Speaking Our Convictions

On the spirituality page of the Catholic Peace Weekly a priest writes about the need for the participants to the 16th World Bishops' Synod to speak their convictions in the Lord in his weekly column on the Synod.

While the importance of humble listening was emphasized during the 16th World Bishops' Synod journey, it received little attention for its relative boldness. 

 

Pope Francis lamented the rigid ways of meeting the synod from the beginning. He pointed out that it is against the spirit of the synod that those present at the synod assume that the pope is thinking something different and do not speak according to their conviction. 

 

Through the first plenary session of the 14th World Bishops Synod held in 2014, Pope Francis explicitly expressed his views on speaking in accordance with the 'synodic' spirit. Pope Francis emphasized during the synod that everything that the participants feel in the Lord should be said without hesitation.

The synod must therefore be conducted in an honest and positive atmosphere. Don't worry about how others will judge what you're trying to say, but speak clearly. You should not be afraid of anything you face in the  synod meetings. Through this, synod participants face various real-world problems and encounter moments of anguish that we don't want to see. Be careful of the temptation to finish quickly because you have something else to do. During the Synod progress incomplete situations experienced during the synod should not be recognized only as discord and raptures. These little gaps allow the grace of the synod to come into our lives.
 

Bold speaking in the spirit of the synod provides an opportunity for leading players in various fields to speak with sufficient freedom. This reflects the understanding of God's people in the Second Vatican Council. Specifically: "Laypeople, by reason of the knowledge, competence, or outstanding ability which they may enjoy, is permitted and sometimes even obliged to express their opinion on things that concern the good of the church.(Paragraph 37 of the Constitution of the Church)

 

To speak courageously in accordance with the spirit of the synod is to participate in the activity of the Holy Spirit, which unites members of the church with their different thoughts, callings, and mission as one dynamic subject. But in reality, this oneness in the  synod processes is difficult to experience. Rather, it seems that the tension encountered in synod meetings more often leads to an atmosphere of contention. Practical efforts are needed to proceed with the synod in an atmosphere that is active, prudent, and without worry or anxiety  while maintaining tension.
 

For this, Pope Francis' explanation of listening may be helpful ((The Joy of Gospel」, paragraph 171). "We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simply hearing. Listening, in communication, is an openness of heart which makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. Listening helps us to find the right gesture and word which shows that we are more than simply bystanders. Only through such respectful and compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth and awaken a yearning for the Christian ideal: the desire to respond fully to God’s love and to bring to fruition what he has sown in our lives. But this always demands the patience of one who knows full well what Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us: 'that anyone can have grace and charity, and yet falter in the exercise of the virtues because of persistent contrary inclinations'. In other words, the organic unity of the virtues always and necessarily exists in habitu, even though forms of conditioning can hinder the operations of those virtuous habits. Hence the need for “a pedagogy which will introduce people step by step to the full appropriation of the mystery”. Reaching a level of maturity where individuals can make truly free and responsible decisions calls for much time and patience. As Blessed Peter Faber used to say: 'Time is God’s messenger' ".

 

 

 

 

 

Limits of Freedom

On the Spirituality Page of the Catholic Peace Weekly, a priest gives the readers an understanding of the limits of freedom.

Humans are free beings. However, human freedom is also a limited freedom. The mere existence of any freedom other than mine greatly limits my freedom. But other than that, humans encounter numerous obstacles in their lives that limit their freedom.

Since humans are born and conditioned from within, how mature a person is depends on how much he or she accepts the limits of freedom.
Parents know very well that if they give in to everything their child wants, the child will not grow properly. As a child lives with others in a daycare center, kindergarten, or school, he or she grows up learning that they cannot have everything their way.

The Bible conveys this truth through the story of the fall of our first ancestors on earth (see Genesis 2:4-3,24). Although God gave everything to humans, he also drew a line that should not be crossed. In other words, you must not eat from the ‘tree of knowledge of good and evil'. (The "tree of the knowledge of good and evil "symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom (#396 Catechism of the Catholic Church). That is the innate condition of human beings and the innate limitations of human freedom.

This means that human freedom requires nurturing and care. It takes a long time of preparation to become the master of one's own life. You must learn what life is and how to live it from your parents and through interpersonal relationships in various environments.

Faith is similar to this. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are reborn as free beings freed from sin and evil, but that freedom is still fragile and can easily go out like a lamp in the wind. Just as a long period of nurturing and preparation is needed to lead one's own life, protection and care are needed to adopt one's parents' (church's) faith as one's own.

This allows us to look at the issue of children's religious education in a new way. One day, when your child expresses difficulties with faith, you must be able to understand it as a problem of freedom. When your child is dissatisfied with the infant baptism he or she received and asks why you took away their religious freedom by making him a Catholic, or when he threatens to stop going to church, you first need to acknowledge that this attitude is natural. Just as puberty during adolescence is essential in the process of human growth, a child must naturally go through such times of rebellion and conflict to make faith his or her own.

However, at the same time, we need to recognize that human freedom is limited. Just as we prepare for 20 years (or more!) to live our own lives, we must be able to realize that we need more time to understand the principles of faith and its meaning. However, this cannot be forced; it is something a child must learn on their own. Therefore, we have no choice but to wait. Even if your child does not accept it right now if you trust God and the church, have patience, talk and trust each other, and continue to walk along the path, you will find that your child will grow little by little and choose faith on his own after overcoming the adolescence faith.

However, you should not stop fertilizing. The best fertilizer for your child's faith and freedom to grow is building trust. Leading children to build trust in God, the Church, their parents, and themselves will serve as the most important cooperation in helping the Holy Spirit work in the child's journey of faith.

Synodalitas, Evangelization, Mission

In the Theological Lecture Hall column of the Catholic Times, the director of a theological cultural research center gives the readers some background on the situation of the church in society and its mission.

The growth of the church seems to have reached its limit. In the latter half of the 20th century, beyond the strong waves of secularization, religion seemed to be becoming more active to the extent that we heard the words: 'return of religion'. Except for the European churches, all churches in the world were seeing growth. In the 1990s, the Korean church reached its peak of expansion. 

However, in the 21st-century era of post-secularization, religion is losing its influence. Korean churches are also shrinking. Of course, there are parishes that grow thanks to the individual capabilities of their pastors. There are also parishes that grow due to social factors such as expansion of population. However, the overall trend of the church is a period of contraction rather than growth.

 

A crisis always brings back fundamental questions. What is church? What is the church for? It is a question about identity and mission. Identity and mission are connected as one. 

The church exists to carry out the mission of evangelization. A missionary church is what the church is. Recognizing its own identity and mission again and rebuilding it is the church's way of responding to times of crisis. All of Pope Francis' efforts are an extension of this. Synodalitas is the internal renewal of the church  

to become a missionary church.

In general, when the church defined missions as "proclaiming the gospel and planting churches" (Mission Decree, Article 6 Vatican II Documents), there was a tendency to equate proclaiming the gospel with evangelization. In other words, evangelization was understood as an element of mission. However, a new concept was needed because the traditional concept of missionary work was considered to have a kind of colonialist tendency, showing the characteristics of Western centrism.

 

 

Evangelii nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World; is an apostolic exhortation issued in 1975 by Pope Paul Vl on the theme of Catholic evangelization.

It affirms the role of every Christian, not only ordained ministers, priests, and deacons, or religious, or professional church staff, in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It provided a holistic and new understanding of the concept of evangelization. The

concept of evangelization came to be established as a concept encompassing the mission and activities of the church.The changed understanding of evangelization led to the acceptance of missionary activities as an element of evangelization. In other words, it emphasizes mission as evangelization.Evangelization as an element of mission changes to mission as an element of evangelization.

 

Evangelization includes all three aspects of the church's mission and activity. Evangelization includes general pastoral care that "helps believers to respond more fully to God’s love in their lives by orienting themselves towards spiritual growth" and new evangelization (that helps "those who were baptized but did not live according to the demands of baptism" to experience conversion). It includes both re-evangelization) and missions "proclaiming the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or to those who still reject Him" (foreign missions). (The Joy of the Gospel, paragraph 14)

 

Evangelization, missions, and pastoral care have no clear boundaries and are closely interconnected. The concepts of evangelization, mission, and pastoral care allow us to understand the mission and activities of the church from various angles. The traditional understanding of missions and pastoral care had an aspect of strengthening clergy-centered church activities. However, a changed understanding of evangelization also results in a new understanding of church activities and an expansion of the scope of lay participation. The concept of evangelization is a comprehensive thing that encompasses mission and pastoral care, and is positioned as a theological term that can promote change and renewal of the church in various aspects.

Synodalitas The method of evangelization also varies depending on the way the church exists and operates. If evangelization is not carried out properly today, it ultimately means that there is a problem with the way the church exists and operates. Evangelization can be better carried out through the evangelization of church members and church structures. The evangelization of the world and the evangelization of the church always go together.

The church is not a socially or culturally autonomous space. The church is always under the influence of times and culture. The church borrows much from the culture of its time. However, the church creates its own unique culture by renewing the borrowed things from the perspective of the gospel. Synodalitas reflects the church's movement to better carry out its mission of evangelization by renewing its structures, relationships, and methods of communication within the church. Synodalitas is the Church's effort to become more effective in carrying out her mission of evangelization in the world.

Synodalitas does not simply aim to change the way the church operates at a functional level. It is an effort to breathe newness into the way the church exists and works, and it is an effort to pursue new church methods at the spiritual, pastoral, and institutional levels. It is an effort to reorganize the church according to the times and culture, and an effort to find models for carrying out the mission of evangelization in various theological, cultural, and institutional forms.

It is a time when we must deeply think about the evangelization of the church for the evangelization of the world. Will we prepare for a new beginning through change and renewal, or will we live in the old way and follow the path of decline?

Rethinking the Word used For Laity in Catholicism

The Catholic Weekly in its opinion page has an article by a director of a research institute who wants the  word  laity changed from "ordinary, common, believer"  which is the literal meaning of (평신도) in Korean to something else.

She remembers an article published in a Catholic newspaper last summer about the title 'Pope' in Korea which has the meaning of king of the church. She mentions a priest that presented the opinion that leader of the church (교종) would be more appropriate in the spirit of the Synod. He also suggested that the word for the laity in Korean was also problematic. The priest explained that the term laity distinguishes the holy from the ordinary which goes to show how hierarchical the Catholic Church is and how trapped we are in a vertical structure. He wants to use the word 'Saints' for the laity as in the early church.

 

About 40 years ago, a Korean lay theologian Yang Han-mo wrote in his book "Thoughts on Believer" (Catholic Publishing, 1982), which dealt with the theology on the word 'believer' in accordance with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. There is discrimination inherent in the word 'pyeong' (平)’ ordinary believer therefore:"I don’t think we are exaggerating within God’s people, that is, the church to say this", and used the word 'believer' instead of the Korean word for 'laity'.  

 

Teacher Yang points out that in church history, the distinction between clergy and believers began after the 3rd century, and that positions according to different gifts should not be treated as ranks and separation. At the same time, we recall that in the New Testament, members of the Christian community are referred to as 'holy ones', 'disciples', and 'brothers'.

 

Like this, there have been issues raised about the title 'layperson' from early on, but since the words 'saint' and 'believer' are used a lot in Protestant churches, the Catholic Church continues to use the word 'layperson'. However, when she had the opportunity to greet Protestants and Buddhist believers and introduced herself as a 'Catholic layperson', she received a curious response. They asked her why she used the word 'lay' believer and whether there were separate 'high-ranking' believers. She once again realized that to those who are not Catholics, the title 'layperson' sounds like a derogatory and discriminatory term.

 

The problem with the title 'laity' stems from the fact that there are elements of the term that are not appropriate for believers to properly recognize their identity and perform their roles well. Just as the leader of the church is concerned about the title 'Pope' in that it should not be mistaken for 'Emperor', the term 'layperson' carries the meaning that Christians living in the world are unholy 'secular people' or 'non-experts' regarding faith. 

 

The first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the World Synod of Bishops recently ended. This synod stated that the church's way of life and activity should be a 'way to walk together' (synodalitas), and that all members of the church should share 'communion' and 'participate' in order to carry out the 'mission' of spreading the gospel to the world. They discussed together how to do it. The topic of the synod was about ways for church members to cooperate together, but the discussion also started with listening to the voices of believers in each local church, and the composition of the general assembly delegates also included not only bishops but also believers, laity,  religious, priests although it was a  synod composed of bishops in the past.  She is not sure yet whether the participation of believers as delegates is a special exception only for this synod that deals with the spirit of the synod or a structural change that will continue in the future, but if believers, the majority of God's people, do not join, the church that proclaims the gospel of the kingdom of God to the world It will be difficult for the community's mission to be properly realized

 

The Second Vatican Council stated that believers should be the 'soul of the world', witnesses to the resurrection and life of Jesus and a sign of the living God in the world (Article 38 of the Constitution of the Church). Today in Korea is Laity Sunday, which remembers the calling of believers sent out to the world, she would like to suggest a variety of appropriate terms that clearly reveal our sense of identity.

 

Praying for Peace

 

In the Catholic Peace Weekly a Research Fellow, of the Catholic Northeast Asia Peace Research Institute gives us a meditation on the word Peace.

Sometimes I wonder if we live today with a proper understanding of the words and expressions Jesus spoke in the Bible. One of them is the word ‘peace’.  Expressions meaning ‘peace’ that are familiar to us include Shalom, Pax, and Peace.
 
Shalom is Hebrew, Pax is Latin, and Peace is English. Shalom is said to include meanings such as unity, harmony, recognition and respect for others. In particular, it is said to mean the peace given when all contract conditions are fulfilled in relationships with God and neighbors. Perhaps it can be said to be a concept premised on the satisfaction of the highest good or common good.  
 
On the other hand, Pax has the connotation of peace by force, with the image of a powerful empire emerging. You may have heard the term Pax Romana at least once. In other words, it expresses domination by political and military power as a peace under the rule of the Roman Empire.  
 
It is said that ‘peace’ is derived from the Latin word pax. So, it can be thought that the English word peace implicitly includes peace caused by political and military power. It seems that errors are occurring here where our believers do not understand peace in its original meaning.
 
Jesus often spoke of peace as shalom. But what kind of peace is the peace we utter while exchanging the greeting of peace during the liturgy of the Mass? Shalom? the Latin— Pax? Or is the English word—Peace? When we exchange greetings of peace at Mass, we don't think: "I have a higher social status than you, so you have to follow what I say from now on." Clearly, we too think of peace as shalom.  
 
And this kind of peace as Shalom should not be kept only between individuals. However, in the perception of many believers, it seems that we have different perceptions of peace as Shalom among individuals and peace as Pax among nations appears to have taken root.
 
Every day we hear news of countless massacres in the Middle East. It is gruesome. Is the peace of shalom that Jesus talked about an impossible reality? Or are we just ignoring it? Or is it only used between individuals? He concludes the column by mentioning that he doesn't think there has ever been a time when the greeting ‘Peace be with you’ has touched his heart as deeply as it does these days.
 

War Is the Failure of Humanity

In the Eyes of the Believer column of the Catholic Times, a former journalist gives the readers some thoughts on War as the 'Failure of Humanity'.

Young people enjoying a music festival in a southern Israeli village when Hamas (Palestinian armed political faction) swooped in by paraglider and opened fire, people were instantly left dead, people desperately seeking shelter, hundreds were taken hostage, and then Israel's massive counterattack on the Gaza Strip— Palestinians screaming as they suddenly lost their families and homes, the screams of the bloody wounded, hundreds of thousands of people evacuating to the south, people driven into living hell due to water and power outages amid a total blockade...
 
On the 10th day of the war, the death toll on both sides exceeded 4,000. With the Israeli military facing a ground war, the number of casualties is sure to increase like a snowball. We are speaking about a massacre. Due to evacuation orders, one in four of the 2.3 million residents left. However, even if they go south, they have nowhere to go due to the border blockade. It’s literally like a 'rat in the earthen pot'.
 
Sparks of war are being emitted all over the world. The unusual movements of neighboring countries such as Hezbollah and Iran cast a dark cloud of escalation. Amid the Jewish-Arab confrontation, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protests are spreading all over the world. Even hate crimes are rampant. In the United States, a landlord in his 70s stabbed his tenant, a six-year-old Palestinian boy, to death and seriously injured the boy's mother. "I hate Arabs" and the murderous frenzy leaves us speechless.
 
Is war an unavoidable and necessary evil of human society? Just looking at the word's appearance in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, war is in line with human history. War theorist Clausewitz once preached: "War is a continuation of politics through violent actions that force the enemy to submit in order to realize our will".  When he thinks of the horrors of war, the title of Osamu Dazai’s novel ‘No Longer Human’ comes to mind. Although the story and context are different, the subtitle 'No Longer Human' is similar to 'The Defeat of Humanity'.

"War doesn’t solve problems. It only sows death and destruction and increases hatred and revenge. War erases the future and is the defeat of all humanity." Pope Francis' appeal to stop war and establish peace is ringing in his ears. At the beginning of the year, the Pope condemned terrorism and extremism, targeting the war between Russia and Ukraine as it continues.   At that time, he cited 'the heart of man corrupted by sin' (see Mark 7:17-23) as the cause of the war. Whatever the reason, violence leads to violence and blood leads to blood. It is truly a vicious cycle and a humanitarian crisis.

Students at Catholic Theological Seminary, where he studies, gathered in small groups and opened discussion on the conflict and Britain's part in the present situation. This present confrontation between the two sides of different ethnicities and religions, and the Palestinian people trapped in a small area of land behind a huge wall were hot topics. Moreover, there are suspicions of bias in the presentations and materials released by both sides. A representative example is the passing of responsibility to Israel and Hamas for the Gaza City hospital disaster that killed hundreds of people on the 17th. When it came to the war, both parties said it was wrong, and they seemed to feel more sympathy for the persecuted Palestinians.
 
Can I feel relieved or say that it doesn’t matter because the war didn’t break out in my country? In times like these, it is more appropriate to become a 'Good Samaritan'. First of all, we must be heartbroken by the pain and tragedy of Palestinians and Israelis. We must pray with repentant desperation for a speedy end to the war. Let us stand in solidarity with people around the world and raise our voices against war and violence. Humanitarian support must also be provided. Aren't the innocent victims and their families, regardless of one side or the other, the image of God and human beings just like us?

Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart

 

In the Catholic Times, a priest working in hospital ministry writes in One Mind One Body Suicide Prevention Center column on what we can learn from the Good Samaritan on suicide prevention. 

We are indifferent to the suffering of others. There are various encounters along the path of life, and while there are truly precious encounters, there are also encounters that we want to avoid. Sometimes we see people who have fallen on the path of life. In Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Luke, we hear about a  person who fell on the road of life. The priest and the Levite ‘see’ the robbed man and then pass by and go in the  opposite direction. 

You might wonder how that could be, but they had their own reasons. Those who worked in the temple became unclean if they touched blood or a dead person and could not enter the temple. But if we know what pleases God more, this is clearly an act of abandoning a great good for a lesser good.

The relationship between the Samaritans and Jews was not good so they could pretend not to know each other. However, the Samaritan may have had a similar experience in the past, but when he saw the fallen person, he felt the pain as his own and could not just ignore it.
 
Nowadays, few know that Korea has the highest suicide rate in OECD countries. We hear about such deaths all the time through the broadcast media or news from people around us. Now he believes there's is little that he doesn't know with his head. In modern society, various factors such as mental illness, victims of violence, irreversible physical pain, in life play a complex role as causes of suicide. And the church must pray for those who have died by suicide with a truly ‘mourning’ heart and be concerned for the families of those bereaved by suicide.

However, apart from feeling sad, it is necessary for Catholic believers to recognize the seriousness of the suicide problem in our society and to actively pay attention to suicide prevention practices as individuals and faith communities together, and to 'participate' in rescuing those at risk of suicide.
 
Passing by indifferently my neighbor who is on the brink of suicide without thinking of him as ‘my neighbor whom I must take care of’ reminds him of Cain’s response: Don’t know” to God’s question— "Where is your brother Abel?" As the Apostle James said: "If you know how to do something good but do not do it, it becomes a sin" (James 4:17). Believers must be more active in doing good.  

Pope Francis strongly criticized modern societies' inability to grieve, citing the tragic events resulting from today's "globalization of indifference". Many modern people 'see' the suffering of others directly and encountering it every day through the media, but they are insensitive to it and regard it as someone else’s problem. The reason we don't know how to cry for our neighbors or empathize with them may be because the globalization of indifference has taken away from us the ability to grieve. 

 The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Not loving is not hating, but not actively trying to see. This is not because the person is evil or does not love God. This is because although they believe in God with a good heart, they have no interest in their neighbors. The weakest in this day and age are those who cannot live to their full potential. Even today, the compassionate heart of Jesus struggles with our indifferent hearts.