Hope in the Future Church

A religious sister writes in the recent bulletin for priests on the life she would like to live if she were a priest. And if a bishop the way she would want to take care of the church. She admits to letting her imagination go in these directions at times.

As a pastor of a parish, she would change the operating system of the church community. She would divide the community into different sections. (Possibly something similar to what is done in most parishes at present with division into geographical areas) Support and trust based on the principle of subsidiarity for the community should be given priority.
 

She doesn't know the specific operating system of the diocese for the parishes, but  movement within parishes seems, from the periphery, too cumbersome to make changes. The liturgy and parish life because of the Corona era need to switch to small-group networks. If the liturgy is converted to a small community presence, priests will be busy; no time to play golf or to think about anything else: a reality that needs a lot of creativity.
 
Active support and trust from the diocese are needed. The priest participates with care and mediation to build these communities rather than supervising and managing the basic community. This is also an attitude of trust in the 'here and now' living Spirit. Obviously, there will be disorder, confusion, conflict, and great resistance.
 
The church now has 'stability', but it is far from the missionary journey of the apostles who left without a staff or spare clothes. Jesus Christ is our starting point. We have to bring the life of Jesus into our present reality.  We are invited to walk in his footsteps and not be only in imitation. The apostles began the journey penniless, met excitement and emotion with the sense of achievement of the Gospel, experienced miracles, and grew in spiritual power.
 
The priests dispatched to the parish should form a 'community' and become members of a team that discusses together and shares plans on community issues. The titles pastor and assistant should be dropped and use names as Father Kim, Father Park, etc. A community of priests manifesting the mystery of the Holy Trinity and reborn as a sacrament that shows the mystery of God.
 
In addition, by introducing the active participation of the faithful in the operation of the parish, the priest will be able to focus on preparation for the proclamation of the Word and Sacrament. Now there are no religious to be dispatched to parishes but the religious must return to their prophetic calling. It is to return to the role of showing God's loving face to the world while caring for the poor and marginalized.  

Authority should not be centralized. This is because the clergy are not personally perfect and are not experts in all fields. Not only for this reason but also for the faithful to fulfill their duties as priests, prophets, and their royal mission. Priests need to disperse and transfer some of their authority to the faithful so that they will be able to carry out their main tasks well.
 
If you take care of the lost sheep and the marginalized and bring them into the church, the believers will learn what to do, and what it means to be a follower of Jesus caring for them. The priest is the shepherd of the sheep. They have to risk their lives for them. Those who risk their lives are not afraid. However, today's priests seem to be afraid as if they have a lot to lose. Thinking about their hopes for the church the clergy have a lot of self-reliance. She feels the times have changed and we also need to change. As a nun, she also has the same problem. However, what is certain is that this is not the way of the future

Cardinal Kim Su-hwan and Respect for Life

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Cardinal Kim Su-hwan who left a great mark on the country's democratization and protection of human rights. He was a 'lamp of the times' and a 'living conscience'. Always on the side of the weak. The writer of the Catholic Peace Weekly column, Diagnosis of the Times, mentions the comfort and encouragement she has received from his decisive yet upright defense of human dignity. 

After the 1970s, Korea achieved rapid industrialization and economic growth, but at the same time reduced human beings to political and economic tools and promoted materialistic dehumanization. 

 

According to Cardinal Kim Su-hwan, the biggest cause of dehumanization is the contempt for life. In other words, "the fact that we do not value human life is a phenomenon that occurs because we do not value human existence itself." This verse contains very important information. For Cardinal Kim respect for human life is a respect that must be possessed because of human dignity. The protection of human dignity and human rights without respect for human life is absurd. Let's listen to what Cardinal Kim has to say about this. 

The right to life is the most basic of all human rights. When this is ignored, other human rights cannot be well protected. The lack of ethics and values ​​resulting from abortion threatens the safety of ourselves and our country. We are getting into a very serious situation. 

That is why I am in favor of all life movements. Because only then can we be saved. And all life movements must be fundamentally rooted in the prevention of abortion, which protects the young human life of the unborn child. This is because the true movement of life cannot exist ignoring the life of the fetus, which is the beginning and foundation of human life, and its right to live.  

(Cardinal Kim, Encouragement Speech at Symposium on Prevention of Abortion, 1991) 

In a society that routinely kills, in a political society that not only neglects but rather promotes it, the disrespect for life is prevalent, and all kinds of crimes against humanity and life increase daily. The root cause of human rights violations, ignoring human dignity, is the lack of respect for human life. 

Human dignity is innate. This fact has existed from the beginning of human life and cannot be determined by human standards. The thoughts on 'human life and abortion' of major presidential candidates, recently revealed through the Korean Catholic Bishops Conference, contain a trend of contempt for life that is of great concern. This attitude is prevalent in society, the social consensus, which finds no problem with the routine killing of life, is this not something really unfortunate?

Cardinal Su-hwan Kim, while calling for the protection of human dignity and human rights, strongly criticized the trend of disrespecting life, dehumanizing people in politics and economics. However, the voice of criticism still awakens us. As he said, "The democratization we want is humanization rather than the democratic system itself." That is humanization in which we value all human life, from the beginning, and cherish the very existence of human beings. Therefore, leading this culture should be one of the main responsibilities of the next president.

Patience and Compassion for Peace

A priest member of the National Reconciliation Committee in a column of the Catholic Times writes about the problems in searching for peace on the Korean Peninsula among the citizens.

"Father, Sister, please don’t do this!" It happened on a spring day last year when the COVID-19 situation was not a prominent news item. Priests and nuns participated in the Peace Campaign to End the Korean War as members of the National Reconciliation Committee. They were in front of the Seoul Cathedral getting signatures. One woman passing by could not just ignore the situation. Crying and entreating those gathering the signatures obviously also a believer:  "North Korea should denuclearize first" before declaring the end of the war.
 
When conducting the National Reconciliation School, a major activity of the National Reconciliation Committee, we often run into a barrier called "South-South conflict." Just as you have to look into an affected area to heal a disease, lectures deal with the realities on the peninsula because opinions on the cause and solution are sharply divided among believers. However, we cannot turn away from the hostility and fear of this divided land.
 
Even though Jesus’ disciples were divided and often quarreled, we were able to understand the meaning of reconciliation and peace through the death of the cross. The "South-South conflict" can also be a journey to understand the peace of Christ.
 
The peace of Christ is not 'peace' without conflicts, where the strong are oppressed or the weak are silent. Rather, it may be closer to a process in which each other changes by understanding the conflict we face.
 
Mahatma Gandhi of India, who awakened the value of nonviolent resistance in an era of injustice, emphasized that we must be wary of violence even in the moment of seeking justice and truth. "The pursuit of truth must not be violence to someone's enemy, for what appears to one person as truth may appear to another as an error. Instead, with patience and compassion, we must keep ourselves away from error."
 
With the beginning of Lent, and the coming presidential election we will choose the future of our country. Economic development is important, but the writer hopes that choices will be made for a more just and peaceful society.
 
The belief that one is right is important, but he hopes that a democracy in which different opinions are respected is maintained. Let's pray together as believers who do not lose patience and compassion in a divided world.
 

Meditation And Metanarratives

Humans think. Philosophers discuss it. Opinions on the subject are plentiful, methods easy to difficult are explained. Simply it's what is called meditation, reflection, thought, contemplation, prayer, pondering, trying to make sense of what humans can't help but not do in some form. 

 

Confucius is quoted as saying: "The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large." Christians are familiar with the words of St. Paul: "Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honor, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise" (Phil.4:8).

 

Some meditate, to reduce stress, gain peace of mind and heart, improve health, and other benefits with different forms of meditation. They may be byproducts but not the main reason a Christian meditates. The hope is to deepen their relationship with God using reason, thoughts imagination, emotions, memory.

 

In meditation, eureka moments are often experienced. Some area of life is seen in a different light; judgments made and plans to realize them in daily life. Meditation helps one to grow as a human being and live a fuller, more Christ-like life. 

 

This kind of meditation doesn't dispense with reason, doesn't spend time on the 'how' of meditation but on the 'what': trying to see God as he sees us, getting rid of deceptions, and opening ourselves to God's working in life. This worldview makes the meditation completely different from those who don't have this insight.

 

'Metanarratives' are rarely envisioned in modern life. However, in meditation, these master narratives come to mind and give meaning and a context not clearly seen before the meditation. It's an intuition that lights up dark areas of life. When meditating the vision is not restricted; it's God's world, not our world. A metanarrative (also called grand narrative) is a bigger picture or story that gives context, meaning, to all of life.

 

"Listen Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbor as yourself". (Mk 12:29). In this brief statement, we are presented with a Christian understanding of the self— five areas of concern: body, mind, heart, soul, and social.

 

Life is easily compartmentalized. Life is concerned for the whole person, not body, mind, heart, and soul as unrelated to each other and other human beings. All important in daily life on this earth is harmony among the five aspects of life. Without this harmony peace and joy will not be easily achieved. A metanarrative that meditation helps to achieve.

 

The best should not be an enemy of the good for as GK Chesterton said: "if a thing is worth doing it's worth doing badly" rather than not at all. Metanarratives may be unacceptable to many but a blessed gift in meditation that prepares for the journey of life to the 'Word' and Oneness. The more integrated we become the better for us and the world.

 

May Lent be a blessed and profitable one for all.

Beware Of Idols

A priest working in Evangelization and Human rights for his diocese writes in Bible and Life magazine on Idols.

He begins with several examples to make his point. As a seminarian, he remembers the earth soccer field turned into a grass field. After the change, a fence went around the field waiting for the grass to grow. They finally got permission but they were not to use soccer shoes. Because of the number of accidents they allowed the soccer shoes and the grass soccer field returned to an earth field.

They were told to end the Sunday Mass within an hour. The choir members found it difficult to meet during the week so they wanted to meet after the 10:30 am Mass on Sundays. The writer asks why are they practicing in the first place? 

Often we make the means more important than the end. We put the cart before the horse. The playing field is for the students and not the students for the playing field. The choir is for the Mass and not the Mass for the choir. Studies are to help students why do we have so many overcome by pressure and no desire to live? Why do persons become slaves of money, citizens sacrificed for the nation?

When the means become the end we have a case of what we call idolatry. This was often seen in the Old Testament when the goal of one's actions was hidden by the means and often replaced by the means. We saw this in the temptation of Jesus at the beginning of his public life. Material goods, power, and prestige take the place of God. We are living in a time where this is common practice.

What is the reason for mixing up means and end? The writer sees two reasons: first one's desire is projected onto the means and seen as an end. The second is the means are so attractive they hide the purpose.

Idols are the essence of desire. Overcome with the desire for gain, material goods are no longer a means to live a good life but an end in themselves. Power is no longer to help others but to rule over others; honors not a light to the world but of a person's worth. Jesus overcame idols by carrying out the will of God.

Idols always glitter and attract. It's not the finger pointing towards the moon that should get our attention but suppose the finger was decorated with jewels what would grab our attention?

To free ourselves from idol worship it's not just distancing ourselves from the idol but obedience to God and humility. This brings to mind sacraments. Unlike idols, the means to fully reveal the original purpose is nothing other than the sacraments! There are typically seven sacraments in our church, but in fact, everything that reveals God or his grace can be called a sacrament. The opposite of idolatry can be the sacramental life.

 

But not only the seven sacraments but all of creation can be seen as a sacrament and lead us to God. Perhaps the reason why many people in this world do not recognize God and are in idolatry is that we do not live the sacramental life in which God is revealed. 

We should seriously reflect on whether our church has now become an idol rather than a sacrament, just as when the finger adorned with jewels prevents us from seeing the moon.

 

Dying Alone

 

In the recent Catholic Times the editorial and featured article was on dying alone. In Asia dying a natural death in old age (or timely death) was considered one of the five blessings. Dying alone would be the very opposite of what a person would desire. 

 

It is a dictionary definition of 'death of loneliness' when a person living alone gets sick and dies without his family or neighbors knowing.  What is clear is that it is a lonely death. The so-called 'death without mourning', in which no one is with you in the process of dying, and no one remembers the deceased even after death.

 

Looking at the statistical indicators, the number of people who died alone increased more than threefold (308%) in 10 years from 1025 in 2012 to 3,052 in 2020 and 3159 last year. As there are 6.16 million single-person households (2020), accounting for 30% of the total households, it is estimated that there will be not a few deaths of loneliness that are mentioned in the statistics. 

 

By age, the number of deaths aged 70 or older is the highest at 1,226. It was followed by 619 people in their 50s, 909 people in their 60s (489 people under 65 years old, 420 people under 65 to 69 years old), 245 people in their 40s, and 66 people under 40s. By gender, 76% men  21% women.

What is notable in statistics is that those in their 50s and 60s account for the largest portion of the age group of deaths. This can be attributed to the economic isolation that middle-aged men suffer from unemployment and family breakdown due to early retirement.

It is also worth paying attention to the increase in the number of deaths without family or friends under the age of 50. The number of deaths without association in the age group doubled from 165 in 2012 to 311 last year. In particular, it should be noted that last year's statistics came from a situation where it is more difficult to find lonely deaths due to the influence of COVID-19.

 

The Lone Death Prevention Act came into effect in April 2020, and although it is mandatory to conduct a fact-finding survey, it is not being implemented properly. In a situation where there is no dedicated department for lonely deaths and the budget increase has not been done properly, it is impossible to expect the government to have a practical countermeasure. 

 

The death of loneliness is still a blind spot in our society. So the church has to step in. Pope Francis declared on January 2021, the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, celebrated each year on the fourth Sunday of July, coinciding with the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary's parents and Jesus' grandparents, Sts. Joachim and Anne. The anniversary was established as a day close to the day to commemorate Saints Joachim and Anna, the grandparents of Jesus, expressing the will of the  church to be with the elderly.

 

Some parishes and parishes provide pastoral support for the elderly living alone, but that is not enough. Now, the church must come up with multi-directional pastoral measures for the death of loneliness, including the death of young people. It is hoped that the 'elimination of loneliness' will become a significant part of the church’s journey with the marginalized.

Religion And Intellect

To read the world accurately and to proclaim the truth and value of the gospel persuasively, the church needs a willingness to communicate with the world and its wise men. Today, the term 'listening church' is often used. In a world where there is a strong tendency to assert and teach, the act of listening and learning is an important virtue. In the Catholic Times, the director of the Catholic Culture and Theology Institute gives the readers some thoughts on this important subject.
 
However, the act of listening requires a lot of effort. Listening includes the attitude and ability to hear spoken and unspoken words. Listening should be able to accurately read the true meaning and intentions contained in the words and stories of others. Listening is an act of precise reading. In the context of the church, listening is not just people's thoughts.
 
The object of listening is above all God and the will of God. Listening is reading the Bible and reading the will of God in history and life. Finding and reading the will of God in the Bible, in the historical tradition of the Church, and in today's life, involves a process of interpretation and discernment. Interpreting the Bible, understanding church traditions, and discerning today's world are not simple tasks. 

Listening is a high-level task that involves the act of reading and discerning. It is always difficult to read accurately, to discern delicately. Discernment is a delicate and accurate reading rather than judgment and criticism. Discernment is for a clear understanding of the will of God. Reading the world, reading the signs of the times, has become more difficult in today's complicated society. To read and identify complex societies, complex people, the humanities, social sciences, natural science competencies, and intelligence are required. Modern society and culture are too complex to be read through the eyes only of traditional philosophy and theology. The lack of intellectual capacity to read the changing world is often felt in the church.
 
The world is changing rapidly. It is not easy to read the times while keeping up with rapid changes. The phenomena of human life, which have become very complicated through the development of science, technology, and media culture, are difficult to analyze and read-only with the capacity of the church.

In a column, modern church historian Massimo Faggioli painfully points out the lack of intelligence and literacy often found in today's churches. To read the world accurately and to proclaim the truth and value of the gospel persuasively, the church needs an open attitude to communicate more with the world and learn from the wise men of the world. But today's church is moving in the opposite direction.

Faggioli criticizes the church for "intellectual disarmament in the face of great cultural challenges." He warns that intellectual fervor is disappearing in the church and only negative nuances of pietism are intensifying. Of course, pietism itself is a precious stream in religion. But sometimes pietism operates in the form of formalism and austerity. Distorted pietism that emphasizes only religious feelings is in danger of being reduced to an ideological religion based on hate and exclusion.

The lack of religious intellect in the church comes from a variety of causes. To be honest, it is difficult to read and discern the world while accurately reading and interpreting the traditions of faith. The church's capacity alone cannot keep up with the rapid changes in the world. In the flow of change, there is a risk that you may even lose your identity. That is why the church may have taken a strategic attitude to focus on its own business. However, it is arrogant to focus only on religious traditions and reject the culture of the world as mere secularism. The church must always carry the religious tradition and the culture of the world together.
 
The absence of religious intellect in the church, Faggioli argues, is related to clericalism. He talks about the problems of seminary education. It is pointed out that today's seminary education focuses on reinforced character education and psychological aspects as a preventive method against the sexual scandal of the clergy. This tendency can inevitably lead to neglect of intellectual education in theology and humanities. Faggioli diagnoses that the absence of strict intellectual training for clergy and the aging of high-ranking clergy are undermining the church's ability to accurately read the times and discern them through the eyes of faith.
 

Looking back on history, the intellect has not always played the right role within the times. It is not uncommon for intellect and knowledge to be reduced to empty knowledge because they are not connected with life. In the modern capitalist society, there are many cases where intellect and knowledge collide with power and capital and do not function as a proper social force. Moreover, in today's era, emotions and desires are more important than reason. So, paradoxically, it is an era in which reason is needed.
 
Aren't we witnessing the phenomena created by many in the present generation who are faithful to their emotions and desires? In politics, economy, society, and culture, reason seems to have disappeared and only emotions and desires remain. He wants to emphasize the role of intelligence (reason) again. The shining tradition of Catholicism has always considered faith and intellect (reason) as two axes.
 
The resurrection of the intellect does not mean the return of intellectualism. Intellectualism, which emphasizes the superiority of intelligence and knowledge, is nothing more than the arrogance of the intellectuals at one time. This is an era in which religious intelligence, not intellectual supremacy, is desperately needed. Faith includes reason, but intellect is always secondary. Faith and life come first. Knowledge comes from life. As an intellectual act, theology is a secondary work. Theology cannot precede faith, but theology is essential for proper faith. The absence of theology that can read and discern the signs of the times is evidence of the absence of religious intelligence in the church. In fact, isn't Catholic theology, by its very nature, the product of an effort to read tradition and the era at the same time? 

The intellect to study is urgently required. In an era in which knowledge has been reduced simply to the acquisition of information, and study has been reduced to a means of realizing desires, isn't the ideal of Catholic faith that paradoxically emphasizes the unity and balance between intellect and faith more fascinating? When literacy is developed in a community, it becomes a community that can think and judge. A time when the religious intellect is desperately needed for listening, reading, and discerning.