Prayer is an important issue with those with religious belief. We
have many ways of praying. Catholic traditional ways of praying and
stages of prayer go back centuries. We hear about vocal, meditative and
contemplative prayer. St. Teresa of Avila had the nine stages of
prayer. However, one does not expect to find a column in the secular
press treating five stages of prayer. A columnist in today's Chosun
Ilbo introduces us to his five levels of prayer which he says he
gathered from those who do a lot of praying.
His first
level is asking for favors: money, health, promotion at work. Prayer
to meet the person's needs: prayer begging God for help,
which the columnist doesn't find surprising. When fire falls on one's
foot the response is to do everything possible to put out the fire.
All self-esteem is put aside, and one cries out for help, and the
mental faculties do not enter into the picture.
The
second stage is paying attention to what God or the heavens are saying
to the person. No longer asking, but listening quietly to what God is saying.
Thanksgiving
is the third level. No matter what happens: failure in business,
sickness even the death of the individual, the response is thanksgiving.
To reach this level he says requires one to be at least in his fifties.Everything is in God's providence which the person acknowledges, and gives thanks.
Fourth
level is praise. In everyday life all becomes prayer: eating,
talking to family and friends, involved in work all is prayer. Even
though he is not making any effort to pray, the prayer is automatic.
Lastly we have the stage in which there is no desire to pray and not even conscious of God.
As
Catholics we can see that the columnist was very ecumenical in
gathering his information on prayer, and putting it into five stages. We
may quibble over some of the expressions but there is a great deal in
what was expressed that we would nod in agreement, although we
would not express it in the way the columnist did.
He concludes the column
by telling us that prayer begins with the first level, From the third
level on we are dealing with persons who are very comfortable with prayer, and the ordinary person would not find it easy to enter.
He also
feels the place of prayer is important. A place with many rocky cliffs,
and mountains is conducive to prayer. In the famous monasteries of
Europe they are nestled in the rocky mountain areas of the region, very
similar to the topography of Korea. He also tells us that where a Saint
has prayed in the past the prayer will be more effective. On a visit to the home of
St. Francis of Assisi, the columnist noticed the
areas was encompassed in light.
Today, in many of the Masses throughout the country we prayed for reconciliation and unity on the peninsula. The division of the country came after the end of the Second World War in 1945-- ending the colonial rule of the Japanese, and turning over the peninsula to the trusteeship of the United States and the Soviet Union, in time to become independent, which never happened. On June 25th 1950, we had the civil war between the two divisions where two million died, and 10 million were separated from their homes and relatives, and in 2015, still without an armistice.
Catholic media has visited the problems that we have with the divisions of the country and asking for prayers for the unification of the country.Kyeongyang magazine, has a number of articles that give the readers an understanding of the problems and difficulties that are faced.
The North has changed much during the 70 years of separation. Hunger has brought change and the movement away from some of their socialist principles have been adapted as we have seen in China and Russia. North Koreans are open to information from the outside world and one of the articles mentions they enjoy watching some of the dramas from the South. Also, free to purchase many products in the market even those from the South. This will continue to bring change to the political structures.
National Security Law in the eyes of many is a big stumbling block preventing steps for unification. In the world today freedom of thought and speech is understood and Korea is still under the National Security Law. One of the articles mentions how the political parties and even academia are not speaking out. From the time of President Syngman Rhee it continues to do great harm to the process for unification. "Any person who praises, incites or propagates the activities of an anti government organization, a member thereof or of the person who has
received an order from it, or who acts in concert with it, or propagates
or instigates a rebellion against the State, with the knowledge of the
fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the State or
democratic fundamental order, shall be punished by imprisonment for not
more than seven years ( taken from Wikipedia).
How do we work for unification and peace on the Peninsula? One article reports the agreement between the North and South in the Kaesong Industrial Region which is operated with the North. South Korean companies employ North Korean labor in a joint venture, but there continues to be squabbles, and it has never reached the potential that was envisioned when they started in 2002. Efforts expended for unification by organizations and religious groups are many, but they do not last long because of the political reality.
One of the most serious obstacles is the way the citizens see the situation with the North. You have the humanitarian position that wants to help the North to raise their economic level and make the transition to unification easy, while the second group waits for the North to collapse, and then will help them to unite with the South. The Church is very much on the side of the first group, but not all the Catholics would agree. We need to have a win-win scenario but this is not easily achieved.
A seminary professor
writing in a pastoral bulletin for priests reflects on "weariness and
rest" of the clerical life. He spends time with the first year students.
When he first received the assignment he thought he would be spending
time with them in their studies and prayer life. He has been in seminary
work for six years and his lectures and prayer life have not been a
problem. He doesn't remember when it started but at the end of a
semester he is tired and exhausted.
In the first two years he felt vacation time for the seminarians was too long. Now looking at the freshman class he is in admiration of their life. They are not allowed to have smart phones, no internet, no games, can't leave the seminary, no TV. How is it they can give all this up? He finds their appearance at the liturgy a beautiful sight.
Meeting the students he has to give all of himself to them. When he is stressed out, and deals with them sternly, they will be uptight, and just look for correct answers. When it is not heart to heart, we are just talking in circles. We have a superior talking to an inferior-- military style. There is not the respect for the other but wanting the other to understand the superior, and respond to him. Initiative in the work of formation is not with the formator but with the student.
We may think with heart to heart talk, joy would be the natural result but in his experience he finds pain appears first. These young men have many scars. They have suffered an educational system where competition was everything, and they fear more of the same. They were exposed to snobbery in the home, where they were compared to others, becoming a priest they would have a respected job. He reminds us that many of the students lived through the IMF times ( international financial period) where the economy was not doing well. They experienced a great deal of anger, and difficult times. Suggestive modern culture left traces on their psyche. Thankfully, the parish community and sports were able to liberate them from the scars enabling them to take the necessary steps to enter the seminary.
Seminarians do not have a romantic understanding of the life they will be entering. Difficulties, frustrations and a heart that has received many wounds is who they are, and prepared to meet a world filled with gloom. It is beyond their strength and are tired by it all. Words of Pope Francis during the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass are words of consolation.
"Our weariness, dear priests, is like incense which silently rises up to heaven. Our weariness goes straight to the heart of the Father, now how to rest by
accepting the love, gratitude and affection which I receive from God’s
faithful people? Or, once my pastoral work is done, do I seek more
refined relaxations, not those of the poor but those provided by a
consumerist society? Is the Holy Spirit truly 'rest in times of
weariness' for me, or is he just someone who keeps me busy? Do I know
how to seek help from a wise priest? Do I know how to take a break from
myself, from the demands I make on myself, from my self-seeking and
from my self-absorption? Do I know how to spend time with Jesus, with
the Father, with the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, with my patron
saints, and to find rest in their demands, which are easy and light, and
in their pleasures, for they delight to be in my company, and in their
concerns and standards, which have only to do with the greater glory of
God? Do I know how to rest from my enemies under the Lord’s
protection? Am I preoccupied with how I should speak and act, or do I
entrust myself to the Holy Spirit, who will teach me what I need to say
in every situation? Do I worry needlessly, or, like Paul, do I find
repose by saying: 'I know him in whom I have placed my trust.' "
"Let us learn how to be weary, but weary in the best of ways!"
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).
