What Can't Change, What Can and What Needs to Change—

A Catholic Professor in the Humanities Department of Sogang University gives the readers of the Catholic Peace Weekly some thoughts on what can't change,  what can change, and what must change.

The word that is mentioned a lot in society these days seems to be ‘innovation’. Artificial intelligence, in particular, is almost always referred to as a "revolution." Now, if we don't keep up with these changes, it seems like we'll be left behind.

So what does it mean to be a Christian? In the midst of this, we ask this question because of our faith in Jesus, who died on the cross after living for 30 years in a small village in Palestine 2,000 years ago. Does our faith continue to look back? Moreover, the Apostle Paul says: "If we preach a different gospel than we preached to you, let us be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). The numerous local councils and 21 universal councils held during the past 2000 years speak for themselves.

So, in the Catholic Church, there are obviously things that cannot and should not change. They are the truths of faith passed down from the apostles, the sacraments, and the hierarchical system, the structure of the church. Then, should the church be like a museum, keeping these immutable truths safe for the next generation as it was at the beginning?

This question was posed by many theologians in the 19th and 20th centuries and was decisively confronted by the Second Vatican Council.  Pope St. John XXIII, in his opening address to the Council, responded as follows: "In order, however, that this doctrine may influence the numerous fields of human activity, with reference to individuals, to families, and to social life, it is necessary first of all that the Church should never depart from the sacred patrimony of truth received from the Fathers. But at the same time she must ever look to the present, to the new conditions and new forms of life introduced into the modern world which have opened new avenues to the Catholic apostolate."  This is the meaning of 'Aggiornamento', the phrase used often in connection with the Council. (Aggiornamento is an Italian word meaning "bringing up to date")
 
So why can the church talk about change? The answer to this question is simple. Because the Church is God's and at the same time a community of men and women who live within human history. This means that the church affects the world, but the world also affects the church and the life of believers. Some of the effects are beneficial and some are harmful. It requires acceptance and purification through discernment.  
 
Another motive for change is the mission of the church. We must confess, live and spread the faith we have received, but the problem is 'people'. Humanity in history, neither the consciousness nor the way of life of the people who make up the church remain the same at all times and in all cultures in all ways. Therefore, in order for the gospel to reach people more effectively and help them accept the gospel in a 'pleasing' way, we must always seek a 'method' that fits our place in life. It is similar to having to use different educational methods depending on the subject even if they live in the same era. Therefore, truth belongs to things that cannot be changed, but the way to live and express the truth belongs to 'what can change'. And if the old way is no longer suitable for living and spreading the truth, it now needs to 'be changed'.

The church is like a living organism. Cells of living things have 'borders' to protect their essence, but the borders, or cell membranes, are not closed, so a healthy 'coming and going' occurs. As a result, organisms can grow. The Church, walking toward God through history, must also discern what must not change, what can change, and what must change. In fact, everything that exists changes whether we like it or not. If so, shouldn't we change in the direction God wants? And this identification involves the Shepherd and the entire people of God.

 

Doubts and Questions About Our Faith Life

 

In the Catholic Times, the director of Our Theological Institute writes in the Eyes of the Believer Column of doubts and questions about faith life.

This spring, she is reading the book written by Father Thomas Halik from the Czech Republic before he arrives for his lecture in Korea in early May. Father Halik has doctorates in sociology, philosophy, and psychology, and worked as a psychotherapist during the communist regime, while secretly receiving priestly ordination and working in the underground church. Living as a priest in the Czech Republic, where there are more atheists than in any other country in Europe. He is also a theologian interested in dialogue with persons who are skeptical of their faith or claim to be atheists.

If you look at his own life journey, he makes clear that as a priest he had a period of darkness where he could not feel God. An adolescent boy who had doubts about the school education that imposed an atheistic worldview, saying that religion is the opium of the people, followed the spiritual longing to find the meaning of life and entered the Catholic faith. However, the passion for faith, which burned infinitely hot during the days of risk-taking but strange as it seems after the communist regime collapsed and freedom of faith returned, wandered as if lost in the face of the cold church reality in which God could not be experienced.

His book is a book for those who ask themselves what does it mean to have true faith in these times? He is asking those who have the same concerns as himself, that is, those who feel skeptical about their religious life, and those who seek spirituality but cannot find answers in the current church. He continues to seek out and talk to atheists who deny the existence of God. In such a conversation, we discover the paradox of faith that those who are sure they know the truth of faith are rather indifferent to meeting the true God, and those who constantly doubt and question whether God really exists can meet him first.

As she read and meditated on the various questions of faith raised by Father Halik, the Apostle Thomas comes to mind with his tenacious and stubborn attitude in today's Sunday Gospel. At first the words of Jesus, "Abandon doubt and believe," seem to be rebuking Apostle Thomas, who asks for clear evidence of faith, and "Blessed are those who believe without seeing." However, the recent documentary series ‘I am God’, which shocked our society, clearly shows what kind of danger blind faith that does not ask questions can easily fall into. ( A documentary exposing pseudo-religious cults to encourage followers to leave. It sheds light on four cult leaders accused of manipulating and exploiting their followers)

Not long ago, the results of a Gallup survey that surveyed 'religious orientation and perception of reality' in 61 countries around the world were announced. The number of believers was only 36%. And those who claim to be atheists have the second highest percentage in the world at 34%. Among young people in their 20s, who are atheists it was 51%. Another survey published by the Protestant Church also found that the religious population only accounted for 36.6%, while non-religious people accounted for 63.4%, a significant increase in recent years.

The reality is that there are more and more people in Korean society who doubt the existence of God. "I believe" they are baptized, so today’s believers live as if their faith has been completed but "What on earth do they believe?" Apostle Thomas was finally able to meet the resurrected Lord because he did not settle for uncertain faith until he personally experienced Jesus and made a passionate confession of faith, saying: "My Lord and my God!" Perhaps in our day, faith that doubts and questions what it means to live as a true Christian and witness to the resurrection is required.  

"You Didn't Leave, You Couldn't Leave"

"You will never be free from the words that you have  written." The director of the Inchon Diocesan History Research  Institute begins his article in the bulletin of the Institute with these words. 

They were the words of his mentor after examining the dissertation for graduation from the university. "These first concerns that have appeared in your studies for the dissertation will remain with you in your journey in life." And that was the case. He has over the years written and lectured much but the subject of the dissertation, even though shabby, has always accompanied him along the way, refined but always present.  

The forgotten 'prophecy' came to his mind again while creating a history museum in the Inchon Diocese not too long ago. He remembered an old missioner Fr. Joseph P. McCormack his Korean name was Ko Joseph, a member of the Maryknoll Mission Society.

Unlike Fr. Benedict Zweber, Jim Sinnott  Mike Bransfield and their fellow Maryknollers who worked in Inchon and were well known,  Fr. McComack was only remembered as the first pastor of a Chinese parish in Inchon. 

He was born in Ireland in 1898 and immigrated to the States in 1915. He arrived in the States with his parents, not your ordinary immigrant. He worked to make money to pay his way to night school, at that time the Irish were treated coldly in the States which made life all that more difficult. From now on, the long journey begins.

Entering Maryknoll in 1918, he became a citizen and was ordained on June 15, 1924. He was assigned to Fushun, appointed Local Superior there in 1929 and Society Superior in 1930. He attended the Second General Chapter in Hong Kong in 1936 as Society Superior for the Fushun Mission. Interned at Fushun at the outbreak of war in 1941, he was repatriated aboard the Gripsholm in August 1942. He worked in the area of Temuco, Chile from 1943 to 1945 and returned to Manchuria in 1946. The Chinese Communist advance forced him to move from Fushun to Peking to Shanghai in 1949. Arrested in Shanghai, after 10 years in prison was released in June 1958 and returned to the United States. He then knowing Chinese was called to work in the Inchon Diocese and at 60 became the first pastor of a Chinese parish. 

His failing health and advancing years brought him back again to the States, after working at the Chinese Mission in Inchon, Korea from 1960 to 1969. 

At this point in time the teacher's words had almost disappeared. It's a long and tiring journey, but it's a fate that missionaries have to bear. It was during his last years in Korea that Fr. Joe had to deal with the anti-immigrant affairs of the Park Chung-hee regime and the beginning of the end of China Town. Many returned home. Some of the old people who were not able to return home lived with Fr. Joe in the rectory without any plans for the future. 

In the history of the diocese it was listed as the first Chinese old age home but it was an old missionary living together with the old Chinese who couldn't return home to China. This reckless living together ended in 1968 when Fr. Joe's health gave out.  In fact, he made a long journey to the beginning of his migrant life. He was back to his early years as an immigrant who couldn't bear to turn away from immigrants.

The director of the History Research Center wonders what is in his heart that he hasn't lost. There is something he can't leave like the prophet Jeremiah: "If I say, I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name, there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot" (Jer. 20:9).

Carbon Neutrality and Relligious Life

A college professor in the Diagnosis of the Times column of the Catholic Peace Weekly wants the readers to make a connection between Easter and Carbon Neutrality.

Since we are in the spring of the new year we are experiencing flower parties here in Korea and in many other parts of the world. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom before the plum blossoms were gone, and the forsythia and azalea flowers competed to bloom. It is not always pleasant to see beautiful flowers bloom too early. The cherry blossoms that bloomed on April 17th 100 years ago bloomed on March 25th in Seoul this year. Since the average temperature in Korea has increased by 1.9℃ over the past 100 years, it is perhaps natural. Is it not only the flowers that are strange?
 
In winter, there are more and more years when the Han River, where ice skating was enjoyed, does not freeze even for a day. On March 19, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed that the global surface temperature had risen by 1.1°C over the past 10 years compared to pre-industrial levels. It also predicted that the goal set for the temperature rise, 1.5℃, will be exceeded by 2040. And in the current situation, the global temperature will rise by an average of 3.2 ℃ at the end of this century, and this global warming was evaluated as 100% 'human influence'. What makes us different from the crowd who crucified Jesus without even knowing what they were doing? ( Lk 23:34).
 
UN Secretary-General warned at a press conference on the 6th report of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPCC) that "humanity is on thin ice that is rapidly melting" and urged countries to advance the target of net zero. The IPCC report, hopefully, predicted the possibility of carbon neutrality by 2050 internationally as "not simple, but possible." In particular, it was evaluated that Korea is in an advantageous position to achieve carbon neutrality because it has excellent technical capabilities.
 
The Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee announced the National Carbon Neutral Green Growth Basic Plan on March 21st. The most important national greenhouse gas reduction target was to maintain the internationally promised 2030 reduction target of 40% compared to 2018 greenhouse gas emissions. The biggest change in this plan is the lowering of the industrial sector reduction target from 14.5% to 11.4%. It plans to reduce 4 million tons, half of the reduction in the industrial sector, from the power generation sector, and the rest through (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technology) and international reduction. In addition, the share of renewable energy generation in 2030 was lowered from 30.2% to 21.6%, but the other five sectors, including construction, transportation, livestock, fisheries, waste, and sinks, remained the same as the previous reduction targets.
 
Civic groups criticize that this plan has reduced the burden on the industrial sector, which is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, and that carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and international reductions have applied uncertain measures as a reduction method and lowered the proportion of renewable energy, which is the surest alternative.  
 
Although there are many regrets, the presentation of the annual implementation target by 2030 can be highly evaluated. Excluding 1998, when the country was in a state of bankruptcy due to the IMF, and 2020, when 'Corona' was rampant, it is difficult to find a case in which greenhouse gas emissions have decreased.  
 
Execution is more important than planning for greenhouse gas reduction, and this is why evaluation and constructive feedback by a group of experts with public confidence are essential.
 
It is true that the unit cost of renewable energy generation is still higher than that of fossil fuels, and it is inconvenient for the general public to follow Eco-friendly living methods such as expanding the use of public transportation and controlling the temperature of air conditioning and heating.

Jesus taught, "Love your neighbor as yourself". Believers must first come forward to practice carbon neutrality to solve the "climate crisis" that is at stake in the global community and even the ecosystem. It is because those who belong to God must practice righteous things. (1 John 3:10) So we must be born again as children of God. Because Jesus "is the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).

Pseudo-religion and Easter Faith

 

In the recent Catholic Peace Weekly's Peace column, the director of news gives us a look at a problem with pseudo-religion during this Coming Easter season.

Religious society becomes murky due to the activities of pseudo-religious groups, especially at this time of the year celebrating again the Lord's Resurrection Day. 

Pseudo-ism and heresy are different. Heresy is considered deviating greatly from the orthodox tenets of established religion, pseudo-religious groups abuse the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution.

Pseudo Religion destroys both the spiritual and physical lives of those who become followers. They placate the followers with disguised interest and false love, distort the Bible and doctrine, induce blind faith in the religious leader, and brainwash the believers. If they leave, they attack and terrorize, and make them tremble in fear

A common characteristic of pseudo-religious leaders is that they claim to be 'messiahs', and gods. They distort the resurrection faith of Jesus and deceive the believers to satisfy their private desires through sexual violence, and extortion. 2000 years ago the resurrected Jesus has returned to delegate them the mission of the Second Coming. So they came up with the bizarre logic that only by believing and obeying them can they be saved and go to heaven.

So how did Jesus actually resurrect from the dead and foretell the Second Coming? The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ are described in all four Gospels of the Bible. There are additions and subtractions in each Gospel, but the time, process, and words of the resurrection are all consistent.

Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. He died about three o'clock in the afternoon with a loud cry. "My God. My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23,46).

This is how Jesus was buried. Joseph of Arimathea, who had followed Jesus as a respected member of the Jewish Council, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body to be handed over. Upon Pilate's permission, Joseph took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in linen, placed it in a new tomb hewn out of the rock, and blocked the entrance to the tomb with a large stone.
 

The resurrection of Jesus took place at dawn on the first day of the week after the Sabbath. It was the third day since he died. Early in the morning, when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, the stone had been removed and the body of Jesus was nowhere to be seen. Peter and the other disciples who came later confirmed this. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, who was left alone in the tomb,  Also that evening, he appeared in front of his disciples and gave them a new mission, saying, "I will be with you until the end of the world" (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus' ascension was accomplished in such a way that after blessing his disciples at the place where they were gathered, he ascended into heaven, and the figure of Jesus disappeared from sight as a cloud enveloped him. The Acts of the Apostles mentions the words of two men in white to the disciples during Jesus' ascension. "This Jesus, who has ascended into heaven, will return before your eyes in the same way as he ascended into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

Pseudo-religious leaders who claim to be the 'Second Coming Jesus' distort and adapt the "Lord’s Second Coming and Judgment" using metaphors and symbols, promoting mysticism, and then deifying themselves.

We are not to understand the words of the Bible only as symbols and metaphors and interpret them arbitrarily. Like a pseudo cult, you can fall into delusions and hallucinations. You must read, listen, and interpret the Bible correctly so that you do not fall into pseudoscience. The cross is a symbol of righteous resistance and sacrifice. Jesus is always resurrected in us. We need to be better imitators of Jesus if we want to see the disappearance of pseudo-religions and give relief to their followers. Happy and Blessed Easter.
 
 

Missing the Point

During Monday of Holy Week, at the Gospel of the Mass, Mary of Bethany anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume. Judas who betrayed Jesus seeing the actions of Mary criticized her. Judas supposedly saw the possibility of using that money for the poor.

Mary of Bethany and Judas are both introduced to us at the beginning of Holy Week. Mary and Judas both see Jesus differently. Mary did something that with an objective worldly standard did not make sense. She used a large amount of expensive perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus.

On that day it was clear that Judas was not alone in seeing the actions of Mary as foolish, illogical and was joined by many other disciples as noted by the other synoptic Gospels.

There is no doubt that the way we live, our genes, things we have experienced, our scars, our good deeds, knowledge, our environment, and many other stimuli are all present in what we see and hear, consequently, we often see and hear what we want. St.Thomas Aquinas put it very succinctly: we receive in the manner of the receiver. (Quidquid Recipitur...)

Truth should be our goal in all our discussions, however, truth alone without mercy often engenders violence in its many forms. "Truth should free us."

During this last part of Lent, we see Jesus' movement toward death increasing. Many only saw the harm to the nation with his talk and behavior. The very thing they feared did come about 40 years after the death of Jesus, the destruction of the Temple, and the end of the Nation.

Mary of Bethany and a few others did see Jesus rightly which made all the difference in their actions. The point was for them rather obvious.
 

Does missing the point in our many discussions bring about our polarization? We should be helping each other to find the truth but we are so taken up with our opinions that we sacrifice civility, and mercy, in our desire to destroy the opposition. Jesus made his approach on a donkey into Jerusalem last Sunday a laughing matter for those who want to see it that way.

We have a fancy word for the argument that misses the point. The Latin word for ignoring the refutation, missing the point, and failing to deal with the issue is ignoratio elenchi. Probably all the fallacies can be reduced to this basic fallacy of missing the point.
 
Mary, when she looked at Jesus, saw the God of Heaven. Judas saw a man who he hoped was the Messiah according to his understanding but was not. Most of the Apostles and disciples did not see Jesus like Mary of Bethany until after the Resurrection.

Missing the point about Jesus is the issue for Christians, but in our discussions with others, both online and offline is it not necessary to make sure we are talking about the same thing and understand as fully as possible what the other is saying or trying to say and have the kindness to try to help them say it and likewise for the other to do the same. The truth will always suffer from our efforts to prove that we are right without efforts to understand the other. For we are missing the point and no longer in search of truth.

Let's All become a little Poorer.

In the Catholic Peace Weekly a priest in his column  gives the readers his thoughts on the panic situation and bankruptcy experienced in certain parts of the world from past years.

After World War I in the 1920s, the United States, the center of the world economy, was entering a time of prosperity. New home appliances such as cheap cars, washing machines and refrigerators poured into the market. The stock market continued to rise and people with great hope borrowed money to invest. Overflowing money and installment payments, moved people to spend money on expensive luxury goods from all over the world. This period, the United States had eyes only  for money and consumption—called the Roaring Twenties.

At the end of the era of frenzy, the economy faced the Great Depression. Companies and banks begin to fall,  their products  accumulating but no one interested. The streets were full of unemployed. Those who lost their homes due to excessive debt became homeless and after the splendid parties and money all that remained was a memory. They discovered their shabby self that was hidden with luxury goods.

 

The deeper the darkness, the more the stars are shining. Dorothy Day, who showed a stream of light in a world when all was dark. Dorothy Day, was a journalist in New York, and began the  'Catholic Workers' Movement' with Peter Maurin at the peak of the Great Depression. For workers and the poor, they created a newspaper called "Catholic Workers", a hospitality house and a farm community, and was with those who  despaired during the Great Depression. Dorothy Day shouted in the world and church: "Let's get slightly poorer."

 

After the Corona crisis, the era of frenzy and the Great Depression seems to be coming back. Astronomical money was released by the corona crisis. It was called 'helicopter money' because it was overflowing as if sprinkled by helicopters floating in the sky. Asset prices have exploded due to overflowing money. The stock index soared, and the price of real estate, including apartments, seemed to change daily.

 

Can the church avoid the economic recession? The church also tightened its belt. Recently, Pope Francis abolished the free housing offered to high-ranking priests in the Vatican. The reason is the financial deterioration that started with Corona. According to Vatican News, you have to pay the same rent as ordinary people to live in a Vatican-owned house that was free or cheap. Before that, it is said that the living expenses paid to priests were also reduced. What should we do when the Vatican is in this kind of situation?

 

 "The church must be a field hospital."  Pope Francis, who celebrates his 10th anniversary as Pope, wants these words  to be the attitude of the church that looks at the economic crisis. As Dorothy Day during the Great Depression, should we become a slightly poorer church; a church that can reach out to those who are poor and in difficulty. Shouldn't the church  always be available for spiritual and practical help? So looking back we can say  that the church was an 'era of grace'  for these times.