The Charm of Religion

 

In his column, a priest university professor reminds the readers of the Catholic Peace Weekly that our faith life is a life of charm and fascination. This is not the way  religious life is described but we are followers of Jesus— is there anyone in the history of the world who had a more fascinating and attractive life?

It's been quite some time since the crisis of COVID-19 has passed but the columnist still feels we have a long way to go to return to pre-Covid days. One is accustomed to not going to church or no longer having the opportunity to go. However, it seems to him that more people are skeptical of their faith than before. This may be due to the negative perception of religion in the social and cultural atmosphere of the 'postmodern' era, although the COVID-19 crisis also helped.

In fact, people leave the church because they are not attracted to it. If you ask teenagers why they stopped going to church they answer: "Because it's not fun." They did not feel joy or attractiveness in faith. For them, the church did not have the values of freedom, equality, dialogue, and communication, which are the values of this era, it is often seen as stuffy,  boring, and forced on us by duty.

But is faith really as stuffy and old-fashioned, as many believe? When you look at the life that Jesus lived you can see that it was never like that. It was not Jesus who imposed commands and forced faith like a heavy burden, but the Pharisees and the scribes of that time.

Jesus invited us to a life of joy living as a child of God, free from the heavy burden of detailed law provisions of that era. Those who met him experienced life as a festival and felt the joy of living as a child of God. Perhaps the negative preconceived notions of faith are often created by ourselves. Have we insisted on our own religious life that has nothing to do with Jesus' life and lived our faith life as a burden, and not joy, and taught it to our children and others in this manner?
 
We need to remember the words of Archbishop Joseph Doré of France: "We must now break with the notion that believing in God is an obligation imposed and the acceptance of abandonment of all. For those who believe in God whom Jesus revealed and gave flesh, faith is not a senseless act or concern added to life, but light, strength, happiness, and grace" ("Jesus for All").

Pope Francis also emphasizes the "charm" of faith. ("Joy of the Gospel", paragraph 14) "All of them have a right to receive the Gospel. Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone. Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty, and who invite others to a delicious banquet."

Faith, as some people believe, is never a belief in heavy, old-fashioned, outdated superstitions and teachings. Rather, faith is full of charm, joy, and a source of new life for those who follow Christ. They live in the world with the people of the world, but they live a different life. We are children of God, not bound by the world, and live freely dreaming of heaven. You can live richly even if you don't have anything, and you can live with ease of mind even with concern for those whose life is more difficult than our own.
 
Jesus was a charming man. Our religious ancestors were also fascinated by Jesus and his gospel, they wanted to protect their faith even by giving up their lives despite the threat of persecution. Shouldn't we also accept this faith that they have cherished and inherited as valuable and live a life of faith that exudes its charm to the people of the world?

Recovering from Addiction

 

The Catholic Peace  Weekly in the Diagnosis of the Times column by a university professor in the  addiction department of a Catholic University gives us some important thoughts on the problem faced with addiction.

Today, addiction is recognized as a chronic disease that requires long-term steady management, similar to hypertension and diabetes. Just as exercise and diet management are necessary in addition to professional treatment to manage blood pressure and diabetes, various methods are required to prevent and to recover from addiction.

 

Addiction problems also require specialized treatment, but the percentage of addicts using specialized treatment services is very low. For example, only 2.6% of people diagnosed with alcoholism use mental health services, and only 2-3 out of 100 see a mental health professional. This is a very low level compared to other countries. In the case of drug addiction, which has recently become a social issue, it is estimated that the use of mental health services by drug addicts is much lower due to the absolute lack of treatment and rehabilitation infrastructure, legal problems related to drug use, and negative perceptions of drug addicts.

 

Recently, the domestic drug user population is on the rise, and the increase in the alcohol and drug population inevitably leads to a shortage of professional help necessary for treatment and rehabilitation of addiction. This means that there is a limit to treatment of addicts and helping them recover their social functioning.

 

We need resources to consistently manage and support addicts, and one of them is the help of those who have recovered from addiction. They are called a peer recovery support specialist. People tend to associate with and are more strongly influenced by those who have characteristics similar to themselves. If this is applied to addicts, it can be interpreted that the support provided by fellow workers who have experienced addiction and the recovery process can exert a strong influence on the addict's recovery.  

 

The use of peers recovered from addiction has several advantages. First, they may excel in understanding and acceptance of the sick  more so than experts because they have experienced addiction and the recovery process. They are also better at giving addicts hope for recovery, accompanying them through the recovery process, and removing the label of an addict.

 

Second, the services provided by those who have recovered from addiction are known to have a positive effect not only on the addicts but also on themselves.

 

Third, in Korea, a policy focusing on punishment rather than treatment and rehabilitation is being implemented for drug addicts, and there is a strong social atmosphere that recognizes drug addicts as ex-convicts. This acts as a factor that weakens drug addicts' access to treatment and rehabilitation services. However, recovery support services provided by peers with the same experience will lower drug addicts' resistance to treatment and ultimately increase their access to treatment and rehabilitation services. In the United States, recognizing the advantages of peer recovery support, a number of addiction rehabilitation facilities are using peer recovery support, and 38 states accept fees for peer recovery support services.

 

It is time to begin using those who have recovered from addiction in helping addicts where the treatment and rehabilitation infrastructure for addicts is insufficient and the service utilization rate is very low. It is hoped that this atmosphere of recognizing the help of those who have overcome addiction can have on the recovery process will spread in Korea.

 

How Do we Build a Community of Kindness?

In the Theological Lecture Hall column of the Catholic Times a priest director of a Catholic Culture and Theology Institute gives the readers some thoughts on community.

 

The disappearance of a sense of community makes the world dizzy. Self-reliance has become the core way of life, and many individuals see  egoism as the new name of freedom. Freedom without responsibility confuses the world. Communal values disappear and interest in social things remains only as past memories. In fact, the emergence of modern subjects along with the establishment of democracy seemed to make a new world possible. However, after the establishment of the neoliberal system, today's situation is gradually becoming a world that has lost hope. In the huge capitalist system, the individual was fragmented and lost the power for change.

Even while realizing the climate crisis in everyday life and witnessing extreme polarization in the neoliberal economic system, people focus only on the material pleasures in front of them and express only selfish desires. It is easy to witness the absence of deep thinking and the failure to form social consensus. Is it no longer possible for individuals, influenced in the neoliberal system, to pursue communal wisdom toward the future and to act and practice as a community? It is difficult to escape from the overwhelming neo-liberal ruling order. It is full of lethargy and resignation.

The Church is the community of the People of God. The church is a kind of alternative community that sometimes adapts to the world, sometimes against the world, and sometimes transforms the world. The church is a community that participates in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church is a holy community that follows the values and order of the kingdom of God, a community of hope, the reign and consummation of God. The church community does not give up hope even in the face of many challenges and difficulties in the world. 

 

In today's world where community is disappearing, the church must become the sacrament of community. "Christians should show the world that a completely different type of society is possible based on God. This, of course, becomes persuasive only through practice, not through teaching." (Gerhard Lohfink) What kind of community did Jesus want? Can people look at today's church and imagine community? The church has lost its community. A community can only start when you and I are equally acknowledged and differences are respected. If the sense of community is lost, the church also returns to an understanding of its physicality only, and becomes an object of growth and prosperity. By its very nature, the church is a community to serve the world, a community that proclaims the joy of the gospel, not the joy of the world. What kind of sacramental witness does the church community, as a society of antithesis give in today's world? 

 

External growth implies the risk of losing the sense of community. Community does not depend on externals but on internal communion. However, the expansion of the external weakens the inner intimacy. The external expansion of the church with the official recognition of the Roman Empire weakened the church's community. The monastic movement started from the personal dimension of spiritual training and concentration toward perfection, and the communal dimension of trying to preserve the identity of the church against the secular flow. At the bottom of the monastic movement is a spirit of resistance to the world, which seeks to find the source of faith and daily life not in worldly values but in the teachings of the Gospel. The spirit of the movement is not to escape from the world, but to choose a religious way of life for the transformation of the world. 

 

There are movements within the church in response to the neoliberal material civilization. American conservative Rod Dreher argues in his book 「The Benedict Option」 that the church must exist as an advance guard against counterculture in order to maintain Christian identity in the age of secularization. Dreher suggests that we should "return to the roots of our faith in thought and practice", change our habits of heart and way of life according to the rules of Saint Benedict, and "become the Church without compromise". "We work, we pray, we confess our sins, we show mercy, we welcome the stranger, we keep the commandments." It is a beautiful declaration. But there is a huge gap between declaring a principle and realizing it in reality. You cannot overcome and transform the world by creating a kind of ghetto and waging a culture war. Rod Dreher's conception only shows "the misfortune of traditionalism that ignores changes in the historical context" (Thomas Halick).

 

A new monastic movement is emerging from both Catholics and Protestants, centering on the laity. If the traditional monastic movement was a way of living together wearing a habit in a monastery, the new monastic movement is a way of practicing Christian values and practicing discipleship while living in the home and the world.

 

Efforts and attempts to live and practice the spirit of Jesus Christ as a community in the era of neoliberal material civilization are obviously important. However, there are many principles and must-have statements for community formation, but there are not so many community movements that have actually achieved what they wanted. Space-oriented community movements are still failing. In the beginning, it is maintained by founders with strong charisma, but it is easy to witness that it weakens and disappears after one generation.   

 

We live in an era where networks through the Internet overwhelm communities in the analog era. In the era of digital civilization, people's relationships are changing. The very way we feel intimacy and belonging has changed. The community of this era may depend on how to harmoniously coexist within this network of networks.

 

Where in our time can we find ways in which people can relate and form communities. "Things that didn't exist, when we are friendly for no reason, changes the plot of our lives" (Kim Yeon-soo's novel Too Many Summers) "Kindness recognizes the bonds that connect us and makes us realize similarity and homogeneity with others. It makes us recognize that the world is alive, tightly connected, cooperating and relying on each other." Olga Tokarczuk book of essays, Tender Narrator: Unprovoked kindness toward others resembles God's unconditional love. Friendliness is hospitality. But where does kindness come from and how can it be raised? Is today's church a friendly community?

 

 

 

 

World Youth Day 2027

 

The Catholic Times has an article on the recent news  made public at the World Youth Day in Lisbon: The next WYD will be  held in Korea, news joyfully received by the Korean Church.

In 2027, World Youth Day (WYD) will be held in Seoul, where Catholic youth from around the world will gather. Although the number of Korean churches is not large, it is expected that hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world will visit Korea as K-culture has spread world-wide. 

 

As seen in the recent  'World Scout Jamboree' incident, large-scale international events require thorough preparation. There are still four years left, but the article looks at the need to prepare for Seoul WYD.

   

The main schedule of the WYD main event consists of the opening Mass, catechesis by bishops, confession, Stations of the Cross, vigil, and the final  Mass. Before the main event, 'Days in Dioceses' are held for about a week, and participants stay in the host diocese and neighboring dioceses. The  pilgrims stay in family homes, parish or public facilities, so that they can have a real experience of Church, evangelisation and mission

of the host country. Korea is expecting more than the 350,000 who attended the WYD in Sydney, Australia in 2008.

 

The problem is that there is no suitable place in Seoul to gather so many participants. Gwanghwamun Square and Seoul Plaza, where the beatification ceremony was held in 2014, are being discussed, but the venue is narrow and requires long traffic control. Seoul Airport and Imjingak, a symbol of the division of the Korean Peninsula, are also on the list, but they are outside the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Seoul.

 

At a press conference, Archbishop of Seoul replied: "We will discuss with the bishops when and how to hold the event," to a reporter’s question about when it would be held. Since WYD is mainly attended by teenagers and students, it was held in July and August during vacation. An Exception was the 1995 Manila which was held in January to avoid the heatwave in July and August.

 

However, it is necessary to thoroughly prepare for outdoor activities that will follow. In the case of the Lisbon WYD, participants were provided with wide-brimmed hats to avoid sunlight and were provided with drinking water anywhere, anytime.

 

Local governments, and believers must cooperate. WYD is a Catholic church event, but it is also a national event. This is because cooperation and support from the government and local governments is essential to hold a large-scale event attended by the Pope, the head of the Vatican City State. Regarding this, the Seoul Archbishop  also said in a press conference: "We will prepare well for the event by cooperating closely with the Vatican City State, the government authorities of the Republic of Korea, Seoul City and local governments across the country, and the security authorities."

 

One of the priests from the  Sunshine Pastoral Center said: "Hundreds of thousands of participants usually have lodging and meals at schools, etc., and government support is essential as they move by public transportation."  He also added: "As many people gather and cause inconvenience to the general public, the church must strive to obtain cooperation from other religions and civil society."

 

Support from dioceses, parishes, and believers, for such events as home-stays at parishes, is essential for WYD to take place properly. It is necessary to recognize that this is not an event for young people only, but an event for the entire Korean church. "We will meet Lisbon WYD participants and listen to their opinions on the local atmosphere and home-stays to do all we can to prevent missteps in our preparation for the World Youth Day."

 

Towards A New Lifestyle

A priest director of a Human Rights research center gives the readers of the Catholic Peace Weekly some thoughts on one of the important issues of our era. 

Here in Korea, we suffered greatly from the heavy rains from June, the heatwave immediately followed and the typhoon blew harder than ever. He doesn't care to go outside when it's over 30 degrees in the morning. Hearing that wearing black clothes, which are looser than white clothes, is better for dissipating heat in the body, he becomes concerned about what he wears.

The struggle for survival between water and fire is harsh in every corner of the earth. Most people feel that climate change is real and very dangerous. However, I am still not interested in the way of life and behavior I should choose to live.

We now live in an environment with the highest carbon dioxide concentrations ever seen in the Earth's atmosphere in the last 3 million years. Carbon dioxide, a very small amount in the earth's atmosphere, accounts for more than half of the greenhouse gas composition and heats the earth by trapping heat in the atmosphere. If greenhouse gases continue to rise, along with carbon dioxide, mostly from fossil fuels, the global environment will lead to catastrophic disruptions unlike anything we've ever experienced. We and the ecological environment are connected and dependent on each other because we are in a mutual relationship. The misuse and abuse of human capacities and the ecological world threatens our lives. It is time to think beyond the vague fantasy of 'sustainable growth'.

As much as this is an era of crisis, it is also an era of answers and accountability. The pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the world has shown just how devastating the unequal divide between wealth and poverty can be, and it has also revealed that no one is safe if everyone is not safe. Structural social problems such as climate change cannot be solved by 'the sum of individual good deeds', but they cannot be initiated without an internal transformation to be born as an 'ecological citizen', that is, without ecological repentance and the formation of ecological habits. (Pope Francis Laudato Si 211-219)

What kind of 'lifestyle' I live is the measure of ecological conversion. Do you live with humility and simplicity? Are my benefits greater than the pain of the world? Is a big house, a nice car, a large piece of land your goal in life? The climate crisis poses serious existential questions for each of us. This crisis is also in the realm of politics, policy, science, and technology, but more fundamentally, it is a spiritual and ethical problem that humans constantly face in the history of crisis. Consumerism for comfort and the easy 'lifestyle' is at the center of this crisis.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa shows how our gluttony leads to all sorts of selfishness. The Apostle Paul teaches us to find rest in gentle relaxation. Do not indulge in a frenzy of pleasure. Don't make yourself a destroyer.
He is not saying to practice abstinence as we traditionally understand it. The word 'asceticism' comes from the Greek word 'askesis', which means putting theory into 'practice'. Rather than giving up something, it means constantly training and practicing. In the Gospels, all the disciples gave up their possessions, fasted, abandoned their desires, and sought to discipline themselves.

The process is difficult, but they did it all with great joy. Because it was the work of the kingdom of God. The world that Jesus hoped for is not a world of luxury, waste, and complacency. In the current state as it is, to fundamentally resist and challenge the lifestyle of the dominant system is the real 'lifestyle of asceticism'. It changes the world.

Violence in Society

 

The recent pandemic that we all experienced showed very clearly that we are all connected with one another whether we like it or not. 

A question heard often: Are we our brother's keeper? Has many varied answers but for people of faith the answer is not difficult to answer. It's Yes. 

This is not something we enjoying having to deal with in life but the physical, mental, emotional and  spiritual  situation of  others will in someway for the good or bad directly or indirectly in a large or small way make itself known to us to us in some form.

The Catholic Times in the  recent editorial gives the readers  some thoughts of the situation in Korea that is not much different from many other areas of the world.

Recently, the fear of indiscriminate violence that threatens the survival of ordinary citizens hovers over the daily life of our society itself. The many  murder notices are not something to be regarded simply as childish pranks by immature teenagers. This is because there is a real possibility of indiscriminate violence, comparable to the weapon riots that occurred recently at two of  the subway stations.

  

Appropriate and stern responses to individual criminal acts are absolutely necessary. However, it is also necessary to deeply reflect on the structural problems of our society that cause the prevalence of such criminal acts. This is often a social pathological phenomenon more than an individual deviation. Therefore, the government, authorities, and all members of our society must make efforts to take care of those around us who are frustrated, socially isolated, and have antisocial sentiment.

 

Above all, an active response from the religious world, including the Catholic Church, is absolutely necessary. This is because religious people are the ones who can show interest and consideration for the poor and the marginalized without any selfish concerns. Religion must practice and testify through example the values of the common good and brotherhood, which are increasingly fading in our society.

 

First of all, the Catholic Church, must pay close attention to whether there are those who are experiencing pain and alienation in our community. To this end, organizations and systems that can take care of the poor must be reorganized. We need to sincerely look back to see if the church and religious activities were not just contained within the  church's fence. The church has the vocation to live in the world and evangelize the world. 

Synodalitas in Politics

The director of an Institute for the Lay Apostolate in the Peace Column of the Catholic Peace Weekly wants to see Synodalitas in our politics.
 
In a democracy, political viewpoints can be different and when they are similar there are nuances however in Korea the writer sees the parties colliding at every turn. It's a bit subjective, but that's the behavior of the ruling and opposition parties as he sees it.
 
It is rare to find cases in which a party expresses agreement with the policies or proposals of the opposing party. It is like a railroad track running parallel to each other. While there are differences in the platform policies of the two parties, there are similarities. Nonetheless, the two parties seem to be putting all their efforts into confrontation, friction, and mutual criticism, as in a dog-cat fight.
 
In a word, the ruling party is in a hurry to notice the president and the opposition party is urgent to notice the party leader. There is no lack of self-examination and criticism internally, but it seems to have little results.
 
This kind of behavior is not only far from the people's hope for politics, and for the right future of the country, but also increases the people's distrust of politics. This is the shameful reality of our country, which has entered the ranks of the world's top 10 developed countries economically but is backward in the political field. Is there no way out of this backwardness?
 
It is often said that politics is the art of dialogue and compromise. All conversations start with listening to the other person. Listening is not about finding an excuse to criticize, but about trying to understand what the other person is saying. Listening should not be one-sided. There should be mutual listening. But in our political reality, such listening is seldom found. Only one-sided self-assertion or criticism of the other party is rampant. Without listening, there is no room for dialogue, and without dialogue, there can be no compromise.  
 
In the Catholic Church, the wind of 'Synodalitas' is blowing fiercely. The abstract noun ending '-tas', means 'spirit, state, quality', etc. Synodalitas, 'the spirit of the synod' is 'the journey together'.
 
This 'synodalitas' is a term not easy to understand even for believers, let alone ordinary people, but the meaning of this word is clear. Synodalitas is an essential and essential element in the life and activity of the Church. There are several things here. The documents (preliminary documents and handbooks) provided by the Holy See regarding the Synodalitas suggest 10 points. One of them is 'listening'. Listening is the first step on the journey of being with the People of God.
 
If the life of the church is a 'journey together' to achieve the kingdom of God or God's will, the life of the government and the ruling and opposition political circles can be basically a journey together for the happiness of the people and the future of the nation. The first step here is 'listening'. The opposition party should listen carefully to properly check and criticize the government and the ruling party and present reasonable alternatives. The same goes for the ruling party in the government. It is difficult to break free from self-righteousness if we do not listen to the opinions of the opposition party.
 
However, this 'listening' is missing from our political culture. If the voice is loud and the power is big, it is considered a victory. If this is the case, political advancement can never be achieved. The starting point for dialogue and compromise is 'listening'. We urge fierce self-reflection not only for the president and the ruling party but also for the opposition party.