Ecology-- And Single Use 'Disposable' Items

Pope Francis has designated Sept. 1, as the  World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, joining the  Orthodox Church, which has had a concern for creation in their calendar, from the 80s. The Peace Weekly editorial introduces the readers to some of our ecological problems. 


In the  encyclical on the environment the pope said: "living our vocation to be protectors of God's handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience."

In inaugurating the day, the Pope said it will be a time to: "reaffirm our personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live."

We are not the top boss of creation-- God is. We  have been created to take care of God's creation and to do this with responsibility. We need a healthy moral code and ecological spirituality. The pope calls this ecological repentance, and working for the common good.

The young people in Seoul are giving us a good example of what it means to have ecological repentance. It is to change our habits  of consumption to environmentally friendly, and with an orientation to the  common good. They are cutting out single use disposable items,  and promoting the use of handkerchiefs to cut down on the use of paper towels. We should be leaders in this movement.

Seoul has a campaign to use handkerchiefs instead of paper towels or dryers, when using public toilets to conserve energy. Seoul Metropolitan Government has unplugged all hand-dryers. Using handkerchiefs instead of hand dryers or paper towels will save electricity and our forests. The editorial concludes by asking the readers to join the campaign.

Celebrating With a Sad Heart

Today is the Feast of the Assumption and National Liberation Day. Korea gained its independence from Japanese rule on August 15, 1945, and the establishment of the Republic of Korea that came three years later. Korean Catholics have a special reason for thanksgiving for liberation, but also  sadness for division that came with liberation.

Society has many reasons to celebrate on this national holiday. Many events remember their years as a colony of Japan and lack of freedom. Cardinal Yeom in his message to the church:

"For our country, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation and the division of North and South Korea. It is a painful reality that a people that speaks the same language should turn against itself for 70, long years. There have been many complications, but we never stopped our effort for reconciliation and peace. The conflict and enmity between North and South Korea still remains.

Conflict, division, hatred are rampant throughout our society. That is why we should put in more effort into the peaceful unification between North and South Korea; we should continue to work on the communication and social integration in the Korean society. As the example of Mary, we should believe strongly in the Lord and never lose our hope even in the darkest of times – for nothing will be impossible for God" (Luke 1:37).

Last year at this time Pope Francis was in Korea and in his sermon on the Feast spoke words that continue to reverberate within the church.

"Today, in venerating Mary, Queen of Heaven, we also turn to her as Mother of the Church in Korea. We ask her to help us to be faithful to the royal freedom we received on the day of our Baptism, to guide our efforts to transform the world in accordance with God’s plan, and to enable the Church in this country to be ever more fully a leaven of his Kingdom in the midst of Korean society. May the Christians of this nation be a generous force for spiritual renewal at every level of society. May they combat the allure of a materialism that stifles authentic spiritual and cultural values and the spirit of unbridled competition which generates selfishness and strife. May they also reject inhumane economic models which create new forms of poverty and marginalize workers, and the culture of death which devalues the image of God, the God of life, and violates the dignity of every man, woman and child.

As Korean Catholics, heirs to a noble tradition, you are called to cherish this legacy and transmit it to future generations. This will demand of everyone a renewed conversion to the word of God and a passionate concern for the poor, the needy and the vulnerable in our midst." 

Jesus came to begin a reversal of the way we lived. Mary in the Magnificat shows us the blue print that Jesus  inaugurated, a new Jubilee, a new beginning a new way of being human.

Catholic Spirituality

The ordinary Christian in our modern world is not interested in ascetical and mystical theology, it all sounds strange: a pre-enlightened era of our history. We are more interested in love of God and neighbor, and this is the standard.

However, Catholicism has a tradition that goes back to many of the theologians of the past who have done much to introduce us to spirituality. We are familiar with the purgative, illuminative and unitive paths-- the  ascetical would be the purgative, and the mystical the illuminative way. Another way of saying this: ascetical theology treats the ordinary way to growth in perfection while mystical theology treats  the extraordinary way.

A seminary spirituality professor in the Peace Weekly gives the readers an idea of what is involved in teaching about spirituality, its development, and in its importance.

In the early church, we had persons with a desire to be faithful to the teachings they had received,  zealously living the spiritual life, praying and meditating but a little change in their thinking in the beginning led gradually to big problems, and separation from the community of faith to which they belonged, and falling into what we called heresy. 

In the 17th century, many mystical movements in society moved the church in the following centuries in two directions. One way was to emphasize the ascetical over those who were trying to catch the clouds. The other approach was to write books  about the correct methods of spirituality in an academic manner.

One of the well-known  books on spirituality  was written by Scaramelli, (1687-1752) on systems of spirituality. He wrote many books on spirituality, which were academically written and expressed the danger of the emotions in the striving for spirituality. 

A.Poulain, (1836-1919), one of his well-known  books was:  The Graces of Interior Prayer--A treatise on mystical theology. In the introduction, he stressed he wrote the book for those who were interested in mystical theology and those who were teachers in spirituality. He tried to stay away from the subjective and to establish the theory and analyze what was happening, and contributed a great deal to the study of mystical theology. 

The authorities in the church seeing what was going on entered the picture. In 1919, Pope  Benedict 15th, and in 1931 Pope Pio 11th, both wanted the distinction between ascetical and mystical to me made, and to teach it in the colleges of the church.

In conclusion, he says this way of thinking with the ascetical and mystical spirituality gave rise to many problems not easily resolved, and gave birth to movements away from the church. Efforts were made to systematize the teaching on spirituality, which is the movement that is presently going on in the church. It is an intellectual understanding of the systems of spirituality within theology that is being developed.

A Church Where the Poor Feel At Home

On the first anniversary of Pope Francis' visit to Korea, articles were written on what the church has to learn. One article in the Catholic Times refers to the Bishops' Meeting after the visit, in which the bishops published their message: "embarrassed not to have a church in which the poor feel comfortable. We have become a middle class church in which the poor are not at home."

Pope's visit was a great gift and brought much joy but his message made us bow our heads and reflect.  We as bishops, clerics, religious and  laypeople are called to evangelize and renew ourselves.

Our response has been lukewarm, hesitant and indecisive. The article was strong in its wording in calling pitiable the lay person's passiveness and stubbornness, and the dogmatism of the clergy. We think secular achievements are spreading the Gospel, we prevent the poor from finding a place within the church, formalistic and legalistic in the way we treat laypeople. We justify ourselves, and do not think it necessary to renew and change. We are not responding to the pope's message.

However, the seeds of his message have been spread and they will for sure begin to sprout. The ground work is being laid, and we are seeing signs of change. Priests are beginning to leave their individualism, and see their role within the community, and materialism and worldliness in a new light.

A group of priests in the Seoul Diocese are getting together periodically to discuss the words of the pope. In another diocese the priests have determined to listen to the wishes of the parishioners and in their general meeting to begin renewal of themselves. In another diocese the priests have decided to live a simpler life style, and help the poor.We are seeing this movement in many dioceses. This is a good sign for the church. The whole church needs to change but the efforts of the  priests will have a great influence on the rest of the church. 

Change is always difficult. The past year has not seen many results but we are beginning to see signs of change, and the hope is for the continuing renewal of all facets of life within the church.

Church Help for North Korea

The Korean Catholic Church has been helping North Korea for the last twenty years. An article in  the Peace weekly gives a summary of the help.

Father Gerald Hammond, a Maryknoll priest, secretary of the Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for National Reconciliation, has been going to North Korea with the Eugene Bell Foundation to help those with drug resistant TB. He is the local superior of the Maryknollers, 83 years old, and makes this three week trip twice a year in the spring and fall. He has made over 50 trips to the North, four priests went on this recent trip.

The article mentions 50 of the ones who were receiving help, five were cured and returned to their families, two died, and one patient had adverse effects from the medicine and had to stop. The treatment lasts for 18 months and the cost is 5,000 dollars for each patient.

Help to the North has decreased because of the sinking of the Cheonan on the 26th of March in 2010. A South Korean investigation concluded that the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo. Consequently, shortly after, the Korean government enacted the measure that halted all trade to the North as a penalty.

The Church has been one of big supporters of the North, sending up food and other financial aid. In 1995  because of floods and hunger, 'One Heart and One Body Movement' of the Seoul Archdiocese began  sending up financial aid, followed the year after with noodles, winter clothing, medical equipment, medicines, seeds etc..

The situation in North Korea is getting worse after each disaster. Because of drought they have had a 26 percent drop in the wheat and barley harvest, and a 24 percent drop in the  potato harvest. The United Nations (FAO) has determined North Korea is one of the 34 countries without a sufficient supply of food, and is considering support for the North.

The article concludes with mention that the measure  that stopped all government aid to the North has put a damper even in aid from non-governmental sources. It has affected the support given by the Church; after 20 years the writer admits there is fatigue that can't be overlooked. This will be a concern of the Church in the months ahead.

A Proposal for Unification of the South and North

August 2015 is the 70th year of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, as well as the 70th year of division. Many are the events remembering the joy and sorrow of independence and division of the country.
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korea Railroad Corporation launched the Eurasia Friendship Express railway project, which traveled close to 9,000 miles to Germany. Writing in the Peace Weekly a columnist, professor in social sciences, mentions how empty he felt when what was central was missing: because of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) the Express started from China, and the Korea travelers had to go by plane to Beijing to start the trip, and not from Seoul, Korea.
 
His sadness comes from this reality. Before we talk of prosperity from unification,  we have to remember we still remain with the cease fire negotiations of July 27, 1953. 'The land of the morning calm' is not calm with the North and South facing each other with armaments: after the Near East an area where we have the danger of war.Over a hundred years ago with the Sino-Japanese - the Russian-Japanese wars the Korean peninsula was far from peace, and  patriot  An Jung-keun (Thomas) was willing to give his life for peace in East Asia. His idea for peace was not a balance of powers and dependence on the powerful, but rather wanted it based on the spiritual, for even if history changes you have the vital forces of life present. He was not a nationalist but a peacemaker, working for reconciliation and collaboration between the three countries of the far East.

An's dream was to have a Pan-Asian union of the three countries of China, Japan and Korea like the European Union, long before its time. One of his unusual proposals was to have the representatives of the three countries meet the pope and to vow peace. The countries would get the trust of the world with such a gesture. It was obviously not accepted by Hirashi the chief justice of the court.

This suggestion has been proven to be effective in recent history. John Lewis Gaddis an authority on  the Cold War gives Pope John Paul some credit for the end of this history. Pope Francis also gets credit for the reconciliation of Cuba and the United States. 

North Korea is not very sympathetic to the United Nations, and it goes back to the time of the Korean War. The professor proposes a plan that is open to ridicule he knows, but the descendants of Patriot An are scattered throughout the world and are both in the South and North Korea; he is respected by both divisions of Korea. He would like them to all meet under the sponsorship of the Church and have the pope serve as the arbitrator. There is no chance of such a proposal being accepted,  but it would be the dream that  An Jung-keun had over 100 years ago.

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).