Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan's Words of Wisdom

 

This is a listing of the words of wisdom of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan of Korea that appeared in a bulletin for priests.

 1. If you talk too much, you will say things you don't need to say. Listen with both ears, think three times before opening your mouth.

2. Invest 1% of your income in buying books. You can't wear your clothes when they're worn out, but books have great value even after time.

3. Don't try to reduce the price when buying something from a street vendor. If you give money, you develop laziness, but when you buy as priced you give hope and health as a gift.

4. Make it a daily practice to smile. Laughter is preventive medicine for all illnesses, makes the elderly younger and children wiser.

5. Don't spend too much time on TV. If you are drunk, you lose your mind, and with drugs your reason, but if you are drunk on television, you become a paralyzed fool.

6. The person who easily angers will always suffer losses. An angry man kills himself, kills others, and is always lonely because no one comes near him.

7. Prayer melts rusty iron and is a ray of light that removes the darkness of a thousand-year dark cave. People who pray with their hands together are stronger than clenching their fists in anger. Prayer is a useful remedy for life.

8. Never turn your back on your neighbors. The neighborhood is a big mirror that reflects who I am. When a neighbor faces me if I ignore them and fail to give them a smile I need to take a bath, sit upright and reflect on myself deeply.
 
9. Loving with only the head and mouth leaves no fragrance. True love is preceded by understanding, embrace, integration, and lowering oneself."It took me seventy years to have love come down from the head to the heart."

10. Stop and look at yourself in a pitch-black darkroom. With the eyes of the heart...In all sincerity..."Who am I... Where did I come from?" Where are you going? Impatience will disappear...peace of mind and heart will be yours.

Journalist's Encounter with the Bible

 

He was baptized in the year 2000 and writes in the Eyes of the Believer of the Catholic Times of the change in the way he looked at the world and the Bible. Until he was baptized the Bible was only one of the many ways of hearing words of wisdom. It changed when he was baptized with a significant relationship with the Catholic Church.

What is a relationship? It's love, encouragement, care for, and spending time with— (Borrowed from the Little Prince of Saint-Exupery)

 

The message of 'The Little Prince' stayed with him. Unlike before, he spent more time with the Bible seriously and meticulously. However, it only became more difficult— the effort to understand. 

 

The Bible was like a big dictionary of semiotics. He learned all kinds of facts, metaphors, symbols, figures of speech with which we are familiar. The question is, which of the Bible's contents is true and which is a metaphor, and how to interpret each metaphor and symbol, such as the "return of the prodigal" and the feeding of the multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish. 

 

He was a beginner who began the study of the Bible. As such, the words of the Bible were vague coming to them from a life as a journalist, where "facts" —true or false was his professional focus. He was very curious about what was true in the Bible and how to interpret and apply them to our present time.

In this regard, the Religion School, organized by the Catholic Press Association, provided what he needed as a beginner. On one occasion after the lecture, he raised his hand with hesitation and asked: "How can I identify what is true in the Bible? and the teacher replied, "It's better to focus on the meaning of words." He vaguely sympathized with himself, saying: "Right, semiotics themselves is the key to meaning."

The ensuing social doctrine session was a turning point for his faith. First of all, it was in line with the goal of journalism. In the Social Gospel one searched for human dignity and the common good in society. It started with the encyclical Rerum Novarum (Of New Things) 1891. It deals with the rights of workers, the meaning of labor, and the role of the State after the Industrial Revolution, and has become a way the Church sees society in over 20 encyclicals.

 

Love is also key to social doctrine, which is not only the micro-relationship between friends, family, and small groups but also the principle of macro-relationships such as society, politics, economy, labor, technology, communication, the international community, culture, and ethnicity.

"Events of the times based on facts." He felt as if he had found the right shoes and his dim eyes were brightening. The social doctrine was more realistic and specific than the Bible and it came as the gospel of where he now stood.

The history of the Second Vatican Council (1962), which he first encountered, seemed to have refined his idea of the social doctrine differently. Pope St. John XXIII said: "Throw open the windows of the Church and let the fresh air of the Spirit blow through." The Council carried out reforms in many areas. It was an effort of the church to observe the signs of the times, adapt and reform to find God.

As a believer, he also learned anew that the 2nd Vatican Council issued the social media doctrine Inter Mirifica (Among the wonderful) a decree "On the Media of Social Communication". 

 

Delivering hope and faith in our time Pope Francis stressed in his statement at a time of rapid change in the media ecosystem that "whether classical or new media should serve human dignity and the social common good, and should not be used for the logic and political purposes of capital."

After encountering these realistic and specific social doctrines, he began to focus more on the meaning of the Bible rather than on the facts in the Bible, as his teacher once told him to do.

The Meaning of Hardships

In the Catholic Peace Weekly column by a college professor, he gives us his meditation on the hardships in life and what they can mean for us.

The distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine has begun, but the words "life is difficult" we still hear frequently. This may be because so many are having economic difficulties that have continued for so long,  with the accompanying mental fatigue. It seems in recorded human history we have never experienced so many difficulties, by so many people at any one time. He wants to find a solution deductively through reason. Human beings have found new paths in every age.

The wisdom of the wise has always been a beacon light. Cicero, who lived in Caesar's time before Christ used the phrase: "Dum spiro spero" (I have hope as long as I am breathing). These words have comforted many people who have been in trouble for more than 2,000 years.

Dr. Schweitzer, the saint of Africa, is quoted as saying:
save us from the illusion that we have "pain alone." "Everyone has a painful moment," he said. In that  case, think that you are relieving the pain of others who are suffering more." Our Korean Poet said: "Birds build houses on the day when the wind blows the strongest," these words give us much to think about.
 
To find a solution, we have to face the difficulties head-on and investigate the issue. The solution is not far away. Words that express difficulties vary depending on the nuance. "Anguish" in the dictionary is "pain and distress in the body or mind." No pain  until they ate the fruit of good and evil. Humans were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and had to work hard, and that is "labor". In other words, pain is a tool to cleanse sins and a gateway to adulthood.

Jesus and Siddhartha had to go through many difficult situations as human beings. Passion refers specifically to the suffering Jesus received for the salvation of mankind. One is left with a strong impression that he accepted the difficulties without avoiding them. 

Buddhists and Hindus, use the word "ascetic practices" more frequently. The purpose of asceticism is enlightenment and aims to control the body with its practices. This tradition goes back to the time of Plato based on the duality of body and mind. At that time, there was a widespread perception that by controlling the senses (body) you were clearing the mind. The belief that one can reach the Ideal realm, essences, by controlling the body and the senses as much as possible has become a belief for Westerners.

The pain caused by Corona 19 will be different in appearance for each person who confronts it. One may be terrified at the sight of death or maybe aiming for the opportune time to take a leap forward, to walk a new path. Aristotle's intuition that "you can't learn without pain" and Tolstoy's paradox that "the world has advanced further because of suffering" are useful to us today. 

Even for trees, hardship is happiness. It's like a promise that changes one dignity. Grapevines produce great vintage wines in the year of a severe drought. This is because the roots need to go 40 to 50 meters deep to find water, raising nutrients and minerals. In the drought, the grapes have higher sugar content, and thus transformed into strong wines that can be stored for a long time. Coffee trees must also overcome the freezing cold every night at 2,000 meters above sea level before seeds can have a clean acidity and rich sweetness. This is the same reason why cabbage from the highlands for kimchi is considered premium.

He hopes the greeting "spiro spero" spreads as a common exercise. "I hope and hope you will do the same." Hardship is a reason for hope.

Designer Babies and the Future?

A column in Current Diagnosis of the Catholic Peace Weekly by a Bio-ethicist gives us some thoughts to reflect on and begins with the words of Klaus Schwab, founder, and chairman of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland: "Advances in technology push us to the boundary of new ethics."
 
Schwab said in his book "The Fourth Industrial Revolution" in which he deals with the following questions. Will the tremendous development of science and technology be used only to treat diseases and recover from injuries, or can it be used to create a better human being? If we choose the latter, wouldn't it be a risk of expanding consumer society by turning our children into custom-made products? What is the definition of a 'better human being, etc?

We may have heard of concerns about customized babies. However, customized babies are likely to appear only in science fiction movies and novels. No room to worry about customized babies since we have difficulties overcoming Covid-19. Is it just Corona? There are more and more problems that we need to solve, such as the climate crisis caused by global warming and the New Normal in the post-corona era. Nevertheless, we need to talk about this issue in some way. Because a custom baby is no longer a story that appears in science fiction movies.

In 2016, Chinese scientists created the first genetically modified human embryo in human history. We can think of the first and the best as good, but not only the scientific community but also the whole world was shocked. Two years later, even before the shock went away, a genetically modified twin was born in China. And Western society struggled to draw up guidelines to apply genetic modification technology to human embryos, perhaps because of the impatience that it may lose its lead to China.
 
Of course, the voices of criticism were also loud. But starting to make guidelines means that we will now practically use genetic modification technology directly in human embryos. However, by distinguishing restrictions and allowances for their use, it seems to be ethical at first glance. In the meantime, it seems clear that governments will actively carry out clinical trials that modify the genes of human embryos and implant them in the uterus. But not many people will know about this. While everyone is making all-out efforts to overcome the Corona 19 crisis, it is proceeding quietly.
 
Paul Knoepfler a professor at the University of California School of Medicine, says a baby born through genetic modification, whether for medical reasons or simple parental choices, becomes an advanced new human being. He explains that all humans are special, but the reason why genetically modified babies are special is that genetic design makes them healthier or better babies. He then says that the meaning of what is "better" reflects social perspectives. At this point, let's think about what is the definition of a 'better human being that Klaus Schwab mentioned?
 
As Knoepfler said, if the meaning of 'better' reflects the social perspective, let's think about where that view comes from. There may be many factors, but the first thing that comes to mind is the Internet Global Companies present us with algorithms that predict consumer tastes.
 
The development of science and technology in the future is likely to put us on the border of new ethics in various ways. But within that boundary, a customized baby is coming. This is not just a question of whether parents can arbitrarily modify their children's genes. We need to wake up and see where the consciousness of 'excellent' and 'better' on what we understand 'humanity' to mean will be going?

 

Climate Awareness Survey in Korean Catholic Church

An article in the Catholic Times reviewed the results of a Climate Awareness Survey that was made by the Catholic Climate Action Movement of Korea on January 20th to find out the perception of believers, religious, and priests about the climate crisis and seek the church's response.

Even though all agree on the seriousness of the climate crisis, the perception of the problems are low
as are the methods and efforts of practice.
 

The survey was conducted by lay believers, religious and priests , each consisting of 20 questions. A total of 3,576 people (2,717 lay believers, 619 religious, and 240 priests) responded on January 21-31. 

 

They all sympathized with the seriousness of the climate crisis and participated to some extent in personal practice. However, awareness of the social and structural problems of the climate crisis and willingness to improve them fell short of expectations. In addition, negative and reserved evaluations were higher than positive ones both in the diocesan and the parish level.
 

The consciousness and practice of  believers did not make much progress from the time of the 2005 consciousness survey for the Making of Green Church conducted by the Seoul Diocese. Accordingly, the  church communities' full-scale transformation toward ecological repentance and efforts to implement it are needed.

Of the laity,  2,717 respondents, 2,685 (98.8%) responded that the current climate crisis is "very serious" (69%) or "serious" (29.8%). However, personal practices were only common activities such as carrying a shopping bag and reducing the use of plastic and disposable products. On the other hand, the reading of 'climate-related articles and interest in climate policy' were relatively low. Reasons for not practicing what they believe: "laziness" (63.7%), "Burnout and annoyance" (36.3%), and 17.8% of the respondents said they did not know what to do.

Regarding the practice in the parish, the responses:"doing well" (34.2%), "only words and not practicing" (27.6%), and "I don't know" (29.3%). On the practices in the  parish, 40.4 percent said they did not know. This reveals the need for active education and action on the parish level.

51.6% of the respondents said that they had read or knew the contents of the Encyclical Laudato si . Some respondents said they only knew the title (27.2 percent) and others said they had no idea (20.8 percent).

Members of Religious Orders in their  practice of the climate crisis was relatively high. However, the reasons why personal practice is not working well were similar, such as "laziness" (69.8%), "difficulty" (33.1%), and "Don't Know Practical Methods" (9.7%).
 

General personal practices appeared similar to other members, but it is noteworthy that 84.3% of the members of (Justice, Peace, Creation and Conservation)  at the congregation level were high.This shows in the religious response to the climate crisis that a shift to ecological education is needed to change consciousness.

Regarding the negative assessment of the church's environmental issues over the past two decades, the Religious Members viewed the key to responding to the climate crisis as a "change in the perception of the pastors." This is considered to be a responsibility not only for priests but also for religious as co-operators.

All 240 priests who responded to the survey agreed on the seriousness of the climate crisis, with 174 respondents trying to reduce carbon footprint in their life style. However, there is little consensus on institutional measures such as "energy efficiency for church buildings" or "urging for climate policy" in parishes.

In terms of the response in parishes, the negative responses, such as "talking but little is done" (63.7%), were overwhelmingly higher than the positive responses (17.9%), or "doing very well" (0.4%).

95.4% of the clergy know the contents of the Encyclical"Laudato si" but in reality, it was rarely used except "in lectures." About 58.8 percent, or about half, said they knew about the "special civil service textbooks."

Like the religious, in order for the church's efforts to pay off on environmental issues, "change in the perception of pastors" (42.1%) is the top priority, and "recognition of survival in all areas beyond environmental issues" (30.8%), "so that faith can lead to social practice" (27.9%).
 

According to the results of the survey, the Korean Catholic Church's environmental movement has a problem that despite its own efforts, it has not led to enough structural changes and has not taken root at the parish level. As a result, an integrated outlook for the church's environmental issues should be sought.

Based on the results of the survey, Catholic Climate Action plans to establish an unified approach of activities at the spiritual, daily, and policy levels. In particular, in order to cope with the climate crisis challenges facing the entire human race, it will carry out activities with the diocese, parish, and the different religious communities within the Church.

New Social Network: Clubhouse

I was invited to the Clubhouse. It's not a club where you enjoy alcohol, no food, no tables, no lights. I just 'connect' through my iPhone. So begins the column on the Diagnosis of the Times in the Catholic Peace Weekly on the new SNS media. But Isn't this already common? Internet communities, online clubs, various messengers, group chat rooms, and social networking sites?

Nevertheless, Clubhouse is the talk of the town. Bitcoin's stock price soared recently after innovator CEO Elon Musk, who can make U.S. stock prices fluctuate, had a discussion about Bitcoin in the Clubhouse. Elon Musk's Tesla announced that it will buy Bitcoin and use it as a method of payment. Microsoft founder Bill Gates also popped into the clubhouse and talked to thousands of ordinary users about the coronavirus vaccine. Every day, interesting articles about the clubhouse are pouring out.

He gave the Clubhouse a great deal of thought. They're trying to attract attention from the so-called celebrities, trying to make it well known for marketing purposes. Then he was invited to the clubhouse. So he had another experience of traveling around in a new world.

There are several interesting features to why the Clubhouse is receiving social attention. The first is that you can enter only through an invitation. This method is very fairytale-like, it may indicate a secret door to escape from some of the bitter experiences of daily life.

Second, if you install an app and enter through an invitation, this is possible only with iPhone users. What online service covers iPhones and Android phones these days? It's not a very small company, there is a suspicion that it is hiding its strategy.

But thirdly, the most important feature of the clubhouse is the voice-based chat service. When you create your own account and enter the clubhouse, users gather in twos and threes, or hundreds or even thousands, to talk about living with a purpose-oriented theme or without any purpose, and all this communication consists only of your own voice. Voice chat, which feels like many people are talking on the phone at the same time, a digital non-face-to-face service, but stimulates our sensibility and conveys the feeling of people.

It has been about a year since the service began in the U.S. due to strange restrictions, which are now not accessible to everyone, but it has been described as a new virtual space; only been a month or two since its explosive popularity. The scene of deep conversation with people whose faces you don't see and meet only with their voices remind us of the young people in the movie "About Time" turning off all the lights and having a blind date in a dark restaurant.

At this point, a fundamental question comes to mind. We already have a lot of tools for non-face-to-face communication, but why do we need a new SNS? The answer he gives for the Clubhouse is our terrible loneliness.

Trauma from Bullying

In the latest issue of the Catholic Times, a special feature was an article on school violence, covered also in an editorial. Recently, the seriousness of school violence has been re-examined as some athletes, celebrities and well-known people have made known the bullying they received as children.

School violence (academic violence) is shaking up Korean society. Confessions and revelations of victims of school violence have made the news daily and don't want to stop. The disclosure of new facts and the dispute over the truth between the victims and those identified as perpetrators are pouring into major media sources.

The fact that most school violence is known more than 10 years after it occurred means that the wounds in the heart are difficult to erase and remain a long time;  easy to understand the need to hear an apology to heal the pain

Students who are victims of school violence often cannot get over their experience even after they become adults due to low self-esteem and depression. One authority in the field said, "If you get unfair violent treatment from the outside, you will have trauma, which is an unhealed wound, and because you remember it vividly from childhood, you want revenge." The heart has no statute of limitations.

This is the reason school violence is serious since tends to instill feelings of retaliation in victims and produce other acts of violence. Consequently, families and schools need to accompany those who have been bullied with personal attention on a level that they can understand.

Victims will continue to expose celebrities' past school violence. Those identified as perpetrators flee the public eye, announcing their retirement because of strong public criticism.

However, experts also express concern about school violence perpetrators taking steps to bury themselves. The opinion is that protecting victims should be the top priority, more important than the punishment of the perpetrator is their guidance. One lawyer said: "There is a positive aspect that school violence disclosure is a great comfort to the victims but the victims can in this situation become the perpetrator again and the violence repeats."  
 
Christianity is essentially a religion that teaches peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness as core values. It is sad to see the cases of school violence that stimulate people's interest and curiosity in the world with the lament: "What's wrong with the world?"

The role of families and religious schools should set a better example for preventing school violence. In fact, there is little school violence in religious schools, but efforts to restore relationships between both perpetrators and victims should continue.