Pope's Visit to Korea

Pope Francis' forthcoming visit to Korea is pleasant news to our Catholics. A professor writing in the Peace Weekly notes that while any pope coming to Korea would be welcomed, Pope Francis has in a very short time made such an impression not only on Catholics but on practically everyone that his visit will be especially welcomed.

While writing the article the professor learned that over 90 percent of Italians are pleased with Francis. This is shown  in the  return to the Church of many fallen-away Catholics. The number of pilgrims who are coming to Rome has also increased and he has over 12 million followers on Twitter at his  @Pontifex site. His visit to Korea will surely not be an ordinary event, he says.

Being the recipients of this gift, Korean Catholics will have some difficult homework to do, and it is not only to have a faultless ceremony. That will be  the task of others and done well. Fortunately, the government will be cooperating in welcoming the Pope which makes it a great deal easier.

What is  important is the reason Pope Francis is coming to Korea.  We will have the Asian Youth Day and the beatification of the  martyrs. The professor hopes that in the preparation of  the events, we will remember the pope's teaching and will act harmoniously  with these teachings during the time he is in Korea. There will be two dimensions that have to be considered, one internal to the Catholic Church and the other external.

He wants us to take an interest in the Asian Youth Day. It will be held in Korea but we need to remember that it is an Asian event. We need to be interested in breaking down walls and figure out ways of   strengthening the bonds of solidarity and friendship among the countries of Asia. This should be a serious concern for  all of us, especially because of a history of conflict that settled over Asia for so long. He hopes this gathering of Catholic Youth will be more than a "Korean thing" but will help bring about some reconciliation among the countries in the area.

Secondly the visit of the pope will of course have a Catholic tone. We should spend some time in figuring out what attitude and posture we should assume. He recommends that those who usually take the  first places will  on  this occasion give their  places to those that Jesus and  Pope Francis have showed a predilection for: the alienated and the poor, the farmers and fishermen, the handicapped, single mothers, homeless people, those living alone, the addicted, the refugees from the North, foreign workers--they are the ones who should have the place of honor. 

We also should not make too much of externals at these ceremonies, he points out. The nature of the visit being what it is, we can't  ignore the externals  but we should do our best to  decrease as much as possible the emphases on externals.   This is the sentiment which the pope has infused into the Church and we should honor this sentiment despite the difficulty of doing so during the inevitable pageantry that will be evident during his visit here.

By being especially mindful during this time of the virtues of simplicity, frugality, and humility we will set a good example for the world. He wonders if the place designed for the ceremony in the center of Seoul, which is bound to tie-up traffic, is a good  place for the event.  He would like to see the plans revised. Logistically, there is no need to use such a  vast area of Seoul; there are many less congested places where the event could be held with no loss in effectiveness.  Moreover, considering the appreciation of poverty and the place of  symbolism  in today's world, would it not be better to select a different location? he asks.

Lastly the beatification of 124 martyrs should be more then a single event, he says. He recommends  that the Church search for 124 small groups or works  deserving of support and with the whole Church involved find ways to promote them. This will add even more glory to the glory that we have in the beatification and will be a good  preparation for the canonization in the future. This will also please the Lord.

Money, Honor and Power, Which One Do You Want?

The author of an article in Bible & Life reminisces about a friend  he knew from childhood.  He received a telephone call from him recently, inviting him to his office; he was now, he explained, a lawyer serving the poor. The office was small and simply furnished,   bustling with many of the poor who were looking for advice. And he looked well and contented, a far cry from the time he had last seen him studying for the government exams.

Both of them had gone to college. His friend went to  engineering school  and after graduation joined a construction company. He was the pride of his family. In those days being the son of a poor farmer who ended up with a  big pay check was the sign to  his neighborhood of success. Although his desire was to become a lawyer, his family felt it was necessary to have technical training to guarantee a bright future and the means to take care of the family. So he abandoned his dream  and became an engineer.

During the rough times in Korea he was sent to Saudi  by his construction company. His friend mentions that with his introspective and academic disposition the construction site  was not a comfortable place for him to be.  On one of his trips home he told his parents of his desire of going on to study for the government examinations to be a lawyer. This was a bombshell, which turned  everything upside down in the home. The mother went to his childhood friend to ask him for help to dissuade her son from the move. His friend, the author of the article, knew that he always dreamed of being a  judge and although he understood the feelings of the mother, inside he was cheering him on.

They met and went out to eat. It was not the same person he knew from the past, the sleek and neat individual was missing and he was dressed in trainers and sneakers. His hands shook and the soup dribbled from his mouth. His left eyelid  trembled and he found it difficult to look his friend in the face and his speech was affected. The author writes that his friend was a nervous wreck and needed to be treated. It was not something he could speak to his mother about nor would he  ask him to give up his studies.

From that time on he would go to Seoul once a month and they would eat and go out to a movie. As children they recalled the time they went to four movies in one day. He was a great fan of movies and his friend thought this would be a great way to have him relax. Fortunately the following year he passed the exam and did go on to be a judge. His mother was dreaming now of her son in the back seat of a sedan with a driver able to make commands to the world. She was elated but it was all to change. He was implicated in a case in which bribes were taken and given. He made a mistake and freely resigned his position. His friend heard this while he was working with the poor in a public health  facility in the Philippines. The engineer turned lawyer did make amends for his mistake and the shame and  anguish that he had to deal with by giving his life to help the poor with his knowledge of law and society.

The author concludes the article with a remembrance of the time in Sunday School class when  they both said they would have nothing to do with riches, honor and power. He quotes his friend: "He saw the flower coming down the hill. The flower he hadn't seen going up the hill." In the future when it comes time  to write about the one-time judge there will be more than a few lines referring to  his involvement with the giving and taking of bribes.  Money, honor and power, which one do you want?

Strawberries in Season

The columnist in the Peace Weekly writing about current events mentions her trip to the market and buying strawberries. Their condition was poor and the owner of the shop told her they were the last of the season. She reminds us that it is the beginning of March and the strawberries have yet to flower, but she is told the strawberries are the last of the season. In the old days strawberries were a common and inexpensive fruit,  when bought in season. Today the winter strawberries are expensive and have become a much sought after fruit despite their unappealing taste.

With these words the columnist tells us that the formula for success these days is to be out in front of others. Fruit in its season , everyone knows, is tasty and healthy, even more so for vegetables in season. But those who are  producing these products are not waiting to send their produce to the markets, for the earlier they arrive the  better the price. This is not unlike the well-known  brands that go to the markets of the world. And not unlike teaching high school  mathematics to elementary school student to  prepare them for college entrance examinations. This preparation for  the future  makes much of the present meaningless, says the columnist.

Consequently, when  the student's desire for college is realized then he worries about getting a job. Once he has a job he worries about the next step in his search for happiness, in a never-ending pursuit of some future benefit.  She asks what makes our life so difficult?

The Doctrine of the Mean, a book by Confucius, states that the noble  person is the one who  practices the mean and the small-minded  person is the one who does not. Following the mean a person acts appropriately according to  time and place. The columnist maintains that it is the structures of our society that determine our actions and make us act against the present moment, which means  we are producing small-minded persons.

It is a fact that those who exceed others in the pursuit of knowledge will be considered the most capable, but we can't say they are happier than others. They are like the strawberries in the vinyl houses, says the columnist, that  have been hurried and consequently do not have the taste and aroma of those in season. Those who only study and do not allow for the other aspects of life to enter their world will be small-minded.

The society we are living in is urging us go faster, he says, than the eternal clock we were made to follow. We can't change that clock even one second so wisdom tells us that we should follow it, eating the fruits and vegetables in season and  studying the areas of learning proper to one's age.

By not bringing a premature future into the present our life will be  more meaningful,  happier, and more leisurely. A good future is the result of a present that is well-lived. Hurrying the process it not going to make our life more successful, but is likely to make our lives similar to fruit rushed to market, lacking in the virtues that come naturally when we follow the rhythms of nature .    

The Cost of Addiction

The horse race track on any given Sunday is filled with betters dreaming of hitting it big. Just another of the many rampant addictions that keep us from growing spiritually. A priest responsible for the pastoral care of those addicted expresses his thoughts in the Peace Weekly on the serious evil of addictions. 
  
" Addiction is not a simple  problem to deal with. The consequences are an enormous  loss to society and one that hurts the church greatly," he laments. "Children are addicted to games, mothers to shopping, cosmetics, fathers to the gambling casinos and to alcohol.  Addiction ruins our mental health, nurtures crime, destroys the moral order, in a word, it brings moral depravity and death."

In an accompanying article Pope Francis, in his Lenten message on destitution, is quoted as saying, "[Destitution] is not the same as poverty. Destitution is poverty without faith, without support, without hope. There are three types of destitution: material, moral and spiritual....No less a concern is moral destitution, which consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families because one of their members-– often a young person--is in thrall to alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography! How many people no longer see meaning in life or prospects for the future. This type of destitution, which also causes financial ruin, is invariably linked to the spiritual destitution which we experience when we turn away from God and reject his love."

Statistics show that in Korea one out of 8 persons is addicted. A professor at the Catholic University says that of the 50 million in Korea over 6 million are addicted to either alcohol, gambling, the internet or to drugs; the loss to society is enormous. Each of our acts has ramifications that we are not able to foresee or imagine, but the consequences will appear sooner or later to both the individual and society.  

The prevalence of suicide, abortion and the like in our society shows contempt for life and the destitution of our morals. When we do something that shows contempt for life, whether we realize it or not, there are bound to be grave consequences. 

The medical and educational concerns surrounding these issues should be addressed by the government, the priest urges. Other serious topics of discussion, he says, would be addressing the unequal distribution of wealth, and the current unemployment rate of about 4 percent. All these problems of society demand concern from  the government, churches and voluntary organizations in society, and in trying to solve them we should not in the process foster more material, moral  and spiritual poverty. 

The article quotes from Joy of the Gospel "How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion." We as Christians should  be concerned and do what we can to make our society better and more just.

Choosing Happiness

Most people marry to find happiness, and divorce to find happiness. Ironically,  after the second marriage, divorces outnumber those that occur after the first marriage.

In an article in the Kyeongyang magazine, a professor in a Catholic University  reminds us that we are the ones choosing happiness or unhappiness. In marriage both promise to care and support one another in an emotional relationship in which they promise marital fidelity, and with the registration of the marriage the legal responsibility to one another, and the common ownership of their possessions.

In marriage they promise to live life together, which often means eating together,sleeping together,  watching movies together, and to be completely open to each other. And to help each other during difficult times.

According to the statistics for 2012, there have been 114,300 divorces, about the same from the previous year. However, those with over 20 years of married life, divorces have increased 1.68 times from what it was 10 years before, and those with less than 4 years of marriage, divorces have increased for the first time, from 24.7 percent. In 1993, those with children who divorced numbered 68.8 percent; last year this number decreased to 52.8 percent. But the number of divorces among those with no children increased from 31.2 percent to 47.0 percent.

He lists the reasons for the increase of divorces: the change in attitude toward divorce within society,  the improvement in women's educational possibilities, the many employment openings for women, and their changing attitudes toward marriage as a consequence of their finding greater acceptance in the workplace,  fewer children being raised in the typical family,  the equal treatment of women under the law, expectations for a longer life--all have influenced  the number of divorces.

The number of couples that are living separately continues to increase. One out of ten is not living with their spouse.This number has continued to increase since the year 2000. In many cases this is a first step before the divorce.

Conflicts within marriage are many and the common element in these unhappy marriages is an inability to communicate honestly and openly. There is an obvious need for couples to learn how to share their feelings with  each other. A happy couple is not the one that doesn't fight but the one that has learned to work through their conflicts. It is not the number of conflicts that is important but the number of  ways they have discovered to resolve the conflicts.

He notes 10 ways to resolve conflicts within  a marriage. Not to exaggerate; not to come across as a know-it-all; be responsible for what was wrong; be clear about what you want; don't go to the past to bring up misgivings, stay in the present; in any conflict, avoid discussing the spouse's point of greatest vulnerability; don't magnify the hurt that was received; don't say anything you are not willing to carry out; don't just talk but listen, and don't look for either one to be the winner or the loser.

He admits that it took him many years as a counselor to realize that it was necessary for him to choose to be happy;  unhappiness, he realized, was also his choice. An academic who made a  study of stress said that divorce gives more stress than anything outside of death. If this is the case, it is easy to imagine the stress that a divorce causes the children. The article finishes with what is necessary for a happy marriage: love, respect, care, sacrifice, responsibility--and to choose happiness at  every moment.

Finding Reasons To Hate

An advisory member of the Central Emergency Response Fund writes in the Bible & Life Magazine about her experiences as a world traveler. Han Pia recalls a trip to southern Spain where after attending the midnight Christmas Eve Mass she decided to have an early breakfast. At the same table was a German woman in her 50s. Seeing Pia making the sign of the cross before eating, the woman blurted out: "Are you are still going to church?"

Anna, the name of the woman, greatly agitated, then listed the "crimes" of the Church: " In Europe the Catholic Church went witch hunting, tortured and killed hundreds of thousands without any good reason, they built St. Peter's Church by selling indulgences, they protected the slave trade  in  West Africa, they were silent during the second world war at the atrocities against the Jewish people, the clergy were only interested in  money and power, and recently in the United States we've learned of the sexual sins of the clergy"--finally ending with "How  monstrous all this is." She spoke as if Pia was the one responsible for all these crimes.

Even in Korea, Pia mentions in her article that she often gets pushed into a corner with the recital of Catholic faults such as: Why do Catholics worship Mary when the Scriptures say we should not have any idols...if God is the only one who can forgive sins why do Catholics go to a man to have their sins forgiven...Catholics perform the sacrificial rites of Confucianism...they drink liquor and smoke...by compromising with the world, Catholicism shows itself to be a weak religion.

She has also been approached and told that she was a heretic and an anti Christ. Sometimes she answers in a heated tone and other times she keeps quiet. Since that meeting with Anna occurred the morning after Christmas Eve Mass, she decided to be silent, keeping all these thoughts to herself.

" You are right," Pia responded, "I also know about our history. Let us drink to the Catholic Church that we never see those things happening again. Cheers!" With a faint smile on Anna's face she too lifted her glass and they both toasted the Church. As they continued to talk she learned that Anna was a professor in a German university and had just recently  been divorced. She apologized for being so rude, saying that she was feeling depressed and when she saw Pia making the sign of the cross and seeing her expression of contentment, she was overcome with cynicism and out came those harsh words in  broken English.

"Anna, yesterday was the Eve of Christmas," said Pia. "If it wasn't I would have attacked you like a fighting chicken." She began to feel affection for Anna and wanted to tell her of the history of Catholicism in Korea, which she was proud of.  In Korea, Catholicism is respected, she told Anna, and went on to give a brief history.

Korean Catholicism started without any missioners about 250 years ago, Pia began. It was self-generated growth, the only place in the world that this has happened. Lee Seung-hun went to China, was baptized, returned and started to spread the faith among his friends and relatives. The numbers began to grow. Catholic teaching that we were all equal, men and women, nobles and commoners, was breaking down the traditional values of the country, which brought on the persecution. Catholicism  was  considered to be against our society and our morals and  needed to be  eradicated. Many thousands were killed with great cruelty and and yet they refused to deny their faith. The example of these  early Christians was among the major reasons for the respect the Church has received. She added that the papacy of Pope Francis has also added to the respect the Church is receiving in Korea.

Anna, a professed atheist, has no difficulty with Pope Francis and is in fact a fan. Pia is a great fan of Francis reading all the books that come out about Pope  and looking for news about him on the internet. As a lay person she has some worries about his health and the resistance that he may encounter as he carries out his "reformation."

She concludes her article with the incident that happened a few weeks ago. After Mass some doves were released and they were immediately attacked by large black birds and sea gulls. Pia saw this as a symbol of the resistance that Pope Francis could be getting from those who are not in sympathy with what he wants to do. Since she is a great fan of the Pope she keeps him in her prayers daily. To the question that she received from Anna--Do you still go to church?-- the answer is, she says, an unequivocal yes, and she will continue to go to meet the one who loves us so much.

Strike Against Having Children

"To encourage those families with  three or more  children, many rights and privileges will be given to them. Marriages are also to be encouraged between the noble class and ordinary citizens, and divorces will be regulated."

In the Peace Column of the Peace Weekly, the writer asks his readers to guess where and when these words were written. They happen to be the policy of the Roman Empire over 2000 years ago, issued  by the Emperor Augustus. The statutes of the law were rigorously carried out because the young people of Rome at that time were avoiding marriage and children. Those who were not married were assessed heavier taxes. Our situation here in Korea, says the columnist, is worse than it was in Roman times.

This year there has been another decrease in  the number of births, which the writer says does not augur well for the future of the country. Korea now has over a hundred schools with no students enrolled for the first year. The cities are no different and in one of the most famous schools in Seoul, in existence for 120 years, there were only 21 students entering their first year of schooling.

This also can be seen in our churches. The places that the children used to occupy are now empty. He notes that it is because the children are not being born that they are not  going to church. The numbers of those entering college will decease and also the numbers for the military. The government  knows the seriousness of the situation, and has increased the number of  day-care centers, provided financial incentives to parents for the birth of a child, lengthened the period of time-off from work and increased the budget to assist mothers. The government has also tried the policies of countries like France, Finland and even Japan with little success.  Numbers remain the same and young people continue their strike, as some call it, to not have children.

With the situation remaining in this serious state, with little likelihood that the policies will change,  marriages and births will also not change. The columnist believes that the government is not listening to the young men who will have the job of providing for the children they will bring into the world.

Young people are facing the obstacles of expensive weddings, competition within the workplace, the difficulty of supporting a family and the children that come.

The Roman Plutarch (46-120) has left us a few words about the avoidance of marriage in his day in his book On  Affection for Offspring (De Amore Prolis). "For when poor men do not rear their children, it is because they fear that if their children are educated less well than is befitting, they will become servile and boorish and destitute of all the virtues. Since they consider poverty the worst of evils, they cannot endure to let their children share it with them, as though it were a kind of disease, serious and grievous."