Korea is a small country, divided now into the North and South. The organizational abilities of South Korea are well known, and this ability also appears within Christianity. Korea is a fertile area for home grown religions, and Christianity has many. They have charismatic leaders and organizational ability and as off-shoots of Christianity use the Bible to spread their particular ideas. This is the tragedy that Christianity has faced from the beginning and time has only made it worse.
Almost half of the Korean population has no religious belief and the other half would be divided among Protestants, Buddhists, Catholics and Confucianists, and many other smaller sects. Protestants have a strong aversion to the cults and pseudo religions. Catholics are more laid back, but are conscious of the harm that is being done and alert Catholics in their religious press of the dangers of these groups that often seek out Catholics and work to bring them into their fold.
Many Catholics do not have trust in the Church, a knowledge of the history of Christianity, and a solid foundation in Scripture. Many of the cults use the Book of Revelations as their text book, and many Catholics lack even a rudimentary knowledge of the book. Often in the Catholic press we hear reported the large number of Catholics who have
difficulty with the teaching of the Church and do not have a loving attachment to the Church, which would make them an easy
prey for these fringe groups.
Catholics realize that the culture of life is disregarded in society, but in their lives not even half follow the teaching of the Church. The survey made in preparation for the Synod in 2015, 84 percent of the respondents think the disregard for life has got worse. And 94 percent think that something should be done. There was not a big difference between believers and non believers. However, only 52 percent of the Catholics felt that life began at conception. 73.6 percent have no difficulty with abortion, 74.3 percent accept euthanasia, and 52.1 percent, capital punishment. Only 25.5 percent accept all the teachings of the Church.
A professor at the Catholic University says the results of the survey shows the separation of life and belief. We see a red light that has to be addressed, he says, in the programs to educate our Catholics, not only to do what the Church teaches, but to know the reasons why, and to understand them.
The failure of many of the Catholics to understand the teaching of the Church makes them open to the enticements of the these small charismatic fringe groups.The editorial in the Peace Weekly mentions the warmth of these small sects and the concern shown to the newcomers. The lack of Scriptural knowledge makes many of the Catholics receptive to the invitations, in many cases they do not even know it is a cult, but once they are involved they find something they did not experience in the large impersonal communities to which they belonged. The estrangement they already have from the Church's teaching prepares the way.
A
parish priest writing in a bulletin for priests asks: Does the Church
recall the feelings of the Sabine women in Roman 'history'?
Jacques-Louis
David was a painter who found favor with Louis 16th, the King of France.
When the French Revolution began he was a member of the revolutionary
forces but when he saw the excesses of the Jacobin Club, the radicals,
and the Girondins who wanted a more moderate course, both
pro-revolution and fighting among themselves, he painted what we know
as: The Intervention of the Sabine Women.
The
French Revolution promised the French populous living in difficult
times: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity--a better human life, but
instead the revolutionary movement became divided, and violence and
conflict developed. David the artist wanted to see this end: the
message of his painting.
Romulus
the founder of Rome and his fellow Romans had few women among them
so they went to the neighboring tribe of the Sabines, who were gentle
and meek, abducted their women for wives, and killed their men. The
Sabines angered and in time invaded Rome. The war that issued is the
story depicted in the painting by David.
The
Sabine Women are in the middle of the painting asking for peace. On one
side their former husbands, and their paternal families, on the
other side were their present husbands and children. In the center of the painting you have the
woman's father on the other side her husband and the father of her
children. The women have no choice, and the tragedy is that they are asking for peace with their bodies and the bodies of their
children.
In
our society we don't have trust between the government and the
citizens, lack of harmony between the rich and poor is increasing,
and anger between those in the country and city deepens. The older
generation, he says, doesn't want to lose control of the society or let
it pass to others so they unite; the younger generation
disregards what they hear and distrusts and resents what is going on.
He wants to know what the Church is doing with this situation?
The
Painting reminds the writer of the essential mission of the Church: to facilitate communication between God and humanity. Daily, seeing
the conflict and hostility in our society he reflects on the desire of
Jesus for reconciliation, and wants the Church to take a move active roll in the reconciliation.
No need to learn how to criticize, we find ourselves doing it easily. Without any effort another person's flaws come readily to the eye. Why do we have so many people without manners in the world in which we live? People talking loudly in the subway, driving without concern for others, parking any place....
On the opinion page of the Peace Weekly the columnist mentions going to a martyrs shrine for Mass. The shrine is close to his house; he and the family walk frequently to the shrine, not only is it close, he likes the atmosphere at the shrine. A small parking space is located adjacent to the shrine, but those who come from a distance usually park out side the area of the shrine, and walk. Buses that come would also do the same.
On one occasion as they were walking along a narrow street, a car came by, and those walking went to the side of the road to give the car space to pass. If he is going to Mass, the columnist thought, why doesn't he walk the last section of the road to the shrine? He watched the car go into the small parking lot and as the driver descended he thought to himself, here was a slow witted person. The driver went to the trunk of the car, took out a wheel chair, and helped the woman get into the wheel chair.
During Mass he found it difficult to look in the direction of the man and the two woman who were with him. He was completely embarrassed by how it all worked out. He realized that he was too quick to judge and didn't see the whole picture before he jumped to his conclusion. Many are the times he has judged without the necessary facts, and felt embarrassed. "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you" (Matt.7:1).
How many times do we have to change the way we think because of what we learn? A lesson not easily learned because of our habits. We all have experienced blurting out words without thought and reckless actions for which we are sorry.
What we see is not always all that we should be seeing. To make a judgement on fragments that we hear or something that we see without sufficient thought is looking for trouble.
We are living in times when speed is important, but when it is dealing with our fellow human beings it is well to give ourselves plenty of time before coming to a conclusion.
"Do not keep judging according to appearances; let your judgement be according to what is right" (John 7:24).
"Remember this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to human anger" (James 1:19)
A priest writing in a Bulletin for priests recalls his days as an
elementary 5th and 6th grader. He had to walk 40 minutes to get to get to church and on Sundays they had Mass in the morning and Sunday School
was in the afternoon. Because of the distance he would often miss Sunday
School.
Often prizes of clothes from relief goods
would be given to the students who had a a good attendance record. He
never was one of them. Those who lived close to the Church would be the
recipients.The prizes were not enough to overcome the distance he had
to walk.
Two years ago 20 to 30 children from a
city parish were given a free trip to Everland, the largest theme park
in South Korea. All expenses were paid by the parish. The priest
wondered about the results of the trip and the feelings of those that
were not selected to go.
One of the parishes gives
electronic gifts to those who attend Mass faithfully, and he gives
another example of a priest who gives presents to those who answer his
questions correctly during the sermon. There are a differences in
the kind gifts that are given, but the giving of prizes is a common occurrence.
The
interest of children in religious teaching is disappearing. Mass attendance is low and those who are responsible for the parishes are
looking for ways to stop the tide. Some of the priests work with the liturgy, music, sermons, visual aids and the like, while
others make use of material goods to increase the interest.
There
are times where this giving of prizes as an incentive is acceptable,
but educationally and looking at it from a religious vantage point it he does not see it as wise. When one receives a prize one considers that it is
deserved, there is little thanks and little humility. When one takes
care of a younger sibling and is given a prize, we lose the chance
to inculcate the importance of brotherly love. Religious education is
to instil responsibility and maturity.
Our society draws people by material goods and competition. Those who win at
competition and pile up material goods are the ones who are setting the
societal standards. Those who have lost out in competition and have little are
those who go to the the periphery of society.
When the church uses the same methods of society, we are failing to educate wisely. Jesus complained about the way society shunned and alienated people, and the same can be done in our religious teaching programs.
After an event we as church do not meet formally to evaluate what was done. When many thousands of dollars are used for trips and in
prize money, time should be set aside to assess the pros and cons of the event. What did the students learn? Was it
valuable? What was not of value?
Most of the time there are informal evaluations made by those in charge but this is not sufficient, he says. What is necessary is to examine in detail what was done, and to analyze it with the future in mind. This would prevent many future mistakes and allow growth to happen.
In his column on the social teaching of the Church in the Peace Weekly, a seminary professor brings to our attention the poverty in the world and the efforts to eliminate it.
While in Rome he met many people from different nations and especially priests who were in Rome to study from Africa. Many of them had no help from the dioceses, and had to make their spending money by helping out during the summer months. Korean priests were helped by their dioceses. African priest would be given scholarships from the Congregation of the Evangelization of People, but their personal expenses they would have to earn.
On their return to Africa you would see them bringing many household goods and electronic equipment back with them to Africa.They would be going back to a difficult life, and a continent that was often at war and fighting against hunger to stay alive. Sadness was the feeling he had seeing these priests going back to Africa.
We have all seen the vast expanses of Africa and their many resources. They can climb a cocoanut tree for a refreshing drink or gather some bananas but they all have owners. They have the largest amount of gold and diamonds in the world but the wealth is not shared. The way it is shared depends on the politics of the region. We have all seen on TV the leaving of the continent by boat and the numbers who have died.
Pope Francis after becoming pope made his first pastoral visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa a stop over for many illegal emigrants from Africa seeking refuge in Europe. The pope in his sermon criticized the indifference of the international community and wanted to awaken consciences and the love we should have for humanity.The pope wants society and the Church to take an interest in this great suffering of so many.
Lampedusa is only 120 miles from Tunisia and in the first half of 2013 the UN's Refugee Agency reported that 8,400 refugees had arrived on the island.The sinking of boats and the lost of life is all too well known. They are seeking a better life in Europe. Africa was invaded and colonized and suffered at the hands of Europe for centuries. After the second world war many of the nations became independent, but because of the rule of despots and corruption many of the people were not able to free themselves from poverty. If there was a just sharing of the wealth we would not have the tragedies of Lampedusa.
"The fight against poverty finds a strong motivation in the
option or preferential love of the Church for the poor.
In the whole of her social teaching the Church never tires of emphasizing
certain fundamental principles of this teaching, first and foremost, the
universal destination of goods. Constantly reaffirming the
principle of solidarity, the Church's social doctrine demands action to
promote 'the good of all and of each individual, because we are all
really responsible for all '. The principle of solidarity,
even in the fight against poverty, must always be appropriately accompanied by
that of subsidiarity, thanks to which it is possible to foster the spirit
of initiative, the fundamental basis of all social and economic development in
poor countries. The poor should be seen not as a problem, but as
people who can become the principal builders of a new and more human future for everyone.(Compendium of the Social Teaching of the Church #449).
A grandfather who was living alone in a rented room, was notified
that the house was sold, and he had to move.The situation was serious, despondent, he took his own life. Those who were entrusted
with the moving found a note waiting for them; in the envelope was
100 dollars to have a meal with rice and soup. Another envelope had enough money for the funeral expenses, electricity, water and taxes.
In
Feb. of this year we had the suicide of a mother and her two
daughters by carbon dioxide poisoning because of poverty. The
daughters because of sickness were not able to work, and the mother in
her 60s worked in a restaurant to support them, but could not work because of an injury. The incident was reported in the news and caused a
great deal of remorse on the part of many.The government was moved to work on ways to help the indigent, and prevent incidents like what happened
to the grandfather.
Around the same time was the
case of another death of a popular singer that pushed aside news of the
mother and her two daughters. The columnist, writing on this issue, in the Peace Weekly, knows
that death brings sadness, but was again reminded that money and
honor, in many cases, determines how we look upon death. Putting his thoughts together on the grandfather's death the columnist felt distress.
In Buddhism birth and death,
prosperity or failure are all transient; important to see all as
vanity. A Christian, however, sees life as a sign of God's love and to put an
end to life with one's willful act is not acceptable. We are to
respect our bodies for they will be resurrected on the last day.
The
bishops in their recent meeting lamented in the way money and power is
pushing people to their death. We have put money and power on an equal
footing with life. Materialism and money are trampling
the poor under foot, and the bishops have decided to be with them. Up
until now we have had a middle class church, prosperous, on mission, a big
church, that has not chased out the poor, but have not made it easy for
them to find a place to stand or feel comfortable.
Bishops have expressed their sorrow and plan to do something to change the
situation.
The world is beautiful because one can find
love. A world with love is filled with human-like lives: a world that is lived according to the principles found in
creation, and is filled with the immanence of God. When the first
Christians in Korea were persecuted and escaped to the mountains, living together in difficult circumstances, no one died of hunger or
lost hope.
Like the bishops we have to meditate on the
situation we have today in the world, and work to put an end to those
who kill themselves because of alienation and poverty. In November we meditate on death and pray for the dead. A
time to change our attitude, and begin to see
what is important and what is less important in our lives.
'Happiness and healing' is a topic we hear a lot about in our
society. But at the same time society is filled with great suffering.
The death of a loved one fills us all with bodily pain and mental
suffering. A college philosophy professor writes in a column in the
Peace Weekly about losing his parents 3 years ago,within 6 months of each
other. The loss was deep and lasting and before he was able to accept
the loss, a very close friend died. The death was not expected which
made the loss more difficult.
According to
Viktor Frankl in Logotherapy, humans are motivated by
the search for meaning. The columnist shows, according to Frankl, we
find the meaning in three different ways: in what we do, and what we
experience or by the attitude we have toward the unavoidable suffering
in life. There is no way we can prevent our own death or the death of
another, but we can choose our attitude.
Before the
death of his friend, a fellow professor, he visited him with his wife
and even at that time he was considerate of us and told us that
because of his weakness he found it difficult to talk. That was a
indication of the thoughtfulness he had for others. Right to the very end
you would see this concern which increased the sadness of those visiting. After his death one easily saw the high regard he
was held by all those that knew him: the students that came to the
funeral rites with tears in their eyes.
There are
those that death could come as a penalty, but they live well and enjoy
life and then you have those like his friend that had so much talent
and doing so much good, and death comes so suddenly. If
they lived longer they could have done so much good and showed
more love to others. The columnist has read all kinds of philosophy books, and not
once has he come across a good answer to his query.
During
the Mass of the Resurrection in praying for the professor he
did find some consolation. On the 49th day after death one of the students
who received his doctorate with the mentoring of the professor visited
the grave of the professor and offered up his doctoral dissertation. At the sight, the columnist experienced a warm feeling.
With the death of the
ones we love we bury with the one deceased part of ourselves which is
part of the reason for the sadness that overcomes us. However, a part
of the one who has died also remains with us.
