Saints- Happy Or Sad People?

A meditation from our Maryknoller in Hong Kong Fr. John Cioppa, taken from his book In His Own Words.

I was reading an article recently that said the primary religious virtue is Joy together with gratitude. That surprised me. I would have chosen Faith, Hope or maybe Love. But the more I think about it the more I realize how correct that statement is. Happiness is the key. If God is happy and we are made in the image of God then we are made to be happy too. If I were asked what is the one thing that every single person in the world desires- there is no question it is "Happiness"! This is the basic search of every individual. "How to be happy?" "What do I have to do to be happy?" Some buy lotto tickets, some like expensive clothes or cars, others study the stock market, get married or watch TV. The motive of those who go to war or don't go to war or even of those who commit suicide is - Happiness.

True HAPPINESS is not a feeling. It is not perfect health or long life. True happiness is sharing in the life, spirit and joy of God. The saints give a clue as to what that happiness is. We often think of the saints as individuals who were flawless, pious, quiet people who spent much time in prayer, suffered a great deal and looked forward to death. Some may be like that, they don't seem very human. I don't like that image of a saint. Actually, I don't think it is even correct. I think the saints wanted to be happy just like you and me. They didn't search out hardship, misery and suffering. They were people who were compassionate, understanding , faced obstacles with peace and freedom, had a balance in their lives, a sense of humour and above all found JOY in all things. They had a deep appreciation of the beautiful things in life.

Look at St. Francis. He was a poor man but he was a happy man. He took delight in each day, in the flowers, birds, animals, food and work. He addressed the sun as "Brother Sun" and the moon as "Sister Moon". The saints were people who felt gladness and gratitude to be alive. They were people who were truly human and filled with joy. Like St. Irenaeus said, " The glory of God is man fully alive." Our bodies and the world are not obstacles on the path to God-they are vehicles in which we travel on the journey to heaven. We forget that God said all of these things are good, very good. The highest compliment we can give to someone who gives us a gift is to thoroughly enjoy the gift . The greatest compliment we can give to God, Our Creator, is to thoroughly enjoy the gift of life. The best way to pay for a beautiful moment is to enjoy it.

The saints are people who realized and lived out the fact that this world is not our true home. But they are also the ones who enjoyed life most fully.They loved God but if you read the lives of the saints you will even find that some where fat, had double chins and liked good chocolate. So let's enjoy life , thank God and join the communion of saints.

PRAYER-WALKING

Another meditation from our fellow Maryknoller in Hong Kong, Fr. John Cioppa.

I like to walk. I like to walk with others. This provides a great opportunity to relax, talk and share views on life with a friend. But I also like to walk alone. I have found it is one of the best ways to pray and it's easy. For many of us as soon as we think of prayer, we think of folding our hands, kneeling in church or saying the Rosary. But walking can be prayer too.

I like walking in the country parks best.... But you can walk in the streets as well. Prayer walking is an attitude. If you can walk, you can pray-walk. The simplest way I call "strolling " with your soul. You just walk along in a relaxed and easy going manner enjoying nature, stopping to look at whatever grabs your attention: a flower, a tree, a pond, ball game or kids playing on the swings. You just admire and enjoy what you are experiencing. Perhaps it's the smell of the flowers or the sour odour of fermented leaves in the Fall. Whatever it is, we drink in and feel in our souls a sense of joy and peace, and thank God that we are alive and here. We bless all of creation and the whole world becomes our "temple".

Another kind of prayer-walking is more formal. We can consciously breath in the fresh air , count our steps, repeat a phrase that we like, e.g. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me; My God I place all my trust in Thee, or like what Thomas the Apostle said, " My Lord and My God." We can find a word or phrase in cadence with the walking. Some people like to say the Rosary. Don't worry too much about what you are saying, just keep up with the rhythm.

I prefer to use my own words and talk to God. Sometimes I praise Him for the beautiful day and the opportunity for quiet reflection. Other times I discuss with Him a difficulty I am having, tell Him about my mood. good or bad. Sometimes I talk with Him about the day ahead or discuss with Him future plans or ask His help with a decision I have to make. If I am alone and no one is in sight, I talk aloud to God. Sometimes I repeat a short hymn.

Prayer -walking is healthy. It involves the whole person, body and soul.

Prayer-walking is not for experts. It is for ordinary people with feet. If you have feet, you can pray.

Prayer-walking is right for our times. It is a combination of action and contemplation. It reduces stress.

Prayer -walking helps us to pray naturally and to form the habit of praying always.

Prayer-walking is enjoyable and easy. You can prayer -walk alone or with someone else, at day or night, in rain or shine, in the city or country , with music or quiet, for five minutes or five hours. Try it....

The Encyclical Caritas in Veritate

The Catholic Church of Korea is very conscious of its unity and rarely do you see any public disagreement among the higher echelon in the Church. So it was a happy surprise to see there was some misgivings in not seeing an early Korean translation of the recent encyclical of the Holy Father Caritas in Veritate. It was signed on June 29th and was released on July 7th. The Catholic Church in Korea appears not to have a high priority f0r the translation of Vatican Documents. It could be the difficulty of translating without the Latin copy but more likely the desire for perfection which seems to be very Korean. A provisional copy to be amended later would be welcomed.

The editorial in the Catholic Peace Paper mentioned that in the west the encyclical was awaited with much expectation and when finally released there was much analysis and comments. Here in Korea it has been too quiet. It is a letter that all of us should read and study and little has been made of the encyclical. It is true that we have a language barrier but even considering this the editorial emphasized it has been too quiet.

The encyclical was released in English, French, German Italian , Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish. Apparently the Latin text is still not released. There will be much dispute on what the letter says in certain parts of the encyclical: the comments that have been made tell you more about the one making the comments than on what the Encyclical had to say. The Encyclical is very compact and complex; there will be much said about the contents in the years to come.

The Pope right from the beginning makes it clear "The Church does not have technical solutions to offer and does not claim 'to interfere in any way in the politics of States.' She does, however, have a mission of truth to accomplish, in every time and circumstance, for a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation."

The difference of opinion we have will be expressed very eloquently by those on one side or the other; I do hope that we have enough humility to open ourselves up to change. Cardinal Newman said to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often. Hopefully what we read will both allows us to concur and to be open to change.

The social evils and the value for life are all of one piece - to put one against the other is not a Catholic way of looking at life. " When both the logic of the market and the logic of the State come to an agreement that each will continue to exercise a monopoly over its respective area of influence, in the long term much is lost: solidarity in relations between citizens, participation and adherence, actions of gratuitousness, all of which stand in contrast with giving in order to acquire (the logic of exchange) and giving through duty (the logic of public obligation, imposed by State law). In order to defeat underdevelopment, action is required not only on improving exchange-based transactions and implanting public welfare structures, but above all on gradually increasing openness, in a world context, to forms of economic activity marked by quotas of gratuitousness and communion. The exclusively binary model of market-plus-State is corrosive of society, while economic forms based on solidarity, which find their natural home in civil society without being restricted to it, build up society." (#39)


I will be waiting for a Korean copy of the Encyclical so that I can discuss it with the Catholics. The Encyclical is following a long tradition of social teaching. The letter is full of our traditional teaching but at times a different emphasis, helpful in our approach to the globalization we are experiencing. Hopefully, the translation will not be delayed too long.

The Grandmother and Her Farming Son

In the Catholic Church of Korea this Sunday is Farmer's Day. One of the priests in the diocese has given us a modern day parable to understand the problems of farmers.

Grandmother Anna lives in the country doing her farming. In recent years because of her age she is often sick and in need of attention from her youngest son and daughter-in- law. In the past she was not considerate of her younger son ; she is now sorry for neglecting him and comparing him with her older son.

Anna was the mother of two sons. Her husband died a few years ago and the oldest son lives in Seoul. From a very early age the older son showed signs of being very intelligent and was the pride and joy of the whole family. It was financially difficult sending him to college; they sold part of their land to send him to the very best schools. He didn't disappoint, and now has a responsible job in a big company. The members of the community in which they live praised his parents for raising such a son which helped them forget their difficulties.

The oldest son was showered with praise and expectations while the youngest son not very good in his studies, listened to constant reprimands and was ignored. He barely finished high school and ended up helping his father on the farm. He married a farm girl and took over the farm.

Anna in recent years is beginning to see her younger son with different eyes. He is working the farm; he and the daughter- in- law are taking care of her for which she is most thankful. The older son succeeded in making a place for himself in society which is great but she wonders what would have happened to her without her younger son. The youngest son is taking care of her, farming the ancestral land , and taking care of the homestead, what a great blessing. The oldest son and daughter-in-law pay them a visit a couple of times a year. They are not able to make the trip often and even if they if it were possible the daughter in law, who is not used to difficult work , would not be able to work the farm and take care of the mother.

I can't help but recall the words of our Lord: the stone that was rejected has now become the corner stone of the building. The youngest son who was of no use was cast to the side but now is the pillar of the family and the farm. In our society those who are working to give us daily necessities ,workers and farmers are on the margins of our society...

The oldest son of Anna who had become a success in life is precious but so is the youngest son . In our society we need the politicians, the teachers, the entrepreneurs, the artists etc. but we also need those who give us the produce from the farms. To entrust the food that we need to imports from the outside is a great problem.

We are letting the farmers and the farms go down the drain. Outside of rice almost all of our food is coming from overseas. In the not too distant future when even the rice will come from overseas the farming section of our society will disappear. Already the desire to live on the farm is disappearing . It is our job to help the farms by making the effort to buy our farm products.



The Bishop of Incheon in his message for Farmer's Day stressed the need for all of us to support the buying of Korean farm products by those in the City. Even if it is more expensive it is the way we can show our solidarity with those on the farm and our fraternal love for our brothers and sisters.

The editorial in the Catholic Paper mentioned that in Korea we supply only 25% of the food that we eat. The population of our farms is only 6.6% of the total and getting old, it is difficult to find any young people left on the farm. The effort is being made to establish direct links to the farming communities to buy the products of the farms. It has been operative for over 14 years but we see little improvement over the years. The attempt is being made to begin to have trust in our farming communities and see if we can turn this around.

Mission Stations and Catholicism in Korea

Some years ago on Kang Hwa island there were 10 mission stations visited once a month. A mission station is a community in which a priest does not reside and where the catechist takes care of all the services and would act like a permanent deacon. Today 4 of these have become parishes. The importance of the mission stations in the growth of the Catholic Church in Korea would be hard to ignore.

There was an interesting article in the July issue of Kyunghyang Catholic Magazine on the Life in the mission stations during the persecution. It was the place where a new life was nurtured, the seed bed for inculturation ( Inculturation is a term used in in the Roman Catholic Church, referring to the adaptation of the way Church teachings are presented to non-Christian) and maturing as Catholics. It gave them the strength to follow the way of martyrdom before religious freedom arrived. Below is a summary of the articles with some quotes from some of the missioners.

(St. Anthony Daveluy, 1818-1866) wrote in his diary:
All the people although poor were able to help the poorest. They took care of the widows and orphans. During these hard times the expression of love was something that was never seen before. Some older people gave all of their goods to help others. Those who had more education than others entering the Church thought it their duty to help to teach others the prayers and the catechism. Those who gained some influence in the community because of their knowledge, personality and reputation, moved by the spirit, devoted themselves completely to the difficult task of building up the Korean Catholic Church .Even after the freedom of religion this way of acting continued in the mission stations, in the Chollado area.

Paris Foreign Missioner Baudounet, 1859-1915 wrote: Seeing the working together of those entering the Church is marvelous. Among them we have an exceptional practice of virtue, a show of love and devotion. Although there is a lack of material goods they share the little they have. When I look around the mission station I see the early apostolic Church. The Christians are living like those in the Apostolic Church, they expected nothing from this life and followed the example of their elders in the Faith.

The example that the French Foreign missioners saw in these mission stations allowed them to give themselves completely to the work and it gave them great joy and pride.

(St. Pierre Maubant , 1803-1839) traveled to the mission stations from September to June of the following year. Choi Thomas mentioned that he walked almost 1700 miles from January to September. Whether it rained or snowed he walked 20 miles a day. When his health began to take its toll he walked about 14 miles a day but even that year he walked close to 3,300 miles


The writer of the article concludes that even though at that time the social position of each was extremely important and strict the Christians did not feel restrained by it. They were building a new society. They were moved by love and detachment. Their daily lives and spiritual life were one. This life of Faith became a part of who they were and gave them the strength to face death.

This faith of the Christians ennobled the Missioners; it gave them the strength to face death. They helped each other to be people of Faith. The author wondered if without the mission stations we would have had the number of martyrs, the growth and the inculturation of the Church in Korea.

MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING

Today, Wednesday the 15th week of Ordinary Time, the first reading in the Divine Office was about the seizure of Naboth's vineyard by Ahab the king of Samaria. Ahab was willing to give Naboth a fair price for the vineyard and even exchange it for another vineyard to his liking. I am sure he would even have made the deal extremely attractive. Naboth however, was not interested. " I will not give you my ancestral heritage." was Naboth's answer. Ahab was so upset that he took to bed and would not eat. His wife Jezebel arranged to have Naboth killed and solved the problem without much trouble. (I Kings 21)

There is a similar problem in the Seoul Archdiocese with the Kajwa Dong parish: they are asked to give up the Church for redevelopment of the area for a New Town. The Redevelopment Co-op is willing to give the money necessary for relocating and building, but the community is not interested. A struggle between the Church and the Co-op is well advanced. The feeling of the Church is that they are not a commodity that is bought and sold. There is much more involved here than money.

The society that we are living in today is one that sees all problems easily solved with money. I suppose that Ahab and his wife had the same feeling with the vineyard. It was close to the King's house and he wanted the vineyard to make a vegetable garden, a very praiseworthy desire, but Naboth had a great deal of sentimental feeling about that vineyard. It was his history and money, no matter how much, would entice him to give it up.

The Parish Community has begun to collect signatures; they have 16 thousands at present and will approach the other parishes in the deanery for the 50 thousands necessary t0 bring it before the court of law.

There are many things in life that do not have a price and we tend to forget this in our world of commerce.

Church of Korea's Legion of Mary

There was a news report that mentioned a Legion of Mary presidium in Pusan with 100% attendance for 10 years starting from March 2000. An extraordinary fact, very hard to pass over without a comment. There were 12 members of the presidium and most of them are over 73 , the majority illiterate. This is an indication of the place of the Legion in the life of the Korean Church. There is possibly no country in the world that has a Legion of Mary as active and as large as the Korean Legion of Mary.

The Legion is the largest lay Catholic group in the Korean Church with about 300,000 active members and about a similar number of auxiliaries, and over 30,000 Presidia ( individual groups). There are very few parishes without a Legion. There is even a group in the mission station at which I am in residence.

The Legion of Mary is the most successful lay apostolic group in the Korean Catholic Church. It has made a tremendous contribution to Church development. It has helped Catholics mature in their faith, motivated them to participate in the work of the Church, gave them a taste for small group activity, helped them to understand the life of prayer and gave them a desire for learning and motivation to improve their life of Faith.

A chaplain for the Legion is quoted as saying that: " we can't think of the Korean Catholic Church without the Legion of Mary, and Korean lay Catholics' spirituality can naturally be thought of as the spirituality of the Legion of Mary."

The Legion can and often does go along without the direction of the priest although this is not what is desired. In some parishes you have over 20 different presidia and a curia that helps them to coordinate their work. The prayer and effort they expend in apostolic works is truly impressive. They are expected to spend 2 hours each week doing some missionary activity with another person: women and men, young and old learned and illiterate, a cross section of the Korean Church.

The Legion has a problem, however, with many within the Church for not changing their handbook which is pre- Vatican II; much of the spirituality is not attractive to many within the Church. Some do not want to tamper with something that is not broken others want to see more freedom and fewer regulations. This will be a point of contention for many in the years to come. It will be interesting to see the changes that will be made. It has been a force for good and hopefully after the discussion and changes, it will continue to be a force for good.