Dabbling in Communism?

Among the conservative commentators in Korea, like in the States, we have those who feel  Pope Francis is dabbling in Communism with his criticism of capitalism and what it is doing to the poor. In an article in the Now Here Catholic News Website, the issue was visited and explained to the readers by a priest sociologist.
 
What is being said is what the Church teaches, and it goes back to the time of the apostles. The early church was very much on the side of the poor. In the Old Testament, Sabbath day thinking, and the Jubilee were  the windows through which the  Israelites looked upon society. Jesus criticized the formalistic way in which the Sabbath was accepted and the way the poor were oppressed. Sabbath was for the people and not people for the Sabbath.
 
Not only did the Jews have the Sabbath but also every 7th year all the land would be given a chance to rest--not only persons but animals and all of creation. And every 7th Sabbath you had the Jubilee year in which all would return to the default situation  when the land was first distributed among the twelve tribes. Slaves were freed, debts were absolved and they returned to a condition they experienced 50 years previous -- Israelites were given a new start.

Wealthy people  were able to determine the culture of the times but the Jubilee Year was the way injustices of one generation would not be passed on to the next.  Jesus at the beginning of his public life proclaimed this Jubilee Year as the blue print for his teaching. No longer something you had to wait for every 50 years, but the way he wanted to function in society and desired his Church to continue-- one of the reasons established society hated Jesus, and wanted to get rid of him.

Sabbath, Sabbatical year and the Jubilee were the ways God wanted to return to the time of creation, a new recovery from the corruptions of the day to a just society. This was Jesus' mission and  his message. Pope Francis' message is also the same. Poverty and inequality in society are not coming from economics in itself, but from the system and laws made by the elite of society. Law of the Sabbath turns this upside down. Regulations of the Sabbath, and the Jubilee Year shows us how God gives freely of the gifts for our good in making for a just, harmonious and a society of mutual support. 

"The precepts of the sabbatical and jubilee years constitute a kind of social doctrine in miniature. They show how the principles of justice and social solidarity are inspired by the gratuitousness of the salvific event wrought by God, and that they do not have a merely corrective value for practices dominated by selfish interests and objectives, but must rather become, as a prophecy of the future, the normative points of reference to which every generation in Israel must conform if it wishes to be faithful to its God (#25, Compendium of the  Social Doctrine of the Church).

Uncomfortable Reality

On the spiritual page of the Catholic Times, the columnist recounts an incident about a follow priest, whose permission he received, and writes about it in his column. Laughter was the natural response to what he heard, but it was not  a laughing matter to the person involved.

We go back a number of years to the ordination day of the priest in question. On the day of ordination he was practicing for the liturgy in the morning and during lunch time, he was eating box lunches with his classmates, and lost in small talk with the group.

Time was approaching for the ordination ceremonies and since the liturgy would be about two hours long he went in search of the men's room. He found the area with the toilets but only saw grandmothers waiting outside the toilet but looking closely he noticed that they were using the men's toilet.

Since the women were so many, they decided to occupy the men's room also. He raised his voice telling the women that this was a men's toilet, but they paid no attention. One grandmother grabbed him by the arm and told him we were all brothers and sisters, and we shouldn't be ashamed  to use the same toilet.The priest could not accept the idea of going into the men's room, lifting up his cassock to urinate in front of all the women. So he went back to the location for the ordination which was a big auditorium. 

After the ordination and returning to the rectory,  he almost crept to the toilet, the need to urinate and not able to, was excruciatingly painful. For some time after the toilet call, he was lost in thought. 
True, we are all  brothers and sisters but there is a limit to the meaning of this phrase. Interestingly,  a serious case of a  person unable to urinate in the presence of others is called Paruresis. Using this psychological disorder in this case would not be appropriate for most would have difficulty in this situation. Bladder shy syndrome is not an uncommon problem and embarrassment, especially for a religious may be compounded. "No stress, no strain, no unusual moods, staying loose and not fall apart" is an ideal we all want to attain.

Blessings for Transparency

An article in Bible & Life begins with a sentence the writer, a novelist, saw on TV: "I don't want to do anything. I have not been doing anything, and don't want to do anything, but more in earnest." These words bring a smirk to our face, and at the same time fragmentarily show us how we are overcome by lethargy, and a coercive feeling in search of leisure. All is annoying; one has little drive and energy. This kind of doing nothing is, not what is meant by leisure.

Rest is when tiredness of the body and spirit is relieved, and we are at peace. Many are looking for leisure, but it is not the kind that gives rest to the spirit. We have a fear of rest, and this fear is spreading in society. When alone we are not recollected. When our surroundings are quiet our internal condition is noisy. The situation throughout the world finds its place in us. We are impatient, and instead of contemplation and examination, worry and anguish seethe within us. When my thoughts and spirit are not mine, life is also not mine.

"Knowing ourselves  we know everything." These words of Gandhi,  the more we think of them the more frightening they become. Expressing them differently: if we don't know ourselves, we know nothing. It doesn't matter how many wise words of the sages we know if we don't know ourselves we are building castles in the sky, and all becomes empty.

Even if we don't know ourselves at least we need to make the effort to get to know ourselves, and to talk with ourselves. However, many fear this time alone.  When being alone more than the loneliness, fear  should be our concern. Need for others can be an addiction, when we need others to verify ourselves.

He doesn't enjoy the writing as much as he did at the beginning but when we lose something, we also gain something. He has more time to think of what is important, and to get to know himself. More than criticizing others he spends more time with himself. He doesn't criticize, and sees us all as weak, and foolish creatures.
 
When I get to know myself,  I can forgive myself. I am a person with scars, hating myself, hesitant in loving myself, comparing myself with others, and falling short. However, one day surprisingly, he hugs himself, and becomes friends with himself. He considers the lofty idealism and virtues of the saints, and although weak and limited, he forgives himself, and is this not the reason he becomes happy?

No word appeals to him like the word peace. No word is so beautiful and unflappable. More than wide it is deep, more than high it is low, He wants to lower the anchor into this deep and low place. Even if all are deceived, he will not be deceived, he shows his unpainted face his transparency, and gets rid of his fears.

Rest Is the Completion of Labor

We hear a great deal of how busy life is, no time to relax, but we find many more things to do. A Korean professor of philosophy, teaching in Germany, calls our society one of 'tiredness' and the Peace Weekly has a cover story on the issue.

Many in society are bringing the problem to the attention of the citizens  for the results of the situation are gloom, health problems and a lack of vitality. The article tells us we are addicted to production and to speed and with the poverty of time we have frustration and fatigue.

Rest is not just playing but slowing our pace, looking back  from where we have come, and refresh ourselves. We take time out from our lives to have quiet time, seek a place of rest, admire the daisies, and gaze up at the sky....

Thanks to the digital world in just a few minutes  we can accomplish what took a whole day but without increase of  leisure. In Korea we express this situation as being "so busy I am on the verge of dying." Quite an extreme position to be in, and yet with the poverty of time we continue to add to it-- our self portrait.

Traveling on the subway for just a few stops and we can see what the writer is saying. Each one has his smart phone, busy with their fingers and eyes glued to the screen. Even waiting for the elevator we see this scene repeated.

He quotes many who see the problem and are speaking and writing about it. One priest mentions we have come to the limits of how much we can do, and we are beginning to realize that the body and  mind can be pushed just so much before serious problems arise; we begin living not as humans but as robots.

We have an intimate connection between work and leisure. We are made to work and provide for our families but the reason we can continue this is the rest that should be part of our lives. We work to have rest and rest to return to work. A religious is quoted as saying: "Rest is not the cessation of work but its fulfillment (completion)." Rest gives us the time to participate in the rest of God-- holy time. This attitude is not only a cultural but also a spiritual need. Without this mental and spiritual rest our rest can end up as more labor.

Our culture of rest many times is disguised labor. We take to the highways, go at the speed of light to the beaches and mountains, and eat and drink to late in the evening and become more  stressed out than when  working. More than the body the spirit needs rest if we are to prepare ourselves for a joyous existence. The article ends with the words of a spiritual writer who wrote that without the experience of  silence, peace and a quiet place, we destroy life.

Simplicity and Detachment

Korea recently had the feel of the middle ages, understanding the fear that was generated with the plague.  Korea will shortly be declared MERS free, but it did bring about much fear within the country. The 21st century began with many disasters and epidemics. New viruses, and bacteria quickly spread. With the exchange of medical news, we have seen wonderful results in preventing the  spread of these epidemics.

MERS has taught the citizens a great deal about our failures in not being able to contain the disease as was done in other countries. A professor writes in a column in the Peace Weekly on some of the lessons we need to learn from what was experienced. Hospitals were not prepared and even the first class ones were unprepared for the epidemic. We had an attitude of complacency that prevented people involved to expend their energy to the problem at hand as was seen in the Sewol tragedy of last year.

In the column, he blames those in a position of responsibility of pride and peace at any price thinking, which  prevented the containing  of the virus. Instead of responsibility and understanding, first consideration was for personal advantages  instead of concern for the sick. One was looking for their own personal well-being and motivated by covetousness.
 
When a society does not  remember those hurting, and is not concerned with them, we have a society without trust and community. MERS and the Sewol tragedy both  showed us what we lacked. He wonders if we have learned from these disasters. Failures should teach us, but wonders if this is the case. We do not have the feel of solidarity with others.

Pope Francis  has expressed  this as necessary if we are to grow as humans. In the  MERS and Sewol tragedies, we have those who did sacrifice themselves to help others, and we have learned from their heroic actions. We have to see these actions shown for the  health of  others as examples for all of us to follow. Even if we can't be as altruistic we should have our ideas go from the head to the heart.

In conclusion, he tells us in the words of Cardinal Stephen Kim:  "It took me 70 years for love to go from my head to my heart," It is only with this attitude that we will prevent future MERS and Sewol tragedies.

Counterintuitive Remedy for a Recession

Many in Korea are experiencing a recession. Looking around you saw faces that lack vitality. A priest columnist with a doctorate in social science writes about the situation in the Peace Weekly. He mentions the MERS virus, the Sewol tragedy as some of the factors but the most pressing problem is the economic condition of society. The gap between the upper 10 percent, and the lower 10 percent continues to grow.

Those able to leave poverty over the past 10 years were one out of five. Which means that no matter how much they try to leave poverty it is not working. The wealthy and the powerful are able to transmit what they have to the next generation, and the poor are also transmitting their poverty to  those that follow. The columnist feels that we are getting much like the capitalism of South America. 

How does one break out of this way of living? Dreaming about making it big in the lottery or the  stock market is not going to work. Even if all are going to be workers, parents don't see that as a possibility for their children. He wants the laborers to start getting their proper treatment-- government, and society  should facilitate this change. Everyone  should not only be working to get out of poverty, but all should be working to help the welfare system in the country. Korea is one of the lowest in the money spent on welfare in comparison to the other developed countries.
 
Korea's problem is not that the people are lazy or that morality is the issue, but we don't have a good distribution of the wealth of the nation. We need a prescription that is proper for the ailment.

In 1891, Leo XIII  wrote  the encyclical Of New Things  in a time  similar to the present conditions we have in Korea. The pope's prescription was to return dignity to the workers, respect  for rights of the workers, and a just wage. This teaching from 120 years ago is also now a valid teaching for society. 

To beat the recession, we need to do something-- change the way we live and our attitude. In a  consumer society, the big companies  keep on stroking the greed of the citizens to buy more. When a car is bought, they are  selling a fantasy, an image when buying an apartment. We need to  free ourselves from materialism and consumerism, which will do much to weaken the recession. When we separate ourselves  from the material and live a little bit more uncomfortably we will be fighting our recession and return to a deeper Christian spirituality.

Korean Credit Union Movement

Catholic Peace Weekly has an article in the beginning of the credit union movement in Korea. Sister Mary Gabriella (1900-1993) a Maryknoll Sister started the movement on March 19,1960  in Pusan with a three-week  course which explained all the elements of the movement, and how different it was  from the Korean mutual aid groups.

Holy Family Credit Union was the first credit union and began with 27 members on the Feast of St. Joseph, May 1st 1960. The members were employees of the Maryknoll Hospital, Catholic Relief Services, and members of a Catholic parish. Two months later, a credit union began in Seoul  established by Father Chang Dae-ik (1923-2008). This was composed of members  from parishes in Seoul.

Under the Japanese,Korea had financial associations,  which had little trust among the citizens and was replaced with the credit union movement. In the 60s, Korea was in great poverty and was receiving surplus food from the States. In the farming areas if you borrowed one bag of rice within a year's time you would have to pay it back  with  two bags. In the private lending of money  interest was as high as 10 percent monthly.                  

Starting the credit union required a great deal of trust when you are dealing with great poverty but the efforts were made and proved successful. Both Sister Gabriella and Fr. Chang took notice of the Antigonish movement in Canada, affiliated with St. Francis Xavier University, they both attended the Coady Institute for the necessary education on Credit Unions which they imported into Korea. 

From these early beginnings, the movement spread quickly in Korea. This year is the 55th year of its inauguration in Pusan. There are over 5 million members in 920 credit unions. Korea has the 4th largest credit union in the world.

An accompanying article has the  story  of a president emeritus of a credit union  who says in the article that his life was changed by meeting Sister Gabriella. He was a bank employee. His life was comfortable but meeting  sister he left his work and went after a dream.  Sister needed young people to work with her, and he found something to do  he found satisfying. He gave talks in the seminars in which they establish  credit unions and  prepared leaders for the movement.

At that time, Pope John 23 published his encyclical Mater and Magister which he says gave the movement a great deal of strength and energized them. The credit union movement helped to eradicate high interest rates, influenced the growth  of democracy in Korea, and was a good influence on the other cooperative movements in Korea. He hopes they don't  lose their identity, work to implement the  credit union principles, and not become like a bank.