The first trip overseas by a priest who is now working here with seamen
and the foreign community was to the land of the descendents of Genghis
Khan. He took note of the wide-open plains, the blue sky and the many
horses and sheep. Though the language was different, their facial features
were the same as his own.
He went to Mongolia to
help a Korean missionary priest who had gone there some ten years
earlier. During the priest's visit, he traveled far and
wide and ended up at an isolated ranch. Mongolians are famous for their
portable tents, and it was in these circumstances that he had his first
experience of the nomadic life. No electricity, no water and no toilets
made life extremely difficult, but it was the lack of toilets that was the biggest
hardship.
A small hole in the ground, surrounded by a fence,
right behind the tent, was his toilet. Eating and defecating were seen
as similar activities, both without needing privacy; in fact there were
no rocks, trees or other objects that would provide privacy. The
children, especially, felt no need to find a private place, any place
would do. They just lowered their pants and did their
business. There was no need to avoid the eyes of others; laughing,
they would look at you. It was the priest who was embarrassed.
Last week, the priest went to a center
for children of foreign workers. The weather was cold, and he wondered
how the Mongolians in their country were making out. The recent move of
the children's center to this new area, which was a factory area, had
been completed and everything was in order. The Mongolians here in the
city are no longer nomads but making money in the factories. On that day
he was caring for three of the Mongolian children who were
sometimes crawling on the floor and sometimes walking and falling, and always shouting.
He
spent time playing with the children using the toys available.
Conscious of a strange smell he thought was from the factories
surrounding the center, he took one of the children and placed him on
his
knee while riding a toy horse. He noticed that the child was wet with a
chestnut-sized dropping from the back side of the child; the child was laughing. Too much dissimulation is not a good
thing, the priest reflected, when eating and excreting waste from the body is part of
the natural process.
He lowered the child's pants and saw
the big 'Mongolian spot' and the child laughing all the while. He
remembered the children he met 10 years ago in Mongolia who
were out behind the tent, laughing and relieving themselves. You guys
grow up strong, he silently wished, and hoped that their lives back in
their country riding their
horses would be happy.
Everybody wants to
be happy, and there's plenty of advice making the rounds on how to find
happiness. For the religious person,
happiness is not something you find or achieve but is a by-product of a
life lived well. And if we look for happiness outside of ourselves,the columnist in the open forum of the Catholic Times says, we will always remain unsatisfied.
This external search
for happiness usually results in a belief that if only we had this, or
had that, we would be
happy, but most know this is rarely the case. He recalls the time,
not that long ago, when Koreans experienced what was called the 'barley
hump' period before
the early spring barley harvest. At that time, after the
fall harvest had been consumed, many Koreans would be looking for
edible grasses and
herbs in the mountains and surrounding areas. Few of them would say they are happier today simply because of a "full stomach."
The
columnist wonders if we tend to look for the big things, the unusual
things of life, and forget to
give thanks for the more common, but precious little things;
it's a great loss, he says. We are
running after the big things, even though we would find it difficult to
explain why; maybe the reason, he suggests, is because everybody
else seems to be doing it.
One of the more common, precious
little things of life we could not do without is of course the brain.
Though a small part of our body, it does a great deal of the work, and a
great deal of gratitude needs to be given to that body part. Today I
was able to study, the columnist says, have
breakfast, go to work, and write and read this message. There are people praying for me, we have enumerable number of things for which we can give thanks. When Jesus said the poor in spirit are happy, isn't this what he meant?
Like
the morning fog, however, everything in this world has limits. Honors
and power, especially, along with what most of us desire, don't last for
long, he reminds us. The family wealth passed on to children, he says,
rarely lasts for more than three generations. This is not saying we do
not need material things. A follower of Jesus still works diligently,
and is thankful for the honors and material wealth given, and uses it
for the alienated and poor in society.
But when our hearts are
filled with material things then no matter how precious, beautiful and
vital are the non-material things surrounding us, there often is no room
left in our hearts for bringing these higher values into our lives. The
columnist would like us to reflect on this during these last days of
Lent, and to find ways of doing less with the material values of life
and doing more with the higher values that give meaning to our lives.
We are living at a
time of great change, with the need for the economy to respond quickly
to recent developments in technology. As a result, industry is cutting
back, firing is common, and the resort to mergers is adding to the
'downsizing' syndrome, and more unemployment. Having a life time job has
pretty much disappeared. Unlimited competition, the flexibility of
employers to hire irregular workers, the government's emphasis on
economic development, the numbers of unemployed and suicides are all
related.
A professor in preventive medicine at the Catholic
University medical school begins her culture of life column in the Peace
Weekly with the above observations. She makes clear that what is
happening in the financial world is having a decided influence on those
in their forties who are suicide-prone. Family ties and societal
support systems are weak and are not able to overcome the daily
stresses people routinely encounter today.
Stress, we know, is a
part of life; it permeates all of society, but many are not able to
deal effectively with it. A survey of 600 workers found that 33 percent
believed the work they were doing was excessive. Many found the pressure
was too much and contemplated leaving their work. One out of three had
some psychogenic illness and felt they were heading toward burnout.
When
faced with stress, she says, there is a change in our bodies and minds.
Our minds become troubled, putting us on edge and irritated, often
without any good reason. Because of these feelings of uneasiness and
depression, the quality of our lives is greatly diminished.
Depression
is now as prevalent in our society, the professor says, as the common
cold, and is a problem we have yet to deal with successfully. One out of
four women struggles with it, and one out of ten men. All ages and
classes, in fact, are susceptible to bouts of depression, but those from
40 to 50 are said to be the most vulnerable.
Because of a loss
of confidence in dealing with life, a loss of self respect, many
depressed people consider themselves losers, failures. And there is
nobody, they think, that can help them resolve the problems they face.
And when they reach bottom, without hope, suicide becomes a possible way
out for them. Some try to alleviate the problem by drinking, which only
makes matters worse. But in the beginning stages, 80 to 90 percent can
be helped to return to a normal life.
All of society has to be
concerned with this problem. We have to see it as something that can be
overcome and not give up our attempts to help. There are of course
different ways to do this, to give strength to those having
difficulties: Government, especially, has to increase society's safety
net, along with all of us pitching in, preparing ourselves to help those
facing stress by offering to do whatever is necessary to help those
who see life without hope to see it less pessimistically. And in the
religious world, we have to make it easier for people to express their
worries and problems, as well as being there for them with words of
encouragement.
During the general
meeting of the Seoul diocesan priests, the topic receiving the most
discussion was how to find ways of shortening the time assistant priests
have to wait before becoming pastors. A priest who is pastor of the
Bishops Committee for Missionary Work Overseas expresses his opinion on
the topic in
a recent issue of the Peace Weekly dealing with the encyclical of Pius
XII, Fidei Donum, which called on bishops to face the challenges of the
universal mission of the Church by making priests available to
other continents.
Answering the call of the Pope to go to
mission countries, he says, may be the answer for those priests who feel
their talents are not being effectively used by the home church. He was
saddened, he said, to learn of the large number of priests who are
frustrated and not able to do what they feel capable of doing as
assistants.
The pastor had himself spent six years as a missioner
in Chile, where there were over 4 million Catholics in his diocese. In
the year he returned to Korea, the diocese in Chile had only one
ordination to the priesthood. Today, two-thirds of the priests in
Central and South America can be called Fidei Donum priests, but most of
them are now elderly.
About 200 priests, religious and lay
people from Korea are now working as missioners in Central and South
America, where the work is often difficult. One priest has 60 mission
stations to take care of. Over 80 missioners are in Africa, where they
are exposed to malaria and a rugged life. Others work in South Asia,
Oceania, Europe, and in other parts of the world. Those who return have a
soft spot for mission work and do miss the time spent in these
countries, despite the difficulties.
The
priest uses his writing to recruit volunteers for these mission
countries, but is aware that the allure of materialism tends to corrupt
our way of thinking, making us content to live the easy life and to
justify it--reliving the faults of the Pharisees recorded in the
scriptures. So when a priest becomes a Fidei Donum priest, we should
all rejoice; the diocese will be blessed, and new life will be born.
In order to encourage the process, the diocese has to invest money in the education of these priests and
have programs to facilitate the study of languages. He tells those
interested that they will experience the help of God in language learning, and not to fear the study of languages. Financial help also needs to be given overseas
because these areas of the world are often very poor. He ends by
promising those who do become Fidei Donum priests that they will be
rewarded many times over for their labors on behalf of the poor in the
most needy countries of the world.
'Future change' seems to be here now, permeating our present life and doing so at super-speed, says a writer in the diocesan bulletin. Using the words of a futurist, he wants us to be conscious of this reality. If we decide to ignore what is happening, content to "walk in place," as he puts it, we will be fighting against this change and not be ready for living in the twenty-first century.
One of the big changes now is the aging of society. Economic development and scientific discoveries, along with the low birthrate, have brought this about, he says. According to the office of government statistics, our country is already an aging society. When a country has 7 percent of the population over 65 years of age, that is the accepted sign that we are an aging society; if over 14 percent, we are called an aged-society; over 21 percent, we are called a super-aged society. Korea is one of the fastest aging societies and will be the fastest such society in 2018. In 2026, it is predicted to reach the super-aged society.
Compared
to other societies, it will take us less time to reach an aged-society, the writer believes.
It took France 115 years to go from an aging society to an
aged-society. Sweden in 1973 became the first aged-society; it took them
85 years for that to happen.
Japan took 26 years; He believes it will take Korea only 18 years.
What
does this mean for the Catholic Church in Korea? he asks. The Church
has already gone ahead of society in becoming aged. Church
statistics in 2011 showed that the aging of Church members was 4.5 percent higher than
society at large. In 2022, over 30 percent of Catholics
will be more than 65 years old. This means that the numbers of the zealous and
dependable parishioners will be in this group, and if they are excluded as active members of the Church because of age,
we will have difficulty finding those who will do volunteer work in the Church.
If
this group of the aged is going to be a concern of the
community, as needing the care of the community, then there will be
serious
problems for the community to continue its pastoral work and services.
It is
even now difficult to find laity who are willing to be
members of the parish council, or leaders of the small communities, or
members of parish societies, and become involved in parish work. It will also
be difficult to find women able to help out in the parish, as
they have done so generously in the past because of work outside the home. With these likely future
problems close at hand, it is easy to see what the church will be faced
with in a
short period of time.
The Church has spent money and time in determining how to work with the young; it is now time to see the aged as a pastoral concern. Up until now, it has not been an issue, but this will soon change. Priests will have to be educated in this area of pastoral work while still in the seminary. For those in pastoral work, we will need seminars and educational programs to help change how we currently see and respond to our senior citizens.
Recently, one of
our diplomats was stopped by a policeman for drunken driving, and the
individual in anger said to the policeman: Do you know who I am? Writing
in a pastoral bulletin, the priest recalled a time when such responses
were not rare. He has never experienced this kind of talk but has heard
of persons using their position in society to crudely put down others.
The priest from his time in the seminary
has been interested in the nature of personal identity: What does a person consider himself to be?
What is he or she conscious of? Who am I? What is a Christian? What is a
priest? Our diplomat, by his remark, was showing, says the priest, that he was not conscious of his true identity.
A
diplomat residing in the country to which
he is sent is expected to represent his mother
country with prudence and discretion. By driving under the influence of
liquor, he not only forgot the need to behave responsibly, as expected
from someone in his position, but he attempted to use his position to
escape the legitimate penalty of breaking a law of the country.
The priest
remembers the words heard in a recent liturgy, from Jeremiah:
"Teaching will not perish for want of a priest, nor will there be a lack
of wise men to give counsel, or prophets to proclaim the word." These
words of those who were plotting against Jeremiah made an impression on
the writer. Predominating nowadays in those who have a faith life is
peace of mind instead of liberation and salvation. He wonders about his
own motivation.
Repentance is not a place we want to remain in;
leaving it behind we must return, he says, to our Lord. The priest
wonders whether his life is filled with speaking flowery words and
encouraging vague actions to those who are feeling discomfit and
are anxious to hear such words. Is he at times uttering words like a
false prophet? he wonders.
Lent is a time to look at the unwise
choices we have made and determine to rectify our relationship with our
Lord. We do not ask the kind of question the diplomat asked, but
instead ask ourselves, who am I? During this Lent, the priest wants to
make sure that he is in touch with the real person that he was meant to
be.
The recent election of Pope Francis has already revealed many
signs of the kind of person our next pope is and will continue to
be. We will
gradually see how this translates into the words and actions of
his pontificate. Hopefully, the criticisms of the way he acted in the
past, in very serious circumstances, will not detract from the current
and forthcoming words and actions of the Pope, preventing us from seeing
him as the truly authentic person he appears to be, and we all wish to be.
"Religious education is seen as a means of deepening our faith life, but in reality the
reason for the education is to have an intimate personal relationship
with Jesus. " With these words a seminary professor begins his interview
with the Catholic Times.
Before we make an assessment on our religious education programs, he said we have to decide on the meaning and object of religious education. For those who do not know Jesus, these programs, he explains, are a means of introducing them to the good news, to the gospel message, in order that they might more easily give themselves wholly to Jesus and to understand more fully what he teaches.
The professor feels that the greatest difficulty
with religious education is that many do not feel a need for it, no
matter how much effort is expended on such programs. Secular values are more important, and
even if there is some awareness of the need for more religious
education, secular values take precedence. Many feel no serious
disadvantage in not knowing more than they presently know about the
spiritual life. The pace of modern life does not allow the opportunity or
the time to do any deep reflection.
Another way of describing the situation is to say that we get our religious education at church, our knowledge from school, and our common sense from daily life. This is the way we bring stress into our lives by dividing
life into compartments. The religious education that children used to
get in the home in years past, as an antidote to a compartmentalized
life, is no longer the case. Now it is expected that the Church will
take care of this area of life.
The whole person has to grow in knowledge, in ethical behavior and spirituality is rarely a concern. When we see growth in maturity as many faceted and our way of thinking becomes less directed to the individual and more communal, we will see a religious education that will begin in the home, where it should begin.
At present, there is no ongoing system of religious education for our Christians that begins in infancy and goes on to old age. This has to begin by putting in place a welcoming environment and encouraging personal desire. The present situation in Korea, however, is that there is a lack of commitment, a failure to live the faith we say we believe in. The
numbers that have dropped out from the community, the decrease in Mass
attendance and of sacramental life, all point to something seriously
wrong with the faith life of our Catholics.
A clear understanding of what
it means to be a Catholic is missing in the lives of many. The content
of our tradition is enormous and the lives of those who have lived it
well are recorded, but a desire on the part of many to emulate what has been handed down to us to follow is missing. This 'Year of Faith' will continue to bring many more thoughts to the mix, which will undoubtedly bring a change to our parish life and the way we go about forming our Christians.
