On the opinion page of the Peace
Weekly, the columnist tells us about a judge who was so angry at the
person living in the apartment above him that he punctured the tires and
destroyed the lock of his car.
Problems
with noise in older buildings are not that uncommon but to have a
judge, an upholder of the law, react as he did received a lot of media
coverage. A legal system is of course supposed to do away with the use
of violence in solving conflicts between citizens. And when someone from
within the legal system itself resorts to vigilante-type punishment it
surprises everyone.
What
made the incident especially surprising to the columnist, however, was
that the judge was involved in a case where a college professor was
fired; the professor litigated against the college for firing him and
demanded to be reinstated. He lost the case and tried to harm the judge. Our judge was involved in this
case where the professor because the verdict went against him took
revenge on the judge. The incident was made into a movie, well-known in
Korean society. Obviously, what made the judge resort to this kind of
action was a sign of how upset he was with the situation in which he
found himself, and a lack of trust in the legal system.
The
legal system we enjoy helps to
maintain a peaceful society, and private revenge is not permitted, but
we also need to understand and respect the pain that many feel
before they resort to revenge outside the law.
We
are all familiar with the horrible crimes of murder we are continually
exposed to by our media. Not only the victim suffers, but their families
as well, because of these crimes. The mental suffering the families
have to experience and the hate they have for the perpetrators of these
crime is hard for us to understand.
In
contrast, it is often heard that criminals while in prison find
religion, and are forgiven. We have had a lot of talk recently about
self-forgiveness. The documentary films Forgiveness and Secret Sunshine are
two such films. It is easy to understand the mixed feelings of the
families that have suffered from these crimes, when hearing that the
criminal has found religion and been forgiven.
Often,
because of a failure to forgive, there will be conflicts such as the
one over a noisy apartment dweller, a breakdown in family life and
so-called ethic
cleansing. The lack
of moral training to develop the virtues of patience and generosity is
also a dimension of this sad story.
Jesus
told us to forgive seventy times seven. These words are beautiful but
also harsh. Harsh because he did not give us concrete guidelines on how
to forgive. But when we think deeply on the matter, Jesus had trust in
us. He entrusted us with the ways to go about solving our problems,
supported by his great love. We have to admit, however, that are efforts
have been feeble.
Countries
further advanced than Korea have more facilities, says the columnist,
to help persons with mental scars to overcome their difficulties in
forgiving, both self and others. The Church, the columnist concludes,
should take a lead, perhaps with special programs on how best to open
ourselves to a more willing acceptance of the way of forgiveness. It
would, at the very least, remove some of the conflicts that now burden
our legal system, and make for a more peaceful society.
Capitalism is the economic framework of our modern society, and no one
can deny its success in achieving for most of us a flourishing and
abundant life. However, the desire for ever increasing profits and the
acceptance of the "survival of the fittest" idea gave birth to heartless competition, the
motivating force for the flowering of capitalism, states an editorial in the Peace Weekly.
But
the editorial also points out that not everything we have created, in
efforts to improve our lives, is perfect. And as we enter the 21st
century, we are seeing the problems associated
with this particular economic creation: the rich getting richer, the
poor
getting poorer, and the natural environment getting worse. No longer is
it
possible to be an innocent bystander, says the editorial.
The
Church sees
the reason for this sad state of affairs in the lack of interest in the
common good and
in failing to adhere to high moral standards within the capitalistic
system, particularly by our large commercial enterprises. They are
controlled, says the editorial, only by a desire not to
break laws in making profits. This has been a rather insignificant
change in their behavior from the past.
We
have movements in
society promoting social enterprises and consumer accountability,
attempts to provide some warmth to offset the harsh realities of
capitalism. Consumer
accountability examines the products we buy for their relationship to
the environment, for fair wages for workers, and for their public
benefits. A
social enterprise is defined as a company concerned with employing from
all strata of society,
interested in the environment and in conserving energy, and interested
not
only in profits but in the workers and the environment.
Hopefully,
social enterprises and consumer accountability will be the beginning
small stepping
stone to greater changes in society. Attempting to enter the enormous
capitalistic marketplace motivated mainly by the common good and
morality motif may at this time be imprudent. Nevertheless, says the
editorial, social
enterprises and consumer accountability, as formulas to change the
world, are efforts that a Christian may not avoid. The effort to have
all
live well and search for the common good is a basic Christian call.
There
is much that can be done but the editorial recommends we begin with
buying the products that have been selected as coming from socially
interested enterprises. The Caritas Social Enterprise Support Center has
been inaugurated for this purpose.
As
Christians, we
listen to what our Lord has taught. When it comes to consumer products,
this
should also be true. An accompanying article on the front page of the
Peace Weekly suggests that we consider the possibility of boycotting
products that are
produced by companies that ignore these goals. The boycotts are not
intended to put these
companies out of business but to influence them to change.
The FTA (Free Trade Agreement)
between countries is a serious area of contention for the farming
community in Korea. The economic issues are complicated, but the results
are not: the farmers always lose. The government, seeing the benefits
from free trade for big business, is willing to sacrifice the farmers,
believing that in the long run all will benefit. Cheaper farmed goods
will enter the country, and food expenses will decrease for all
citizens.
Catholic
editorials and articles have recently made readers aware that July 21st
is Farmers Sunday, which is intended to bring the plight of farmers to
public awareness. Korea's self-sufficiency in
grain production is only 24.3 percent, as of 2011, one of the
lowest in the world. And because we see a likely change in weather
conditions, future production may be no better than it is currently.
Farmers
face numerous obstacles in their daily lives, as they work to bring
food to markets throughout the country. Future weather conditions always pose
problems, as will the movement toward free trade, which will allow
cheaper food products to enter the county. If all the countries had the
same playing field, there may be something to say for free trade but that is not the case. Conditions in each
country are different: lower wages and subsidies are the primary
variables that do not make for fair competition.
The
desire of the present generation for a comfortable life is going to
make the farmer's life difficult. The city-dweller consumer will have a
great deal to do in helping the farmers overcome their difficulties by
motivating some of them to change to organic farming. People of faith
should be taking a lead in this movement by supporting farmers who are
making efforts to live and farm ecologically. Helping the farming areas
to farm in a healthy manner is not only a question of producing food but
also a means of fostering life.
Consumer
cooperatives, buying directly from the farms, contract production and
education programs have done much to stimulate interest in the farming
sector. However, as the editorial states, there are many more mountains
to cross. Korea has only 254 parishes that are selling products from our
farms, a very small number. The interest city dwellers show farmers in
buying their organic farm products will stimulate others to embrace the
new methods of farming. Non-organic methods of farming are much easier
and the yield is greater than in organic farming, which means consumers
of organic produce must be willing to help organic farmers overcome the
difficulties, with their cooperation and willingness to pay more for
organic products.
Having a close relationship with
another person doesn't mean we know that person. On the page of the
Catholic Times devoted to spirituality, the columnist wants us to
consider a flaw in the thinking of many of us: because we are close to
someone we also tend to think we know the person. What do we really
know, he asks, about the persons we know best?
The
columnist tells us about a trip he made to his hometown with a number
of priest friends. It was a remote fishing village and one of the
villagers, who was closer to the columnist than to his own brother, came
with a car to escort them to the village. On arriving at his house they
quickly unpacked, put on comfortable clothes, and went out to some
rocks overlooking the ocean. The scene was beautiful, and they became
engrossed in pleasant chatting. Pyong Cheol, who had escorted them to
the village and brought them to this spot on the ocean, suddenly said it
was in this place that he caught over ten octopuses.
The
columnist, thinking that Pyong Cheol was showing off in front his
friends, said, "That's a whopper of a tale! You never know what's
possible, even when surrounded by mountains. Are
you saying you know these waters like the women divers of Jejudo?"
Pyong
Cheol, greatly surprised, said, "Is that the kind of person you take me to be? If I go into the
water and come back with two octopuses, what will you say?"
"If you can do that during my stay here, I will do anything you want, and if you don't catch any, you buy us our meal tonight."
Since
the columnist already had decided to buy Pyong Cheol the meal that
evening, for his kindness in picking them up, he couldn't lose the bet,
whatever the outcome. The priests on hearing the terms of the bet
responded with laughter and applause.
Pyong
Cheol took off his upper garments, moved his body with a few light
movements and splashed his way into the calm waters of the ocean, which
at that point were not deep. The group sat looking at what would
transpire, chatting about what would be eaten that evening, and enjoying the ocean breeze and the sun.
Shortly,
Pyong Cheol, off at a distance, came
walking toward them, holding two octopuses, one in each hand. Catching
octopuses with your bare hands is no easy task, but two of them! They
all marveled at the feat. Pyong Cheol lived in an mountainous area quite a distance
from the
ocean, raising pigs. Who would have thought he would know how to catch
octopus, the columnist wondered, which brought to mind the thought that
one never can know another no matter how close we may be to that
person.
The
priests gave Pyong Cheol a round of applause, and one of them went to a
nearby store to buy some hot pepper sauce and vinegar, prior to enjoying the meal and ribbing the columnist on his bet
with Pyong Cheol, who said he would telephone him the next day on what
he wanted done.
The next day his friend's wife sent him a text message telling him that her husband was thinking
of having him clean the pig pens, but thought it would not be proper to
have a priest do such work. The wife then said, laughing, that her husband had excused him from the
bet.
The
columnist said he had learned a good lesson, and that he would be slow
in the future to jump to conclusions, thinking that because he knows a
person, he would know what that person would do.
The construction of the navel base in Jejudo is moving ahead, and the bishop of Jejudo, who is also the president of
the Bishops Conference, expressed his thoughts on the matter, among others, when interviewed by the magazine With Bible. There has been opposition to the navel base from the beginning, and the Church
has taken an active part in siding with the opposition, which would
include the majority of the inhabitants on the island. Two government administrations and the
present one have considered the navel
base necessary for security, and also considered necessary because of
the United
States' military strategy in North East Asia. Though there have been
many attempts to block construction of the navel base, after the last
presidential election the work at the base continues as strongly as
ever, around the clock. Since the government is
adamant, using the power of government to back the construction, there
is little that can be done. However, the bishop says they will continue
to oppose the construction.
The
bishop was asked by the interviewer: Since there are Catholics on both sides
of the issue and you are the pastoral head of the diocese, what kind
of attitude is necessary?
The
bishop answered that from the beginning he was not giving his personal
opinion on the issue. He was expressing the teachings of the Church,
council
texts, encyclicals and the teachings of the pope. Those who are
following Jesus have the mission and the duty, he said, to work for
peace.This
teaching in Korea has been put on hold and has been given little thought
because of the confrontation with North Korea, which has made
security the number one priority.
Pope John 23 addressed this issue in Pacem in Terris, "There is a common belief that under
modern conditions peace cannot be
assured except on the basis of an equal balance of armaments and that
this
factor is the probable cause of this stockpiling of armaments. Thus, if
one
country increases its military strength, others are immediately roused
by a
competitive spirit to augment their own supply of armaments. And if one
country
is equipped with atomic weapons, others consider themselves justified in
producing such weapons themselves, equal in destructive force....Hence
justice, right reason, and the recognition of man's dignity cry
out insistently for a cessation to the arms race. The stock-piles of
armaments
which have been built up in various countries must be reduced all round
and
simultaneously by the parties concerned." It has been over 50 years since these words were written but the
Korean Church has been quiet on the issue, which is a dereliction
of duty, the bishop said.
To
the question: Why do the priests get involved in social problems? The
bishop answered that before they are social problems they are human problems. When a
person's human rights are taken away and we do nothing, that is not the
attitude of a disciple of Jesus. When a person made in the image of God
is being hurt and the priest doesn't do anything, he is not doing his
duty.This is why popes speak about social issues and why priests act accordingly. There are a few priests who are strongly
politically motivated, and cause trouble, but those that bring this
issue
up do not understand Catholicism.
At
the conclusion of the interview, the bishop said he hopes that Jejudo
will be a
place where we will be able to see peace in the way Pope John 23
described in his encyclical. The bishop wants us to see beyond the
confrontation with the
North. They are not only the same race but the same children of God.
Even though it's difficult to understand the reckless provocative
behavior of the
North, he reminds us that they are left with little besides their pride,
and if we can
look upon them with magnanimity, he believes it may be possible to
settle the
confrontation. He hopes that all parties to the conflict will soon take
the steps necessary
to bring about a speedy and peaceful resolution.
A priest of the Seoul diocese, in
a pastoral bulletin, mentions two books that argue forcefully that the
current understanding of many that money makes for happiness is all
wrong. Simplicity is the key to happiness, according to The Art of Simplicity by Dominique Loreau and
How Much Is Enough? by Robert Skidelsky and his son.
The
books give us much more than a theoretical understanding of simplicity.
Dominique Loreau, who lived the simple life, reflected on its meaning
and it was her personal experience which gives strength and ongoing
value to her words. The words: "Blessed are the poor," used by our
Lord, seem to have a special meaning in today's world for some
of our contemporaries.
Dominique
Loreau, born in France, is an essayist who graduated from the Sorbonne
in English Studies and has taught in England, the United States, Japan
and in other parts of the world. She learned that the simpler she lived
the more abundance she had. The memos she kept during those years became
part of her book, which has sold over a million copies.
When we try to satisfy our greed, we lose the meaning of life.The priest gives us the table of contents, with comments.
Articles: When we have more than what we need we are carrying a burden. Having too much we become attached and do not advance.Isn't life a preparation to move us ahead?
House: Is not a place we
store our unmovable objects, but a place to be refreshed.To be inspired and healed. A place where we return for the essentials.
Time: Is something we can truly make our own. We need not fear the future but only that we may lose the present.
Body:
To eat little and keep our bodies agile is wisdom in action. To take care of the health of the body is equivalent to the value
of a work of art.
Our
consumer society is bidding us
to have more, but the more we have the more twisted our life becomes; it
is the paradox we have to face. The reason we are not happy is that we
have
too much. Let us, he says, put in order our possessions, our bodies and
spirit. A simple life is able enjoy everything, being content to know
the joy
of the ordinary and the insignificant.
The book, How much
is enough? confronts us with the fact that we are much better off materially than
in the past but asks, Why is it that we are not happier? The book is a counter
argument to our craving for more.
According
to Keynes
the demonic properties of greed and competition have to be restricted.
The followers of neo-liberablism, however, have considered these the
keys for a vibrant economy. For a good life, he concludes, we have to reduce the
stress of work and to search for ways in which incomes will provide
for a
decent living for all.
Words of wisdom appearing on the front page of a bulletin for priests:
Prayer is not like a spare tire we use when we have a problem,
but the steering wheel that steers us to where we should be going.
What is the reason the front window of a car is large but the rear-view mirror is small?
The past is not as important as the future, so we look ahead and move forward.
How is friendship like a book?
We can destroy it by fire in a few minutes, but it takes years to write.
All earthly things come to an end. When circumstances are favorable enjoy them, they will not always be so.
When circumstances are not favorable, don't worry they will not always be so.
An old friend is like gold, a new friend like a diamond. When the diamond appears don't forget the gold.
The diamond always needs a pedestal.
We often lose hope and think it's the end, but God speaks to us from above:
"Be at peace, it is only a bend and not the end."
Have trust in God's power when your problems have been solved.
When they are not, God trusts in your capabilities.
A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Is there anything worse than being blind?"
"Losing your vision," he answered.
When we pray for others, God listens to our prayer and gives blessings. Often when we are at peace, free of mishaps and happy, let us think of those praying for us.
