Need for Some Knowledge of Philosophy

"The Catholic Church in Korea has grown quickly; that the Catholic culture has been internalized by the Christians is not as easily said, but it is an area of concern that will be addressed philosophically by the Church in the future." Such were the words of the president of the Catholic Philosophical Society in a recent interview by the Catholic Times. 

Korea has benefited a great deal from the Confucian ethic and culture that was prevalent during the Joseon dynasty. It lasted over 500 years and still has a strong influence on the thinking of modern-day Koreans, he said.  Along with the influence of Buddhism, Christianity did not start off with a 'blank tablet' but with a strong understanding of the natural law thinking with which Christians are familiar. However, this basic understanding of who we are and how we are to live is no longer a common understanding of society.

Philosophical thinking is a way of maintaining the ethical way of living that Korea has experienced throughout its long history. "Philosophy is considered difficult, not part of us," the president said, and in the recent past, he went on to say, it was not easy to express oneself in concrete ways about our present problems, and many philosophers escaped into theories. But it is philosophy that can help solve many of the problems we now face.

The Catholic Philosophy movement has had two seminars yearly, and has published papers each year but has not been very good in making its work known to the public. The new president wants to change this by making known what the philosophers are doing to help the Catholic culture take root in Catholic thinking.

To help understand our present situation is the work of philosophy, he says. He gives us the example of the term: the common good. The common good of the United States or Europe is not the same as the common good of Korea. When we read the Catholic culture through the eyes of philosophy and apply it to our Korean way of thinking, our cultural approach to life changes, he  said.

The president makes clear that Catholic philosophy does not change our culture directly. Catholic philosophy began in the West and brought to Korea a Catholic culture whose strangeness has disappeared. But its melding into the feeling and conscientiousness of Catholic thinking by Koreans, in the final process of inculturation, will take much time before we have a Catholic culture that is part of our Christian way of thinking.

Looking over the present situation in Korea, there is sadness that much of what the young are importing from the West is a culture far removed from Christianity. To know this is in itself a big step in attempts to distinguish between what is helpful and what is destructive to the traditional Korean way of life. Hopefully, with a grounding in  philosophy the young will have the tools to make a wiser judgement on what to accept and what to reject.

'Pro Bono' Giving of Gifts

A journalist of the Catholic Times introduces us to the Latin phrase  'pro bono publico,' which is usually shortened to pro bono, meaning an offering of services or knowledge to the public, free of charge. It is often used by lawyers who offer their services to the poor to defend them before the law.

She tells us that this common Western custom is taking hold here in Korea with entertainers and prominent people in society, who are offering their talents free of charge for the public good.

When one gives monetarily this can easily be a one-time gift  but when giving your talent and special knowledge, this continues the giving.  Donating one's gifts  is changing the face of the culture of donations with a new model.

She gives us the example of a parish where persons offered their special talents, vocal, literary and artistic, to help in efforts to rebuild their church.

This is now a common element in our society. It is not only those who are eminent in society but ordinary  citizens who are offering their special gifts. And groups with common purposes are also willing to use their activities for the common good. In these efforts, more is contributed than what the giver materially offers, as it tends to involve everyone, increasing interest and participation in what is being attempted.

For the Christian, she says, it also is a way of giving thanks to God for the gifts received. She hopes that these responses will continue: using our talents and capabilities to make the world a better place for all, without any desire for remuneration, only being done for the joy of helping others.


 

Making our Lives a Masterpiece.

The editor-in-chief of the Catholic Times reminds us that this is a bad time for most items being sold in the market today. Expensive items, however, are doing very well in department and duty-free stores. The present dull market has had no influence in this area of the economy; there are no sales when it comes to masterpieces. This is also a time where many fakes make it to the market, imitating  expensive brands.
 
He gives us an easy and humorous way of distinguishing a fine item from a fake. A man asked his friend if he could  tell the difference between an expensive brand handbag and a counterfeit.  The friend answered that even the specialists have difficulty distinguishing them. The man then told his friend how to tell the real from the fake: When a sudden rain-shower comes, the person with the fake bag will be seen using the bag as a temporary umbrella while the person with the genuine bag will try to keep it from the rain.

There are those who buy a well-made item, believing it to be an important possession. And there are those who want to showoff their wealth by buying something expensive. The difference between the two, he says, is no small matter.

Because something is expensive and well-made is not the only reason it's considered worth the expensive price tag: a great deal of time and care went into producing it, to making it the finest example of its kind. He would like us to do the same with our own lives, creating masterpieces.  He puts the difference in the details that distinguishes the masterpiece from a fake.

A religious life, he points out, can also be similar to the difference between the fake and the real thing. The real thing takes a great deal of time and effort to achieve; it's the difference, he suggests, between the pro and the amateur performer.

He goes on to distinguish between two types of self-esteem. One type has eyes on others; the other sees his own worth and dignity. Here we have the difference between pride and humility.

Our life as a masterpiece is not something we have received ready-made but must, with the grace of God, develop and be fostered. It takes insight to look ahead into the future, to love genuinely, to be true to oneself, understanding oneself and others. It is this wisdom that makes for a genuine faith life, not thinking only of oneself but of others and society. Isn't this what makes our religious life a masterpiece?            

Eating for a New Enviroment

Last year because of  hoof and mouth disease 300,000 cattle and pigs were buried alive.  A professor writing in the Catholic Times reflects on the present threat of infectious diseases among animals raised in Korea and how this threat can be minimized.

Many opinions have been expressed but generally all agree that the problem has a great deal to do with how the animals are fed. In the past, the amount of meat consumed was little but with the economic improvement of the country this has changed. Protein from animals is considered important for our health, but too much can be harmful. The so-called cultural diseases can be attributed to the overeating of meat. From the year 2002, the raising of cattle, pigs and chickens has doubled.

What we used to eat only on our holidays, he reminds us, is now part of our daily fare. This big change in our eating habits is difficult for the body to accept. At one time, our bodies were accustomed to a minimum of nutriments and calories; today, there is often a surfeit that is said to contribute to our  many diseases. He reminds us of an old Korean proverb: "It is only a person who eats meat that knows the taste of meat." Eating too much meat is not a way of achieving happiness but a cause of worry. That is why those who are concerned with living healthfully often eat vegetables, boiled rice and other grains.

Korea is a small country and to keep up with the demand for meat requires raising our animals factory-style, making it necessary to use many antibiotics, which enter our bodies when we eat the meat. Decreasing the amount of meat will ultimately force the food industry to change the way they raise animals.

This will also improve our environment: today one kilogram of meat requires 2000 to 5000 liters of water. For one kg of beef, we use 24,000 liters of water. The raising of 10,000 head of cattle and the waste that is produced, he says, can be compared to the waste produced by a city of 111,000 inhabitants. The professor urges us to reflect on the damage that is being done not only to our environment but to our health by our current eating habits.  We have come to a point where we can decide what and how much we want to eat. However, he warns us, that unless we practice moderation and more skillful eating habits, our bodies and the environment will suffer.

Reviewing the Catholic Press in Korea

A columnist reflects on the impact the Catholic Times has had on the Korean scene, since making its first appearance in print in 1927.  One of the missions of the media is to criticize the misuse of power but the Catholic press goes beyond that and yet does not achieve much in that area; it's not easy dealing with authority in a critical way. Usually the religious press is concerned with general principles of truth that are manifested in our daily activities. This self-imposed limitation of the Catholic press causes frustration but at the same time pride in the work we are able to do.

What is done by the Catholic press, sometimes out of habit, has to be looked at objectively, he says. It is necessary to see if we  have been prophetic in dealing with the news. Some will say we have gone along with the times because of social and political pressure, and that we should be open to hearing this criticism. The paper has almost spent a hundred years reviewing modern church history.

Reviewing this history, the columnist was of necessity also looking over the  history of the paper, and by reading the important articles during this period, he got a feel for the period. Even though there were many times that the paper was not free to oppose what was happening in society, reading between the lines he was able to understand the darkness of the times. There were incidents that we have criticized in the past but do not see them referred to in recent times.

Among them were the Japanese occupation and its cruelty, the problems during liberation, the political  dictatorship--all events that have been duly criticized and examined. There were church leaders who, instead of siding with the citizens, were on the sidelines. Lay people who were involved with the citizens were criticized by the Church authorities. An example of this would be patriot Ahn. Church authorities were for the most part passive during these hard times; it was the laity that entered the fray.

In the Church today we have the opposite happening. Most of the bishops are very open to speaking about problems in society, while many of the laity are passive or against the church speaking out.

However, it's clear that during those times, the Church separated itself from society, which is not the teaching of Jesus or the Church. Just recently Pope Benedict, during his trip to Mexico and Cuba, made it clear that the Church has to do more in advancing justice in society, that we have to discuss more in detail  what constitutes a just society.

Recently we have had religious people, priests and ministers, arrested for breaking the law by demonstrating against the naval port in Jeju. There are those that are not happy to see the bishops remaining silent about the arrests and imprisonments. Here we have a difficult position for the bishops to deal with.  Prudent judgements about the matter and determining what is clearly an unambiguous truth for a Catholic are not always easy, and no doubt have contributed to the bishops' public silence on this issue. Speaking out on matters involving prudent judgements on the part of Catholics is respected, but to what degree should this be encouraged or defended are matters that may have to be decided by one's own conscience.



        

Young Catholics in a Postmodern Society

The 2010 statistics for the Seoul diocese shows that only about 7 percent of the young are going to Sunday Mass, according to the Catholic Times in its cover story on young persons in the Church.  Without the youth, of course, the Church has no future, and the Catholic Times raises the question whether in fact the Church is no longer of any interest to the younger generation. For this tendency to change, it was suggested, the older generation has to come to grips with the situation and come up with viable solutions.

The fault is thought to lie primarily within the present conditions of our society, and the influence of postmodernist thought, particularly its attacks on the possibility of achieving objective truth. Pastoral workers and educational psychologists have for many years pointed out the problems, proposing solutions but receiving little interest. One priest who works with the youth acknowledges that it is not that simple to solve the problem; that perhaps a long-range outlook is needed. In the early 1980s, when the Church was in the vanguard of the democratization movement, the young flocked to the Church. Toward the end of the 80s, however, they began leaving, and with the inception of the video age, and the attraction of a more sensory oriented experience, the appeal of the spiritual receded. It was at that time that the dioceses began to take an interest in youth affairs.

Although the Church now considers the younger generation as a high priority concern, whether that concern has filtered down into the parochial life of the Church is another question. Some feel that all that is necessary is for that concern to be expressed on the part of parish leaders and change will naturally occur, believing that if the basic instructions of the faith have been given, the young will return.

The article concludes with some of the mistakes that were made: not sufficiently understanding the current difficulties of growing up in our fiercely secular culture; a vertical system of authority within the Church, making it difficult for them to feel at home there; groups  in the  church were for the benefit of the community and not for the youth;  and not enough meaningful work assigned to the youth of the parish, instead of the miscellaneous work usually given--all of which tended to alienate the young from the Church. 

While most believed they were conscious of the problems today's youth have to face, this is far from the truth, the article makes clear. Efforts on the part of the church community must continue to search for ways to change how the young feel about finding meaning within the church community, and to help them grow into responsible adults and persons of faith within that community.

Happy Easter

Bishops, on the big feasts of the liturgical year, send out a pastoral letter. Below is a summary of the bishop of Inchon's letter commemorating the feast of Easter.

Mark, in 10:33-34, announced Jesus' resurrection: "They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit at him, flog him and finally kill him. But three days later he will rise."

As he said, he rose from the dead. "I am the resurrection and the life: whoever believes in me, though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die" (John 11:26).

We are all going to die. In Sirach 40:2, "What is on their mind, what they fear in their heart, is the day of their death." We will all be leaving this earth but there is no need to worry for our bodies, St. Paul says, will change into spiritual bodies (I Cor.15:44). In 1 Peter 1:3-4 we hear: "Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he who in his great mercy gave us new birth, a birth unto  hope which draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...."  That is not all; St. Paul makes clear: "If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised our preaching is void of content, and your faith is empty too." (1Cor. 15:13-14)

We will also, like Jesus, be raised from the dead. This is our hope, our happiness. It is the center of our faith life and the reason for our gratitude.  We do not only have hope for the present and for doing our best for the goods of this world.

We are not only to keep this happiness for ourselves but to spread it to others. We are to be witnesses to this life of happiness and hope in the future. There are many who do not have this hope, and we strive to make it known. The gap between the rich and poor is getting larger. When we forget the poor and those suffering and go ahead enjoying our own happiness, the Gospel is not being preached. We need also an open heart to those hurting.

The degree to which we believe in the resurrected life is the index of our faith life. Quoting from St. Paul: "I wish to know Christ and the power flowing from his resurrection, and also to know how to share in his suffering by being formed into the pattern of his death. Thus do I hope to arrive at the resurrection from the dead."

(Phil  3:10-11).

The bishop reminds us that the goal for the diocese in this year's pastoral message was to reach the 500,000 mark for  Catholics, and asks us to remember this and pray and work to achieve the  goal, remembering that Jesus is the  way, the truth, and the life.

In conclusion, he prays for God's blessings--especially on the sick, those in hospitals and those with financial problems--that all  will gather strength and courage from the resurrected Christ in whom we believe, and prays for God's blessing on all of us this Easter.