How Does God Act in Creation?

How does God work in his creation?  This is a question that not only Christians but the general public directs to the Church. This is the question  at the center of Theology. Many Christians have heard that evolution is not a problem for Catholic theology but few understand why this is the case.

The Catholic Times' interview with Fr. Oh Kyeong-hwan introduces us to the recent book he translated into Korean, How God Acts: Creation, Redemption and Special Divine Action, by Prof. Denis Edwards. In the Korean Church there are few who are studying the relationship of Science and Religion, Fr. Oh  laments.  He spends a great deal of time acquainting us with the compatibility of science and religion with his website, research team, and lectures.

Fr. Oh spent over a year working on translating the book by Prof Denis Edwards, a senior lecturer in systematic theology in the School of Theology of Flinders University, South Australia. He made efforts to put the words into Korean that the ordinary readers would have little difficulty understanding. The book shows us the way God is working in his creation.

Fr. Edwards shows that God does not interfere in his creation with  arbitrary acts contrary to the laws of nature. To create, he follows the self-regulatory laws of creation, of evolution, chance and order. Fr. Oh explains that Fr. Edwards emphasizes that God does not break these laws of nature with miracles. Although there are no miracles that break these laws, there are many incidents that we are not able to understand with the knowledge that we have presently of the laws of nature. We can not use our beliefs to disregard the discoveries of science. As Pope John Paul II said, "Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes."

Fr. Oh hopes that we will have many more who will try to explain the place of science in our lives and to see the relationship between science and religion.The conflict is certainly present but it is the conflict between some of the scientists and some of the religious people but not between  science and religion. Truth is one. There are different ways of arriving at truth and different concerns of those seeking the truth but truth does not contradict itself. A well-known cardinal said many hundreds of years ago, "Religion teaches us the way to go to heaven and not how the heavens go."

Educating for Happiness

Catholic education in many parts of the world means little; for  the Catholic element is seen as peripheral to the educational process. This is not the case in Korea. Pope Benedict said in regard to education: "Are we ready to commit our entire self--intellect and will, mind and heart--to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools? Is it given fervent expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of charity, a concern for justice, and respect for God's creation? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold." These words and similar words addressed to educators by the Church are taken seriously in Korea.

Both Catholic papers introduce us to the new president of Sangji, a two and four year technical school in the Andong Diocese.  One of the first Catholic technical schools in Korea, it was founded by three Luxembourgian nuns of the order Soeurs de la Doctrine Chrétienne.

The purpose of the school is to educate students for  an occupation. This choice will help them find  happiness in the life which will soon be known, some believe, as 'Homo-Hundred'. Until 1990, there was no country where the average lifespan exceeded 80 years. Since then, six nations, including Japan, Italy and Australia, have exceeded this average lifespan, and in 2020 it will be over 30, including Korea.

The president of Sangji says the school will be 'teaching for happiness'. Striving to be number one is not what the school is all about, he said, but to form students who will be happy in life. Those that find the present emphasis on competition foreign to their way of thinking, he recommends their going to the Sangji Technical School. They will find there, he said, a different kind of competition. Too many students, in the usual school environment, have to deal with stress and Sangji is forming students for a different goal.

They present their students with small goals which, when achieved systematically, will give them the courage and the ability to dream and go on for loftier goals.

All students during a semester have to  spend 40 hours in service to others. Mass is offered daily at the school, and 30 religious sisters are there to guide the students, giving the school a Catholic atmosphere. Technical knowledge is imparted but combined with the holistic formation of the person.

Over 80 percent of their graduates have  found work after graduation, and the school is aiming still higher.This emphasis on something else besides marks and success is a welcomed relief. Parents should be thankful that such schools as Sangji exist, providing them with the opportunity to send their children to a school where educating the whole person is the top priority.

Living is Spirituality

"Living is spirituality," words difficult to understand and requiring many more words to get the point. The columnist of the Catholic Times recounts how he was able to come to an  understanding and used these words as the title of his column.  

The columnist recalls attending the funeral of a religious hermit. After the funeral service and while drinking tea with a follow priest, a classmate of the deceased approached them and asked how they knew the deceased. He introduced himself as a classmate of the deceased. 

He received them with great joy and after the columnist heard that the classmate  was a counselor on spirituality the writer asked him what does he understand spirituality to be. The answer was brief and puzzling: "living is spirituality." The writer was expecting something quite different which he showed by the expression on his face. "Father, that is not all there is to say on spirituality,is it? What are your real thoughts on spirituality? Realizing that the columnist wanted more he explained what he meant to say.

He reiterated what he said that spirituality for him was life, and he explained. The reason he expressed it in the way he did  was because we can  tell what a person's spirituality is  by the way one lives. And the quality of our life will often tell us whether there's  a relationship with God, which will also tell us, he added, about their relationship with the world.

Ultimately,  spirituality appears in the way a person lives, and is the reason, the counselor said, for making the statement that puzzled the columnist.The way life is lived is a sign of the spirituality we possess and a healthy spirituality will show harmony and balance in life. God has put this image of himself in us and when this become activated we have  harmony and balance in life.

Hearing the explanation, the columnist realized there was no need to be puzzled, now understanding the counselor's cryptic statement was saying that doing all that we can do in life to the best of our ability is spirituality, doing the right thing with all the energy we can muster, and avoiding evil with all our strength. Micah expressed it somewhat differently but with the same meaning:"Only do the right and to  love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.(Micah 6:8).                                                                                                                                  

On returning to his own monastery the  columnist resolved to live with this admonition as his goal, and sang the hymn that the deceased enjoyed reciting: God, you have given us an abundance of mercy; we return this in life with joy and happiness."

Expressing our spirituality can be done in many ways, and the simpler the better. For a Christian, our spirituality is primarily God working within us; we cooperate by saying yes. The life we live will show the results of God's work in our lives.

Catholic World View

What is a Catholic world view?  Simply put: A comprehensive view of life that provides us with a way of living guided by the teachings of Jesus, with God as the source of true joy. "Whatever brings us true joy, whether the small joys of each day or the greatest joys in life, has its source in God, even if this does not seem immediately obvious" were the words addressed this year to the young people on Youth Sunday. Joy is a sign of a life lived according to the teachings of Jesus; sadly this is not always understood. Overwhelmed by so many other teachings, we sometimes forget why the other teachings are there.

Our young people are no longer attending our community functions as in the past, most dioceses acknowledging this fact as the most serious  problem now facing the Church. How to deal with this problem is certainly not a one-time  effort, but an ongoing pastoral concern. The Christian values given to the young have not been able to withstand  the pressures to conform to the secular values of society and the pervasive materialistic concerns of the present age, particularly as it manifests in our educational system and in the media.  That the Catholic world view was not able to withstand the assault was not the problem of the world view but its absence, the failure to successfully evangelize this core message of the faith.

The Year of Faith is an attempt to focus our energies on improving this evangelization process, especially with regard to our youth. Picking up on this important issue, two editorials in the Catholic Times have recently discussed the youth problem as a manifestation of systemic problems both in society and in the Church. The first concern discussed was the need to show a more pastoral interest in young people, and a willingness to use our finances to promote the work with the young. The second concern was the large number of suicides in Korean society and the widespread discontent of the younger generation. Among developed countries, Korea leads in both of these categories, with suicides among the young the number-one  reason for deaths in this age group.

One editorial mentions that many of the dioceses are taking great interest in the pastoral care of the young precisely because of the lack of values, pluralism, the ever-present secularization and relativism of society. The need for a new mentoring system was suggested as a possible help for young people in finding their rightful place in the present and future future society. 

Putting these thoughts together with the large numbers of youthful suicides, we can see a connection. Society has improved economically, doubling where it stood in 2000, and yet the rate of suicides continues to climb, more than doubling where it was in 2000. The increase of material prosperity has not increased the happiness quotient of Koreans. According to the OECD,  Korea ranks 31st of 32 countries surveyed in the happiness index.

The number of suicides is a good indication of the health of a society. With Korea's high rate of suicides, it is difficult to say we are a developed country. The government  should of course not hinder but help its citizens to find happiness, and the Catholic Church also needs to determine how much of the unhappiness in society is due to  the cultural climate we have created.

It should be remembered that the fullness of a Christian life will overcome all the difficulties of life, even a toxic culture, and give us a joy that nothing can take away. In an attempt to make this reality more available to all, parishes are looking for ways to be more welcoming to their members.  Fellowship and a family atmosphere are often missing in the typical parish, resulting in more Catholics leaving the faith, and less success in attracting more converts. We can go a long way toward changing this troubling scenario by combining our Catholic worldview with a warm loving atmosphere whenever we gather together. This will help put Jesus and the joy he came to give us back into our lives.

Mentoring

In big business we see  a mentoring system which works well. We have the older worker mentoring the young. The mentees are given the knowledge that their seniors in the work force have gained over the years. There is a relationship built up between the mentor and the mentee that is good for the individuals and for the company. This mentoring system is part of the strategy of the  work place where the seniors help the juniors  become competent in their work.

Within the Church an almost perfect mentoring system was handed down from  ancient times. A priest, writing in the Catholic Times,  laments what we have lost, and reminds us what it was.

The family would be responsible for teaching the newly added member of the family the Christian way of life.  Baptism would incorporate the new member into a larger family of the faith and the parents would begin teaching the child. The family would feel a need for outside help and there you have the godparents to help in the  raising of the child. And besides, when baptized you gave a child the name of saint whose example would always be there to spur the person on to imitate them in the way they imitated Jesus.

This system looked at objectively seems ideal and yet the reality we have is quite different. Those that follow the intentions of the mentoring system are few and what we have in the books has become a formality and without meaning,  there are little results to show. No matter how wise certain programs are when they are done without meaning and perfunctorily the results  are easily seen.

Tertullian said in the ancient Church that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the faith. In 1984 Pope John Paul canonized 103 martyrs. How many of our Catholics know and are familiar with the lives of these martyrs? He asks. We have another 125 that have been researched and are waiting for approval from Rome for beatification and canonization. These are all worthy examples to help us to be more serious followers of Jesus. And yet the writer feels that we show little concern for  these elders in the faith.

This month is the month of the martyrs and we will begin  the year of Faith next month. We need a new mentoring system. The Protestants have a one on one approach. The Catholic Church has recommended that we have a spiritual director but this is no  easy step for many to make. We need help to travel the journey that we have been given and to do it with joy requires companions in the faith. He hopes that with the beginning of the 'Year of Faith' we will see some results in the new evangelization with a mentoring system that fits our present reality.

Catholicism and the New Religions

The loss of Christians to new religions is a common occurrence when there is a sudden change in the way of life of the citizens. This is especially true in Korea, says a professor emeritus, interviewed by the Catholic Times for its four page coverage of this issue.

Drawing on his life-long study of new religions, the professor believes that Korea provides a fertile breeding place for new religions because of the country's unique religious culture and the structure of its society. The rapid transformation of the culture has brought unexpected changes affecting the lives of many, says the professor, leaving them feeling uprooted, insecure, weary, and searching for a more meaningful life.
 
Another reason cited by the professor: The established religions have not been able to answer the desire for a deeper spirituality, being more concerned with gathering new converts and failing to respond to the needs of their own members when they feel hurt, alienated and oppressed.

The new religions found their reason-for-being, the professor says, in Protestant fundamentalism, with its emphasis on doctrinal exclusivity, its interest in growth and opposition to the mainline Protestant churches. The professor sees these new religions as providing a quick and easy way of escaping what many consider the heartless pursuit of materialistic goals, and returning us to a world we once knew: open to mysticism, transcendence, and spirituality.

The charismatic leaders of the new religions, with passion and enthusiasm, are giving their members what they desire. Their teachings, according to the professor, emphasize the emotional content of belief rather than its intellectual content, which many find easier to accept. He believes this feeling approach to ones faith should prod the Catholic hierarchy to work at developing more fellowship as a first step in answering the desire for more spirituality among its members.

The professor mentions the well-known fact that these new religions find it easier to approach Catholics more than they do Protestants. The encounter with Catholics is not only easier but more productive, he says. Leaders of these new religions are quick to say that many of their members were once Catholics. The reason for this, according to the professor, is the failure on the part of many Catholics to make the connection between their personal concerns and their Catholicism. Protestants are also better grounded in Scripture than are Catholics, who often don't have an adequate understanding of Catholic teaching, he says. Furthermore, Protestants are instructed about heretical ideas, which makes it more difficult for the new religions to find a willing listener.

Although there are more than 5 million Catholics in Korea, the professor feels that until Catholics understand their faith in more depth, making it their own, the  real number of Catholics would be much less. He recommends that the Church study the new religions, with an eye toward cutting down the number of Catholics who leave the faith, and also provide programs to debrief those who leave these religions and want to return 'home'--all the while endeavoring to make that home more welcoming for them than it had been in the past.
                          

Voice in the Wilderness

September is the month dedicated to the martyrs in Korea.  When Catholics hear the place names of the persecutions: Sinyu, Chonghai, Ulhae--memories come to mind, bringing a heaviness to the heart. And the memory of this time is not only distressful to Catholics but to all those who know the history of martyrdom in Korea. A bishop emeritus writing in a Catholic Weekly hopes this feeling of oneness with the martyrs will not disappear but act to stimulate a more dedicated life.

The Church is now researching, we are told by the bishop, the lives of  past and recent martyrs; news we all can be thankful for. In the past, looking for answers concerning the deaths of  Catholics who died at the hands of the Communist in the North, from 1949 to 1952, was not encouraged. The political stalemate in  Korea required a more prudent response, a desire not to put more live coals on a volatile situation. The need for caution has for the most part disappeared, and the process to beatify the 38 martyrs of the North is underway and nearing completion. The bishop, who has been involved with the beatification process, is asking his readers if they fully understand what is meant by "martyrdom." Whether they believe there are martyrs today and not only among Catholics. These are questions normally asked during the month of the martyrs.

There are many reasons for the questions, he explains. Today, there will be no "deny your faith or lose your head." Today's martyrs, called by many the nameless ones, our gray martyrs, will not be as easily recognizable nor their beliefs as clearly set forth as they were in the past.

Nowadays, it's not easy, says the bishop, to give up everything for one's belief or convictions.  Even when a person does sacrifice his or her life, whether actually or by refusing the material comforts of life, the reason for the sacrifice is often not apparent.          

We are now more conscious, living in our increasingly pluralistic world, that many of our citizens are being guided in life by very different values from our own Christian values. This moral discrepancy is an obstacle to our coming together and working for the common good. Even giving witness to one's strongly held moral convictions becomes difficult, and human actions, now often judged by personal convictions, have lost their intrinsic meanings. Those who speak out against the moral confusion are, like the martyrs we are honoring this month, voices in the wilderness. Nobody seems to be there to hear.