Always Conscious of God

What does a priest do when during his sermon a toddler with unsteady steps makes his way down the main aisle to the altar, calling out Abba Abba, the sound getting louder as he arrived at the altar?  asks a columnist on the spiritual page of the Catholic Times. Since it happened so quickly no one was quick enough to respond to the situation, and no one could anticipate how the situation would develop. The priest stopped speaking, looked at the infant and said:

"Child, why are you making our relationship known to the whole world?" He then left the pulpit, picked up the child and brought it to the toddler's room. The mother couldn't imagine her child walking to the altar, and  stood transfixed, not knowing what to do. At the priest's words, the whole congregation broke out in  uncontrollable laughter.

The mother took the child from the priest and, with her head down and very much embarrassed, went back to the room. The priest returned to the altar and continued with the Mass and told the congregation that, like the child  who was calling out Father as he was coming to the altar, he will try to be the good Father and priest. When life comes to an end he wants to be able to go to God the Father like the child coming to the altar. The congregation broke out in applause and laughter as if everybody in the congregation wanted to be like the child  going to God our Father.

The columnist mentions hearing the complaints of a mother who was asked to leave the church because the baby she was holding was crying.  And at the children's Mass, one of the teachers said the penalties given to children for not behaving were difficult to accept, for she herself tries to enter the children's world to learn how to go to God with the innocence of a child.

The columnist wonders how many, like the priest in the incident with the child, have the presence of mind and the spirituality to respond as the priest had done when events suddenly take us by surprise. Do we revert to our ordinary way of behaving? Or do we recall how Jesus showed us how to behave when sudden events surprise us? Jesus was always acting appropriately because he was always conscious of God. 

Filial Piety and Loyalty of Korean Martyrs

Most people consider life their most precious possession. However, there are times that other values are more important: parents will sacrifice their lives for their children and  children for parents. And sacrificing oneself for an idea or a belief has often occurred throughout history, always for what was thought to be of greater value than their own life.

A professor emeritus writing for the diocesan bulletin reflects on  the sacrifice of life by the Korean martyrs, as they would have seen it. Often we hear that the martyrs of Korea belonged to a foreign religion. When they list the Korean traditional religions, it is natural not to include Christianity. However, when  martyrs sacrificed their lives for what they believed, it was not something separate from their being Korean, says the professor, but was an integral part of who they were.

When the Korean martyrs gave their lives, the professor points out, they did not do so for a foreign religion but for what they believed in. They accepted their Christianity as having many of the same traditional values of the Korean culture, and interpreted Christianity from this background. When Catholicism entered Korea, one of the most important values widespread throughout society was respect for parents and loyalty to the king. The cultural values of respect and loyalty were root and trunk of the Korean ethos, with loyalty valued higher, says the professor, than filial respect.

The martyrs of Korea, because of their great respect for God, called him, in keeping with their cultural heritage, their Great King and Great Father. They felt a greater, more lofty loyalty and filial piety for God  than they did for their earthly king and parents. They remembered the filial piety Jesus showed his mother when he was on the cross. The martyrs were very much taken up with the thinking of the times, and since filial piety and loyalty were so  important in the culture, it was only natural that they would direct these values onto God the Father. This is where the Korean values of loyalty and filial piety and the Christian teaching become one. Therefore, to say that what was done by the Korean martyrs is foreign to the Korean culture does not fit the facts, says the professor.

The Christians knew that God was a just God and that the filial obedience they owed to parents should also be directed to God. This filial respect is fundamental to our Korean religions, the professor maintains, adding that the filial piety of our Koreans is the same kind of piety the Christian martyrs showed to God.

Education for a Healthy Future

The world is changing more quickly perhaps than ever before in history. The need to adapt to these changes, primarily by learning English and becoming acquainted with foreign cultures, is becoming critical, according to a columnist in the Peace Weekly. Even the country is looking for leaders who are educated in the new global realities and are fluent in English.

Consequently, even before they know their own language, our future leaders are beginning the study of English in kindergarten. There are also those who are sent overseas for studies. The downside of this policy is that many of these future leaders, when separated from their parents at an early age, have to deal with depression.

She mentions meeting with two elementary students studying in Canada--one her niece--who say they are depressed. When asked to explain, they said they did not know the reason for these feelings. The columnist says she rarely thought of the difficulties of studying overseas at such a young age but only admired the students who succeeded in learning a foreign language and learning about the world. One of the Canadian students this year developed a serious case of depression that caused great concern to family and  friends.

Are there any parents who would rather not send their child overseas for study at such a young age? Perhaps many, she says. The reason they are sent overseas is that parents feel it necessary for the child to prepare for the future. However, more important than economic and political success, the columnist reminds us, is the health of mind and body and emotional stability. Knowledge is only a means; without health and happiness, knowledge has little meaning.

Does happiness come, she asks, with winning in a competitive environment?  Is it possible to have happiness without competition? Mencius mentions three reasons for achieving happiness. First, the presence of parents and harmony with siblings. Second, the ability to look up to the heavens and to interact with others with a pure conscience. Third, the opportunity to teach those with talent for future responsibilities. And he makes clear this happiness does not consist in living in luxury.

The Korean Ministry of Education has a unique program for the 21st century, called "Brain Korea: BK21 Plus,"which intends to help universities prepare leaders of the future. However, the columnist expresses some reservations on the direction Korea is taking in educating our youth for leadership roles. Will these future leaders be happy leaders? she asks. There is little concern, she says, for educating the whole person. And she wonders whether we are preparing the future generation by setting in place the beginnings of what will develop into depression.

The proposed government program, she believes, will not be able to solve the problems that are sure to arise, and she suggests that the Church take a bigger role in preventing some of  these problems, as well as dealing with the problems that have already appeared. We are meant to have health of body and mind and emotional maturity. She hopes the Church will see this as an important mission for achieving the present and future well-being of society.

End of Life Issues

How do we cope with end of life issues? At what point can or should treatment for the terminally ill be stopped? Does the person facing death have the right to make this decision? Or should it be left up to medical personnel? A columnist for the Peace Weekly takes up these questions, which have been often debated, and now the government has begun to take an interest, with a special bill being worked on by the government's bioethics committee which would allow patients facing death  to determine whether to receive treatment that would prolong their lives or refuse the treatments requiring the use of drugs and medical equipment.
 
End of life decisions are those when death is imminent, with no hope of recovery. The decisions often come down to a simple question: Do we prolong the suffering by keeping the terminally ill alive by medical treatments, or do we allow patients to die naturally by refusing the treatments? Though these options, as they are commonly expressed, makes the choice rather obvious, it is in reality surrounded by all kinds of difficulties, explains the columnist.

Those who face death not infrequently do so without knowing that the end is near, entering intensive care units with the hope of getting well, but often die without the family being present.
 
Studies have  shown that when a sick person has only a few days to live, the family finds it difficult to mention this to the sick person because of the shock it would be. However, the reasons for making  the situation known to the sick person are many. This natural and obvious decision becomes--in the actual situation when we are in the presence of the sick person--very difficult to carry out.
  
Making the end of life decision can be made in advance, however, and with the knowledge of the whole family, but this requires talking about death, which some find difficult. This uncomfortableness needs to be overcome, the columnist urges. Since we all are going to die, is it not better, he asks, to prepare for the arrival of death than to be surprised by it, or be dragged to it protesting the loss of life? When we are upset everything tends to be done poorly. When we talk about death, especially before the end is near, there is an intimacy that arises that can calm the fears that come with ignoring what we all must face. 
 
Preparation for death should be an ongoing preoccupation of a Christian, the columnist reminds us, and the taboo that many feel in talking about death needs to be changed. We need to see death as a friend and the gateway to our maker. 

Living a Mature Spirituality

100 Catholics were asked at the end of Mass: What do you understand spirituality to be? More than half of them hesitated and couldn't give an answer. A columnist, discussing this situation in the Catholic Times, asserts that most of the others who answered would probably find it difficult to speak about spirituality for 10 minutes. This would also be true, he says, for those who have lived the Christian life for many years.

Though we often hear the word 'spirituality' mentioned when the topic of religion is brought up, its meaning is not easily understood; it's often shrouded in mystery, says the columnist. Partly because, he suggests, there are different kinds of spiritualities such as a martyr's spirituality, a layperson's spirituality, ecological spirituality, and so on, which makes for confusion.

The absence of spirituality, the columnist says, is a shadow hanging over the Korean Church. We speak often of the crisis of faith, he says, but it is more often a lack of spirituality. The spirituality that the Holy Spirit fosters in us gives us a way of seeing God, providing us with a world view, an ethical vision, and life values--all included in the word spirituality, enabling us to love God, neighbor, ourselves and creation, for we all participate in the priesthood of Jesus.

One seminary professor saw spirituality as the strength that Jesus gives us enabling us to live wisely in society, without which we would not have the dynamic will to live correctly, and doing it with happiness and meaningfulness. Spirituality gives us a deep insight into the workings of our society. 

Another priest made a study of the secularization of the Korean Catholic Church for his master's decree. Referring to the 1984 Gallup survey, he noted that 37 percent of Catholics were looking for well-being from their religious life; in 2004, the percentage was 74 percent. Goals of eternal life and meaningfulness were extremely low in comparison to achieving well-being. We can see from this statistic, he says, that the psychological motivation of Catholics mirrors the crisis that the Church in Korea faces today.

With the religious life of most Catholics being bound up with satisfying personal goals, their faith life becomes submerged in self gratification. This is clearly seen by the way we pick and choose what to believe and follow. We often hear that there is little difference  between those who believe and those who don't. Many Catholics do not agree with what the Church teaches.


Spirituality is not something that comes down from heaven that miraculously changes us, but something we personally have to make part of our life. if not, we are living without a compass and trying to make sense of our life without having a competent guide. Living without  a compass may be quick and easy, but it is a dangerous way to live, he says, for we are separating ourselves from Christ.

The purpose of all this, no matter the kind of  words we put together, is to live in the way Christ showed us, and to live with the strength that he continues to give us.  This is the kind of spirituality that we as Christians must aspire to.

Service to Others Because of Need

A pastor of a parish called Heaven's Place, writing in the Bible Life Magazine, discusses what makes him despondent and leaves him with a bitter feeling as he goes about his task helping the poor. His parish is in a poor area of the diocese, and Mass and prayers are said in a house named Heaven's Place. Those needing something to eat are prepared meals by grandmothers; it is also a resting place for those seeking companionship, and a place for children to study. Setting up Heaven's Place allows the parish community to gather material that can be reused or sold, with the money received helping those in need, and providing school scholarships to needy students.

No one is paid to work at Heaven's Place, but they are more than volunteers, considering themselves members of a family, says the pastor.They worry together and live together, as they go about the village gathering goods that can be reclaimed to make money to continue their work for the poor. Goods that can't be returned to good use are often given to those who can use them as they are. Many different attitudes are seen by those who give their reusable items, which often leaves the pastor feeling perplexed and despondent. Though some are sorry to give items that are of so little use, wishing they had something better to give, some have so many goods they can't wait to get rid of them. All goods, nonetheless, are welcomed; they accept everything. What is bothersome to him, as he goes out to collect these items is the misplaced concern of many people. For instance, he says that when they see him making his rounds, carrying something heavy, he is often greeted with "That must be heavy, Father," as they offer to help.  But when he tells them to help a fellow worker who is struggling with an item, they often refuse. Older women in their 60s who might be having more difficulty are also shown no concern; they prefer to help him, though he is a man who needs no help. Why do they want to help him? he asks. He knows the answer and in one way he is thankful, but at the same time there is a bitter feeling. He would prefer to have persons helped because of need rather than because of  position.

He is aware of the reasons for this situation,he says. Someone is helped because he's a chairman, or because he's a doctor or a religious. It's their position in society not need that determines whether there is an offer to help, and he finds this upsetting. It need not and should not be this way, he says.
 
When he finds people who are helping one another and showing concern for others, he is happy. But when the concern is for him only because he is a priest, he becomes despondent, bringing to mind the words of Jesus that those who help the least fortunate members of society are also helping him. It's a reminder, he says, we all should keep in mind but this,he confesses,he says with much uneasiness.

Dishonest Experts

 

On the opinion page of the Catholic Times, a seminary professor, a priest, mentions having read a book by the music conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, The Unanswered Question, 20 years ago, and the thoughts from that reading still linger in mind. Although he knows little about music, he found Bernstein's explanations of music, its history and literature totally enjoyable, not only because of what he learned, but because of the ease of communication. Here was a master musician who was continually questioning himself about the role of music in life, and was also able to communicate that interest to others who know little about the subject.
 
Today the professor says it's difficult to find an expert who can communicate truth persuasively, because the sphere of knowledge is so extensive. But also because the organization of knowledge has been divided, fragmented, relativized and specialized.  Often the experts are not able to "see the forest for the trees," he claims, because of the way they have privatized their knowledge and their relationship with power, which makes it difficult to talk about things as they are.

Two examples were given concerning government policy; in one case, either the experts were silent or gave answers to questions that were meant to shut up the opposition. If one speaks up with words of criticism, they are quickly labeled as anti government leftists. And there is the case where government wants the  trust of the citizens without good reason, and the experts are nowhere to be found or are unwilling  to speak the truth, resulting in an irrational situation.

 

He brings us back to the time of Christ and the experts of that age: the lawyers of the law,  and wants us to look at their way of life. Similarities between the experts back then and now are easily seen, he says. They were interested in making themselves known and advancing their personal greed; they were experts in sophistry. They labeled those who wanted freedom and more personal responsibility with the term sinner. They shackled the aspirations of the people with their letter-of-the-law approach to life and made God partake of their wrong-headed interpretations. This is why Jesus called them a brood of vipers.

Those who have built up a reputation for expertise and are endowed with the name "expert" are not considered so for their own private needs. They are not to bow to special interests or give in to temptations but are to search for truth and to free us from ignorance, prejudice, error, liberating us from abuses, helping us to become better persons and working for a better world. This will win the respect of all.

And yet we should be aware, says the professor, that there are those who stand out in society as capable and wise, says the professor, who have led many astray and are doing a lot of harm. Their expert opinions often appear in the media, giving a  false understanding of events, hiding the truth for reasons that are far from laudable.