Mission Sunday

In the Catholic World, today is Mission Sunday. The  Peace Weekly carried an article on the 'Francis Effect' after the visit of Pope Francis to Korea.The religious figures who have the most influence on Korean society,according to a recent survey, are Cardinal Yeom, deceased Cardinal Kim in number two spot, and number fourth was Cardinal Cheong. Pope Francis' visit to Korea has noticeably nourished the Church.

One of the signs that many have noticed is the increase in the number of those attending Sunday Mass. Catechumens  attending  classes at the Cathedral parish in Seoul in the month of September have increased twofold.

The Cathedral parish in 2004, in one year's time, had 771 baptized, after the death of John Paul II the number increased to 951, and in in 2006, 1351 were baptized. After the death of Cardinal  Kim there was another jump and now it has leveled off at about 1100 a year and this is expected to rise again after the  pope's visit.

The number of those tepid, and want to return to the community have also shown an increase, and this is  true for the whole country. There are reports from parishes that  the lines for the confessional are longer and the numbers returning to the Church have increased.

There is also an increase of interest in the work of  evangelization. "Let us call upon him today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our activity risks being fruitless and our message empty. Jesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence (Joy of the Gospel # 259). In the pope's exhortation we have five steps for evangelization that the article outlines.

First, a need to pray. Secondly, confidence and zeal, without conviction and love  little can be done. Thirdly, we have to be concerned for the good of the other.Fourthly, begin with the marginalized and the poor. Fifthly, do all with joy.

In today's Gospel we heard what Jesus told the first community of believers. He wanted them to go and make disciples of all nations, and teach them what he has commanded. He would remain with them until the end. The mission is not only to gain heaven after death but to enjoy the gift of life that God has given us now. Jesus is the  way the truth and life and he wants us to enjoy this gift now and for all eternity.

One of the Korean proverbs expresses a feeling about the life here on earth very graphically: "Even if I have to roll in the field filled with dog excrement this earthly life is good." We who are Christians are able to say this with much more meaning. Life is not fair for many. There are many difficulties, problems and crosses that make up this life, it is not a level  playing field, but with a correct attitude and the trust that God is always walking with us the obstacles add to our glory.

The Sacrament of the Sick

Extreme Unction was the term we used for the Sacrament of the Sick previous to the Second Vatican Council. It was the last anointing and always attended with a certain amount of urgency. A pastor writing in the Catholic Digest recalls the Sacraments of the Sick he  administered in the past with surprising results.

In one of his mission stations when he was an assistant, after finishing the morning Mass, and ready to eat breakfast he was approached by one of the Christians asking for the Sacrament of the Sick for one in the community. He wondered if he could finish his breakfast before leaving but decided it was best to go. The trip took 30 minutes to walk to the house, along a narrow  path separating paddy fields.  

When he arrived at the house, the sick person was out in the yard ready to greet him. The priest was a little bit put out for not having finished his breakfast  for there was no great hurry. The sick person also knew that he didn't have his breakfast and expressed regret. He gave the Sacrament. They probably were taking advantage of his visit to the mission station to give the Sacrament to the Sick. He went back to the mission station and took the bus back to the parish.

As soon  as he arrived at the parish he received a telephone call. The person who received the Sacrament had just died. He found it hard to believe. As soon as he received the Sacrament he died and a family member went to the mission station to tell the priest, but he had just left on the bus for the parish. The family member waited for him to return to the parish before telephoning.

Another sick call was to a mother. She was living with her 60 year old daughter,both widows living together. They were respected and loved by the community. Two o'clock in the morning  he received a call from the daughter asking for the Sacrament of the Sick. He had just given the mother on a visit to the home the Eucharist, and was surprised at the call, but he got ready and went to the home.

The grandmother was unconscious and her hands were cold.The daughter speaking loudly in the ear of the mother told her the priest was there to give her the Sacrament of the Sick. She showed signs of understanding, and he gave her the Sacrament of the Sick. It appeared that she was on the point of dying and the grandson was ready to cry when the mother told him that he was not to cry. The daughter told the mother that she had received the Sacrament and should be at peace, and it was alright to go.

The priest also thought that she was near death, and  said the prayers for the dying. After the prayer he returned to the parish; went to bed but couldn't  sleep, and prepared for the morning Mass. After Mass while he was eating breakfast a telephone call came from  the home of the grandmother. The grandson,  was on the phone. He thought it was to notify him of the death and asked: "Did she die peacefully?"

The unexpected answer: "Grandmother regained consciousness and is now eating. He was ready to laugh at the ludicrousness of the situation. He had prayed in all earnestness for her to die peacefully and... Even after he left the parish he heard that she lived many more years. The ways of God are not our ways.

Deo Gratias

 

A pastoral bulletin has an article by a priest on happiness. He tells the story of a teacher who was always laughing and one of his disciples recalls he never showed any signs of sadness. Nearing death the disciple asked him what  was the secret of his happiness. 

"You are facing death, how is it that you can laugh about it? Without doubt there have been times in life when things have been unpleasant and you have experienced sadness, how come you  never showed that in your demeanor?"

The teacher quietly responded: "I met my teacher when I was 17 years old. I already knew sadness and suffering, and always felt depressed. My teacher was always laughing and I asked him the secret. 'Why are you always laughing?' He answered: 'I was like you for many years, overcome by sadness. One day the thought came to me that I was in charge in the way I was to live my life. From that time on when I woke up in the morning I would ask myself what would it be today? Would I be happy or unhappy?' "

Happiness is something that I will have to choose. Are we  walking with God or not?  Saints are those who have made the decision to walk with God and they are our example of a life well lived. This requires 'metanoia' -- change.

Every morning when we awake from sleep which is like death, we are born again to a new day. We like the saints are living a life of 'metanoia' and walk with God. It is my decision to make, and we know that we have the help that we need so life should be one long  'Deo Gratias' (Thanks be to God).

Paul Bourget (1852-1935), a French thinker said: "One must live the way one thinks or end up thinking the way one has lived." A person who is always walking with God will even at death be able to thank God for his life. 

Every morning  when we open our eyes, we give thanks. Our life is one of change and each day we are giving another chance to walk with God  which elicits from us a heartfelt: Deo Gratias.

Educating for Maturity

The Catholic Times had an article on how the Catholic Philosophers want to solve the problems of  our competitive society.At an academic conference the philosophers considered the evil in society that came to light with the Sewol tragedy, and our response. 

Participants discussed why do we have evil, and what to do about it?  Noted was a close connection of evil with money matters, and our insensitivity and lethargy to suffering and evil. Mentioned was the place of education in bringing about a change.

The Sewol tragedy was not just an accident but showed corruption and evil.The participants made clear that to keep silent is to be negligent, lack love for neighbor, and in the process end up doing evil.

Two of the participants asked was it possible to find some good in the evil of suffering? Does society see evil and make it known? Does our education contribute to eradicating evil? Does society criticize evil?  Absence of political ethical values promotes the  culture of death.The ways of God and human responsibility were all subjects for the talks. 

After the Sewol tragedy the existence of our indifference urges us to change. If the evil that continues to spread is to stop, and we want to change course and make suffering a reason to establish the good, we need to  seek the reasons for pain and make them known. In this way we will avoid future pain that the families of the victims had to experience with the tragedy.

The word accident was changed to tragedy in the mass media because they saw the workings of evil.  We have been educated for success in our economic life. We have not worked to create capabilities to oppose evil, but educated for competitiveness which has entered the education system and into society.

We need to  integrate our life and knowledge for maturity. In conclusion there was a desire to put an end to the stereotypes in our text books and look at the problems, worries the students face in their daily lives and come to grips with them and work through them to form the whole person.

Pleasure of Writing

A celebrity blogger said that with the passage of time his personal life began to get complicated and ostentatious. As the readers began to increase he began to feel uncomfortable in reading his own blog. In the beginning it was like a diary and pictures were added, but he did not feel free and was overcome with discouragement.

A Salesian religious sister who has a degree in media ecology and conducts retreats writes about the benefits of writing in her column in the Catholic Times. Many who have blogs use them as a diary: an open diary for all those connected to the  Social Network Service. What is written for the viewing of others usually has more concern for the audience than for inner integrity of the person doing the writing. When this is repeated, she says, the danger is to have it intoxicate one.

The more a person uses Facebook and the SNS sites the less of an appreciation they have of their own  self-worth. The  sister reports a psychologist discovered this in his investigation. Many are looking for approval and praise from those with whom they are in  contact. Another psychologist in his experiments found those who excessively make known information on their blog do not have a good feeling for their efforts. The friends they make on SNS are only virtual friends, and their real friends, with the overload of information, makes their relation with the blogger more difficult. 

Moreover, using the SNS diary pages the intense feelings of elation one feels makes the gentle communications with family and friends unappreciated. SNS becomes a means of showing our pictures and writings and making our self known on an event page.

How about getting back, she says, to a paper diary that we have forgotten? Especially in the  digital age going back to the pencil and paper diary has a lot of meaning. We put aside for a time the digital equipment and with pencil and paper concentrating on what we write, we become intimate with ourselves. Stress, outside noises, our business concerns are put to sleep, our emotions subside, and as we write in the diary our inattentiveness becomes regulated.

She remember the years during overseas study when she had to deal with a new language and culture; her diary writing helped her solve many of the difficulties she faced. She has never forgotten the help she received from the writing and the closeness she felt to God.

She concludes with the words of a novelist who said that when he picks up a pencil to write, the body is pushing the pencil. This feeling is very important to him, without this feeling he would not be able to write even one line. Wouldn't it be wonderful, she asks, if we all had this feeling when we pick up a pencil?

Results of Pope's Visit to Korea

After the visit of the pope to Korea we have been looking to see what sprouts have begun to appear within the Church. A recent seminar wanted to know what we can expect from the visit as seen by a priest, sister, and a layperson. An article in the Catholic Times gives a synopsis of the talk of each of the participants.

The priest mentioned the centrality of the clerical in the make-up of the Church: this needs to be addressed for a reformation. The original understanding of Church,he said, was for the pope and bishops to  deepen the faith life of the Christians, giving them hope and to energize them for renewal of the world in which we live. The aim is to extend the kingdom of God, to spread the faith and not a place where we make our last will and testament to pass on our treasures. We want to have a deeper relationship with God: sharing among ourselves, a desire to learn, question and resolve our doubts; the lack of communication is a problem .

Justice and mercy are two concerns of  our Christian  life but there is no reason to discuss which is prior, for they are tied together. To be only interested in love and forgetting justice is a  temptation we face.  Without concern for justice, he says, and thinking love is all that is  necessary, we deceive ourselves.

The renewal of the Church requires a change in the structures of administration and culture. Secondly, make our Catholic identity clear, a need to  change our discipline to achieve unity. Thirdly, a need to deepen our religious life, which will require effort from our leaders and more openness. He feels there is a need to change the culture of our priests to a more Gospel based culture.

The sister reminds us that without a change in the way we looked upon a great many of the habits of the past in our religious life we will not have change.When the  religious orders in the past were faced with a crisis they  were able to change:  because of the strong impact this made on the religious. Religious were not under the organizational system of the Church which gave them more freedom. When difficulties arose the religious walked with God as their companion which was the hallmark of the religious.

Religious are the first to face the crisis and react to it. They are the prophetic voice against the unhealthy individualism, and against the accommodation with the times, and open to a greater courage to overcome the difficulties.

The layperson mentioned the Church has not been concerned with the poor but with external growth. We have become a middle class  community for fellowship which makes change difficult. He looks around and sees much that goes contrary to the image of the Church that the pope stressed in his visit.  The lay people are by far the largest segment of the Church and wants them to take the message to heart and work for its implementation.

Affective Literacy

Korea still values marriage greatly, but there is much  talk about the single life and cohabitation.  Marriage being what it is in the world today, people in small groups very openly discuss whether it is not better to live alone, and if one wants a relationship to have one without commitment that allows one to leave when desired.

Because of necessity those who have to live alone, do hear words of consolation, but those that oppose marriage are self proclaimed progressives. There is not just one way of talking about the single life and cohabitation for they take many different forms. Some have chosen the single life and others have not, some are temporary and some are not.

Cohabitation likewise concerns those with the intention of marriage; or those wondering if this is the future mate or not. Some are living a common law marriage or in a long  term relationship: an option and choice of life style.

A seminary  professor of ethics  writes about these issues in the  Kyeong Hyang magazine. He uses the book Agony of the Eros by Han Byung-chul a philosopher living in Germany for some of his ideas. Professor Han maintains many see the 'other' only as the mirror of one's own Ego. The 'other' is only an instrument for pleasure. "We" is a concept that militates against my growth and fulfillment.

The 'other' is like a commodity displayed in a department store. We can buy and return it for something else: a commodity and little else. I am what is important the 'other' is for my use.

The word love is not a word that we can discuss for it is only a commodity. There is a new type of person being born. The refusal to take upon oneself the burdens that come with the 'other' is considered the new wisdom, but what is forgotten is the way we came into the world. Before I was able to see the 'other' I was in the eyes of the 'other'. When they saw my naked body they laughed. Before I was able to see the pupil of their eyes I was groping for the breast of the 'other'.

The writer admits that his faith life has a lot to do with the way he sees the 'other' and himself. His celibacy is for God's reign and for the 'other'. It is because of the 'other' he can dream and  give himself to the vocation that he has chosen. Both the single life and married life requires austerity. The married are drawn to the union of the male and female, their intellects and wills fine tune the relationship so that they can find happiness in the life-long commitment to each other.

A person living alone who denies the attraction of the 'other', and those who are cohabiting and deny the goodness of the 'other' are affective illiterates. They are not seeing the hope that comes from our human nature they are deliberately fostering a life without goals and empty: a life of idleness, boredom and without festivity.

For a Christian the cross has great meaning for us. The single person and those cohabiting need to rid themselves of their self-centered ideology and begin a new way  of seeing the 'other'. He finishes the article by telling them to forget about romance and marry.