Forgetting the Essential

On the spiritual page of the Catholic Times the columnist recounts the story of a religious group who had decided to spend an Easter Sunday,  after attending liturgy, playing sports on an Emmaus trip. The religious brother who was in charge of the outing went ahead to prepare for the time together of the 30 religious in the country. He  prepared all the necessary equipment:  nets, balls, bats, and so forth, and of course plenty of food for snacks.

While traveling to the site, the brothers, not having spent time together in this fashion for some time, were busy chatting , singing and eating. They were enjoying  the warm weather and their time together. The brother who had prepared for the sporting events felt satisfied that he had done what needed to be done to give everyone a enjoyable time, anticipating the surprise of the brothers when seeing all the equipment he had prepared.

Arriving at the playing grounds, they all changed into their sporting clothes and soccer shoes, and after loosening up the body with their stretching exercises, starting looking for the soccer balls.

The monastery on  these outings  usually spent time playing soccer, and in the evening eating pork ribs. These 30 young religious all were looking for the soccer balls. It was then that the brother religious who prepared all the equipment remembered that he had forgotten the most important item: the soccer balls. 

The superior  of the group laughingly said to him: "The tradition of the monastery is to play soccer until the players are completely bushed,  is it not! Your job is to have the group divide into teams, choose  the  referees and  let them enjoy themselves. You were busy about too many things and forgot what was  important."

One of the group took the van into town and after some time came back with some balls. That day they were only able to play soccer for a short period of time. The brother in charge of athletics was, of course, exasperated and humiliated. 

One who is responsible for a task wants to do their best, the columnist reminds us. There are times that a person thinks what  he considers important others will also. However, this thinking leaves no room for the different demands of others and we often experience friction and confusion as a result. This always begins with good intentions, but  it is not what others may want: one person's good deed turns out to be a problem for others.

The columnist concludes by offering some advice.  Before  we  plan  to act upon a thought or impulse we should discern  whether it is merely  personal  or something others would approve of.  This requires  give and take.  Dialogue  brings about relationship and is the  window to communicating and a necessity for mature growth. Do you have a good thought that has come to mind?  Then share it with another. This will arouse an even  better feeling.                                                                           

Those who Sing Pray Twice

Many of the older missioners in Korea remember when the Christians would be able to take some catechism answers and put it to song. This came as a surprise, but it was soon realized that this was a common way of learning  the catechism that dated back from the days of the persecution. They were so used to this type of learning that they could  use the name of the missioner and ad-lib musically  some words  of congratulations on his name day or extemporize musically on  some parish celebration.

The Theological Perspective  magazine introduces us to the Korean Catholic epic poem, "Sahyangga," that in the early years of the Church was often sung in learning the catechism. The article mentions Father Choi Yang-op the second Korean priest who spent a great deal of time devising ways to teach the catechism. The majority of the believers  at that time could not read the Chinese Bible or the Chinese devotional  books, and there were few books translated into Korean that could be used in teaching the catechism.

Father Choi devised a catechism for the believers which was transmitted by way of song, matching the Korean's feelings and sensibilities. He put the Catholic doctrine in a familiar poetic style that the Koreans found easy to learn and sing. This was made in a way to help non-believers  understand Catholicism and  to defend against those who were antagonistic towards Catholicism.

Through these literary devices Father Choi sought to refute the arguments of those who were antagonistic towards Catholicism. This also helped Catholics to meditate on Catholic dogma and reflect on their lives by bringing to mind the accusations of the enemies of the Church.  These songs reveal the thoughts of the Koreans in the late Joseon dynasty.

This precedes the introduction of Gregorian Chant and the hymns that are familiar to  Catholics. All the lines of the Sahyangga were based on the catechism. There is a phrase in Latin that says  those who sing are praying twice. The Sahyangga used the song's contents to reflect upon the particular judgement, general judgement, and heaven and hell which follow death.  This was closely associated with the spirituality of martyrdom. Here was a  catechism by which they learned the teaching  and also a way they could pray with the words by putting them into song and memorized.

Besides the Sahyangga there were other similar epics and didactic ways of teaching about Catholicisms in song. Since Koreans have always enjoyed singing, we can understand  why Father Choi Yang-op found it easy to use music as a way to teach the catechism. This has continued and can be observed at daily Mass in most of the parishes and mission stations, even when there is a small congregation present. The society at large is no different: there are a great number of "singing rooms," each equipped with a karaoke machine and a menu of songs.

Our Lack of Perfection helps us to be a Catalyst

A professor emeritus mentions in the diocesan bulletin that at times she feels  she is being shunned. At which time she becomes depressed and lost in her world. She considers herself to be like Lazarus, referred to in last Sunday's Gospel, being asked to come our of the tomb she finds herself in. The loneliness she feels may come from only a few words of criticism, but they  fill  her with shame that make her want to hide. Though not wanting to come out of her tomb, at the same time she does want to, and she's troubled by the contradiction.

She has been a teacher of chemistry for over half a century. During this time she has taught many and has come to the realization that the subject of chemistry has a lot to teach us. She has  often used the  insights she has gained from  teaching about chemistry to teach her students about life. Chemistry has taught  her to appreciate the teachings of Jesus at a  deeper level and has also helped her to learn  from her own personal  experiences in life.

She has written a book on the lessons she has learned, particularly the lesson she learned from a chemical reaction known as the "homogeneous catalyst," her meditation for the bulletin.

A catalyst, she explains, is like a matchmaker for it is able to fill up the electrons that are missing with the addition of a new substance. It serves to join  substances and then moves on to repeat the procedure. It is precisely this lack of a catalyst, she says, that enables the catalyst to call substances to itself.

The catalyst can't react with  a substance that lacks nothing, it is only when something is missing that the catalyst can function. This is the reason we should not be ashamed of what we lack, she says, for we can positively  accept what we lack with a different understanding of what is missing.  When we seek to hide we are not looking upon what we lack correctly. It is when we are able to accept ourselves as not perfect and others as also lacking in perfection  that we become closer in our relationships and can help one another.

With this kind of understanding, when we find persons who are not able to overcome a feeling of inferiority  and inadequacy, we can extend our hand in the way Jesus did. To help us focus on this reality it is helpful to bring to mind the well-known Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

 

Need for Resiliency

There are many cases of people giving up on life and not a few because of poverty. A professor in the field of family relations writes in the Kyeongyang magazine about the need for resiliency when families are faced with financial difficulties.

The gross national product of Korea is listed as number 15th in the world. Which means that each person is making about 24,000 dollars a year and yet there are  those who live in poverty, which may get worse, says the professor, because of the widening gap between the economic development of the country and the lagging employment of workers. While the economy has improved dramatically there has been no increase, he says, in those able to find suitable work. They may be employed in temporary jobs but that does not entitle them to benefits from welfare, often cited as a reason for the increased rate of suicides in the country.

There are cases where this is less severe: when the father is induced to retire, while the children are not able to find work and the mother is an irregular worker. But such a family is always living with fear that conditions will worsen. Expenses for school, for rent and living expenses tend to keep them in debt. Poverty, for many families, is their biggest fear, resulting in depression, listlessness,  alcoholism, family squabbles, abandonment of the home, family violence and divorce.

Failing to find  employment, the young also find it difficult to overcome the financial problems that develop by not being employed, often delaying their marriage plans.  And if married economic problems also delay the birth of children and perhaps even eliminates the possibility of having children. Though a natural desire and right, its fulfillment is becoming increasingly difficult, he points out. Unjustly, the social polarization of society has one segment of society  able to give their children all that is necessary for a comfortable and warm family atmosphere, while another segment is faced with economic difficulties that disrupts family life, nurturing insecurity and  all kinds of problems that will be passed on to the children in those families.

 Problems of this kind are not the kind families can solve on their own. The government has to help provide employment, guarantee longer periods of work, increase the number of those  who will benefit by helping them with medical expenses, welfare needs and improving  public education.  Direct policies have to be introduced to help the economic conditions of these families.

What does the family have to do in return? he asks. They have to make  long range plans and work diligently to implement them, concentrating especially on determining their family income, expenses,  assets,  debts and then decide what is to be done. We are approaching  a life span of 90 years, which requires a concrete plan on how to economize.  The professor feels that it is not necessary to spend the money that is now being spent on a child's early education and thinks that expenditure is doing more harm than good. As a first step, he recommends that we stop spending money in this way.

It is necessary, he adds, not to  be mesmerized by the advertising of insurance companies.  In retirement it is not only  money that we need but a friendly  environment and relationships. The family is the first safety net but without a family, one is still able to make a safety net: people in the village, the church, and relating  with others  in the larger society.

And when there is economic difficulty the family can give strength, but at the same time it can be the biggest burden. When that is forgotten and one person is criticized and blamed, the family community dissolves. Many times the economic problems a family has are not internal to the family but caused by forces outside the family. When the family works together there are many things they can do to help alleviate the economic problems.

The professor brings up the word resiliency. When the family works together to solve their problems this is a gift that the family will pass on to future generations, one that will bring happiness to all of them.

World Class Korean Medicine

A surgeon writing in the Seoul diocesan bulletin mentions that a doctor's best years begin when he turns 50. Wisdom, experience and technique all come together at that time, he says. Preparing for an operation, he disinfects his hands, reads the prayer he has tacked on his wall, and all his tenseness disappears. He is now ready, he says, to decide the best way to approach the surgery.

Thoracic surgery is his specialty. He was the one who introduced thoracoscopic surgery to the field 20 years ago and continued to develop the procedure in the following years. In the past it was necessary to make an incision over 20 cm wide and force the ribs apart with instruments. Today only a small cut is made to allow special micro-instruments to enter the body for the endoscopy.

With this procedure less of the skin is cut, resulting in less tissue damage; recuperation is quicker and there is less pain. The procedure is especially helpful for those who have weak constitutions and the elderly.
 
Korean doctors when compared to doctors in other countries have a good reputation in  performing these thoracoscopic surgeries. The reason, the doctor speculates, is that Koreans have been using  chopsticks to eat since childhood, giving them the manual dexterity that a surgeon needs to be successful.  Surgery in Korea, he says, is second to none wherever it is practiced in the world.

Thousands of operations have been performed with this thoracoscopic procedure, and recently there has been a great deal of success using it for cancer of the lungs. When  diagnosed early, the chances of extending life is very good. And one way to prevent lung cancer, the doctor reminds us, is not to smoke or to stop smoking if you do.

Korea began to provide health insurance for its citizens in 1977, which has developed into universal health insurance for all.  The country has good medical schools and a good distribution of doctors. Recently doctors have been against  government plans to allow for-profit hospitals and the introduction of telemedicine ( the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology). Doctors have been strongly opposed to this plan and have gone on strike to make their feelings known publicly.

There is little doubt,  that Korea is one of the leaders in many fields of  medicine, and that many patients will come to Korea for these procedures because they tend to be less expensive here, and performed with less trouble and greater competency than can be provided in the patients' own country.  

The Omega Point

A  medical doctor introduces himself in his article in the Kyeongyang magazine as having specialized in physiology, the discipline that deals with the principles of life. What we all believe we know about life, the physiologist attempts to explain scientifically, he says. But because of the difficulty of doing this accurately, physiologists have to deal with the constant reminder that they are engaged in trying to solve an ongoing mystery.

We can't define accurately what life is, he says, but we can list its principle characteristics. When he teaches he mentions five or six: reproduction, structure and function, metabolic activity, growth and development, aging, and the ability to interact and adjust to the environment.

Life developed from disorder to order, from a lower form of life to a higher form. Scientists refer to the big bang as the beginning of life as we know it on earth. Scriptures says it all began with the Word. The doctor says that at the beginning of time, there was energy, which developed into atoms, which developed into molecules, which developed into cells and tissues and organs, gradually developing into more complicated matter that filled the earth and the oceans with everything that had existence.

The first elements could reproduce themselves. Before this state, there was the  physicochemical  processes of evolution; after this there was the beginning of simple life that gradually evolved into complicated life forms. The doctor sees the writers of the Old Testament as being led by the Holy Spirit by the way they described the beginning  of life.

The centrality of this evolutionary process is that  nature selected the most suitable in fierce competition, which enabled the adapted life forms to survive and to reproduce. Simply put, since there is a limit to what is available for food, the life forms that had an advantage in finding food over others continued to survive and prosper, and these traits were passed on to future generations. When the traits are modified in the genes and not passed on, the life form disappears. When beneficial  traits are passed on to future generations, those traits enable them to evolve to a higher form of life.

Wild animals do not have an abundance of nourishment.  Therefore, when the living organism  is at the stage of  starving to  death, they are able to assimilate the food that the genes have been metabolically programed to do. What we call  adult diseases often come from metabolic dysfunctions when more calories are taken in than are needed. Humans have in certain areas of the world an abundance of nourishment so that the caloric  intake is more than is needed, becoming fat in most cases. In Korea over one-third of the population are overweight or obese, which fosters disease. The reason, says the doctor, is that our genetic code has not had time to adapt to the way we have been eating during the last 50 years.  
 
One bonus for the evolutionary trip we are on, says the doctor, is the awareness and self-consciousness humans have developed. We have gone beyond just adapting to our environment. By cooperating with others, we have built societies that further our growth as individuals. With the experience of the past and making plans for the future, we have developed as social animals and have become the governors of our world. We are the only life forms, he says, that depend on others to grow to full maturity, both in body and spirit, and are able to show generosity, communicate with one another and cooperate.  Cooperating and mutual understanding is not something organized, among the mammals we closely resemble: the gorillas and chimpanzees.

The doctor stresses that in Korea we have been brainwashed with the Darwinian ideas of the survival of the fittest and natural selection, so we tend to think that the fierceness of our societal competition is natural to our humanity. However, unlike the animal kingdom, we have evolved to cooperate, to understand one another and to share. More than being something we have learned, it comes close, he says, to being innate.  The doctor goes on to say this is precisely the image of God in which we have been made.

Humans are the only ones with enough understanding and self-consciousness, he says, to comprehend that we are on the road to complete and perfect order. With cooperation, mutual understanding and sharing, together with the  Holy Spirit who is  leading us, we are moving closer to God.

Affection in the Life of Refugees

 

A refugee from North Korea explains in a column in the Catholic Times that the transition from the North to the South is difficult for most of them. They have had to overcome many difficulties, she says, even the threat of death. And yet there are  some refugees who want to return to the North, and do.

Life in the South is not easy for the refugee. They have to work hard, and because their speech gives them away as being from the North, they experience prejudice, have low paying jobs and seldom receive the human affection they were accustomed to having in the North. The North also makes it easy to return and gives them a sizable sum of money and a chance to appear on North Korean television.

In her article, she says she misses the love and affection she experienced back home the most. Lacking family ties in the South, this affection is difficult to replace, she says. Since October of last year she was in a place of rest for Korean refugees and says she was able to adapt well to the new conditions, with help from the religious sisters at the center.

She worked  part-time in a restaurant where many would ask, because of her speech, if she was from the North, and also ask about certain Chinese words and their meanings; she would answer that she wasn't Chinese, making it clear, upset though she was, that she was Korean. She remembers the words of one of the religious sisters: "More than money you are learning about people so do all your work zealously and it will not be difficult." Remembering these words has made her work less difficult, she says, knowing that no matter what she does, how well she fits in will depend on how well she responds to the environment.  Personal relationships, just as the sister told her, are extremely important regardless of where you find yourself.

For refugees the biggest difficulty is the language and cultural differences. A friend,  who has been in the country a year longer than she, was working in a beauty parlor and mentioned that  the language and  the culture posed the biggest problem. There were many misunderstandings and friction with those she was working with. This is also the situation for most of the refugees, the writer says, admitting that you can't very easily change habits that have been with you for over 20 years.  This is not only the case with her friend but true of all those who have defected to the South. She mentions how the owner of the restaurant in which she works has often mentioned, laughing, what he considered to be her "bad habits."

Her biggest need, she says, is for affection. Without the affection of parents and friends, she says that settling in the South is a major problem for refugees and that the fear of separation continues to haunt them and makes intimacy with others difficult. As for herself, she says that when she has affection for another and it comes to parting, it is like a needle in her heart, giving her much pain. This is a sad fact, she says, for all those who have left their families to come to the South.