good Friday the Easter Vigil/ Easter Sunday. They are three days but can be considered one day in which we meditate on the Paschal Mystery and the way we should be living it. The Passover from death to life. This year, many, will miss the liturgical representation of the "Passover" but hopefully, it will still mean a 'pass over' to a new life—a gift—ready to receive with outstretched hands.
 
Jesus gave us the ultimate paradox when he said we have to lose our lives to save them. This sounds crazy, doesn't make sense, counter-intuitive and yet it is the lesson that Christ has given us and we try to experience during these days of Triduum and live daily.

The Coronavirus has entered the lives of most of the world; as Christians, we try to make sense of what it teaches us about life and help us to change the way we think and act.

 A Blessed Easter.

Corona 19 Experiment in Community Building

Corona19 is now the biggest crisis and trial facing humanity. Writing in the Catholic Peace Weekly a college professor tells the readers he feels trials come with gifts. So he is curious. What will humanity gain through this severe Corona trial?

He introduces the readers to an article by Yuval Harari, the author of Sapiens, in the Financial Times,  suggesting the gift that humanity will receive through the Corona 19. His message, according to the professor will teach us that we are a world community. Will it be the road of disunity or global solidarity?

We can choose surveillance and control symbolized by 'Big Brother', or a democratic society that respects individual freedom— autonomy, to pursue only national interests or global solidarity for win-win cooperation. What should we choose?

There may be a movement to move toward a more tightly controlled society for the sake of public health. If big data and artificial intelligence are added to information and communication technology, it will be possible to build a surveillance system that routinely looks into people's health. Temptation only for self-interest is great. The United States, which has been proud of its role as a global leader, has long since abandoned its role since Trump. In a crisis like Corona, how many countries are struggling to block their borders and protect their people.

The Republic of Korea is a very rare case. It took a democratic way of respecting citizens' autonomy rather than state control and maintained thorough immigration measures instead of blocking borders. It did not block the borders, even in the areas where the infectious disease was exploding, and there was no hoarding overcome by anxiety and fear.

The world evaluates and follows the remarkable achievements of the nation's disaster response system based on three pillars of openness, transparency, and democracy, with outstanding medical technology, creative ideas, public-private commitment, and public participation.

Corona19 is an on the spot experiment on community. What is a community? Is it like a military force, without freedom, all in perfect order?  No. Community respects diversity and the voluntary will of the members, and harmony is found despite conflicting interests. In the face of the crisis, reality is revealed. 

If we are able to have trust, unity, solidarity, and openness instead of choosing disbelief, division, and closure in the face of the crisis, it will be a step toward a true community. It's not a faraway dream, but our story since the corona crisis.

Corona Virus and The Environment

In the recent issue of the Catholic Peace Weekly, a special feature was a report on a panel discussing the causes of the Corona 19 new infections. The entire world seems helpless facing the spreading of Corona19. Even before Corona 19, new viruses such as SARS, H1N1, and MERS continued to appear. The cause of corona19 has not been clarified to date, but most of the causes of new viruses are related to wild animals. But experts say that the more fundamental cause is climate change. The climate change brought about by human indiscriminate development and destruction of the ecological environment is the cause of new infectious diseases including Corona19.

In this regard, Catholic Peace Broadcasting prepared a special talk for Corona 19 and listened to experts talking on the theme of "Natural Counterattack, Virus."  Corona 19 is also said to be more serious than World War II. How to see the current situation. Not only health and life but also political, social and economic fields are affected. The biggest problem is the unpredictability. It is a factor that causes fear and anxiety. It is difficult for experts to predict how long the Corona 19 will last.
 

Many scientists and experts find the root cause of infectious diseases in climate change.

Participant K, said that we need to distinguish between climate and weather. The weather is changing day by day. The climate is a long-term change— for more than 30 years. From the 19th to the 20th centuries, the average global temperature rose by about 1 ° C for about 100 years. In the past 10,000 years, the Earth's temperature has never changed above 1 ° C. Therefore, it is now called a climate crisis or a climate emergency rather than climate change. Furthermore, climate collapse is being discussed.
 
Presider: How is the climate crisis fundamentally related to infectious diseases?

Participant K: All the energy we use is fossil fuels. Electricity is created from oil, coal, and gas, and daily life is maintained. However, fossil fuels will dry up. There are limits to their continued use. As a result, humans are going deeper into these natural preserves invading more and more the life of animals and plants. If you continue to invade nature like this, you have no choice but to have a virus. I know it's an uncomfortable truth, but it's not easy to come out and say it. Because we have to face a shift in our civilization in the way we live.
 
Participant S: The decline in wildlife habitat due to climate change is a serious problem. Wetlands are disappearing and desertification is progressing due to climate change and warming. Coastlines are eroding due to rising sea levels. As the carbon dioxide concentration in the ocean increases, the marine ecosystem is also changing. Habitat loss due to climate change is invisible, but it is a bigger problem than habitat loss caused by human development.
 
Presider: Habitats disappearing due to climate change are more problematic than development, please explain in more detail.
 
Participant S: It is difficult to express numerically how much habitat is lost due to climate change. In general, the decline in wildlife habitat depends on how much the forest in which the wildlife lives is damaged. Logging in the Amazon rainforest is random. It is said that the area of ​​400,000 to 500,000 soccer fields disappears in one year due to indiscriminate development. In particular, the forest fires that occurred in August last year damaged 30,000 km of the Amazon region.  4 million football fields have disappeared. Forest damage is serious worldwide, but if the invisible damage of climate change is added, the habitat loss will be unimaginable.

Presider: Climate change and wildlife habitat destruction seem to be very closely linked.

Participant L: You can think about it in three ways. The obvious fact of climate change is that the global temperature has risen. As the temperature rises, water temperature changes. There are many bacteria in river water, but when the water temperature increases, the bacteria also increase. Second, climate change increases extreme climatic phenomena such as drought and flooding. When floods occur, bacteria increase and are passed on to humans and are more likely to develop water-borne diseases. Third, viruses transmit infectious diseases to humans through mediators. Mosquitoes, ticks, birds, and wild animals are all vehicles. Birds and wild animals, such as bats, have had little chance of contacting humans. However, as the habitat was destroyed due to the destruction of forests, the chances of contact with people increased, and as a result, infectious diseases increased.
 
Presider: Humans and animals are different species. It seems that the virus in animals cannot easily pass into humans due to the interspecies barrier. Why does it become a common infection?
 
Participant L: There are still different opinions among scientists about where Corona 19 came from. Presumably, the virus originated from an animal and is believed to have been mutated. Animal viruses are no problem for animals. Even if it enters a person, it is not a problem if only one person is infected, but it is a problem when a mutation occurs and a person-to-person infection occurs.

Participant S: Microorganisms also change to adapt to the environment. Infection occurs when a mutated microorganism finds a new host and adapts to it. Cross-species barriers can be crossed through the process of mutation.
 
Presider: Do you think the common human/animal infectious diseases have increased compared to the past? I wonder if the human/animal infectious disease is more difficult to respond to than the general infectious disease.

Participant L: 60 ~ 75% of the new infectious diseases are known as human/animal infectious diseases. New infectious diseases such as SARS and MERS, which have recently become problems, were also human/animal infectious diseases. We don't know enough about these new infectious diseases and their treatments and vaccines.

Participant S: Compared to the common infectious diseases, human/animal infectious diseases are not more difficult to cope with. Human/animal infectious diseases are also virus-dependent. In some cases, it is not a problem even if a person is infected because of its weak pathogenicity. There are many types. Corona 19 is known to be very contagious, but relatively week pathogenic. The problem is that they are new and we do not know their characteristics. The biggest problem is the inability to treat or prevent them.
 
Presider: We are feeling the consequences of humans often selfish desires in damaging and destroying nature.
 
Participant K: Therefore, climate action emphasizes that we must change our lives through actions and not just talk to solve the climate problem. Scientists should be heard about climate issues. The Catholic Church has taught us to bring faith and reason, science and religious beliefs together. Scientists are urged to stop the global average temperature from rising by 1.5 ° C. Now, the global average temperature has risen by 1 ℃. We have to act now.

Participant S: Wildlife habitat will continue to be invaded by human development needs. Housing and commercial facilities were established, roads and railroads were opened, and the habitats of animals and plants were greatly reduced. As there is no place to live, wild animals are short of prey and come down to human habitat. In doing so, it hurts the farmland.  On the way to new sanctuaries, they also collide with humans. This is the result of humans invading animal habitats. Protecting wildlife habitat is not just about protecting animals. It also protects human life and health by minimizing animal-to-human contact.
 
Presider: The more direct manifestation of human selfishness is in the culture of eating.

Participant L: The contact between animals and humans is gradually widening, and edible use of wild animals is also a major reason. In addition, excessive meat culture brought about by the factory-style livestock culture. The greater the number of human-to-animal contact with animals, the more likely it is that various problems will arise.

Participant S:  The eating of wildlife is disappearing a lot because countries are implementing various policies. It is often found as unique food, or used as an unfounded traditional medicine. Some like to have the experience of eating some exotic wild animals as a meal. Others want trophies of some wild animals as ornaments: rhino horns, elephant ivory, and tiger skins.
 
Participant K: If you can't stop eating meat, you should discuss ways to reduce it. To get 1 kg of beef, you need 30 kg of beans and 30 kg of grain. Many chemical fertilizers are used to raise feed for cattle. Manure from cows is also a problem. It is necessary to consider how to develop the livestock industry in a natural way, rather than in a factory manner.

Presider:  Overall, it seems that humans are being attacked by nature.
 
Participant S: There are many reasons why common infectious diseases continue to develop. It is the biggest cause of the indiscriminate access to nature and damage to the environment. Wild animals in the jungle and infectious diseases that existed only in those who lived there were exposed to the destruction of the environment. People who were not immune to such pathogens became infected and spread the virus, causing problems. Because of climate change, we will no doubt be exposed to more human/animal diseases. Migratory birds will have different destinations and will find different hosts for viruses. With global warming, we will have more of these human/animal viruses to deal with.