Parish communities have personalities that some can read rather quickly. Writing in the pastoral bulletin a priest shortly after arrival at his new parish assignment noticed the large number of persons using electric wheelchairs. At the Sunday Mass he noticed about 10 wheelchairs and in the community he saw many who were using these electric wheelchairs to move around.
Majority of the community were living in only for rent apartments, a good indication of the poverty of the neighborhood. He made up his mind to prepare a pilgrimage to a shrine Pope Francis visited while in Korea. He wanted to treat the handicapped in the best possible way and made plans to bring the handicapped to the shrine by taxis.
The reason for these thoughts come from the words of Pope Francis in Joy of the Gospel: "This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei,
but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to
let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an
invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to
put them at the center of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to
find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be
their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the
mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them" #198.
He got in touch with the welfare center run by the diocese, and worked with them. There were 19 parishioners and 13 from the community. 32 all together with 35 volunteers to take care of the handicapped. The taxi drivers came from the Taxi Drivers Pastoral Association of Seoul who donated their time and 35 taxis for the pilgrimage.
One of the participants said it was like looking at a scene from Lourdes. After arriving at the shrine there was a garden feast for all the pilgrims. Dinner was not just a meal but a sacramental feast of love. It was a time for all to feel a bond solidarity.
More than the handicapped, the priest observed, it was the volunteers who seemed to be the happiest. He concludes his article with the words from the same exhortation:
"No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their
own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse
commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial
circles. While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission
of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human
activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice" #201.
Korea has always looked on farming as an honored occupation. Aristocrats,
farmers, artisans and tradesmen was the order in which
traditional society saw the different occupations. Even
today the farming profession is respected, even though few are
interested in following in the ways of their ancestors. Reasons for the
change are easily seen: work is difficult, money is little, and
society has many other possibilities that are more attractive and
esteemed.
The liturgy this past Sunday was a reminder to
Christians that farming has a lot to teach us. We learn some of the
basic laws of nature from farming, and respect for the earth, and what
it can do for us. One of the diocesan bulletins reminds the readers of
the joy that comes with farming.
Writing
about the readings for the 11th Sunday of the Year, the priest mentions
that he has been farming for the past two years and brings his produce
to the bishop's table.Those eating with the bishop praise his efforts for their freshness and taste-- all naturally grown.
Farmers
in Korea have a problem with turning over their land to organic farming
for it is more difficult than using chemicals and sprays to help in
the work. The produce would also not be as plentiful, which for a farmer
is a great sacrifice when the marketing of the produce is important in
supporting family.
He
asks the readers to get involved in a little vegetable garden on
their property. We see this being done also in apartments, on roof tops,
and in verandas with plastic containers, and also those who become
weekend farmers, renting land in areas out side the city.
Weather
conditions are doing a lot of harm to the farmers way of life, the
prices of food continue to rise, and the fear that many have with the
pesticides that are used is helping to make farmers out of the city
dwellers.
Pope
Francis' encyclical on the environment will formally be published
this Thursday and we are already beginning to here the pros and cons.
Korea will have little difficulty in accepting the encyclical for they
are very conscious of the change of weather in the past decades. Most
of the world's scientist see it at least as a partially man made
situation, and the majority of our citizens will have little difficulty understanding the good stewardship that is expected from the
citizens. There have been for many years great concern for the
enviroment with the 'Anabada Movement': Save, Share, Exchange and
Reuse. Hopefully the rest of the world will follow the 'saner and
greater numbers' and see that the wanton disregard for creation as a sin.
How do we prevent the destruction of family life? This is the
question in an article in the Kyeongyang magazine, by a priest, head of the
family pastoral center in the diocese.
We are all
familiar with the words by which the couple affirm their love for each
other: "I, N., take you, N., to be my wife (husband). I promise to be
true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, I will
love you and honor you all the days of my life."
It is
with this bond of marriage we have the basic cell in society and the
beginning of a family, the first community. In this community they learn
about the culture and traditional values and work together to solve
their problems of food, clothing and shelter. However, this basic
community is under great stress: divorce, violence in the home,
gambling, dependence on alcohol, children running away from home,
daughter-in-law and mother-in-law tensions, all making family life like
children playing house.
Society is making the
individual more important than the community of family. The roots are
going down deeper in our society, sacrificing the family for the
satisfaction of the individual, and selfish needs. The Church is
hoping to have some answers to the problems the families are facing, in the October meeting of the synod on the family.
The
words of our Lord: "Thus they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore, let no man separate what God has joined" (Matt. 19:6). For
many young people these words are an echo from an empty void and mean
little. With the lack of restraint and patience we will continue to see
divorces.
Divorces are not only problems for families,
but for all of society. Important as it is to care for families who
have divorced, more so to help families overcome their difficulties to
prevent their break up. This will require educational programs
in which the couples examine their values, the use of
money, and objectively look upon sexual intimacy and its meaning,
their spirituality and the way they see God's place in the family. Prayer should be an important part of family life.
Necessary is counseling for families that are having
difficulties, and places of rest for those suffering violence in the
family. There is a line from a pop song
that the writer uses in the conclusion of the article: "In April we have
the loving heart but when they separate it is winter."
Divorce
shakes the foundations of society.Not only the couple, but the
children and all of society is affected. We have the pain of loss. Pastoral work to help families overcome the difficulties and be with them, is important. We need programs that will help the
couples overcome the differences and help them make the
efforts necessary to keep the family together. The family is the place
of salvation, and we should invest all this is needed to help families.
A priest writing for priests in the Pastoral Bulletin recalls a trip to Germany some years ago when he visited with a Korean family living
in the country. The grandmother who had her grandchild beside her, turned
to the priest, and told him that she is praying that some day he will be
a priest. The son hearing his mother saying these words suddenly,
upset:"I don't want my son to be a priest, stop praying for him in that
way."
That night when he returned to his dormitory he
asked a friend of the boy's father why such a strong reaction to the
mother's words. He was told that on trips to Germany by many priests
from Korea, the father would spend time showing the priests around the
country and making them feel at home in Germany. However, when he went to Korea he
would look up these priests and felt they were not pleased to see
him.This reaction on the part of the priests that he spent time with in
Germany and their response when he met them in Korea, changed his attitude.
In
the article the priest remembers the time he has been the object of a
person's generosity and has always felt pangs of conscience for not
given the proper response when he has met the person at a church service
are event.
He often hears priests are cold and
curt with the Christians. Many priests even with the the older Christians, wait
to be greeted. He feels that it is rare to have a priest make the first
gestures of greeting-- good at receiving love but not in giving.
Celibacy he believe is the reason that we are not
comfortable with expressing words of love and warmth. We are not
familiar with close relationships, so we lack a sensitivity
and emotional maturity.
When we lack love in our lives, he says, and do not go out to others, our humanity begins to die. He
gives us the example of the Dead Sea that only receives and doesn't
give.
We hear often the treatment Korean
priests receive from our Christians is the best in the whole Catholic
world. Nothing to do with our qualifications or efforts, but thanks
to Korean society. Benefits given to us by Christians are many, we
need to repay the debt.
We should be serving them with humility and kindness, but instead they see pride in our actions and behavior.
He
concludes the article with a passage that is loved by many: "You have
been told man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only
to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).
MERS virus has brought fear to the lives of many in Korea. Visitors
to restaurants have dropped noticeably and meetings have been
cancelled. On the subway many are seen wearing masks. The government
and health authorities have been criticized by the media for the lack
of transparency and urged to set up structures for controlling the
spread.
A columnist in the Peace Weekly on current
problems mentions how in the last 30 years we have had the spread
of new viruses like MERS, HIV, AI , SARS, Ebola.... Global warming has brought typhoons, tidal waves,
droughts, floods, and frequent cold and hot spells. Many
scientists attribute this to the use of fossil fuels.
Our
earthly village is giving too much attention to the creation of
wealth, bringing about a polarization crisis, and we have the crisis in
ecology. All the different countries are trying to resolve the
polarization even if it is only to maintain their authority; ecology
is a question of life or death, according to the columnist. Developed countries are beginning to accept a carbon tax, and there
is an effort to develop natural energy sources, but with unwise development and the use of fossil fuels, we have reached a situation which will be difficult to stop. Many see the long range efforts to
preserve our environment, and work for the common good, will give way to efficiency and profit.
He
mentions the efforts of Norway in Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic, where they have stored the
samples of the world's seeds in case of serious damage to our eco-system.
Pope Francis is scheduled to release his encyclical
on the environment this week: called "Praised Be", taken
from the Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis of Assisi. Pope John Paul
II in 1979 proclaimed St.Francis as the patron of those who are in love
with creation and are working to preserve it.
The
columnist hopes that we will take warning on the damage that is threatening the global village. God has given us creation to look over it
wisely.
IPCC is an intergovernmental
body under the United Nations that has warned about the dangers that
will come to the earth by the end of this century unless something is
done with global warming.
The columnist finishes the
column lamenting that Korea does not seem interested in curbing the use of energy. Bishop head of the Committee for Peace and Justice, on world
environment day, mentioned in his message that Korea is one of the countries that imports little energy that is environmentally
friendly. He hopes that in the December of this year when the nations of
the world gather in Paris to discuss agreement on climate change, the
Pope's words will help us reach a consensus on this serious problem.
Has the Korean Church been able to accept the teachings of Vatican
II? A symposium in a diocese, written up in the Peace Weekly,
doesn't think Korean Catholicism has left behind pre-Vatican II
thinking, and accepted the changes in our
understanding of Church.
Words we hear often: Is
it a rupture with the past or continuity with the past? Many have black and white thinking-- all or nothing. Why is it
difficult to see the continuity with the past, and evolution of our
thinking on certain subjects? We do believe in movements of the
Holy Spirit leading the Church, and yet some have difficulty in
understanding that circumstances, and questions never asked before
require we formulate new ways of speaking to a humanity with different
values.
In the early fifth-century, a church father, St.
Vincent of Lérins is often quoted as one who saw preservation and
development as a truth of life. Pope Francis is quoted using the words
of St. Vincent which speak loudly of something we have problems
understanding even today."The doctrine of the Christian religion
should follow the law of
progress, so that it may be consolidated by years, developed by time and
made more sublime by age." St. Vincent is also the same church father
who said:“We hold that which has been believed everywhere, always, and
by everyone."
A seminary rector during the symposium
said cold-headedly, he believes the Korean Church has not accepted the
thinking of the Second Vatican Council. He wants the Church to go back
to the documents and begin living the teachings. For the Church to go
out to the world and preach repent, the Church has to repent, when we
say: be on the side of the poor, are we merely using words? We often
use the word love and often hurt others, and talk about
communication and fail to communicate.
We need to
examine ourselves in these areas. We need to be just in our dealings
within the church. We need to change our pastoral work so that the
laity become active in the pastoral work: help to inclulturate the
Church's teachings to Korea, help to bring about unification of North and South in our
teaching, and work to bring it about.
Another
presenter made known the need to open up the way for the lay people
to work in evangelization overseas, make the need for evangelization known to the community of Catholics, and to arouse interest in the evangelization of society and the
world.
Recently one of the internet sites had a poem written by an
elementary school girl with an illustration of the mother on the floor
and the child by her side as a vampire with blood on her lips.
Description of the caricature, even now, is difficult to express in
words, and easy to understand the response of those that saw the site. The child wanted the mother to know how much
she hated going to the private academy for more study after school.
Complaints
were so many and so critical of the site that the publishing company
apologized and withdrew all contents, Children are not as conscious of
what others will think, but honestly and simply express their inner
feelings-- in this case difficult for adults to accept.
A
college dean writes about the problems faced by the children in our
educational system in the View from the Ark of the Catholic Times. He gives us another example of an essay written for a daily paper
by a child who expresses the stress that students experience and wants
the parents to know this is the reason for the suicides, and laments
that the children are like sponges, made to absorb repeated stress.
Children
who frequent these private, after school academies, face a continual
barrage of slogans that make the time at the academies stressful and
fuel the competitive spirit in learning. Each day they are
exhausted by the studies and repulsed by what they will continue to
face, and a reason they turn to their smart phones for relief. Fear of
being a drop out in our society is present, and a reason for suicides.
Our columnist tells us the day of the
geniuses has come to an end, and we are in the time of the creative
thinker. No matter the conditions, they are prepared. They can
accept failure and frustration with their fighting spirit. They can
adapt to any situation and become close to any person. Education you
see, considers marks important but the education you don't see fosters leadership, creativity and sacrifice. Competition is one form of
violence. Extreme competition instead of motivating for success will
foster frustration.
Competition fosters academic cliques,
and ranking in society, an evil that militates against harmony. The educational system we have instead of fighting against the
evils in society has helped to increase the structural evils.
Development of society requires the mutual help of citizens and not
the elite of society acting as individualists.
Recently
we have more talk about the good results of play even in
theological thought. We are able to stimulate our senses, memories
are helped, language and emotional life, creativity and social
life is fostered. Before criticizing children for their behavior, we should give them a
place to work on liberating themselves from the demands made on them.
Since our teaching of religion has a goal to speak to the whole person,
and develop mature human beings-- this makes for a strong nation and church. Is there any pastoral work that is more important than this?
