Hope For the Future

From the Eyes of a Priest column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, we hear the desires of one of the priest-citizens for the new government.

In the 21st presidential election, the people chose Lee Jae-myung as the president. This election was triggered by the martial law and impeachment that the former President initiated. Through this election, the people requested President Lee Jae-myung restore the damaged democracy and achieve major social reforms, including stabilizing the people’s livelihoods. The responsibility to weed out the rotten old practices of the past in every corner of society and to walk a new path for the Republic of Korea has been given to this president.

The most important thing this president must do is promote national unity. As the results of this election show, our community is divided as much as it can be by region, gender, and generation. The election landscape, which is divided exactly in half, symbolizes the deep division of our society. You can only see stories about choosing good policies or my representative in textbooks, but this time, blind voting continued regardless of who runs or what policies they talk about. In addition, conflicts between men and women, especially among those in their 20s and 30s, have further divided the Republic of Korea. This is a country with fierce competition even on a global scale, and now everyone but me has become an enemy.

Therefore, I hope that this president will become the center of unity. We should not become the president of one side, surrounded by strong supporters and close associates like the past administration. We should not control the media and only listen to what we want to hear and only say what we want to say. We should respect the National Assembly and listen to diverse opinions. At his inauguration, President Lee said that he would be a “president of all.” I pray that he will keep this promise.

During the election period, President Lee said, “The Democratic Party is a moderate conservative party.” He called his economic policies “good-lifeism” and “food-lifeism.” In his inauguration speech, he said, “I will become a pragmatic, market-oriented government.” He met with heads of large corporations, including Samsung Group Chairman, and showed a pro-business attitude. However, at the same time, I am concerned that President Lee does not care much about the weak in our community. Some people are also concerned that this is not much different from the “business-friendly” Lee Myung-bak administration. Socially vulnerable people, such as workers, ordinary citizens, immigrants, and the disabled, were also at the center of the impeachment. I hope he will reflect on the values ​​of distribution and equality. 

President Lee must also revive the spirit of peace on the Korean Peninsula. The frozen dialogue between the South and the North must be restarted. Humanitarian aid to North Korea from religious circles and civil society can be a good opportunity to open the door to dialogue. Just as the seeds of peace on the Korean Peninsula were sown through the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, North Korean youth can participate in the World Youth Day in Seoul in 2027 to start the dialogue with North Korea that has been cut off. The government must also make efforts so that Pope Leo XIV can continue Pope Francis’ dream of visiting Pyongyang.

The World Youth Day will be held in 2027 during this president’s term. Up to 1 million youths from around the world will gather in South Korea to create a space of hope and unity. During the event, Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church, will also visit South Korea. The new government’s help and cooperation are most important for the event to proceed stably. People worldwide will look to South Korea, where the event is being held. An incident like the last Jamboree must never happen again. I hope the government will successfully lead an international event regardless of religion.

Above all, the president himself must be humble. This president has become an absolute power with legislative and executive powers, except for the judiciary. President Lee has said in many places that he will “run the government humbly.” That is how it should be. Humility is not difficult. The enemy that President Lee should fear most is not external but internal. I pray that God will grant him grace.

Never Give up on Hope!

The seminary professor offers another perspective on hope in the Preciousness of Faith column of the Catholic Peace Weekly.

One way to find hope is to learn from those who walk in faith and have experienced trials, illnesses, or death. Just as all people are noble and sacred, everyone’s death experience is precious. We all have to pass through the arduous and challenging gate of death, experience extreme pain, suffering, loneliness, and bitterness before we die, and wrestle with the question of hope in the face of death.

Finding a thread of hope is listening to the stories of such ‘witnesses of hope.’ The character Job in the Bible symbolizes a righteous person who suffers unjustly. He prayed to God in a critical situation, argued with God, and wrestled with Him. He stood before God and tried to solve his problems with Him, and eventually, he could meet God and reach a high level of wisdom.

Many poems of lamentation or petition to God are found in the Psalms of the Old Testament. In his book “Mercy”, Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany says the following:

“The psalms of petition in the Old Testament ( 6, 13, 22, 31, 44, 57, etc.) all come from great hardships of being abandoned by God, and they speak of great existential shocks. Nevertheless, these psalms never end in despair, but rather with the conviction that God is by one’s side in times of trouble. Each psalm of petition has a dramatic reversal from complaint to praise. The psalms of petition do not end with complaints, condemnation, or despair, but always end with praise and thanksgiving.”

The cries of a believer in the midst of suffering make his prayers not a ‘transaction’ with God, but a place of internal ‘purification’ and a ‘school’ where he learns hope. It is to realize that God is the only object of our hope and reliance. Father Chastan, a French missionary who was martyred on September 21, 1839, while working as a missionary in Korea, left the following letter:

“Just as I was entering the Diocese of Joseon, five believers were being tortured in the prison of Seoul. When I heard about the tortures they were subjected to, I was so weak-hearted that I trembled with fear. After that, the Lord, who had given me grace, made me no longer fear. Among the believers who were enduring the tortures in the prison, there were many old believers and new believers who received the sacraments from me, and children as young as 15 or 10 years old. These people, who endured the tortures so steadfastly, aroused the admiration of believers and non-believers outside the prison and strengthened our hearts to a surprising degree.” (Letter of September 1, 1839)

Pope St. John Paul II's powerful testimony also inspires a passion for hope in our hearts.

“You are young, and the Pope is old. Life at the age of eighty-two is not the same as life at twenty-two. But the Pope still shares your hopes and aspirations completely. Although I have lived through many darknesses under harsh totalitarian regimes, witnessing various ordeals has given me the strong conviction that no difficulty or fear is so great as to completely suppress the hope that rises eternally in the hearts of young people. You are our hope. Young people are our hope. Do not give up hope! Entrust your life to hope!” (From a sermon at the 2002 Toronto World Youth Day)

The witnesses of hope urge us not to lose hope in the midst of our lives threatened by despair, and to continue to fight for hope.

Korean Catholic Survey on TV Mass

The Korean Catholic Times and the Seoul Archdiocese Joint Survey Results were published in the paper's recent issue: What do you think about attending TV Mass?

Most of the responses were positive. According to the survey conducted during May, 16% of the 866 respondents watched daily through broadcasts or YouTube. Opinions were sharply divided on using digital devices during Mass.

According to the survey, most respondents thought that watching Mass on TV was ‘a pastoral consideration for the sick, elderly, and those who cannot go to church’ (645 people, 42%). There were many positive responses to TV Mass, such as ‘It is not attending the sacrament, but it is helpful for religious life’ (378 people, 25%) and ‘It is good to watch when attending Sunday Mass is difficult’ (233 people, 15%).

On the other hand, negative responses such as ‘TV Mass should be avoided and Mass should be held in the church’ (137 people, 9%) and ‘It is not a real sacrament, so it is not very meaningful’ (68 people, 4%). There was also an opinion that ‘TV Mass attendance should be gradually strengthened in line with the trend of modern society’ (60 people, 4%).

When asked about the frequency of watching TV Mass, the majority of respondents answered ‘I do not watch it regularly, but I have watched it’ (327 people, 38%) and ‘I watched it regularly during the COVID-19 period, but I do not watch it now’ (218 people, 25%). However, quite a few also watched TV Mass regularly, such as ‘I watch it every day’ (136 people, 16%) and ‘I watch it about once a week’ (114 people, 13%).

The responses were divided when asked about digital device use during Mass. The most common response was, “There are advantages to paper books, but digital devices are more useful” (247 people, 29%), but the opinion that “Digital devices are convenient, but it is better to use paper books” (236 people, 27%) followed with only a slight difference. In addition, 82 people (9%) said, “Using digital devices is distracting, so we should use paper books,” and 74 people (9%) said, “We should avoid paper books and use digital devices in the future.” When adding up the pros and cons, 321 responded in favor and 318 responded against; the number of respondents in favor and against was almost the same.

In response to the question about online media for obtaining information on faith and doctrine, more than half of the respondents (58%, 500 people) answered that they obtain information from websites operated by churches, such as Good News and parish/church websites. 20% (176 people) said that they obtain information on faith and doctrine from YouTube, and 10% said that they obtain information through general portal searches. 51 people (6%) were using SNS such as Facebook and Instagram, 18 people (2%) were using blogs or cafes, and 8 people (1%) were using generative AI such as ChatGPT.

Communication Forms Culture

The Catholic Times 'View from the Ark' column, written by a professor at the Graduate School of Life Science, Catholic University of Korea, gives her thoughts on recent developments in Korean society.

Since December of last year, our society has revealed some ugly facts. Things are so difficult to understand that you wonder, “Could common sense really have collapsed to this extent?” We experience things that would only happen in novels or movies. Our society has seen how ‘justice’ and ‘truth’ are being diluted and relativized in the ‘pursuit of profit’. With the election of the  New President there is hope for a new future.

About 2,500 years ago, the ancient philosopher Thrasymachus said, “Justice is the interest of the strong”. In some ways, this cynical saying still seems pervasive in our society. When each person cries out for ‘justice and truth’ for their own interests, and when these individuals become the majority, justice seems to be the ‘interest of the strong’.

Therefore, we reflect on whether justice that is not based on truth is still dividing society and heightening conflict and tension. Perhaps ‘truth’ itself is distorted.  In such a society, the direction of truth and justice can easily be swayed by the power of the majority, by the strong.

However, our collective intelligence strives to pursue truth and realize justice. To achieve this, we must grasp the reality we live in. When discussing understanding reality, people often first think of economic aspects. However, we need to pay attention not only to the economy but also to our communication methods and our understanding of truth and justice.

Pope Leo XIV, points out that we are caught in a confusing linguistic structure resembling the Tower of Babel. He emphasizes we are communicating through language that is ideological, biased, and lacking in love He says, "Communication is not just about conveying information, but also about shaping culture."

This prompts reflection on the languages used by the media in our society and by each of us, and what kind of culture we are forming through that language. This is also a very important task in communication that respects and protects the dignity of human life. The Pope also emphasizes the importance of the family, asserting that in efforts to guarantee the dignity of the vulnerable and fragile in our society, from unborn lives (embryos and fetuses) to the elderly, the sick, the unemployed, citizens, and the disabled, no one should be excluded.

However, our society is increasingly defining the weak and vulnerable with ideological and biased language. When those who use such language are in the majority, society will ultimately strengthen human rights only for those with a voice. Unfortunately, this is already happening, and we are now facing a reality where even the voices calling for justice are increasingly being relativized.

To achieve this, we need to grasp our reality correctly. People often first think of economic aspects. However, we need to pay attention to the economy, our modes of communication, and our understanding of truth and justice. Pope Leo points out that we are caught in a confusing linguistic structure akin to the Tower of Babel. In other words, he emphasizes that we communicate within a language that is ideological, biased, and lacking in love.

According to him, "communication is not merely the transmission of information, but it also forms culture". This prompts reflection not only on the language used by the media in our society but also on the language each of us uses and the culture we are forming through that language. This is a very important task in communication that respects and protects the dignity of human life.

The Pope also emphasizes the importance of family. He insists that no one should be excluded from the efforts to guarantee the dignity of the weak and vulnerable in our society, ranging from unborn lives (embryos and fetuses) to the elderly, the sick, the unemployed, citizens, and the disabled. Yet, our society increasingly defines the weak and vulnerable in ideological and biased language. When those who use such language become the majority, society will ultimately strengthen human rights only for those with a voice. Unfortunately, this is already happening, and we are now facing a reality where even voices calling for justice are increasingly being relativized.

The Pope also emphasizes that without truth, true peace cannot be achieved, whether personally or communally, especially when words' meanings are ambiguous or used hypocritically, making it difficult to establish genuine relationships. Above all, he states that truth must not be separated from love. What should we do for our society to move in the right direction today? As the Pope quoted Saint Augustine, we should reflect on whether we have lacked the attitude of looking at every human being, from the most vulnerable to all humans, with a gaze of love.

Quest For Freedom

In the Catholic Peace Weekly Philosophy Chat column, a Jesuit professor of philosophy gives us some background on humans' quest for freedom. 

Humans constantly yearn for freedom. This proves that on the one hand, humans are free beings, but at the same time, they are unfree. Philosophically, the two beliefs that dominate the spiritual world, namely the natural scientific belief that the world is under the law of inevitable causality and the theological belief that the world is under the absolute foresight of God, have long been the background for the metaphysical question of ‘Can humans really be free?’

However, freedom is the fundamental concept for human self-understanding and self-realization, and without freedom, human life is also unthinkable. As spiritual beings, humans are free by nature and realize themselves in the world through free actions. 

Emerich Coreth, SJ, was an Austrian philosopher and 

Catholic priest. He is well known for his works on 

metaphysics and philosophical anthropology. 

All 

humans are inherently open to the realm of 

freedom, which is called ‘fundamental freedom.’

Philosophical anthropologists in the early 20th century conceived fundamental freedom as an insight that aligns with humans' essential characteristic, ‘openness to the world.’ According to this, humans, unlike animals, are not bound by the environment and impulses or the immediacy of nature but instead have their own world through it. Humans open the world and are open to the world based on fundamental freedom.

The ancient Greek words for freedom include ‘eleutheria’, ‘parrhesia’, and ‘autarkeia’. ‘Eleutheria’ means ‘freedom of action,’ which means the freedom to practice what I consider right and not being forced by the rules and expectations created by others. ‘Parresia’ refers to ‘freedom of discourse’ that allows one to honestly express one’s thoughts in front of others, and ‘Autarkheia’ refers to ‘inner freedom’ that represents the nobility and dignity of a human being, meaning self-government and autonomy.

This concept has been used in various fields with multiple meanings, such as physical freedom, legal and political freedom, social freedom, psychological freedom, and ethical freedom. In particular, as ancient Stoic and Epicurean philosophers pursued true freedom through ‘Apatheia’ and ‘Ataraxia’, meaning ‘peace of mind and heart,’ freedom is very important for practical life beyond the theoretical level, and above all, for mental health and healing. 

Philosophical counseling invites people to find freedom even in unfree conditions for mental health, mental stability, and pain relief. Freedom is a fundamental principle and an indispensable condition of human existence, and it is a decisive force that allows humans to free themselves from the internal bondages that torment them.

To do this, ‘inner freedom’ that controls oneself and leads to self-determination, free from external pressure and control, is required above all. This is possible when one realizes existential freedom through self-determination in a fundamentally open world, free from material and sensory constraints.

Existential freedom means being open to absolute truth or the totality of meaning. Accordingly, Jaspers (1883-1969) defined existential freedom as ‘the activity of the will to think about the source’ where humans meet the transcendent, which resolves internal compulsion, conflict, and self-deception. Self-awareness is the source of freedom and happiness, which can liberate oneself from the internal constraints that bind oneself and move toward self-healing.

Reception of Gifts of 'the Spirit

 

The Catholic Times, in one of its articles, explains what is done in many parishes in Korea and possibly in other parts of the Catholic world on Pentecost Sunday.

Many parishes, when they come up for the collection during Mass on Pentecost, pick up a prepared cutout of a dove that has one of the seven gifts of the Spirit printed on it. This is a teaching moment - an interesting way to spend time reflecting on one of the gifts we've received.

Just as the apostles received abundant grace from the Holy Spirit and were sent out into the world, we are reminded of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and encouraged to enrich our lives by reflecting on the gifts. What do the gifts of the Holy Spirit mean? 

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are seven graces that the Holy Spirit bestows for the sanctification of individuals and communities.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are mentioned in the Book of Isaiah (11:2-3). They were not limited to a certain number from the beginning. Later, the Latin Church Fathers identified the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The gifts are received specifically through the sacrament of Confirmation, but are not limited to that occasion: ▲Wisdom ▲ Understanding ▲ Counsel ▲ Knowledge  ▲ Courage  ▲ Piety ▲ Fear of God.

Wisdom is a gift that helps us see things from God’s perspective. Helps us discern God's will and live in a way that pleases him.

Understanding helps us to grasp the truth more deeply and appreciate its deeper meaning in our lives. 

Counsel helps us make wise decisions by seeking counsel from others and giving it to others.

Knowledge helps us understand God's creation and the world around us, enabling us to appreciate God's wisdom and power.

Fortitude, moral strength, and courage, to persevere in the face of failure and stand firm in the face of adversity.

Piety is the gift that enables us to love God as His children and to love all His children. It enables us to forgive and truly love our neighbors. 

Fear of the Lord is awe, reverence, and respect for God, acknowledging that all comes from God. 

These are gifts, but it's necessary to remember that what is received as a gift, how something is understood, or experienced, is always filtered through the individual's existing beliefs, knowledge, and experiences. What's given is not received objectively, but rather shaped by the receiver's internal state—not in the manner of the one giving but in the manner of the one receiving.

Comparisons are Odious

The Catholic Peace Weekly's Preciousness of Faith column by a seminary professor reminds us that comparisons are not a healthy expenditure of time.  

Is there anyone who has never felt hate toward someone? Hatred is a universal emotion. We develop hatred without even realizing it, and that emotion makes us uncomfortable. Since we live our lives with others, the feeling of hatred is a significant issue.

Why do people develop hatred? Why do we have to suffer from hatred that arises regardless of our will, and why do we have to have uncomfortable relationships with others? What should we do about the feeling of hatred that we cannot control?

If we open the Bible and take a quick look, hatred appears to be a fundamental issue. Cain hated his younger brother Abel so much that he killed him. Jacob’s sons thought their father favored Joseph, the youngest, and could not speak to him properly because of their hatred. 

Jesus was also well aware of hatred and the suffering it causes. However, He gave us the commandment to love our enemies, which seems unrealistic (Matthew 5:43). What should we do with the unavoidable feeling of hate and Jesus’ commandment to love our enemies?

First, we need to acknowledge that hatred is a universal emotion. Can we comfort ourselves by saying that all humans, therefore, are bound to feel hatred? In other words, hatred is a natural phenomenon that all can experience. He is not suggesting that we glorify hatred. However, before we judge it negatively, we need to objectively see and acknowledge that such an emotion naturally arises.

Next, we need to acknowledge that we are weak beings who cannot help but feel hatred and are bound to suffer and be hurt because of it. We are not broad-minded beings who can accept any words or actions of others without being hurt. When we acknowledge this, won’t we be able to look at our hatred more freely?

Furthermore, it would be good if we read the psychology behind hatred. Although many factors are at work, the reason hatred arises is, above all, because of ‘comparison’. Cain felt angry and resentful because he thought the Lord only considered Abel’s offering. Jacob’s sons also felt jealous because they were compared to Joseph, and sold their youngest son to merchants in the desert.

Hatred often arises when we feel that someone has more or is loved more than we are, or when someone treats us poorly. Then, isn’t the way to escape resentment not to compare? Of course, it won’t be easy. Above all, it will change if we can deeply realize that God loves us more than anyone else. We compare and are jealous because we do not have the awareness and confidence that we are precious and noble beings loved by God.

However, God never compares. God sees and loves all things and humans in the world He created in various ways. Comparison arises from a heart that does not accept diversity. We are different, but this difference is not for comparison, but to blend together and create a beautiful mosaic.

Let's look at ourselves through God’s eyes and see ourselves in the beautiful mosaic that is everyone. If we can be certain that we are shining as unique and beloved beings of God right where we are, wouldn’t we be able to live in a different relationship with our neighbors than before?