Reasons for Respect of the Other

A priest columnist of the Peace Weekly introduces us to a foreign bishop, now dead, who had a large following and was considered a model bishop. The column recounts several stories that have circulated about the bishop's life.

His cathedral had recently been designated a basilica, and during the inaugurating ceremonies, the bishop, in his sermon, was explaining to the congregation the signification of calling the cathedral church a basilica.  "It comes from an old word meaning king," he pointed out, "and so today we celebrate making this cathedral into a basilica, the house of a king. By the name change we are saying that Jesus, our king, resides here in this building."

On hearing this explanation, a young man in the congregation raised his hand and asked: "All churches have the Lord residing in them; why do we call one a basilica and the other a church?"

The unexpected question caused the bishop to hesitate, not knowing how best to answer. It was an older priest who answered the question, explaining that there are two kinds of sanctuaries: one built with bricks and stone and one built with flesh and blood--our bodies. Since they are the abode of the Lord, they also are basilicas.

That evening the bishop, on returning to the cathedral after being out with the young people for a drive--he had a great love for the young and they for him--saw a homeless person, apparently drunk, on the cathedral steps. Coming to mind were the words: "What are we going to do with this fleshly-made basilica?' He knew what to do, getting out of the car and bringing the man into his office.

This is just one of the many stories that have been told about this bishop, our columnist tells us. Persons are not commodities, not means to an end, but are themselves the end. He mentions that he hesitates reading news reports because so many are about children who have been ostracized and treated as things. Especially demoralizing for him are the stories that tell us about children who, because of failing to meet academic requirements, disappointing not only themselves but family and friends, have decided that the world is too stressful and a place where they no longer want to live.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Why has this deplorable situation developed? Is it not because we see people as means and not as ends?  When the media considers what and how to cover a news story, it is often money that comes into focus. When money is center stage, where is the person going to fit ? he asks.

Life is not to be squandered, cast away as if it were an outworn garment. It is God's will for us to live and, as we are told in scripture, "to live more abundantly."  Not to kill others is also part of his will for us.  When we enter a church, we take off our hats and offer homage. When we meet another person, shouldn't this same respect be extended to whomever we meet?

Authoritarian Attitude

Having an authoritarian attitude is usually considered a negative trait, and a parish priest writing in a bulletin for priests acknowledges that priests often hear about this observation, usually directed, of course, not at them but at other priests. In any case it is the priest himself who is most hurt by it, and it also hinders the growth of others he comes in contact with. He considers his goal in life to be always growing in maturity, but if the authoritarian attitude on his part is preventing others from growing, this is a serious problem in his own growth.

In his seminarian years he knew wonderful teachers but some acted toward the seminarians in ways that are hard to understand. Sometimes in class, questions that were not considered properly orthodox would not be seen by some teachers as an opportunity to dig deeper into the matter but would be a reason for personal attacks on the students. At times, it would even be a reason for a student to doubt his vocation. This authoritarian attitude on the part of a teacher can have long-term repercussions on the formation of the future priest.

When we come in contact with this authoritarian attitude, the chance to grow will be deferred. In not getting the warm and kind concern of the teacher, we in response expend all kinds of energy on the emotions that are engendered in such contact; it  is no help in growth.

The  writer admits that he also is not free from this criticism and tries to find the reasons for this in his own life. He can't get rid of the uneasiness in himself that he tries to overcome with this authoritarian attitude: lack of understanding the other, little expertise and  experience. What he knows and the way he lives his life are often different, making for difficult human relationships. He admits that he has not been able to remedy these problems in a healthy way: accepting the emotions  that come with the failures. He has tried to restrain these feelings and to protect himself. But with this troubling rupture in his relationships, he feels a lack of ease and intimacy when dealing with others.

Because of this pattern in his life, self-confidence and respect for himself has been weakened, with a weakening of his own control over himself. Anxiety suddenly comes upon him and brings fear. In this condition, there is a tendency to drink too much and to shield himself by putting on the armor of authority in an effort to mask and flee his condition. Others like himself who fail to examine themselves and take the steps to overcome the condition will, like himself, use these unhealthy ways of dealing with the situation.

He concludes that with this kind of attitude, we do harm not only to ourselves but to all those we come in contact with; a good reason to do everything we can to overcome the problem.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   


                                                                                                                              

Responses to Absurdities of Life

'Absurdity' in life affects us all in different ways. In a Korean daily a columnist explores how absurdity has affected a number of novelists. A foreign novelist, seeing the absurdities of life, has one of his heroes who is condemned to death lash out at a priest who is trying to console him. In another novel, the hero, seeing a young child with a contagious disease, angrily says to a priest: "That child has no sin and yet he is dying. There is no God."

The columnist says that modern novelists are hesitant to bring God directly into their writing but their fictional characters often allude to the 'disappearance' of God in life. He mentions three Korean novelists that have found their way to God. One of them, who died last year,  wrote essays on religion for the Catholic Seoul Bulletin.

"When my mother-in-law died," she once wrote," and was entrusted to the undertaker for making the funeral preparations, I was overcome by a feeling of grotesqueness. After death I didn't want that to happen to me and went on my knees to God." She became a Catholic in 1985 at the age of 54. She is also quoted as saying: "Lord, I have been told that if I want to be a light I have to be consumed. I will courteously refuse. I will be like a sunflower that moves in your light."


Another novelist, who is fighting cancer, is also serialized in the Seoul Catholic Bulletin. His battle with sickness has enabled him to see life in a different light. He had no joy and fear overcame him. But Jesus' words in the garden of Gethsemane helped, "My heart is nearly broken with sorrow. Remain here and stay awake with me."

Fighting the cancer he expresses his fear, " More than the pain is the unending  worry and fear. 24 hours a day every moment is filled with pain." He realized that uneasiness and fear comes from thoughts of the past or the future, and brings to mind the words from Buddhism: "The mind of the past is not available, the present mind can't be possessed and the future mind can't be acquired." 


The novelist in his sickness met God's star. "God leads us to the precipice where we realize we have the wings of an  angel," he wrote.  He was able to overcome the pain of the chemotherapy. "This body," he continued, "is taffy in the hands of you, Lord, the taffy maker. Do what you want." Kneeling before God is not surrender but courage. This obedience shows us another side of the novelist's courage.

In conclusion he quotes the line from Matt. 6:34: "Enough, then, of worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Today has trouble enough of its own."

Preciousness of Time

'Time' was the subject of the poet's random thoughts in his recent column in the Catholic Times. Though he reminds us "... not to squander time for that is what life is made of, " he admits that to his shame he can't rid himself of the thought that 2/3rds of his time is squandered.

Time has not always been squandered for there are  times he has lived with great enthusiasm. These times are the oases in the desert, he says. He looks  back on periods of relief and light, which come from enthusiasm--the only thing that saves us from the  vanity of life. There is nothing like enthusiasm. he claims, that can give us  satisfaction and peace. Are there any recollections in life that give us more sweetness than those periods of enthusiasm experienced in the past? he asks.

We live in a place called time. Quoting from the words of the wise: Place has been united with time. That is the fourth dimension, he says,  seen by the wise of the past. Life is living  in the place of flowing time.

From these thoughts on time he has made a discovery.  'Possibility' has to do with the future and not the past. The quantity of time is also extremely important; the possibilities of 10 minutes with that of 10 years can't be compared.
 
The greatest possibility that a person can envision is birth. This may be why we look at a new-born baby with such awe and reverence. Time spent looking back into the past, as many of us do, will not, he reminds us, give us any possibilities. And at death, the entrance into quiet and peace, all possibilities end. Isn't this, he asks, a reason for our tears?

"The time that remains for me is my life," he muses. "It is the container in which I put my life's work. What kind of life do I want to put into that container? What I will put in that container will be the art of my life. It will be my destiny." This, he says, he can't change. Even if he tries to run away from it, this very running away will be a part of his life.

He finishes with the words from Ecclesiastes: "Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity!" It is hard to have a better description of life, he says. But at the same time he believes this tragedy can be turned into a beautiful masterpiece. This is the profound law of life that will be lived out in the mystery of time. Happy Lunar New Year!

International Year of Co-operatives

The UN has declared 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives, in recognition of what the co-operative movement has accomplished in social-economic development in many parts of the world. Two installments of The Peace Weekly have been devoted to discussing the place of the co-operative movement in Catholic thinking and action.

Cooperatives--people joining together voluntarily to meet some common need--are jointly owned and democratically controlled. A Maryknoll Sister established, in 1960, the first Credit Union in Pusan, which did much to  spread the co-operative way in Korean society.

There are many examples of people working together in cooperatives to fill the needs of their members. We have had successes and failures but the determination within the Church to foster this movement continues to be strong. Examples of these co-operatives in parishes were listed in the article, which also disclosed that the necessary know-how and governmental help were not always present. However, the government has indicated that new legislation will offer co-operatives tax breaks and other financial help, which should see a  blossoming of the movement in Korea.

There are over 1 billion people involved in co-operatives in the world. In the compendium of the Church's Social Doctrine it is written: "All those involved in a business venture must be mindful that the community they work in represents a good for everyone and not a structure that permits the satisfaction of someone's merely personal interests. This awareness alone makes it possible to build an economy truly at the service of mankind and to create programs of real cooperation among the different partners in labor.

"A very important and significant example, in this regard, is found in the activity of so-called cooperative enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, commercial undertakings featuring hand-made products and family-sized agricultural ventures. The Church's social doctrine has emphasized the contribution that such activities make to enhance the value of work, the growth of a sense of personal and social responsibility, a democratic life, and the human values that are important for the progress of the market and of society" (#339).

We are told in the article of the very successful Mondragón Co-operative that was founded by a young priest, José María Arizmendiarrieta, who arrived in the town of Mondragon, Spain, in 1941 to find that civil war had left the Basque region desolated. Today, the Mondragón Co-operative Corporation is the largest business corporation in the Basque region and the seventh largest in Spain, considering both sales and workforce. The young priest had the foresight to start by educating the first members of the co-operative to an awareness of the great benefits that could be achieved when everyone was intent on pursuing the same goals. This emphasis on education has proven to be the primary reason for the success of the movement.

Preparing for the Lunar New Year

Now that we are coming closer to the Lunar New Year, we are seeing more articles reminding us to clean our minds  and hearts of the debris that has accumulated since the last Lunar New Year. 

Writing in the Pastoral Bulletin a priest tells us a familiar story. A woman who had everything: good family, a comfortable living, and many friends, couldn't shake off a feeling of uneasiness. After counseling she realized she was not able to forgive her father for something in the past, but with knowledge and much effort there came the day when she did forgive and found the peace that had escaped her. 

When we hate, the priest reminds us, the arrow that we mean to use against another finds its way to pierce ourselves, as well. Korea has suffered much from influences both outside and inside the country, and that has left Koreans with feelings of  sorrow and regret, which they express with the word 'han'.

He recounts the story of a young man who lived during the  movement for democracy in Korea. He was imprisoned and tortured to get him to confess to being a communist. He hated with a passion those who were torturing him, but during that time, reading many books and reflecting much, he came to realize that those who were inflicting the pain also were being destroyed. They were being used by the immoral dictatorial rulers of the country to insure their own control of the country. With these thoughts, he was able forgive those who were torturing him.  

The  names of our enemies are carved in stone, it is said. The graces we receive are written in water. We are living with emotional scars and bitter feelings;  without being healed we will do harm to others and to ourselves.

With the new year coming the writer wants us to get rid of these negative feelings, to sublimate them. The meaning of han is a mystery to foreigners, because they have not been the recipients of the bullying Korea has experienced in her history. Following is part of the article on han that the bishop emeritus of Jeju-do wrote in 1986. Those interested can go to the following link for more information on something unique to Korean culture. http://www.marys-touch.com/truth/han.htm 

"What is this thing called han, which seems to be peculiar to Korea? No foreign word [or any one word] can adequately translate it, for it includes such different nuances as are conveyed by the words rancor, grudge, hatred, lamentation, regret, grief, pathos, self-pity, fate, mortification, etc. Han's exact meaning can only be grasped experientially.              

"Korean culture is the culture of han. Han flows in the blood of Koreans and manifests itself in Korean customs, literature, art, and in the melodies and folk music which hark back to home and youth, in the plaintive songs of the farmers, and in the cynicism, sarcasm and humor of the mask dances which make fun of the nobility. It is present in the tears of reunion or of separation, and we find it especially in the sobbing and wailing at a funeral...."

                                                                                          

More than Teaching for the Head

Rarely does a pastor in Korea stay over six years in a parish, and the assistant, if the parish is large, usually remains  for only a  year or two. Consequently,  parishioners get to see many different priests because of the frequent turn over. A priest writing in the pastoral  bulletin tells us  about a priest with a doctorate in spirituality who was assigned as pastor of a parish that awaited him with great expectations.

However, though the hopes of the parishioners for the new pastor were high, it was not long before disappointment set in.  The sermons were lullabies that put the people to sleep, little could be used in their daily life. Instead, they heard about difficult theological points and abstract generalities that were hard to follow. Even his life appeared to be no different than that of his predecessors. He had human faults like everybody else, his studies seemingly having had little influence on his life. Spirituality was studied like any other subject matter; it was all in the head with little effect on how he lived. 

This is also true of the theology taught in the seminary. Instead of learning how to make theology practical and opening up parishioners to a fuller faith life, seminarians are more often exposed, the priest says, to a theology and catechetics that is detached from life. Many see this as the reason for little change in Christ-like living.  More than teaching for the head, we need those who are witnessing to the Christian life. These days we are hearing a lot about the need for a mentor and mentee relationship as something that should become part of our catechetical programs.

Teaching or coaching is a one-on-many relationship, while mentoring is one-on-one. In the field of art, we have usually had individual relationships between the artist and  the student artist. In medicine, there are interns and residents. And craft artists in many parts of the world still have the master-apprentice relationship, recognizing the importance of the learning environment by living in close touch with those who have succeeded in achieving prominence in their field of study. More than today, this was the way the wise of the past passed along their skills to their students. 

It is seldom that we find this approach being used in the Church. In the education of seminarians, in place of exposing the new priest to the pastoral life he will be living, examples are taken from foreign studies and from the pastoral work overseas. It is rare to have the handing down of experiential knowledge from pastor to assistant. The writer would like to see a closer relationship between priests to encourage the passing on of knowledge gained from experience.  We  forget that most of our teaching comes from theoretical knowledge, from books we have studied or lectures we have attended. But the knowledge that sticks is the kind we can directly experience.