Is Western Influence on Korea Ending?

In the study of Korean, as with any foreign language, there are many surprises. The similarities to our mother tongue are welcomed, not expected, puzzling on the first encounter, but this is after all the Orient.

When hearing the Korean words for the planets they were just that, Korean words for the five major planets: the words that appeared on the calendar from Tuesday to Saturday. Why they were there I didn't know, but was shortly to learn. They were the same as the Latin names of the week. How did this come about? Who borrowed from whom? They dispute the way it came into the country but the 5 elements which are important in Korean thinking: fire, water, wood,metal and earth were the names given to the major planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn and these in turn became the days of the week.

The ancients had the idea of the seven luminaries: the sun, moon and the 5 major planets that can be seen by naked eye. The Korean word for Sunday as in the West, is taken from the word sun, Monday from moon, Tues. from Mars, Wed. from Mercury, Thurs. from Jupiter, Fri. from Venus and Sat. from Saturn.

The 5 elements that Chinese society considered important are from Taoist thought, they have a prominent place in Chinese medicine, divination and other areas of life. In Chinese Metaphysics these 5 elements make up the matter of the universe, and with the yin yang form an important part of Chinese and Korean thought.

Korea did not accept the 7 day week until the last part of the 19th century. They had a ten day week and the change probably came through the introduction of western science by the Jesuit presence in China and the influence they had at that time. How it all came about is disputed but it was not coincidence.

It is difficult to judge how much the East has taken from the West. The Internet and globalization will continue to increase the interchange. These days it is common to see English words in the papers without any explanations of their meaning. Yes, the influence of the West on Korea is great, but China will probably surpass this shortly and we will be advancing to the days of old. Korean students studying in America exceed the numbers in China; now that China has become a super power this will very likely change as will the relationship of Korea to China.

What in the World are Name Days?

In my early days in Korea I learned among the Catholics their name day was more important than the birthdays. The name day is the feast day of the saint whose name one is given at baptism. I never actually averted to my name day until I came to Korea. It was thanks to the French missionaries that the custom started and was very strong among the old Catholics. Even today the priest's name day is celebrated with some fanfare.

The Peace Weekly has an article in which a parish priest has made this a part of church life. He felt that it wasn't right just to have the priest's name day celebrated and ignore the many parishioners who also have a name date; so in the parish each first Sunday of the month was a day to remember those commemorating their name day during that month.

The parish would send out cards to all those whose name day would be celebrated during the month and invite them to attend the main Mass on Sunday. They would sit in the front seats and
receive communion under both species. At the end of Mass the priest would give each one a rose and a blessing. The choir would sing a song of congratulations.

There are always 30 roses that are prepared in the front of the altar for those that might attend.
In this parish the custom started right from the beginning of the the parish back in 2005. The invitations are sent out to all those who have a name day coming up during the month even if they are not coming out to church. The pastor mentions that there have been many who attending the name date ceremony have used that occasion to join the community after having left it years before.

The younger Catholics do not have the same attraction to their name day and it is with traditions like these that will see the custom of remembering your name day continue in the Church of Korea. It is a good custom because it is also a time to renew your acquaintance with your patron saint, meditate on his life and recall the mission that we were given at baptism.

The Tragedy We Face Daily In Christianity

On Monday the 18th we will begin the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Last year we celebrated the first hundred years of its inauguration. The Octave will conclude on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on the 25th of January. The 'how' and 'when' of unity depends on God, the 'why ' we know, the desire and efforts depend on us.

Last year Cardinal Nicholas Cheong of Seoul said in celebrating the Octave: "I feel inexpressible happiness at this moment. Now we recognize each other as brothers and sisters, confessing the same Christ...We can have different clothes and different ways of worshipping our God. However, our God, whom we praise with one voice , and the Gospel cannot be separate."

The Church in Korea is taking Ecumenism seriously. The bishop in charge is showing great concern to work with others in getting rid of distrust and prejudice among Christians and to work together in witnessing to the Gospel. The bishop wants us to stress the positive and work together in the common mission we have from Christ, which is more important than all that separates us.

My feelings are that the bishops are more concerned in this area of ecumenism than are those in the parishes, priests and lay people. Last year the Korean Christian representatives had the responsibility of composing the prayers that were to be used during the Unity Octave throughout the Christian world.

At the end of last year the different Christian representatives, Protestant, Orthodox and Catholics went on a pilgrimage of unity. They had an audience with the Pope and shared their concerns with Cardinal Kasper, who is in charge of matters to do with ecumenism in the church.
From there they went to England and talked with the Anglicans, the Salvation Army and Methodists. The bishop said they learned a great deal but what was most important was the feeling they were relating with each other as brothers in Christ.

The whole area of ecumenicism is fraught with all kinds of difficulties and misunderstandings. It seems like an impossible dream. The problems within the different Christian communities are not just little squabbles but areas of great concern, life and death issues.This is probably the areas we will have to work with, if we are to see any progress in becoming one in a larger context.

Manuscripts Taken from Korea by France

In the year 1866 seven French Missioners were martyred, two were bishops, along with over a thousand Catholics. This was the last persecution of Catholics and was the the persecution that provoked the French naval forces to invade Kangwha as a punitive measure against Korea. The French forces attacked and occupied the island for about 6 weeks in the autumn of 1866 and burnt down the royal achieves that were kept on the island. They took back to France some of the manuscripts that were in appearance of better quality; these are now in French possession and they refuse to return them. They are called the Oekyujanggak manuscripts: Having to do with the protocol and rites in the Joseon Dynasty.

The Peace Weekly had an editorial on this dispute with France. Many civilian groups are working for the return of these manuscripts and the weekly is asking the government to keep pressing France. The editorial mentions there is a great deal of double talk on this whole issue on the part of the French.

The news reports say the French government admits that the books were confiscated by the French while occupying Kangwha and that it was an "unfortunate confiscation," but the French government can't return the books because they are now part of France's national assets.

The books were found in the French National Library in 1975 by a Korean professor, living in France, who was working in the Library . Up until that time France wasn't even conscious of their existence.

The Catholic Church in Korea does feel a responsibility to show concern for the taking of these manuscripts by the French and is hoping that they will accede to the requests of Korea.The reason for the occupation of Kangwha was because of the persecution of the Catholics and the killing of 7 French citizens, members of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society. The Paris Foreign Missionary Society has given all their material they had accumulated during the many years of persecution, to the Church in Korea and without any conditions on their part. The German Benedictines also did the same. France has agreed to digitize the books but the return of them is more to the point.

Korean Table Culture

The process of eating is a very important part of life, both of the body and spirit.Koreans can eat what in other cultures you would not dream of eating and not even think it possible. This over the years develops into a culture of eating and a way of behaving at table.

Is it that they enjoy eating so much that they can eat even those things that are not eatable? They eat insults, fright, age, money, their hearts, heat, cold, effort, great loss, points in a game, goals in soccer and many other things.

I have always admired the eating habits of Korea for the table is set up in a way that no housewife is embarrassed if more show up than were invited. You have all kinds of side dishes placed on the table with the ever present eating utensils--chopsticks. So with a rice bowl and your chopsticks you are ready for the common table.

Yesterday the men in the mission station wanted to send off the pastor of the parish, who is being assigned to youth work in the diocese, with a farewell meal. We went by our van and picked him up and went to a raw fish restaurant overlooking the ocean.

We all sat down at a table that was prepared for us with common dishes of all kinds of sea food, both raw and some cooked. This was the appetizer followed by strips of raw fish. Each would have a small dish with some condiments, mustard and pepper sauce, in which to dip the strips of raw fish. At the end of the meal there is another common dish, a fish stew, boiled on little stoves set before us and eaten with the rice that finishes off the meal. Of course this is taken with Soju the preferred drink for Korean males. It would be comparable to the Japanese Saki.

The meal takes about two hours to finish, with a lot of talk and sharing. The comradery is shown in pouring the drinks of our table mates and making sure the glass is never empty. This is one areas I would like to see changed to our American style of pouring one's own drinks but the eating from the common table has a meaning that our western way of individual dishes does not. The talk is more intimate and conducive to a bonding that for me is missing in the western table manners. The drinking of course does help.

Incheon Priest Ordination Ceremony 2010

On Tuesday of this week, in a large indoor gymnasium, the diocese of Incheon ordained 22 deacons to the priesthood. This is the largest number of priests' ordained for the diocese in their history of 50 years, which they will celebrate next year.

Actually the number of priests ordained were 27 because 5 religious priests were ordained at the same time. During the ceremony 18 deacons were ordained for the diocese and one as a religious. This means next year we will, with God's grace, have 17 new priests.

The question is asked will this continue? Why is Korea different from other countries in the East or even from the States? These are not questions one can answer knowledgeably. It is a fact that Korea continues to do well even with the prosperity that the country has achieved. Many thought that this would not be the case. Those who showed an interest in the priesthood and wanted to enter the new class starting in March from Inchon was well over 30. Only 12 were accepted, because the grades in the college entrance exams were not considered high enough for the seminary. This does show the interest is there and in the next few years we will have about 1o ordained each year.

The respect for the priesthood and the Catholic Church in Korea is strong. When Cardinal Kim died, his last words: “Thank you, we have to cherish each other,” were heard and seen in many different situations in Korean society . Cardinal Kim's successor Cardinal Cheong was selected as the most influential religious leader in Korea last year. This all helps the standing of the Church in Korea, and would add to a climate in which Catholic young men, who have a love for the Church, would find naturally attractive and a help in making their decision for the priesthood.

As an example of this respect the priest would have even among some Protestants, the pastor of our parish, with whom I went by car to the ordinations, stopped for a meal on the way to the 2:oo pm ceremony. The owner of the restaurant, a Protestant, took payment for my meal but the pastor got his on the house. This motivation of respect received, is certainly not very high, as motivations go, but one believes the ten years required before ordination would be sufficient time to purify the motivation to one worthy of a disciples of Jesus.

Korean Catholic Alternative Press--Internet

The Church in Korea does not have a history of Catholics kibitzing on what the bishops do in administering their diocese and the Church, at least publicly. The Church in Korea is not accustomed to this, and could be seen as a lack of respect for those who have the responsibility for teaching. And yet we know speaking out politely and with respect, to those who are in a position of authority, is an act of love and loyalty. The nahnews, has in one of its recent coverages of the bishops' Pastoral Messages, made some comments on the contents with suggestions to the bishops.

All the dioceses have a new year's message for the Catholics of their respective diocese. It usually comes out at the beginning of the liturgical year. A reporter for nahnews went through the messages of the last two years and had some points of suggestion.

The reporter's words seemed to say that the bishops are rather vague in the way they write their Pastoral Messages. In the eyes of the reporter the bishops are only interested in problems within the Church and do not have a vision for the relationship the Church should have for society. It was mostly a pep talk to the Catholics to renew their faith; statistics say the Catholics are losing some of their ardor in spreading the faith and are not as faithful as they were at Sunday Mass attendance.

The way the messages was written would make it difficult to evaluate it the following year. The reporter would like to see concrete suggestions that can be evaluated as to its success and less vagueness and indefiniteness in the writing of the messages. He did acknowledge that each diocese will have its own diocesan offices deal with the concrete plans, but the reporter thought this should appear in the message in someway. The writer would like to see more direction in the messages, with concrete targets and goals that can be evaluated the following year. He would also like to see the bishops mention in their messages what the dioceses will be doing to help in these plans.

Having someone on the sidelines making suggestions and giving a critique shows interest, concern and love for the Church. It should be a mark of maturity. The Korean Church should be able to take this change from the way things were done and accept it as a fraternal response of those who want to see the Church be more of what it was meant to be. We do not have a history of an Independent Catholic Press, with the Internet this is a possibility open to all. Each is free to add their personal suggestions to the matters at hand. It could be a blessing or a misfortune depending on how this will be accepted in the years to come. Loyalty to the Church should be a value that is understood by all and not doubted by anyone within the Church.