How does one work for the common good? In a recent column in the Catholic Times, a seminary sociology professor gives us some thoughts on our economic slump and reflections on the social gospel of the Church. We know there is little sympathy with "trickle-down economic" theory.
We are in a long economic slump, and many have difficulties, especially the poor and the young. The government is making all kinds of efforts to pull us out of the recession: offering subsidies to big industry, tax benefits to help sell cars and apartments, removal of restrictions on industry, and making it easier to fire workers. Hope is that my taking these steps, the economy gets a boost and all benefit. For this to happen, we need a number of pre-conditions to be in place.
Utilitarianism is a theory of efforts to promote the happiness of the majority of the citizens: a correct understanding of morality. Supposedly, everyone working for his own individual good will eventually benefit all. This is a premise for trust in the free market. When each works for his own good to increase wealth, this will feed into the consumption and distribution of the market, the unseen hand will regulate the market. Each person can approach the market and makes free competition possible.
That is not what is happening; this vague belief is not realized. Not everyone can freely partake in the market and enjoy free competition. We know how the big stores quickly shut down the small enterprises.
Unseen hand is not operating and this vague belief in the efficiency of the market is not realized, rather we have a jungle where the weak become the food of the strong. Not only does the individual when he uses all his ability benefit himself but can also harm the market, this goes contrary to the principle of the common good: the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals to reach their fulfillment more fully and easily" (Social Compendium #164).
"The Catholic Church, in its social teaching, explicitly rejects a belief in the automatic beneficence of market forces. It insists that the result of market forces must be scrutinized and if necessary corrected in the name of natural law, social justice, human rights, and the common good. Left to themselves, market forces are just as likely to lead to evil results as to good ones" Catholic Bishops' (Conference of England and Wales #77).
When the economics: the Gross Domestic Product increases and the citizens' income increases not everything turns out well. Korea shows that the gap between the rich and poor continues to increase. "We can no longer trust the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programs, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality. I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded" (Joy of the Gospel #204).
Korean Catholicism has spent a great deal of time working with small Christian groups in the parishes. An article in the monthly bulletin for priests on pastoral matters, questions, whether the efforts have failed.
Parishioners
do not attend is a common complaint. Members heard words spoken at a group meeting spread to the larger
community, and stopped coming out. Groups get involved in arguments about politics and stop meeting.
The writer agrees failure to respect confidentiality, and conflicts over societal problems have done harm to the movement but are these problems confined to the small-group movement? Is it not more correct to say they are problems the Church community has?
When we look into the mirror and see some disfigurement, we don't blame the mirror for what we see: smashing the mirror doesn't make the disfigurement disappear. The problems we have in the small communities are the ones we have in the Church. We can take the population of the world which we can consider 7 billion and see it as a population of 100, and determine from the hundred how many are literate, malnourished, have computers are college graduates and the like. We can use the 100 as a mirror of the 7 billion.
The work we are doing with the small communities are opening our eyes to the work that we need to do with evangelizing in the Church. The small communities are a mirror of the whole church. By getting rid of the small communities, we know the problems with the church, remain. We need to understand the problems, and begin to evangelize and work pastorally to overcome our failings. "Let us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more...." (Heb.10:25). We need to return to this way of thinking.
Positive values from the small-group meetings are obvious: Christians are reading the Scriptures, reflecting on what they read, and is influencing their daily lives. This alone is enough to want them to continue. The writer wants to see the seeds of the Gospel spread at these meetings, and our parishioners filled with a new vision: a community on fire with the Spirit and a dynamic force for good in the world.
The Korean Foreign Mission Society celebrated their fortieth year of establishment with a Mass of Thanksgiving on Dec. 5th. At that time, they had a an academic conference in which they looked over the past forty years and looked ahead to their fiftieth year. The Catholic Times acquaints the readers of the celebration and the results of the conference.
Forty years ago when the Society was established the understanding of mission in Korean Catholic society was deficient but during these years, there have been changes, the place of mission in the life of the Church has been established. Korean Mission Society has strengthened its identity, examined itself theologically, and is imbued with the teaching of Vatican II.
The keynote talk by a priest, head of a research institute, congratulated the Society for its example. The Mission Society, and the Korean Church as a whole is faced with a crisis in implementing the teaching of Vatican II: authoritarianism of the clergy, separation of life and religion among the laity, also a country in which the gap between rich and poor continues to grow and will impact the Mission Society.
A member of the Missionary Society of
St. Columban, gave the first presentation in which he showed how after 82 years
of mission in Korea the missioners have become old, the decrease in
younger members, has in his opinion, been a blessing in bringing the
talents and insights of the laity to the church.
Problems and difficulties in mission, the sudden changes in pastoral efforts in the local church, the scandal of clerical sexual abuse, brought confusion and frustration to the fore but also an invitation to missioners to be humble.
He recommends
that the society after 40 years be theological open to the reading of
the signs of the time, reflection on the history of the Church in Korea, and its traditions, and to bring the laity into the life of mission.
Another participant mentioned that during the past 40 years of mission, the Korean Mission Society has realized that mission is the life of the church. Mission to Asia and especially to China should merit the attention of the Society: a research institute to educate specialists for the work, and to begin a society for mission in China.
He urges strengthening efforts in education, and preparing specialists for mission and a new model for lay people in mission.
Natural religions placed great importance on the place of virtue.
From Taoism, Buddhism and finally Confucianism, we see how grace builds on
nature. Catholicism's stress on virtues was not foreign to the thinking
of the sages who began to look into the new thinking that came from
China. This similarity in a virtuous life with which they were familiar,
made Catholicism in Korea, easy to accept.
In the spirituality
column of the Peace Weekly we are told that the first of the natural
virtues is prudence. Before Christ, in China and the Greek world we had
the wise and philosophers teaching the need for virtue in search for
the good life. They discovered that these required repetition. In
Confucianism we have benevolence, propriety, fidelity, wisdom, and
righteousness. We find lists of these virtues both in the Old and New
Testaments.
In the book of Wisdom: "Or if one loves justice, the fruits of her works are virtues; for she teaches moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude, and nothing in life is more useful for men than these" (8:7).
Philippians
4:8 "Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true
everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything
that we love and honor, and everything that can be thought virtuous or
worthy of praise."
One difference for a Christian when
we speak about the natural virtues is we understand God's grace can
enter to make our acceptance more complete but it begins in the
natural and our efforts are required. Cardinal Virtues are Prudence,
Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. All the other moral virtues hinge on
these four and consequently are called cardinal. They can be infused
with the grace of God but they begin in the natural.
"Prudence
is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good
in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it;
'the prudent man looks where he is gong.... It is called the charioteer
of the virtues; it guides the other virtues by setting rule and
measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of
conscience" Catechism of the Church #1806.
On the first four days of December, a group of Korean Bishops made a trip to North Korea. Bishops and priests have made the trip as individuals but this was the first official trip by a group of bishops. One of the priests who accompanied the bishops writes his impressions of the trip for the Peace Weekly.
The distance from Seoul to Pyongyang is only 155 miles. They arrived in Beijing, and the flight to Pyongyang was delayed two hours. The trip from the time they left Seoul, and arriving in Pyongyang took almost 12 hours. They were greeted at the airport by a contingent from the Changchung Cathedral in Pyongyang and the Chosun Catholic Association. The arrival at the airport was not complicated and contrary to expectation, they were permitted to have their smart phones, cell phones and cameras which they used frequently during the trip. On the second day, they went sightseeing in bustling Pyongyang.
On the third day, they visited the Changchung Cathedral. At the front of the Church, they were greeted by the choir of six women all exquisitely dressed; facilitating admirably the liturgy of the Mass. About 70 to 80 attended the Mass, and the participation showed they were familiar with the liturgy.
The day of the Mass was the Feast Day of St. Francis Xavier, and the president of the bishops' conference who was the main celebrant, mentioned that we needed to evangelize ourselves if we want to be missioners. During the Mass, an Icon of the Mother and Child, symbolizing the desire for peace between the North and South was presented to the catechist of the cathedral. They found a photograph of Pope Francis, presented a few years before, by a group of priests to the community, on the wall of the sacristy.
The vice president of the Supreme People's Assembly, invited the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly where he thanked the Church of the South for their efforts toward peace from the time of Fr. Mun's visit up until the present, and stressed the importance of the meeting of the leaders of the North and South. This was an unexpected official welcoming of the delegation from the South.
The faces of those they met were all welcoming and always natural, smiling and joking with the group from the South. Employees were all polished in the way they reacted with the group. The bishops did a lot of talking with the representatives of the Church in the North, bringing them closer together. They promised to work for a better tomorrow, repair the Cathedral and in the future work to have priests go to the North for the big feast days of the year.
A university professor, a dramatist, writes in a diocesan bulletin about a newsletter he received from a friend, who works for a scientific research center. He has little knowledge of the scientific world, consequently, enjoys reading in the field of science.
A recent newsletter he found extremely interesting: a poison mushroom and an edible mushroom has only a 1% difference in its makeup. According to the newsletter: mushroom is over 90 % water, protein less than 3%, carbohydrates less than 5%; mineral is 1% and can be either poisonous or medicinal.
Reading this information brought to mind his own human situation. We can easily turn into a poison mushroom. Like a knife, a sharp word can cut, coldness in dealing with others can be poisonous, an insult can leave lasting scars.
What makes us like a poisonous mushroom? What is the percentage of difference between the one who builds up and the one who tears down? Just 1% proud and prejudiced, can do harm to others and society. It doesn't take much energy to do great harm.
We can spend a great deal of our time in what we think is loving and doing good, it may be 99 %, but its the 1 percent of time spent in hating, that can do great harm to ourselves and others.
99% in doing good is not enough in the professor's way of calculating. One percent of poison can unravel all the good we do with the 99%. This is not difficult to understand and a reality we have experienced in our lives. A small defect can destroy much of the good we do. This should not upset us but make us humble and ask for mercy and be merciful to those we encounter daily; something to remember during this year of Mercy.
Father Benedict Min-seo is the first unable to hear or speak Korean priest; ordained in 2007 after many years of discernment and study. Thirty years ago, the handicapped found attending college almost impossible. He writes this month in the Seoul Bulletin on the people he wants to thank for making the path to the priesthood possible.
He was on pilgrimage in Turkey when he received news of the sudden death of a priest who was the vocation director of the diocese. There was no possibility of receiving the necessary education for the priesthood in Korea but was told of the possibility in the United States. He spent 10 years studying in the States and communicated monthly with the vocation director about his studies and spiritual life.
He had heard that the vocation director for the diocese because of eyesight problems was asking for a change but when he returned he was still in his position for which he was thankful. He was the one who persuaded the cardinal, bishops, and priests to permit his ordination. He was ordained to the diaconate by the cardinal. The vocation director was changed, and he began to have doubts about the ordination to the priesthood, but all went well and the vocation director was there to receive his first blessing.
As
soon as he returned from the pilgrimage, he went to the grave site to
thank his mentor for the concern and love he showed him during the many
years of preparation.
Fr. Park doesn't express himself completely on all the difficulties that he had in his article, but has made known in his writings obstacles faced by those with disabilities.
He was born in1965, and lost his hearing at the age of two after receiving the wrong medicine. His desire for the priesthood began at a young age, but this was not possible in the Catholic Church. Protestant Congregations have had deaf pastors for years.
He wrote an article: Deaf Culture and Deaf Church, in New Theology Review, Nov. 2009. In the article, he shows us the way the deaf perceive the way Christians look upon the deaf and the difficulties they have in relating to fellow Christians. As we know it is difficult to understand problems others have, and the only way is to walk in their shoes for a good period of time, which is not really possible. The article written in English gives us an understanding of those with hearing problems and reminds us how little we know of those with disabilities.
Often we are told the deaf feel more alienated than the blind. Concern for those with disabilities has improved greatly. We have parishes in Korea for the deaf and pastoral care people devoted to their needs. We are more sensitive to the needs
of others: thanks to people like Fr. Park.
