Depression, A Serious Problem In Society

The 'pandemic blues' phrase is mentioned often in the media and society. Korea has done a great job in controlling the spread of the virus and we can thank the citizens in following the the Ministry of Health and Welfare instructions.

Surveys have shown that depression has brought about a rise in the number of  cases of suicide, seen among the young in their 20s and 30s. According to figures for April 2021 released recently, 33% of young people aged 19-29 scored: "at risk" for depression.

Therefore, it is necessary to manage depression through intervention suited to the  characteristics of  gender. Additionally, national-level policies are needed to encourage steps to improve personal lifestyles, including behaviors that will foster health. 

The director  of a Psychological Counseling Center writes in a Diocesan Bulletin on depression and areas of concern.

Depression does affect a  person's emotional life but it is much larger in scope. Sadness and anxiety follow along but we have also anger and irritation. The decrease in the ability to concentrate, changes in perception, sleeping problems, lack of energy, appetite, emotional numbness, inappropriate feelings of guilt are also present.

The aspects of depression appear slightly different in men and women. With woman they tend to be critical of themselves, and the greater the depression the more they want to hide from others and the deeper the  depression grows. At times they turn their attention to food and friends. Men on the other hand tend to blame others. They can suddenly get angry, show hostility to others and often turn to sports, drink, or work and  they may end up killing themselves to a greater degree than women.

Those with depression consider themselves valueless. Often others see them as lazy or with a lack of energy and will criticize them. Those with faith are considered to lack it.

The origin of depression is made up of  many different causes and it is not possible to center on one particular one. Our thoughts, emotions, and actions and spirituality are all mixed in and interact with each other. When one sphere changes the other spheres can also change. When the spiritual changes the other areas may also change.

Often we tell those who are depressed: "That's nothing", "change the way you think" and  the like,  flippantly telling the despondent to get over the  problem and change their ways. However Jesus did say in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the sorrowing they shall be consoled (Matt. 5:4). 

To those who are suffering from loss of hope and in despair, to feel with them in their ordeal is a great gift. To pray for them is a way of showing concern for them and that they are not alone in their suffering.  More than any word of sympathy or comfort to show oneness with them is a great comfort. And gives hope that we will all welcome tomorrow's sun with the Lord.

 

 

Let Us Stop Division and Hatred

 

"Don't try to convince me. I can't be persuaded." That's what happens sometimes when you talk politics with a group of friends. If there are people with different political positions, some are determined not to talk at all. This may be because they saw cases where arguing did not end well. So begins the Peace Column in the Catholic Peace Weekly.

It is natural to have diverse opinions in this world in which we live. The problem is the merciless response to different opinions. This phenomenon stands out in politics. Comments of political parties will inevitably be harsh, but some media, especially private media such as YouTube, often spread unfeeling words about opposing camps. Individuals also gossip about politics in the comments. Harmony and compromise seem to be disappearing even in personal conversation. How did we end up arguing with so little understanding of the other?

There is a theory called the Echo Chamber Effect.  They are like echoes in a room when people with similar thoughts gather together and share.  It is a phenomenon in which they fall deeper into their own prejudices. As the media ecosystem changed, personal media such as YouTube exploded. Many media make different sounds, and inmates are only picky about media that make the same sound like their own. The spread of the opinions is trapped within a certain framework, and some show confirmation bias. Changes in the media environment are one of the factors that have widened the gap between positions.

In addition, a political fandom phenomenon has been added. A fandom is a group that enthusiastically likes a particular field or individual. It also attacks the opposing camp violently in the process of overly defending its supporters. Populist politicians abuse the support of their fandom for selfish reasons and incite fandom to protect themselves. Fandom blinds the eyes and blocks the ears to reasonable dialogue and deepens conflict.

The bigger reason is it not the trust in violence? We try to solve social problems, such as labor, as well as political problems, by force. Intertwined with justice is hypocrisy, causing confusion of values and undermining trust. What can be said are those who have destroyed value incite, and those who are involved in incitement run wild.

When division and hatred abound, national power is not only damaged, but individual minds are impoverished. Nevertheless, few politicians are working to heal conflicts and work for unity. Efforts to resolve through negotiations are rare and are usually influenced by numbers and power. There is no end to the fight because the driven ones do not back down. Self-interest groups are only busy preparing for their own needs under the slogan of unity and conflict. To work toward unity should be taught in schools, and he realizes this is a big order.

What Democrat Biden said during the U.S. presidential campaign last year is impressive. "Red is also America," referring to the red symbol of the Republican Party. Would it not be better if our political leaders did the same? Can't we appeal to supporters to stop division and hatred? The church should raise its voice for reconciliation and unity. The media should make efforts for social inclusion and individuals should stop accepting the bias of the media, and not be swayed by partisan incitement. We have experienced the devastation of the Korean War. If you don't learn from the past, there's no future.

A Culture of Life From Below

In the Eyes of the Believer of the Catholic Times Weekly,  a pastor gives us his ideas on the Culture Of Life and why it has not been successful.

The Church has long exercised its prophetic mission to transform the culture of death into a culture of life and love. The Bishops' Conference and each parish have formed  committees  to spread the  culture  of life movement in social activities. Declaring that "abortion is  a murderous act and one of the reasons  for the belittling life in our society."  

Bishops have  conducted several  campaigns to abolish some provisions of the anti-life health law, but it has been rejected. Furthermore, reflection on the existing life movement is needed for it has been of little help in preventing the repeal of abortion laws following a recent ruling.

Is this not the  result of relying only on the way the church has approached respect for life and the nobility of life  as coming down from above— an essentialist  approach? The writer wonders  whether the rapidly changing socio-cultural new ideological trends and changing lifestyles have ended up where it's no longer valid in persuading the populace. Therefore, alternatives are urgently needed to overcome the limitations of the existing movement for life.

An alternative to the church's life movement for today's cultural age is the 'life movement from below'. An honorary professor at Seoul National University School of Medicine, is one of the most prominent advocates of this issue in the church.  Desperately appealing to save the fetus from the Catholic Church's perspective, he stressed solidarity and practice from below, a different approach to the existing church bioethics issues. The days when believers easily accepted church teachings are over, arguing that the church desperately needs a way to unite with them so that believers themselves can solve their social situations within church teachings. This makes a lot of sense to most.

The "life movement from below" should be based not only with church leaders or church institutions, but with individuals and groups of believers. It should be solved by helping to change the culture that takes into account the specific situation, mindset and lifestyle that women face. In other words, the church should cooperate to share and practice awareness of the dignity of life in various cultural ways through examples of individuals and the groups living this life. To this end, it is desirable to have programs for discussion, meetings and field experiences that inspire respect for life at the parish level.

It would be good to read and share life-related books in reading groups  at the parish level. One example is the book Beautiful Fragrance published by Daughters of St. Paul in 2009. The book conveys a message of hope, consolation and love that leaves a short but long afterglow, and reflects on how to live a more fulfilling and happy life.

Movies can serve the same purpose. He mentions the movie opening in Korea (2021) Becoming Astrid which explores the social pressures of the era  which show the great changes in society  but  allows for a great opportunity to discuss the  problems in  society today. And the Christian way of dealing with  the issues involved.

The church needs to foster or unite life-oriented civic groups, expand and sustain practical support such as financial support for single mothers, and establish shelters. Rather than shouting "abortion is murder," the focus should be on "saving the fetus" and the healing that needs to follow for those who have died. 

 

In addition, various forms of education should be provided in parishes and  civil society on anti-life situations. Gospel values that are ignored such as internet violence, sexual assault, school violence, child abuse, hatred,  power abuse, which are currently our social problems all need to be examined and eradicated.

The Our Father Prayer for Wholeness

In the recent Kyeongyang Magazine, a professor of Scripture gives the readers some thoughts on the meaning of the Our Father. He introduces the article with the mention of the three Basilicas built by Emperor Constantine in Jerusalem, mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea in AD 260-340. They are the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Church on the Mount of Olives.

Helena the mother of the Emperor was instrumental in building the Church on the Mount of Olives and it was this Church that the Bordeaux pilgrims visited in 333 AD. This Church was destroyed by the Persians in 614, and the Crusaders in 1106 made it into a place of prayer, the spot that that tradition says Jesus taught the disciples the Our Father.

It is here that in 1875 a Church and a Carmel Convent were built and the "Pater Noster" Church was built. The Our Father is inscribed on tiles in over 80 different languages both in Catholic and Protestant forms.

Old Testament vision sees Heaven as God's world and earth as the abode of humans. However, Jesus did not separate these two. Heaven and Earth were not in opposition to each other but were integrated and communicated with each other. The earth was not isolated from Heaven. Jesus wanted the values of heaven to be realized here on earth.

Jesus in his prayer prayed that the will of God in heaven would be realized here on earth (Matt.6:10). This is the central them of the prayer. We see here the contrast between what is above and what is below.

Above is heaven God's world, below is the earth our home.
If the heavens are transcendent and unknown, and the ideal beyond, the earth is present, wisdom, history, and reality. However, in daily life, we experience alienation between the ideal and our reality. The separation of heaven and earth is too great. However, Jesus has come to us from heaven and has returned to heaven and has joined us together with heaven.

In Christ, we have found a new integrated way in which to live. Heaven and Earth's connection have not been ruptured or separated but communication and mutual understanding continue. Our two feet are planted here on earth but like a tree, our vision is towards heaven.

In the Our Father, God and humanity, individuals and individuals, humanity and all creation desire a proper relationship: asking for a correct relationship between all of creation. A just society, ecological justice, we are all connected and need to cooperate with each other. This living in a just manner with all of creation is what we mean by salvation.

In the last petition, Jesus is asking us to free ourselves from evil. Since this is not within our power we ask for help. He asks us also to fight against the temptation to abandon the vision we have received on justice in society and with all of nature.

Evil can control us, manipulate, and rule us, the realization of God's kingdom is prevented by power, structures, and our tendencies. To be liberated from evil we must first of all desire his kingdom and his justice.

Jesus who was a man of prayer is asking us to pray. The way we pray tells us the kind of thoughts and the relationship we have with God. In other words, our faith life and present relationship with God is made clear to us.

In the Our Father, we are given an integrated viewpoint and invited to participate and to realize it in our lives. We are invited to help change this world in the way God wants.

Do we pray? What is our prayer? How do we pray? The answer to these questions will tell us where we stand now and our present spiritual life.

Remembering War: Condition for Peace

The upcoming 25th marks the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. A war that left numerous records in the history of world wars— records of pain and tragedy, but they must be remembered to protect the peace. So begins the Peace Column in the Catholic Peace Weekly.

The Korean War devastated the entire Korean Peninsula for three years and one month, claiming more than 4.5 million lives, including soldiers and civilians. The number of war orphans and separated families also exceeded 11 million. During the war, elementary school students are now over 80 years old and veterans are over 90 years old. Memories of war are fading and witnesses disappearing.

The Korean War left deep compassion for humanity, a great desire for freedom and peace more so than other wars.
 
Called the "Miracle of Christmas" in Hungnam North Korea was the withdrawal operation that rescued 200,000 soldiers and refugees from the enemy territory for 13 days from Dec. 12, 1950, to December 24, the day before Christmas. There were more than 200 battleships, cargo, and merchant ships that were deployed in the operation. In particular the 'SS Meredith Victory', dubbed the Miracle Ship: listed in the Guinness Book of World Records after rescuing 14,000 refugees. 

Duration in concluding the armistice agreement for the Korean War was the longest in world history. It began in July 1951, was signed on July 27, 1953, two years later, after repeated suspensions and resumptions. The signatories to the agreement were U.N., North Korean, and Chinese representatives. The South Korean military was excluded. Both sides agreed to cease fighting. Under international law, the Korean War is still in progress. The armistice system has been maintained on the Korean Peninsula for 68 years, and the Military Armistice Commission has been monitoring the implementation of the agreement.

Even after the armistice agreement, the North's provocation continued numerous times. Civil aircraft abductions, armed infiltration, and assassination attempts were carried out. In particular, after 2010, the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, and the development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles filled the Korean Peninsula with fear and tension of war.

The lesson from the many wars of mankind is that 'all wars are unjustifiable and immoral'. In the end, there are no winners or losers in the war. This is because we cannot avoid the aftereffects of war, regardless of what side. War is a product of human greed and desire. Therefore, as long as greed and desire exist, it would be foolish to expect artillery to disappear from the planet.
 
In the 21st century, armed with nuclear weapons, a war that calls for the self-destruction of mankind is said to be impossible and only a limited conflict will be possible. "It is naive to assume that we cannot wage war," said historian Yuval Harari. "Even if war has catastrophic consequences for everyone, it does not prevent human stupidity," he said. "With humility in acknowledging weakness, we can prevent war only when the community's mutual relationship and public interests are secured before my interests."

What conditions would be needed for permanent peace to be established on the Korean Peninsula? With the end of the Korean War, the two Koreas and the world will sign a peace treaty together. So what kind of peace proposal should we make that North Korea would not 'reject' as West Germany was able to do in negotiations with East Germany? The answer has yet to be found. However, an international political scientist from the U.S., said, wouldn't peace quietly come when the two Koreas constantly remember the war and acknowledge and accept heterogeneity beyond each other's boundaries? Prayers and efforts for peace cannot have any restrictions or limitations.

Corona Virus and Migrants

A lawyer in the Catholic Peace Weekly in Current Diagnosis gives us his opinion on the controversy surrounding migrants.

He lived abroad for a while when he was young. He hung out with students from dozens of countries and their nationality or race didn't matter. Migrants, a politically underrepresented vulnerable group caught his eye. Human rights activities draw attention to more vulnerable places, both at home and abroad. However, migrants already exist together with us in the same space and time, shouldn't we be able to see and accept them as they are?

 

According to the Ministry of Justice statistics, there are now about 2 million foreigners residing in Korea. Nearly 200,000 foreigners have married Koreans and there are about the same number of international students.  

 

There is a question that keeps on coming to mind when looking at migrants. Will they be viewed as a part of 'us', especially the socially underprivileged and vulnerable, or as 'others' who are trying to take what is ours? What kind of community do we want?

 

About 10 years ago when the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination deliberated on the human rights situation in Korea we heard these words. The government announced that South Korea is a "single-ethnic" country, has little "mixed blood" and that racism is rarely a problem because it is mostly "pure blood." U.N. experts were shocked by expressions such as "pure blood" reminiscent of German Nazis. 

 

Inequality in access to information has not been overcome, and hate discrimination has spread. Information in foreign languages was limited, and discriminatory views on not only early Chinese immigrants but also migrants as a whole threatened jobs. Poor unregistered migrant detention facilities are always exposed to the risk of Covid-19 and self-isolation is impossible for migrants in vulnerable residential conditions. Some measures are being taken to extend the length of stay and suspend the departure deadline, but overall, there are insufficient measures to cope with the difficulties in living.

The executive order for the mandatory inspection of all foreign workers, Covid-19, issued by many local governments, is a case in which prejudice and preconceptions about migrants have been revealed in extreme forms. 

The Covid-19 crisis is certainly an opportunity for community reflection. We are at a crossroads whether to create a healthy community of solidarity, cooperation, respect, and consideration or to live in a society in which the fittest survive and each goes their own way through maximum exclusion. A society is said to be defined by what it excludes. What kind of society do we dream of? Covid-19 shows us why migrants should be part of 'us'.

What is first In Pastoral Work with the Young?

 

Young people, bodily, mentally are at the peak of their growth and maturity. A priest with a lot of contact with the young in the Kyeongyang magazine gives his ideas of what should be first in pastoral work with the young. The word used in Korea for young people has the meaning of verdant, vigorous, and full of life.

However, nowadays the writer finds these characteristics of the young missing. In the talk about the young often is heard the three dreams they have given up: romance, marriage, and childbirth. This has increased to the abandonment of two more dreams: house and career. And this continues with the sacrifice of hope, hobbies, and relationships and they have added health and appearance. You find this abandonment in the 20s but more so after the 30s.

The church is aging faster than society and those from 35-45 are extremely valuable members of the community. It's a generation that has to inherit the church from the adults who laid the foundation for the Korean Catholic Church, and a generation that has to prove to young people in their 20s and their children that to live as Christians is different from the world and environment of the past.

This age group's Mass attendance is low and those who have left the community are high. But this does not allow us to simply say they have no interest in the faith life. Those that the writer has met still feel a need for  God. The world in which they live is changing so rapidly and in so many ways that they are continuing to search.

The church has to show them a merciful God. We need to listen to them not at the church but where they are and hear what they are doing and understand their situation. Jesus also went to those who were hurting to give them peace.

The first step is to pray for the young people. To understand them, and to make the community of faith a place where they experience the warmth of Christ's presence. We need to make the community a place where the young people feel the strength and consolation of Christ.

He wonders whether the foundational story of our religion is really known by everyone. We need to reflect on this reality in dealing with young people.  

"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes", Rev. 23:3. In this article, the writer hopes God's words will give some rest to the young people doing their best where ever they are.