Korean Women Theologians

 Theology  considered the prerogative of the clergy from the middle ages is now a field that the lay people are beginning to study and research. However, Korea still has only a few who are pursuing studies in theology and to find one studying dogmatic theology is rare indeed. Dr.Choi Teresa is one of these who has received her doctorate from the Gregorian in Rome and was interviewed by the Catholic Times.

Dogmatic theology is that part of theology which treats of the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and his works. This is the foundation of all the other areas of theology and at the Gregorian there are few lay people pursuing this study.

Teresa has been asked often why she took up the study of dogma and she answers that the lay people should be well  versed in theology for they have to witness to their faith and to live it. Lay people, she says, are not only to repeat the words of the clergy and religious. The Second Vatican Council makes clear lay people are to cooperate with the magisterium. It is an obligation on the part of the laity to study theology. This is not a challenge to the magisterium but a way for the laity to grow and be able to spread the word of God. But to do this in Korea, Teresa anticipates, may be difficult.

Teresa has met many Koreans who are studying theology and there were those in their twenties who had great potential but the reality is that no one wants them. In the West, especially in Germany and

Switzerland, it is very natural to have laity study and work within the field of theology. In Korea it is understood to be in the hands of the clergy and religious, The climate for this to happen in Korea has not yet been prepared and Teresa wants to help it happen.

Teresa feels that it is necessary in Korea to put theology in the words that the laity can understand and with the sensitivity that the Koreans have for the spiritual she feels that they will exceed what was done by the laity in the West.

Studying at the Gregorian her biggest surprise was to see how many of the  words in her studies were made for the West. Those living in the West have no problem with these words, but that is not true for those in the East. Dr. Choi wants to contribute in changing  this in her studies and work. She believes this will help to advance the study of theology in Korea.

Teresa experienced in her studies the inability to understand what she was studying and there was no one to explain clearly and satisfactorily why this was happening. She studied theology with this frustration. Theology should be using  human words to convey God's word, and this study is theology.

Showing Concern for Elders

Statistics show that we are not keeping up with the problems of the aged in Korea. There are now more suicides and abuse of the elderly, and fewer programs for senior citizens, both in society and in the Church. Although all parishes have a subcommittee on the pastoral council for the young, few have one for the elders.

Today in our society, 11 percent of the population is over 65; by 2050, it is estimated the figure will be 38.5 percent. In the past, the elderly were considered receivers of aid: taken on trips and given parties several times a year, but this was the extent of the concern.  It is said that to determine how well a country is doing in caring for its elderly is to look at the money being spent on education for the young, which usually is a sign of what is being done for the aged. According to this standard, we are not doing well by our elderly. The Catholic  Times editorial points out that if the government, the churches, and private organizations do not begin to do something, we will have a serious problem in the future.

For things to change, the editorial says it will require new parish priorities. And this change will come about, it suggests, when the thinking of the clergy concerning the elderly begins to change. If the aged are seen only as objects of  concern, the efforts to help will be limited. The elderly should be seen not only as deserving recipients of aid, the editorial goes on to say, but as valued participants in the pastoral work of the parish.

There are many older people who have a great deal of experience and specialized know-how in many different fields. They are often in good health and are willing to help if asked. They should be given every opportunity to volunteer their services, in parishes and in society. Specialists in this field have stated that there are all kinds of opportunities in society to generate jobs that will fit the talents of our senior citizens. In this way, not only society and the Church will benefit, but the elderly will be helped as well. It  is urgent that we begin to implement the necessary programs to accomplish these goals as soon as possible in the many parishes throughout the country. Utilizing the talents of our elderly population will serve the needs of both Church and society.

Popular Culture and Violence

How harmful is our popular culture today? Some Koreans believe it to be so detrimental to their children that they will only turn on the TV to view certain programs, and strictly monitor its use by their children. This is one way of dealing with the excesses of  popular culture; the wise of all cultures have reminded us to be ever watchful and critical about what we see and hear, but critical thinking is not easily achieved. Most of us will need help in making the right judgements on how to interact with our culture.

In deciding what our children can properly hear and see, we can be either too credulous or too cynical. There are other ways than just restricting TV viewing to keep the worst of popular culture from doing harm to the young.

A columnist in the Korean Times brings up the pop song "She's Gone," made famous by an older generation rock group and reintroduced recently by a popular Korean rap combo. The lyrics are about a man who loses his girl to another man and then kills the girl. The song was heard at a concert attended by 12,000 young people, including middle school children. Along with the music and the words, they saw the images of the violence and the killing.

What was even more shocking was the 'bed performance'. And the majority of the school girls, the columnist alleges, were following  all of this with enthusiastic cheers. A woman was being abused and then killed, and yet the young women in the audience, judging by their response, were enjoying it.

How culpable is the media in spreading this culture of violence? he wonders. Violence in our society is continually being given extensive coverage by the media. Very impressionable young people, dissatisfied and exasperated with their lives, can easily use what they see in the media to justify their own turn to violence to solve personal problems. When a romantic relationship goes sour, there is no reason why it has to end in violence. The ever present and sensationalizing  coverage of violence in the media, the columnist believes, gives our young people a reason to resort to violent measures to achieve their desires, including, he suggests, the increase of date violence.

Freedom of speech is an important right, but we should not be oblivious of its negative aspects, and the harm it can do to our society. In trying to change popular culture, it will serve us well to know what we we are faced with and, with the help of public opinion, try to minimize its harmful effects as much as possible.

He ends the column by telling us to go to his blog, if anyone is interested in seeing the video of "Girl's Gone," to see first-hand what he is talking about: http://blog.daum.net/prolifecorpus.

Korean Catholic Missions Overseas

The Korean Catholic Church has shown  an interest in setting up missions in Mongolia, Peru, Chile, and in other parts of South America and Asia. In 1996, the Columban Missionary Society of Korea started sending Korean priests as missioners to other countries.  And in the following years they sent 11 missioners who have had mission experience and have returned; at the present time there are 11 more who have volunteered for mission work. The Columban Missionary Society is also sending out lay persons as missioners.

Missioners have been in Mongolia for the last 20 years, and presently number 81.  28 are from Korea, mostly from the diocese of Daejeon. The Jesuit Province of Korea has also a mission in Cambodia which it supplies with missioners.

The Catholic Times editorial mentions these facts but also points out that the dioceses have not successfully promoted the spread of missionary work outside of Korea. There has been little response to the programs, set up by the bishops and the Korean Foreign Mission Society, for those interested in the missions . The Society, begun in 1975, now has 64 members, and will be a help in the formation of the missioners, but the first class was disappointingly small. The Society will continue and hopes to see a change in the interest for mission.The interest in foreign missions in Korea is still in the early stages; consequently, a systematic program of raising funds for the missions and support is still to be developed.

We say that all Christians are  missioners. This is our Catholic understanding, but the methods of putting this into action still remain to be effectively incorporated into the lives of the Christians.  Asia has only 3.1 percent of the population that are Catholic, so the opportunity for evangelization is great.

The editorial ends with the acknowledgement that the Holy Spirit is the motivating power behind the work of mission. And just as Jesus gave the apostles the power to witness to him, we have to pray for that to happen today.

What is Love?

Love is a command of Jesus and is central to living a spiritual life. The columnist writing on spirituality for the Catholic Times, however, feels the word is overused and no longer motivates many people. There are few words that have as many meanings, among them: loyalty, humility, sacrifice, courage, self-restraint, and the like. Love is not unconditional praise of another, he says, but honest advice is included under the category of love.

He prefers the word consonance, to be in harmony with the will of God. It is being in harmony with life: congeniality, compatibility with life's situation, compassion for others, and competence in what we do, all of which requires firmness and softness.

He believes that softness is a prerequisite for spirituality. A spiritual person, he says, is a mellow person; without it, there is a lack of discipline. Even if we think we are mellow, with God's help this softness can grow. We will also become firmer.  He distinguishes firmness from stubbornness. What comes from human values is stubbornness; what comes from God is firmness. We walk with firmness in harmony with God's will.

This is all God's work. It is not our unaided effort that produces results but our acceptance of God's gift. When we make efforts directly to be happy, we may find the gift of happiness more distant. His writing, he says, is also a gift, a result of God's love. To say "I did it" is not the proper way for a Christian to express anything that we have accomplished.  Those who are reading this, he says, are also recipients of this gift. providing us with the desire and the time to read what is written. All is gift, or another way of saying this: all is grace.

With this attitude, all becomes light and easy. However, he reminds us that there are many of us who live in great sadness. Their lives are full of despair. Each day is tension-filled, or unknowingly empty of meaning. Why is this so? Why do they live that way? He doesn't give us any answers, but the society we have made certainly influences how people see themselves. Those who can't adapt to our competitive and materialistic society are going to have problems.

Little that Money Can't Buy

This past spring Michael Sandel, the well-known  professor from Harvard University, was invited to Korea to lecture on the topic: What money can't buy, and it is very little. Writing in the Catholic Times a guest columnist gives us a few of the examples used by the American political philosopher in his courses on Justice for which he is famous.

We are living in a time when almost everything can be bought and sold. The examples the columnist gives are from the US. You can get a residence permit for $500,000, for a few thousand dollars  a surrogate mother, for a certain fee  a cell phone number:  direct contact with your own  specialist; with a money contribution to a college, the opportunity to send your children to the school, with a fee,  access to a carpool during rush hours in a fast lane, and a way of getting a clean jail cell.

On the visit of Pope Benedict to the States,  although the tickets were given out free there were advertisements selling them for $200.00. While on research in the States, he saw advertisements by  Ivy's league students who for a fee were selling semen and eggs, prices would depend on the intelligence and height of the students. There are few things that have not become commodities and ready to be bought and sold.

We hear Jesus say in the Scriptures: "You can't serve both God and Mammon" (Matt 6:24). The Church,  based on the Gospel, works to uphold the dignity we have as children of God and to be united with the poor of our society and to fight against the abuse of the  private profit rational of the market. The Church has to continue speaking loudly as a spokesperson for the poor and the alienated of our society.

Peace comes from the protection of the common good, respect for humanity,  freedom to express ourselves, and the practice of fraternal charity. May the flower of love and justice come.

Books by Koreans for Koreans

There are always people who are going to be opposed to what you say or do. Writing in the Catholic Times, a columnist  reminds us of this reality. She  is the chief staff member of Scripture Research in a Catholic University. University professors, she says, would like the books on scripture to be written by specialists, those with advance degrees in the field; our columnist has a different opinion.

There are many books on scripture published by specialists, but is it necessary, she asks, that the application of the teachings also be from specialists? Why not take advantage of those who may not be specialists but have many years of experience in living the gospel message, and have volunteered their services to teach in parishes and  small Christian communities? The Koreans are particularly suited in doing this, she believes, since their disposition is naturally sensitive and responsive to their own and others feelings. Women are more developed in this area than are men, and this aptitude is especially valuable when applied to the books on Scripture. The books she has read are, for the most part, she says, cerebral, dealing with the world of concepts and the Western way of thinking.

Many of the books are translated from the West and the ordinary Catholic finds them difficult, boring, and of little interest. Wouldn't it be better,she asks, to address the needs of our parishioners and their questions, which arise spontaneously from their own Korean sensibilities?

Those who are members of the Scripture Research Group are graduates of universities and have gone on to take at least two years of training in theology. They have taught in parishes and in small village communities. What they have experienced they have written in their books. They are able to explain in ordinary everyday language what the specialists have written in their books. Since their writings  are  examined by the specialist, there is no danger of wrong teaching or errors in the material.

Because Catholicism has grown rapidly in recent years in Korea, isn't it time, she asks, to have more  books written by Koreans  that address the needs of our Korean Catholics?