Philosophy of LIfe

In the Catholic Peace Weekly's 'Philosophy Diary' column, a Catholic university professor has a meditation on the death of a young priest.

While studying for the Franciscan religious order in the seminary in the United States, he lived with a brother named Harry. He had been ordained a priest that year and came to the community to study for his doctorate in theology. He was a well-built, handsome Franciscan from New York who loved hiking and was a good piano player.

However, he was too introverted to converse deeply with a foreign seminary student like the columnist. To him, he was just an ordinary person. He was remembered for getting annoyed when someone put the toilet paper roll the wrong way in the monastery's communal bathroom.

After living together for a few months, Harry was diagnosed with colon cancer. He had been complaining of stomach pain for a few days. Then, he went to the hospital and told the community of the diagnosis. 

Everyone was surprised. Harry must have been the most surprised. He said he had never been seriously ill before. He joked that we shouldn't worry too much about health and that he had been meticulous about taking care of his health, but he had cancer.

His life of fighting illness and his quiet last steps were awe-inspiring. After his colon cancer surgery, he had a colostomy bag attached to his stomach to collect the waste. Consequently, his upper garment always bulged out, and he would often sit with his back slightly bent. He rarely went out but participated in community prayers and Mass. He soon stopped coming to classes, but other than that, his daily life was not much different from that of his brothers.

The columnist's English was poor then, so he couldn't figure out how his illness was progressing even after hearing the explanation. It must have been a difficult time, but as his body grew thinner, his expression became more peaceful. When he occasionally celebrated Mass, he would talk about the resurrection. After living like that for about a year, he passed away quietly one night in his monastery room.

Last week, on Tuesday evening during the Advent season, the columnist witnessed the noisiness in our country that seemed straight out of a third-rate movie. While pondering its significance, he recalled Brother Harry's humble final moments. Was it because he saw the greed of a top leader who should have stepped down? Or was it because of the vanity and shallowness of the thinking of those who claim to represent the nation? Or the realization that what we call happiness, our desires, and our longings can be valueless and vain.

It may be foolish to mention the world's affairs, which could turn in any direction, even tomorrow, to those reading this a week later. However, it is small and insignificant in the big picture, whether it turns this way or that way. No matter how much we— "love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and with all your strength,"— if our steps are directed towards the vain goal of satisfying desires, our lives will be filled with emptiness and without meaning.

In every corner of the country, we are all taking steps with hearts united. For our steps to have meaning, they must start from the most straightforward principle: "All power comes from the people," they must be directed toward the One who is truly good, not the satisfaction of temporary desires.

Only the power entrusted to us by each and every citizen will have meaning and weight, and all other noisy fake powers will be weeded out. In this time of waiting for the birth of the Savior, let us reflect on the meaning and direction of life contained in the humble last steps of Harry and all those who face death with the same kind of peace. 

'Take Courage'

In his Science and Faith column of the Catholic  Peace Weekly, a science teacher provides some interesting details on our body's cell life. 

Emperor Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty ended the chaotic Spring and Autumn Period and unified the continent for the first time in Chinese history in 221 BC. When his subjects sent to find the elixir of life fled, he buried them alive along with hundreds of Confucian scholars and burned Confucian books. What he feared most was aging and disease.

Aging is a phenomenon in which the structure and functions of a living organism deteriorate over time and is directly caused by cellular aging. When cells age, they lose their ability to divide and eventually die. Living organisms maintain life by periodically dividing cells to preserve their body tissues and organs. In the case of humans, the average number of cell divisions is about 50 to 60, and the cell division cycle varies depending on the tissue or organ of the body. The lifespan of skin cells is about 35 days, with existing cells dying and being replaced by new cells. Oral epithelial cells and cells in the digestive tract lining that are physically stimulated by food are faster than this.

Whenever cells divide, they replicate their genetic material, DNA. The DNA fragments at the end of chromosomes, called telomeres, become shorter during this process. When telomeres are shorter than a certain level, cells stop dividing and die, which is the aging process. In the case of cancer cells, an enzyme regenerates telomeres when they divide, so they do not age even after dividing repeatedly. In other words, cancer cells do not die on their own. 

In 2004, the Yonsei University Aging Function Gene Research Center increased the average lifespan by 20% by making telomeres 30% longer than normal using laboratory animals. This experiment was published in the world-renowned scientific journal Nature Genetics. By revealing the aging mechanism, they found a clue to delaying it.

But more important than biological youth is the youth of the mind and spirit. The youth of the mind is not dull to beautiful things and maintains the delicacy of emotions. In his poem “Youth”, Samuel Ullman said, “Youth is not a period of life, but a state of mind. It is a strong will, a rich imagination, and a burning passion.” Goethe began writing “Faust” at the age of 26 and finished it at the age of 83. The British Romantic poet William Wordsworth said, “My heart races when I see a rainbow in the sky.” They showed us what the youth of the mind is. The youth of the mind is the ability to accept new things and flexibility. We should not be stubborn in our thinking and judgment but be flexible to the changes in the world. When our hearts and minds are young, like Jesus, we are young forever.

The World Youth Day (WYD) will be held in Seoul in 2027. Young people from all over the world who want to follow the teachings of Christ will gather in our country, but this event is not just for them. Not only young people but everyone who possesses the spirit and mind of youth should be the protagonist. The theme of the World Youth Day to be held in our country is “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We should all ask Christ for courage so that we can overcome the absurdity and injustice of the world and always remain young. “Young one, I say to you, Arise” (Luke 7:14).

A Life Lived Fully

In the recent Catholic Peace Weekly, there was the Obituary of Jean Maloney (Moon e-hyun), a Maryknoll Sister who founded the first shelter for women in prostitution called Magdalena's House (now the Magdalena Community). She passed away at 9 p.m. (local time) on November 28 at the headquarters of the  Maryknoll Sisters in New York, USA. Aged 94.

The funeral Mass was held there. The body will be buried in the New York convent cemetery. In Korea, where the deceased served as a missionary for 70 years, a memorial Mass was held at the Jeon, Jin, Sang Center of the International Catholic Brotherhood (AFI) in Hapjeong-dong, Seoul 

Sister Jean Maloney was born in New York in 1930 and entered the Maryknoll Sisters in 1950. After her first vows in 1953, she was sent to Korea and continued to care for the poor and marginalized until she returned to her home country in 2023 for health reasons.  

Sister Maloney started working as a nurse at the Maryknoll Hospital in Busan, which was crowded with refugees immediately after the armistice of the Korean War. With 20 colleagues, she cared for over 2,000 patients a day. From dawn, she handed out tickets to patients lined up in front of the door, so she was nicknamed the 'Nun at the Door'. She used the same pronunciation, 'Moon (文),' as her Korean surname.

Sister Maloney worked at the Maryknoll Hospital in Jeungpyeong in 1956 and at the Maryknoll Hospital in Ganghwa in 1963. She participated in the Catholic Youth Workers' Association (JOC). In the mid-1970s, she shared joys and sorrows with workers at the Guro Industrial Complex in Garibong-dong, Seoul.

The establishment of the Magdalene Community was triggered by a visit to the Yongsan prostitution hotspot for field training by the Federation of Sisters of Asia and Oceania in October 1984. At the time, Sister Maloney met Lee Ok-jeong (Consecrata), the head of the Magdalene Community, who was counseling prostitutes in a single room near Yongsan Station and learned about their lives. They decided to work together to help these young women.  

The two, who also agreed with the approval of the Archdiocese of Seoul, to establish the first and only shelter for prostitutes in Korea, Magdalene House (reorganized as the Magdalene Community in 2005), in Yongsan on July 22 of the following year with support from the Seoul Catholic Social Welfare Association. Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan (1922-2009), the 'servant of God,' also visited here often to offer comfort and support.

For over 20 years, Sister Moon served as the co-representative of the House of Magdalene and as the 'mother' of women forced into prostitution, helping them escape prostitution and rehabilitate. She also participated in the women's labor and unification movements.

In 1997, Sister Jean earned a BS in Psychology/Sociology from Maryland University. That same year, she celebrated her Golden Jubilee as a Maryknoll Sister. In 2007, Sister Jean returned to the United States to mentor (as Orientation Director) women who were on their way to becoming the newest Maryknoll Sisters.

Sister Jean returned to Korea in 2009 to write the history of the Maryknoll Sisters in Korea from 1924 to 2012. She also had a Bible class, worked part-time with a group giving Partnership workshops for leadership training, and connected with the Magdalena communities for women, which she co-founded in 1985.

Sister Maloney was one of the few foreigners who experienced the country's rebuilding following the Korean War and lived through rapid industrialization to see a first-world country. Her influence will be felt for many years yet to come.

Making the Most of Advent

 

The Preciousness of Faith column of the Catholic Peace Weekly offers some thoughts to consider during this Advent and the end-of-year Christmas season.

During the last period of the year and the beginning of Advent, the liturgy is filled with a warning about the end times and words to be awake and wait. Jesus' words about the end times, which are often exploited by followers of pseudo-religions, sometimes come as a chilling surprise. Still, they contain a message of hope that if we wait patiently during tribulation, there is hope for change. "So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near the door." (Mark 13:29)

The church has interpreted Jesus' words about the disasters of the last days not only as something that will happen at the end times but also as something that is happening in our lives right now: the death of an individual, the sentence of a limited life span due to illness, or, more generally, the various trials and crises we experience in our lives that are traumatic.

The characteristic of a crisis is that it destroys the life we've lived. When life built up over time collapses instantly, we lose our direction, become confused, find ourselves in despair, and cry in a heap of ashes.

However, the Lord's words: "Know that the Son of Man is near the door"— are not just a promise but a source of hope. They remind us that even in the face of great tribulations, it's not the end but a new beginning. These moments of tribulation are a call to prepare for His coming, a reminder not to be shaken by anxiety or discouragement but to be patient, gain strength, and use it as a time of waiting to meet Him.

If we think about it, aren't the moments of crisis when our lives fall apart moments telling us that we will have to leave everything behind someday? The things we own and enjoy are precious, so we collect and accumulate many things as we live. Ultimately, we will go empty-handed, so aren't moments of crisis a time of preparation to shake them off and leave when the Lord comes?

In a sense, we need moments when the things we have accumulated fall apart. Though shocking and painful, these moments are necessary for us to realize that we must leave and practice letting go. How could we ever understand the importance of letting go without such moments?

Moving can be a huge burden to those with a lot of stuff, but when we move, we organize and throw away many things and reflect on the things we ​​have accumulated.

If we were to compare this to a tree, wouldn't it be 'letting go', and isn't this one of the most necessary words to hear during Advent? In the fall, trees shed their leaves and prepare for winter. The prolonged summer heat has been so intense this year that the leaves have fallen quite late. The ginkgo tree on the school road usually sheds its leaves in early November. Still, the period of leaf shedding has continued until early December. It is said that this is not good for the health of the trees, as they have less time to receive water and nutrients during the winter.

The moments of crisis and collapse were times when we had to strip ourselves of much. Advent urges us to strip off again and fill ourselves with the Lord's poor and humble heart. There is no time to waste. Christmas, the coming of the Lord, is near. We must prepare ourselves now.

Anomalies In Life

A Religious Sister in the Catholic Times' View from the Ark column discusses inconsistencies in Korea's treatment of new life, granted in extraordinary circumstances, which has one of the lowest birth rates in the world.

The sister introduces us to Lisa, who came into the world as a gift, and her mother, Kati, a strong mother who gave the world to her daughter, Lisa. This precious life came to her unprepared.

Now three years old, Lisa's eyes are filled with such loving cuteness that it's hard to turn away. Lisa lives her life more joyfully than anyone else, simply embracing the life God gave her without any pretense. Although Kati isn't fully prepared to be a perfect mother, she finds happiness in Lisa's existence. Watching Lisa, Kati is ready to overcome hardship and earnestly wishes her daughter a bright and healthy future. 

Kati, a foreign worker who received an E6 visa and worked in Korea a few years ago, met a Korean man and found out she was pregnant soon after. However, contrary to expectations, the Korean father of her child found out that she was pregnant and encouraged her to have an abortion. She has been in hiding ever since. She was scared. The many realistic problems that she would have to face if she were to give birth to a child alone in this unfamiliar country with nothing were scary.

In the meantime, the father of the child disappeared. Ms. Kati, a Catholic, vowed to protect the precious life wriggling in her womb even though she had nowhere to go and could not work.

"The issue of life is that the lives of the weak are trampled by the strong, and the lives threatened by abortion, euthanasia, violence, war, etc., are the weak who do not have the power to protect their own lives from the unjust violence of the powerful." (Words from a Catholic Priest's column in the Catholic Newspaper.)

Yes, life is created by the strong, but that life is threatened again by the strong. Most people who do not hesitate to take risks to protect their lives are weak. Those weak are women and mothers. "Turn my eyes from looking at vanities, and give me life in thy ways." Life gained by following God's ways is created in His image and has dignity, so no one can or should have authority over another's life.

Lisa still needs to meet her father. All Kati wants is one thing: to live in Korea with Lisa. To do so, she must file a family claim lawsuit and have a DNA test to confirm her family relationship so that she can live safely in Korea with her mother. Both of these methods require her father's help. Katie wants nothing else, but the father refuses and avoids the child's existence.

Lisa, who has started going to daycare, is beginning to ask about her father's existence. Kati is becoming increasingly anxious as she watches Lisa searching for her father and her future, which is not guaranteed. If the child's existence is not acknowledged, Kati must take the child and leave Korea. Unfortunately, her father is hiding, but for the child's happiness, Kati has started a family claim lawsuit to confirm her family relationship.

There needs to be a legal alternative to hold fathers who have disappeared accountable for the future their children must live, even without lawsuits. 

The law that mandates child support until the age of 18 has no means to enforce it on these bad fathers who vanish without a trace. Hope must blossom in the lives of many vulnerable people like Kati, who continue to walk a tightrope to protect their children so they can live, valuing the preciousness of life and fulfilling their responsibilities while they are alive. 

The columnist hopes for a day when people like Kati can live happily in a country where they can choose to live their lives with their children like Lisa— Life is a gift of love from God.

Korean Low Birth Rate

The Eyes of Priest column in the Catholic Peace Weekly reports on an unwed couple who has made known the birth of their child. 

The news of a Korean actor and model having a baby was surprising. On the 22nd, the child's mother, a model, announced the baby's birth through her social media. The father confirmed through his agency that he is the child's biological father. He stated that although there are no plans for marriage, he will fulfill his responsibilities as a parent to raise the child.

The columnist congratulates the father and mother on raising the child. He appreciates the courage of the two of them to choose life over abortion, even though it could tarnish the image that they have built up so far. 

A child, God's creation "just by existing," brings joy and love to the world. He applauds the father for taking full responsibility for their child until the end. He prays that God will bless the couple and the child born.

The priest columnist is disappointed at some of the public's evaluation of this unmarried birth. Some entertainment media and YouTubers are pouring out gossip articles about inheritance or child support. They are also forcibly linking this incident to the mother's volunteer work and using sarcasm against her. All the words poured out on them feel like stones thrown at the woman in the Gospel of John. 

If they treat famous celebrities this harshly, how much worse must it be for ordinary people who gave birth alone to protect their lives? Unfortunately, our community's atmosphere makes people choose abortion because of the opinions of others. I hope you put aside your curiosity and pray for this child.

However, he is concerned that voices are calling for various family structures because of this incident. They say that our society's traditional view of family through marriage is outdated.  The younger generation is responding positively to the model's unmarried birth. The government is exploiting this atmosphere and promoting policies to diversify family structures. The birth rate is continuously falling, so they are trying to increase it this way. The National Assembly is discussing a bill that would recognize unmarried 'couples' and same-sex 'groups' as family status, like European countries like France.

However, the birth rate must be solved differently. As Tesla's Elon Musk recently pointed out, Korea's birth rate is falling due to structural problems in our society. The fundamental reasons for the low birth rate are long working hours compared to OECD countries, pyramid-based education as seen in the medical school entrance exam craze, materialism that believes money is the most important, and our politics that cannot solve this problem. Therefore, rather than the diversity of family composition, we need to change the reality that children face to increase the birth rate.

The Catholic Church supports all those who protect life. Like Mary's conception and Joseph's courage 2,000 years ago, I pray that the Lord's grace will be abundant for all who seek to protect life. 

Sensitiviy To Gender Violence

The Korean Catholic Times' View From the Ark column reports on violence that is all too well known in many parts of the world. The columnist is a humanities professor. 

The  violence reported in the news in recent months has been brutal beyond imagination. There have been cases where victims of violence during a relationship were murdered, cases where victims were sexually assaulted online and offline, threatened with the distribution of illegal videos, and cases where photos were stolen, deepfake videos were distributed, and money was extorted.

A famous female YouTuber confessed that her ex-boyfriend threatened to distribute illegally filmed videos and extorted a large amount of money. It is shocking that other male YouTubers found out about this and threatened the victim to demand money.

We live in a society where, rather than considering respect and consideration as a basic courtesy, the attitude that the other party’s harm is irrelevant as long as my interests and desires are pursued is prevalent. The lack of sensitivity to violence is not unrelated to interpreting welfare policies for marginalized groups in terms of poverty, age, gender, and disability as preferential treatment or reverse discrimination. 

Although there has been no progress in gender equality in education and employment, underrepresentation has not been resolved, and women are not safe from violence based on male-centered thinking or misogyny.

Gender violence cannot be resolved without understanding gender power relations. However, when women are asked to act as fair, independent, and equal subjects, the violent damage they experience is trivialized. This culture supports the common belief that women bring harm to themselves. It is also unacceptable that the punishment is reduced when the perpetrator uses his or her power or is a first-time offender.

Kate Manne, a professor of philosophy at Cornell University in the United States, calls excessive sympathy for male perpetrators “himpathy” in her book “Down Girl: Misogyny.” She criticizes the culture that, behind blaming victims, pities perpetrators and interprets them as having a reason to commit crimes.

The fact that perpetrators are not monsters or horned people but ordinary people acts as compassion for the perpetrator’s situation. This is in contrast to the lack of compassion for victims. In our society, there is a tendency to doubt whether victims seduced women and not understand the victim’s situation.

In “Sexual Violence in the Market,” women’s studies researcher describes a situation in which perpetrators become more vicious as legal punishment regulations for sexual violence victims are created. Since sexual crime records are disclosed and can lead to restrictions on employment, perpetrators of sexual violence use all means to avoid punishment. They hire “competent” lawyers and even counter-sue victims for defamation.

Women’s groups are shocked to discover that perpetrators of sexual violence have transferred donations to their bank accounts. These donations are used as materials for the perpetrator to reflect on their crimes, which helps reduce the sentence.

In dramas and movies, stories where individuals punish perpetrators despite the pain of the victims and their families are popular because they do not receive due legal punishment. They judge perpetrators for justice, thereby quelling public anger and comforting victims and their families. However, when the judicial system does not judge injustice, private punishment can lead to abuse of power or violence due to the absence of reflection.

In “Anger and Forgiveness,” American political philosopher Martha Nussbaum criticizes the culture of forcing forgiveness on victims even when they do not have the will to forgive. She also explains that while personal revenge by victims and their families can alleviate their anger and pain, it does not prevent the vicious cycle of repeating the same crime. Therefore, she emphasizes that for a society to heal the wounds of victims and their families, it must sympathize with their pain and provide them with generous comfort.

Sympathizing with the pain of victims means that we must create social mechanisms for prevention and response to prevent crime and violence and prevent the creation of more victims. These devices are not just meant to be used for surveillance or punishment. When members of society become sensitive to gender-based violence, women can be assured of their safety.