Seeing the Handicapped Differently

Writing in the Catholic Times, a columnist remembers the time 15 years earlier when he worked in a facility for the handicapped. A woman in her early thirties  came with a rather large bag to the  home.

She lived in an apartment  across from the home for the handicapped and met many of the  handicapped and felt pain and sorrow for them. When she saw one of the children she thought of her own child who could have been one of them and gave thanks. Then one  day the thought changed to  thinking that her child was in fact one of the handicapped; it was a new way of seeing the handicapped. That day, her child's first birthday she, prepared rice cakes for the children at the home. The writer was moved by the young woman remembering those at the home.

The  columnist mentions that when a facility for the handicapped comes into an area, many are opposed. The price of land goes down, and they feel that it will not be helpful in the education of the children, among other reasons for being against the home.

A  kindergarten student returning from  the market with her mother saw a beautiful older girl in a wheelchair. Seeing someone in a wheelchair for the first time, she asked her mother, "Why is she  like that?"  Without  hesitating the mother replied, "If you do not  obey, that will also happen to you." What a horrible way to respond to the child's question. There was a time when the problems one had in this life were seen as the result of sins of a past life.

The writer was much moved by the gesture of the young woman who came
with her rice cakes to the home. Her child is now 15 years old and he 
prays that the child is growing into a healthy maturity.

100th Anniversary of the Maryknoll Mission Society

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Maryknoll Mission Society. The Catholic Times interviewed  Fr. Edward M Dougherty, the superior general of the society, in presenting the first installment of Maryknoll's history of mission.

"Our  society began work in Korea in 1923, said Fr. Dougherty, and this year we are celebrating our 100th anniversary.  We have always been one with the Korea Church. We worked in the Pyongyang Diocese,  helped in the establishing  the Sisters of Perpetual Help,  were together with the Korean people fighting for  democracy and the rights of workers and  were with them in developing health education, welfare, and in working  for  peaceful unification. We have been working closely with them in many areas of development for the last 88 years."

He went on to say, "The Korean Church from its foundation has seen a rapid increase of the number of Catholics, and its participation in society is a sign of the zeal of Korean Catholics. It is easy to see the spirituality and sacrifice motivating their faith life."

He did mention one problem that he saw with the Korean Church. With its history of foreign missioners coming to Korea and helping the Church grow, and now with the maturity of the Korean Church  he wonders if the Korean Church is not  somewhat negligent in the work of mission to other countries.

The society  will also continue to  dialogue with religions in the countries in which Maryknoll  works.  This need for  dialogue between religions Maryknoll considers very important and will continue to draw up plans to implement this among the Maryknollers working in the different world cultures.                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Maryknoll  will continue to have events to commemorate the anniversary of the first Mission Society of the American Church. The superior general did say the small number of candidates  coming into  the society is a problem Maryknoll will have to face. With the changes in society there will have to be a change in the way Maryknoll  approaches prospects. We will be working  not only in the formation of new candidates, Fr, Dougherty said but also in improving the quality of those who are members of Maryknoll. He ends by thanking  the Korean Catholics for playing such an important role in Maryknoll history. 

"In Reality the Wind Never Sleeps"

Wind as metaphor, reflected upon in an article on spirituality in the Korean Times, can help us, the writer says, in dealing with the 'tempests' in our lives. He was walking with a priest friend on the day that a typhoon hit Korea. Though they had advance notice of the storm, they decided to go for  a short climb at a nearby mountain when the wind started up.

"Gosh! the wind makes us humble," he remembers his friend saying. "It makes us  bow our heads." He also remembered that persons wearing hats kept their hands firmly on their hats, and walked with their backs to the wind.

Koreans often say, "In reality, the wind never sleeps," meaning there will always be something unexpected awaiting us in life. In the present and in the future, as in the past, these unexpected, wind-like moments will be there. At times it will be a typhoon wind that will shake us, its harsh wind bringing sadness into our life; and at times another wind will bring joy or anger, sorrow or pleasure.

Sometimes, there is no sign of a wind and life can seem peaceful or insipid. At other times when the unexpected comes, it allows us to ruminate about the meaning of life. And with bowed heads and humbled, we are given the opportunity for inner growth.

In John's Gospel, Jesus  tells Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it will."  Our spirit is moved by such winds, by the unexpected events that occur in every life, and that can be the motivating force moving us to greater self-growth.

Recently, the words of Simone Weil were remembered as particularly relevant to these reflections of the writer. Her words on the value of personally painful separations in life to be similar to the unexpected, wind-like events in life: "Two prisoners in adjoining cells communicate with each other by knocking on the cell wall between them. The wall, the thing that separates them, is also their means of communication. It is the same with us and God. Every separation is a link."

Teaching Frugality

Donations and frugality do not often go together. They did recently when a married couple donated over 30 million dollars to KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), the Korean MIT. Their lifestyle is an example of frugality that would be hard  to beat. The Chosun Daily carried the story of their donation on the front page, followed a few days later with an article describing their frugal lifestyle.

It was reported that they would take a toothpick and cut it with a razor blade horizontally and vertically to make 8 useful toothpicks. Some considered this an exaggeration but the journalist writing the articles asks, is it?

When eating out, they would bring home napkins to use again, and after washing their hands would use the same water to flush the toilet, or find other uses for the water. The husband does acknowledge that there will be those who think that what they are doing amounts to little but he believes that it is a good example for their children.

The Chosun Daily editorial said the gift of the couple is another sign  that  those with  money  are not holding on to it until their death in order to pass it on to their children,  but are returning it back to society which helped them make the money: a  good sign of a healthy capitalism.

As Catholics we have a tradition that sees the natural virtues as the virtues practiced "in medio stat virtus" (Latin for "virtue is in the middle"), midway between the extremes of too much and too little. In this case, the first thought would be that the frugality shown was too much, that time spent in making the toothpicks would have been better used for other purposes.

The happy mean is not easily achieved, and, possibly, the extreme does occasionally serve a purpose in a consumer society by allowing us to see frugality as a virtue that should guide more of our decisions in life.

Place of Servant Leadership in Hospitals

A religious sister, president of the Catholic Nurses League, writing for the Catholic Times, asks how many people go through life without having spent time in a hospital? We are all pilgrims with wounds, she says. And workers in hospitals, especially, should consider themselves like the innkeeper of the gospel, who took in the one who was beaten and brought to the inn by the Samaritan.

 All persons working in hospitals have a sublime vocation, but managing hospitals in today's world according to ethical values is becoming more difficult. And the effort to have a more welcoming atmosphere in hospitals and to live up to the expectations of patients is an ongoing task.

The sister introduces us to James C. Hunter, who said," Whether an organization is doing well or not depends primarily on the persons in charge. Everything begins from above; there are no weak regiments, only weak leaders." Hunter also said that over  a third of the  most respected Fortune 100 companies are run with the servant leadership idea.

This concept is more popular in business situations, strange as it may sound, than in   religious contexts. Some meanings of the concept, found on the internet, refer to a leader who is primarily a servant, who listens to the people he's leading and contributes to their well-being. A servant leader is focused on how best to satisfy the needs of the people in his organization, and is constantly looking to solve problems and promote personal development, knowing that happy and motivated people are better able to reach their goals.
 

Medical treatment and management are one, says the sister. Medical facilities need to have a respect for life and a way of management that acknowledges this fact, which requires that leaders have a consciousness of a need to manage themselves. Without the correct atmosphere, there is a limit to  the development of the latent powers and creativity that exist within any group endeavor. When the  hospital personnel are  less than satisfied with the status quo,  this leads to  less than optimum medical services, and ultimately affecting how personnel relate to those visiting the patients in the hospital. 
 

Jesus has given us an example of servant leadership. "Let the greater among you be as the junior, the leader as the servant (Luke 22:26).  The sister stresses that this kind of leadership should be a part of the management of all hospitals.  We cannot  heal the wounds humans have, she says, with only technical means and specialized knowledge. Proper management of a hospital depends on a proper respect for life. It should be the guidepost for hospital personnel as they go about their daily tasks helping patients regain their health.
 

End of Capital Punishment in Korea?

The first day of this month marked a period of 5000 days during which there have not been any death row executions, though some who have received the death penalty still languish on death row. It was on Dec. 30, 1997, 5000 days ago, that 23 people on death row were executed. 

The Catholic Times revisits the issue of capital punishment in a recent editorial, and noted that on the 5000th day without execution, many who have advocated for the abolition of the death penalty gathered together to commemorate the day and to urge the National Assembly  to pass a law abolishing  capital punishment in Korea.

The editorial reminds us that the Catholic Church has been adamant in its emphasis on the sanctity of life, and a leader in the movement to do away with the death penalty. There is a quote from the Catholic Catechism: "Concern for eugenics or public health cannot justify any murder, even if commanded by public authority" (#2268). The late Cardinal Kim wrote in an article in the Catholic Times: "Many understand  that the death penalty is a  deterrent for crimes, but it is only a subjective opinion with no foundation in reality. There are other penalties that can serve the common good and protect human dignity."

Over the years there has been a great deal of controversy on the subject,and when we consider that it has been debated from all sides, the editorial believes it is time to come to a decision abolishing capital punishment. The facts indicate that it is not any help in preventing crime, and the desire for retribution--"an eye for an eye and a  tooth for a tooth"--no longer speaks to the people of the 21st century.

We should drop the belief that capital punishment is a deterrent for crime and look instead for the reasons for and  ways to prevent crime. Changing our ways of acting and thinking about this  controversial subject will require an on-going effort. Many persuasive reasons have been offered to do away with the death penalty, and if we  do not make the effort to accomplish this much -needed task, we will have shirked our duty as concerned citizens of our country and  responsible human beings. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

The picture on the left, painted by a Korean religious artist, depicts the entrance of the first missionary priest into Korea from China, Fr. Chu Mun-mo. The gate separated  Korea from China and was the entry point to Korea for many of the early missioners.

In the liturgical calendar, September is the month of the martyrs, a time to reflect on their place in the history of the church.  The  Peace Weekly introduces us to Fr. Chu, a martyr, and the first priest to minister to a community of 4,000 that was evangelized without the help of foreign missioners.

Fr. Chu entered Korea in December of 1794, sent by the Portuguese Franciscan  bishop of Peking, Alexander de Gouvea to this community of Catholics. It was formed by reading books on Catholicism that were received from China. The members of the community decided among themselves to appoint priests to serve the community.  Lay  people said the Mass and dispensed the Sacraments until they realized this was not permitted. They then asked Bishop de Gouvea what to do.  News of the community in Korea gave him great joy, and he  promised to send them a priest. The first priest died before arriving in Korea, and it was Fr. Chu, who became the first pastor of this community of Catholics. At that time, there were only five foreign missioners in China, and the bishop thought  an Oriental would be faced with less difficulties.

In the beginning, few people, either in China or Korea, knew that a priest had arrived, and when they heard the news, it was like having an angel coming into their midst from heaven.  Fr. Chu soon began the study of Korean, baptized, and heard confessions. However, it was not long before the news of the presence of a foreigner reached the royal palace, and orders were sent to arrest him. Learning of this, the Christians made an effort to hide him, and when the police came one of the Christians attempted to deceive them by impersonating the priest, but it didn't work; three of the Christians were taken and executed. Because of the death of the three Catholics, the priest felt it was his fault  and limited his future appearances with the Catholics.

He appointed leaders for the different communities, and started the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.  He even selected women to fill the role of leaders, which was a change from the customary role of women in the Confucian society of that time.  A noble woman, Kang Wan-suk, who was well-educated and a leader in the early community, was baptized by Fr. Chu. She hid him in her house because homes of the nobility were not searched. But news of her status within the Church leaked out and she was imprisoned and tortured, but they couldn't make her divulge his whereabouts; she was finally executed.

Because of  the ferociousness of the persecution, Fr. Chu fled to an area close to China, and was planning to leave Korea, but when he heard that the Christians were suffering because of his presence, he decided to return to Seoul and give himself up to the authorities. He was  decapitated on April 19, 1801. His missionary life lasted only 6 years but the number of Christians had increased to 10,000 by the time of  his death. But there was now a structure in place that helped continue the work he started.

Thirty years passed before another Chinese priest came, and a few years later the priests of the Paris Foreign Mission Society entered the country. It was thanks to the wisdom of Fr. Chu that a structure was in place that continued the work of the original community. The history of this time is enveloped in a great deal of sadness, but also joy in having been able to nurture the seed of faith the community had received, even during the hundred years of  persecution.