Accountablity and Common Good

In the Eyes of the Believer column of the Catholic Times, a sociology professor gives the readers his thoughts after seeing one of the most popular domestic movies of all time: The Admiral: Roaring Currents. 

The movie reveals the unyielding spirit of Admiral Yi Sun-shin against the Japanese in the Imjin war during the Joseon Dynasty (1592). Selfless devotion to one's country, and working for a cause bigger than self-interest, often expressed by presidents and politicians as our goal. However, in many cases, they have worked to maintain their vested interests. Consequently a country's need for accountability and working for the common good.

Accountability is a moral obligation explaining important issues raised in society. The Gwangju Democratization Movement in1980 and the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014 have taught us the value of accountability in our history. No innocent people should be sacrificed by immoral and irresponsible leaders.

A prominent sociologist Robert Bella says accountability is the test of a healthy society. The writer wants to look at the meaning of accountability at the different levels of society.

 First, individual moral accountability is an obligation that requires each citizen to live up to their moral conscience or religious truth. The question: Do you live up to your inner conscience? The answer is the foundation not only in your personal relationships but also in your healthy political participation as a citizen.

 Second, the accountability of the organization is an obligation to meet face-to-face, and be responsible for human rights issues, losses, and unfair decisions that arise within community. The organization's operations should be directed toward the good of all members. If the leader of the organization prioritizes personal tastes or personal interests and makes decisions that go against laws and common sense, the community becomes sick.

Third, public accountability is an obligation to provide explanations and countermeasures in a democracy where constitutional order is violated by abuse or misconduct of power, or when public safety and civil rights are seriously undermined. Public accountability is a top priority for public officials, lawyers, politicians, and journalists who must pursue the common good.

An individual's conscience and moral life is not only an intimate holy sanctuary known only to God but also influences the culture and practices of society. As Hannah Arendt pointed out, however, evil is always with us— the banality of evil— privileges, and shortcuts have been used without conscience as long as they have been in our society.

The principle of public accountability today no longer supports the "normality of evil"! On the other hand, the principle of accountability should not be reduced to a tool of struggle using all means to fight what one doesn't like.

History has developed through dialogue in the conflict between vested interests and those alienated in society. For Christians, this dialectic is not a materialistic interpretation of history but a pilgrimage that embodies justice and peace on earth in God's providence. Public officials and politicians must keep in mind that our society becomes healthier and more just when we lay down our vested interests and do our public accountability in the spirit of selfless devotion to the  country and it citizens.

Green Martyrs of the World

From time to time in novels or dramas, you meet characters as attractive as the main character. Such is the case with the parish priest of Torcy, in the French novel, Diary of a Country Priest (written by Georges Bernanos). In the Peace Column of the Peace Weekly the writer gives the readers his thoughts on the book.

Torcy's pastor is an old priest who tasted the bitters and sweets of life. The experiences of age and failure are embedded in the rough words thrown at a young priest who is appointed to a country church, the hero of the book. The insights he has on the younger priest are right on. The words he uses to encourage the weak hero's courage sound like words without feeling.

It was the older priests way of telling the younger one to not succumb to intellectual vanity but bear witness to the Word of God by an exemplary life. Priests are human beings. One can be puffed up with less than a handful of knowledge which can show in authoritative ways. Repetition of disappointment and failure without success results in resignation. When these feelings keep piling up, one falls into indolence. If you're idle, you're more at risk of succumbing to evil. "Every single time I want to do good it is something evil that comes to hand" (Romans 7,21).
 
The older priest's advice is not to fall into this trap. In the meantime, he must stay awake. The young priest is convinced that the church is moving through times like an army marching through an unknown land without any munitions supplied. Marching troops are uneasy without knowing what danger is in front of them. It is no different than religion pushed to the periphery of society in these unfavorable times with little knowledge of the scale of future challenges.

The situation being such: "Grasp the red hot iron" these words are enticing. This is the advice to all Christians who value the  Word of God. The question is what kind of being do you have to be to grasp the iron? If you grab it with your hands, you're going to be burned. However, doing nothing is a lukewarm faith. Picking up the hot iron with thongs is a form of pragmatism.

The answer is fixed. The only way to grab it is with your bare hands. Courage and determination are needed.  It is not Christian to be consciously neutral given the many problems in society. Say “Yes” when it's “Yes” and "No" when it's "No".

If the church stays in the fort of comfort, corruption cannot be avoided. Evil is indeed evil. The purpose of evil is to destroy good? It's a naive idea. Evil regards it victory to "transform" good into evil. You must throw off your listlessness and begin to act. In this context, Pope Francis' words speak loudly: "I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures" (The Joy of the Gospel #49).
 
September is the liturgical month of the martyrs. The martyrs are those who grabbed the iron. We try to build a bridge between the past and the present. To witness the truth of the gospel in daily life, one drop of blood and one drop of sweat is the green martyrdom. (Green Martyrdom - Living the ascetic life in the place and position where God places one)

Reappraisal Of Godparents in Catholicism

In recent years looking at the yearly statistics coming from the Bishops' Conference of Korea we see the signs of serious problems within the church. The attendance continues to drop and we have the search for pastoral programs and alternative ways of giving life to the community.
 
A pastor writing in the Peace Weekly recommends to the church-at-large to look again at our tradition of Godparent and to strengthen the bond between the newly baptized and the Godparent. In Korea because of the relatively small number of Catholics they usually have one Godparent, the same sex as the person being baptized. The tradition served well its purpose to guide the newly baptized to spiritual maturity.
 
The reason for the reappraisal of the beautiful tradition within Catholicism is that at present it has become a formality and meaning lost. When this is done out of custom this leads to apathy and weakness of the community of faith and departures from the parish community.
 
Godparents have the responsibility and duty to care and guide their Godchildren on the road to spiritual maturity. They pray for their Godchildren, and to do this they need to grow closer to God and become channels of God's grace to their Godchildren. Nowadays, the whole system is losing its importance and the meaning turned into an empty custom.
 
The spontaneity to become a Godparent is disappearing. When qualified: those with a devout spiritual life, exemplary members of the community are asked to be Godparents often they respond with a shaking of the hand, and refuse. They have already too many to take care of or feel not fit for the job. Often the priests and sisters have to beg the Godparents to assume the task. The second problem at present is the connection between the Godparent and Godchild is weak and after baptism, they very quickly become separated. At the baptism, they were only formally present and lacked responsibility as Godparent. Often after baptism, they forget who the Godparent was. Eventually, the apathy and departure from the community are made easy without the mentoring of a Godparent.
 
Some Protestants have implemented a mentoring system to care for the new believers. They are spiritual guides and counselors to the new believers. This is very similar to the long tradition in Catholicism. Our great treasure has become a mere formality and its meaning lost.

The relationship is one in the Holy Spirit and should be lasting and have a positive impact on the Christian child's religious life. There are many ways to maintain the relationship between Godparents and Godchild. First by regular meetings, secondly be with them as they become catechumens and attend some of the classes. Thirdly, have events for the Godparents in the parish and remind them of their relationship with their Godchild. Fourthly, use their smartphones to connect with their Godchild and lastly attend Mass with the Godchild once a month.

 
He recommends programs for the Godparents to remind them of their relationship and need for prayer. He concludes the article with the example of St Paul the apostle and his spiritual son Timothy as a good model of what a Godfather should be.

What Is True Rest?

A professor of Patrology writes in the Kyeongyang magazine on what is true leisure. He quotes Pope Francis: "The journey through the Decalogue takes us today to the Commandment regarding the day of rest. It sounds like an easy command to respect, but that is the wrong impression. True rest is not simple, because there is false rest and true rest. How can we recognize them?"

 Rest is leaving what we consider toil and difficulties in daily life and do what we ordinarily would want to do if we had the time. We are searching for healing and often see it as emptiness. In this situation, the work we did for pay is now exchanged for fun. But does this type of enjoyment give us rest? Pope Francis says strongly it will not. 

"Today’s society thirsts for amusement and holidays. The entertainment industry is really flourishing, and advertising portrays the ideal world as one great amusement park where everyone has fun. The prevailing concept of life today does not have its center of gravity in activity and commitment but in escapism. Earning money to have fun, to satisfy oneself. The model is the image of a successful person who can afford ample room for diverse forms of enjoyment. But this mentality makes one slip toward the dissatisfaction of a life anesthetized by the fun that is not resting, but alienation and the escape from reality. Man has never rested as much as today, yet man has never experienced as much emptiness as today! Opportunities to amuse oneself, to go out, cruises, travel; but many things do not give you the fullness of heart. Indeed: they do not give you rest" (Sept 5, Audience 2018).

 It is precisely here that we have toxicity. This state is always asking for more, more stimulus, and pleasure will demand more possessions. This is looking for the quick fix and once the stimulus subsides the return to the present is difficult and we have emptiness and apathy. Rest fails to give what is wanted and we have the vicious circle. 

 "Peace is chosen; it cannot be imposed and it is not found by chance. Distancing himself from the bitter wounds of his heart, man needs to make peace with what he is fleeing from. It is necessary to reconcile oneself with one’s own history, with facts that one does not accept, with the difficult parts of one’s own existence. I ask you: is each of you reconciled with your own history? A question to ponder: Am I reconciled with my own history? True peace, in fact, is not about changing one’s own history but about welcoming it and valuing it, just as it has unfolded" (Sept 5, Audience).

 "When does life become beautiful? When we begin to think well of it, whatever our history. When the gift of a doubt makes its way: that all is grace, and that holy thought breaks down the inner wall of dissatisfaction, giving way to authentic rest."

When God becomes the center of our life and God becomes established in our lives, then with rest we will find peace. It is only resting in God we will rid ourselves of stress and what we considered toil and adversity which we found in our daily life will no longer be areas of avoidance, but rather find God's mercy and blessings.

Pope Francis spelled out what true rest is and we can measure it by how beautiful we see human existence. When we can all participate in this confession than we have brought some of the joy of heaven down to earth. And we recite the first verse of Psalm 64 with new meaning: "In God alone, there is rest for my soul."

Accepting our Finiteness

In Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, the protagonist, Raskolnikov is a poor but kind-hearted student. He plans to kill a  pawnbroker that he has been dealing with, an old lady, who he considers a "worm", squeezing money from the poor. What he wants to do is not a sin but a realization of justice. In the Eyes of the Believer of the Catholic Times, the writer reflects on what is sin beginning with Dostoevsky's novel.

But after killing the woman he is in great fear and self-denial. He meets a prostitute named Sonia, who is pure in heart, he is touched by her love and realizes that the old lady, who he considered no more than a worm is a dignified human being. He has remorse, confesses and is exiled to Siberia accompanied by Sonia and begins a new life, kissing the ground of his exile and yelling out: "I am a murderer".

Nowadays, the story of a woman in her 30s who killed her ex-husband brutally upset many of the citizens. She killed her ex-husband because it might interfere with her remarriage and felt little guilt for her actions. The writer was not comfortable with the news that more than 200,000 people petitioned she be executed quickly. Raskolnikov, who executed the "worm" and the woman who killed her ex-husband without guilt are they really not human and lack dignity?

Article 10 of our Constitution declares that "all citizens have dignity and value as human beings. According to this rule, not only the good man is dignified, but the worm-like old lady of "Crime and Punishment". Raskolnikov, who killed her and that woman in her 30s who felt no guilt have dignity.

Many of the teachers of religion go one step further and teach that we are all brothers and sisters and one with all of nature. They consider the killing of animals a sinful act. India's philosopher and one time president of India, Radhakrishnan, explains sin from the Hindu scriptures, Bhagavad Gita: "Sin is not just an act of transgression of rules or law, but sin is the individual's finiteness:  ignorance, and conviction that the self is independent of others."

This finiteness is a sin because an individual can not live without compromising himself against another. In reality we all owe our existence to others and we forget we are all connected to one another, and yet emphazise our indviduality and praise our independence. Convinced of this is where we sin.

Pope Francis also said: “This world is inherently beautiful and still a precious work of God. In this world, however, violence, divisions, conflicts and wars are frequent...  We are not able to escape from the prison of selfishness into which we have locked ourselves" (The Church of Mercy, p. 266).
 
We can not live without taking the life of another living being for food that is the reality but we should be temperate. We have no choice but to punish those who kill to protect society, but we still want to stop the death penalty in respect for the dignity and value of the person, and seek an alternative punishment.
 
In this life there is no way we can escape from finiteness but we can hopefully struggle to diminish our selfishness and self-centeredness, can we not?

Values of the Catholic Laity

People are hurting. Life is empty for many. Consequently, a time of spiritual thirst. Even Christians are looking around to satisfy this thirst. There is a demand, so there is a supply. In line with this, new spiritual movements have soared. Christians must be able to distinguish what is Christian and what is not. 

'New Age' is one of these movements. Why did 'New Age' emerge as one of these spiritual movements that adversely affected Christianity? It is fundamentally different from Christianity in two ways. So begins an article in the Peace Weekly by an educator on the life of the laity.

First, New Age does not accept Jesus as Savior. They  admit that Jesus is one of many saints and manifestations in human history, but do not recognize him as a Savior, Messiah. In this respect, 'New Age' is fundamentally different from Christianity. Second, they refer to God as the universe's enormous energy. It is also fundamentally different in not confessing God as the only God and Creator.

Many lay people  familiar with 'New Age' see much in common with Christianity. In many cases, this happens without realizing it since 'New Age' is deeply rooted in all areas of politics, economy, society, culture and the arts. The problem with the 'New Age' is that it naturally entertains us and moves us away from God. Believing in God as an absolute deminishes and is confused about  Christ as Savior. And it is becoming more and more meaningless to go to church and live in community since  we can live well without going to church.

Another emerging spiritual movement that acts as a barrier to living as a layman in the world is 'Ki' (氣). As a      mental exercise, not a big problem. However, the phenomenon of 'religiousizing' '기' has been around for a long time. Already we have the makings of a number of  pseudo religions. If you go deeper beyond the mental movement, you end up with a religion and faith.

Also values are a barrier. Values can change and vary from time to time. Modern times seem to have the absence of values, an age of confusion. What is important is money and health, the things of the world. We  live in a world influenced by humanist ideas. As a result, the value of human beings, the value of human nature, and the value of God in reality are being pushed out. The words we use say that humans are more important than money, but in many cases the opposite is done. Nevertheless, there is hope because humanity does know that human beings are more important than money. Human beings cannot lose this value. Because there is God in us.

God and man are one. God is in us and we are with God. Jesus is in God and God is in Jesus. Thus, no matter how circumstances change and times change, the dignity of human beings with God can never be compromised.

The laity live with others in the  world, but they should not live just like others. Jesus said, "If you do not become like a child, you will never enter the kingdom" (Matthew 18: 3). So what are some of the characteristics of children? There is a lot that he can list like innocence, but what he  pays the  most attention is asking questions. Children always ask their parents questions. "Mom what is this?" "Mom can I eat this?" "Mom can I go to my friend's house?" "Mom what should I do?"

But when we do something, we rarely ask God. It's my  judgment my thinking we follow. As a result, we stumble often. We are so busy. I want to do this, and do that. And not satisfied with anything just busy. We must stop living such a busy life.

The laity adapt to and live in the world with others but they also need to know that the standards and values of the world are not absolute. Lay Christians are those who, even in the world, must learn and practice Christ's ideals and values.

We are Responsible for our Faces

In her weekly column for the Peace Weekly a religious sister reminds us that we are responsible as we age for the face we have. This is because of our repeated thoughts, emotions, and actions which constitute who we are.

She mentions going to her hometown and meeting her old friends after many years, the gestures and expressions still remained. "With the passage of time you are the same." "You haven't changed much either." "Really?"

For a while, she felt she was in a time machine that brought her back to her school. days. "But at this age, I studied well, was smart and was pretty… It's all useless." "I have a lot of friends who seem unhappy even with a lot of money."  "Yes, that's right. Now I can see how I lived just by looking at my face." "Persons with the radiant faces, putting all together, seemed to have a postive outlook and enjoyed life."

At that moment, she  remembered a friend whom she met by chance last year. She remembered her pretty face from their school days, enough to  make one  jealous. But the friend when encountered, her face was distorted and looked much older than she actually was. Her friend seemed to have anger written on her face as if pursued from the look in her eyes. 'Ah, this friend is not happy;  life must have been rough. Yes, that's right. I'm responsible for my face as I get older.'

Then a friend began to tell his story with a serious expression on his face. "I actually lived  for a long time a life that was close to death. There was no hope at that time and I wished death. Then one day I looked in the mirror; I was surprised for a  monster was staring back at me. A monster… . This was crazy to be living like this and it shouldn't be."

This  friend's confession rang a bell in her. Should we not be messingers of joy to others? As we were talking her brother and sister joined them. My friend greeted my family and we remained in conversation for some time before we separated. On the way home her brother said:
"Sister, that friend of yours must have had a peaceful life the way he was laughing and full of joy." Yes, it was a happy face she quietly responded.
 
She recalls a  friend  who was overcome with thoughts and wishes for death on occasions too many to count. The friend tried to rid her self of the stress and depression with a strong spiritual life. She decided to give this friend a telephone call. She was successful in riding herself of the monster and wants to tell her to look at the real self in the mirror. 

Sister often looks into the  mirror too. As you grow older, you see white hair, blemishes, liver spots, and wrinkles. But when you get  trapped looking at the outer appearance, you don't see the real self. 
 
"My face, which  I must be held accountable for as I get older, my habits have become what I am today. Repeated thoughts, emotions, and actions gather overtime on the face. Our footprints in life are left all over the face. My face is a puzzle that is open to everyone."