Mission Sunday October 19, 2025

The Overseas Mission and Overseas Korean Pastoral Care Committee of the Bishops' Conference holds an annual "Overseas Mission Day" to review the overseas missionary activities of the Korean Church and explore more passionate missionary prospects. This year is particularly significant as it marks the 50th anniversary of the Korean Foreign Mission Society, which was established for overseas missions.

The Korean Church has grown from a 'receiving church' to a 'sharing church' through the love and support of the universal Church. Built upon the blood of martyrs, the Korean Church has become a proud member of the universal Church, grounded in the fervent spirit of martyrdom that inspired its martyrs. It has been entrusted with the missionary mandate to spread the Gospel beyond the Korean Peninsula to the entire world.

The Korean Church recognized this calling early on. Over the past decades, it has focused on establishing churches in regions where the Gospel has not been sufficiently spread, such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It has served the poor and marginalized through medical, educational, and social welfare activities. This was exemplary practice, testifying to a life of faith and love for neighbors, going beyond mere proclamation.

Today's world urgently demands the witness of the Gospel. Climate crisis, migrant and refugee issues, regional conflicts, economic inequality, and human alienation call for the Gospel of Christ to be revealed not only in words but through concrete practices of justice and love.

This year's 15th Overseas Mission Day, themed "The Catholic Church in Korea Speaks of Lay Missionaries," emphasizes the importance of lay missionaries. 

Mission is not solely the responsibility of clergy, religious, or professional missionaries. Proclaiming the Gospel is a spiritual calling given to all disciples of Christ. This Overseas Mission Day is an opportunity for all laypeople to rediscover the meaning and importance of mission as disciples of Christ.

Bridge Between Life and Death

The Seoul Archdiocese Life Committee hosted a talk concert titled ‘Connecting Life and Death’. A talk concert is a Korean way of saying lecture. It was a place to convey the true meaning of not merely facing ‘death’ but welcoming it. 

Hospice, which originated in the 11th century with the meaning of 'hospitality,' is now known as 'hospice palliative care.’ A professor in the Department of Hospice Palliative Medicine at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic University of Korea, explained, “Hospice is often known as treatment received before death, but it is treatment that helps manage symptoms of incurable diseases in an aging society.”

An author who lost her mother in her 30s, shared that her mother was admitted to the hospice palliative care ward at St. Mary's Hospital around the time it first opened. After admission, a nun asked her, ‘Have you prepared a portrait photo?’ She was shocked because she hadn't prepared at all for her mother's death. The author continued, but thanks to the nun, she could choose a moment when her mother was smiling most happily. After the funeral, at a memorial Mass for bereaved families, the priest said, ‘There is no one in this world who is not bereaved,’ which was a great comfort.

The Secretary General of Seoul Life Care, stated, “The Catholic Church places great importance on holistic care. Simply telling people to care for others vaguely can make it seem difficult, so we point to hospice as a model. Humans are born as the weakest beings and return to weakness. While the healthy may view this as unfortunate, each person is a being who finds meaning within their own circumstances."

Concerns were also raised regarding the recent active societal discussions on assisted suicide and euthanasia.  “Countries where assisted suicide is permitted are those with sufficiently developed hospice infrastructure,” and added, “In our country, discussions on assisted suicide are being held despite the severe lack of hospice infrastructure.”

The panelists at the talk concert repeatedly urged a renewed reflection on the value of death. When asked, ‘If you had only one day left to live, how would you want to live?’, one patient replied, ‘I want to live just like yesterday’. “I hope those contemplating death will reflect more deeply on their present lives. How one lives now will undoubtedly shape how death is accepted.”

Stages of Life

In the "Preciousness of Faith" Column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, a seminary professor offers readers some thoughts on the stages of growth.

The way life is born, grows, matures into adulthood, and then gives birth to new life. This intergenerational continuity of life is both astonishing and mysterious. The word 'generativity' (translated as 'fertility') refers to the principle of life transmission. 

It was said that life is transmitted through four stages: 'desire, birth, nurturing (care), and letting go'. Of course, this is not merely a biological process. People of faith recognize God's hand in it. This is because it follows the laws of creation planted by God. 

The defining feature of these four stages is that pain and joy intersect at every moment. In each stage—desire, birth, nurturing, and letting go—we experience unique pains and sorrows, as well as the joy and ecstasy that transcend them. For instance, how much pain does a mother endure before her child is born? Yet, in the joy of the child's birth, the mother forgets all that pain.

This makes us reconsider what it means to become an adult. Growing older does not automatically make one an adult. It is through participating in the process of giving birth and nurturing life, learning within it the pain and joy, and even the self-sacrifice of letting go, that one 'becomes an adult'. In that sense, isn't a priest who has never given birth and raised a child the most immature of all?

The drama 'I Was Completely Duped' prompted the columnist to reevaluate what it means to become an adult. Becoming an adult isn't about acting the part when perfectly prepared. It's about experiencing both hardship and joy while bearing and raising a child, going through all four stages of longing, birth, nurturing, and letting go, and in that process, becoming a mother, a father, and an adult.

The same applies to priests. What it means to live as a priest can only be known by actually living as one. And it is only by living that way that one truly becomes a priest--- 'Birth, Growth, Nurturing, and Letting Go'. 

Seminary life exemplifies this. Aspirants yearn to enter, are born through the entrance ceremony, undergo a decade of nurturing, and are sent forth through priestly ordination. In this process, seminarians learn how to become parents.

This remains true even after being assigned to a parish. The priestly life involves caring for and nurturing the community. It encompasses longing, birth, nurturing, and letting go. New life is born through baptism, one leaves parents through marriage, and life may end with a funeral Mass. Living through all these stages of life together, the priest matures into an adult and into a priest.

Becoming an adult also means learning generosity and 包容力 (Tolerance). Rather than taking sides between quarreling children, it means learning to embrace them all warmly as precious offspring—to receive and hold them with generosity,包容力, and a forgiving heart. 

When he was first assigned as an assistant priest to a parish, his parents came to greet the parish priest and presented him with a quilt as a gift. He didn't realize it then, but now reflects that perhaps it was a gift embodying the parents' heartfelt wish for their child's faults to be covered. We have all come this far through the generosity of our parents and elders.

God is precisely such a being. God is the true adult. And God looks upon us as children with such generosity and kindness, accepting us. He desires us to embrace our own lived experiences, reflecting His heart. The Lord knows every twist and turn of our lives. He dwells within them, rejoicing with us, suffering with us, blessing our lives, and encouraging us. We are becoming true adults. 

"Land Belongs to God"

"The land belongs to God"... Social inequality in Korea viewed through land justice. Now/Here Catholic website has an article on this issue: How should we view and address the real estate problem, a major culprit in social inequality in Korea?

On the 24th, the Catholic Eco Forum (an open discussion forum on eco-friendliness) was held at the Catholic Center in Seoul, on the topic of "Land Justice."

The forum was jointly organized by the Environmental Pastoral Committee of the Archdiocese of Seoul and the Headquarters for the Revitalization of Our Rural Areas, and the opening remarks were given by the director of the Land + Freedom Research Institute. 

We live in a society where land, a public good, has been replaced by "real estate." Unearned income from real estate and land speculation, a major factor deepening inequality, peaked at approximately 460 trillion won in 2021. While it declined to approximately 288 trillion won in 2023, the average unearned income has accounted for 16.8 percent of GDP over the past 17 years.

"The skyrocketing land and housing prices mean that the hard-earned income of individuals and companies with little or no real estate ownership has been transferred to individuals and companies with substantial real estate ownership."  "To put it bluntly, this unearned income is legal theft."

"You can't sell land outright is the Biblical understanding: “The land is mine” (Leviticus 25:23), means that all humanity has rights to land, natural resources, and the ecological environment, which were not created by humans. The director explained: “The biblical meaning is that everyone should equally enjoy the rights to land, and this is the spirit that can establish land justice.”

Seven Sabbath years will be forty-nine years. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement, sound the trumpet loudly.  It shall be a Jubilee for you. “Each of you shall return to his own land, and each of you shall return to his clan.” (Leviticus 25:8-10)

The concept of the “holy nation” in the Old Testament and the “kingdom of God” in the New Testament emphasizes “equality”. The director viewed this as the spirit of the Jubilee, emphasizing, “The Jubilee, signifying complete freedom and liberation, addresses issues such as debt, slave labor, land, animals, and the ecological environment, but the most important issue is ‘land.’”

Director Nam stated: "Historically, tenant farmers were psychologically and economically subordinated to landlords because they had no land. The reason land seems to have diminished in importance today is because it has been replaced by the term 'real estate. If we interpret 'real estate' as 'land,' the problem of 'landowners', and the housing problem can also be found in land."

"In almost all countries, the enormous unearned income generated from land and natural resources, which are privately owned, is enjoyed by individuals under the guise of 'protecting private property rights,' leading to persistent speculation."

The importance of land is evident in the fact that it is the primary culprit of inequality, and he explained that real estate, or land, is also the primary culprit of inequality in Korean society. The Gini coefficient, an indicator of income inequality, indicates that income distribution is more equal the closer it is to zero. In 2024, the Gini coefficient for private land ownership will exceed 0.8 based on value and 0.9 based on area.

In addition to the widening gap between landowners and those without, he also pointed out the impact of overdevelopment and ecosystem destruction caused by land issues. "The strong desire to carve mountains into open spaces and convert farmland and green spaces into residential or industrial land is because it makes money," he said. "If the value of land increased by changing the use of farmland and green spaces is recovered, encroachment by development will be significantly reduced, and lobbying and corruption for land use changes will disappear.

Director Nam proposes a way to achieve land justice in modern society. He proposed a "land dividend system." The land dividend system is a "land value sharing system" whereby society recoups and shares the compensation for excluding others from landowners. This system has a profound impact on the real estate ownership patterns of individuals and corporations, and is designed to benefit those with little or no ownership over those with excessive ownership.

Through land and housing we must work within our church community to address the housing challenges faced by young people, and we must raise our voices to block real estate speculation and restore equal rights to land and housing within society at large."

He then addressed the question, "Will the world change if the church does this?" He said, "Our faith is the substance of things hoped for. The Bible never supports historical determinism. The people who were exiled to Babylon were able to return because they repented and practiced the Jubilee." He emphasized that Korean society can change, and believing and acting on that belief is the faith the Bible gives us.

Path of Renunciation

 

In the Preciousness of Faith column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, the seminary professor begins: If someone asks what faith is...' What would we say? We would answer, 'Following Christ'. But what does it mean to follow Christ?

Jesus Himself answered this: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26)

Truthfully, these words of Jesus are not easy to understand. How should we accept this teaching that we must hate our parents, spouse, children, brothers and sisters, even our own life? Surely he isn't referring to actual hatred within families. The hint may lie in the words He added at the end of the following parable: "In the same way, any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." (14:33)

The path of following Christ is the path of renunciation, the path of letting go. Of course, the 'renunciation of possessions' spoken of here differs from what Buddhism teaches. It is not merely about discarding what one has or severing the mind's greed and attachments, but about realizing that everything I possess is a gift from God.

St. Paul also once said to the Corinthians: "What do you have that you did not receive? If everything you have is received, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? You are already full! You have already become rich!" (1 Cor 4:7-8)

When we think about it, what do we possess that we did not receive? Life, gender, name, family, parents, siblings, home, clothing, food, various possessions. Upon waking to consciousness, we find all these things given to us. 

Although some things may be unsatisfactory, there are also blessings to be found. Especially when I think of my parents and grandparents, family elders, relatives, and siblings who shower me with boundless, warm love—aren't we living in an ocean of grace? Isn't God constantly giving to us through all these people? Moreover, isn't everything that exists a blessed gift prepared by the Lord? Even the beautiful nature and environment!

Of course, one might harbor complaints, wondering, "Why did He give me only this?" This occurs when we compare ourselves to others and perceive ourselves as lacking, or when we experience discomfort due to poor health or a troubled mind. It also happens when those around us become a heavy burden. Especially parents, siblings, family members, or community members can sometimes be a significant burden to us.

While we cannot deny this, I wonder if these difficulties might be precisely what we need to abandon everything and follow the Lord. 

There are countless opportunities to realize that we are beings who ultimately receive everything from God, only to lay it all down and return to Him.

In that sense, life is a school where we learn to let go and to be grateful. We can truly 'possess' nothing. Our life, talents, appearance, age, parents, children, siblings, acquaintances, property, possessions, money—all these are things and people we will leave behind. The moment we realize this truth, we will understand that the only thing we can truly possess is the Lord Himself, and that the happiest moment in life is when he possesses us, and Him alone.

At this time, the Lord calls us to the sea of grace. To a life of joy and happiness given to His children. He invites us to continue living a life of gratitude, following the Lord.

What Is a Saint?

A Korean novelist in her weekly 'My God Study' column in the Catholic Times begins with the question her son asked, hearing about the new saint Carlo Acutis:  "I don't understand why they canonized him?"

She ordered several books about him and read them. And for an entire week, her son's words stayed with her. Making a saint among those so young was a rare occurrence. As her son said, what could a boy who barely lived 15 years on this earth have done to cause so many miracles to happen? 

She opened the book again and made a list of his deeds. Inviting friends whose spirits were crushed by their parents' divorce over for meals, striking up conversations with bullied classmates, not getting angry when toys were taken at the playground, getting angry at friends who broke the rules, picking up trash, bringing home abandoned animals, greeting street cleaners and asking how they were doing, asking his grandmother to pack desserts to deliver to the homeless, refusing his mother's offer to buy him another pair of shoes and instead asking her to use that money to help the poor, and during puberty, when his friends whistled at a pretty girl, he snapped: "Is Sophia a dog? Why are you whistling?" 

At the wealthy school he attended, when friends mocked his few outfits as tacky, he sternly replied: "Everyone is born unique. What's so great about designer brands? They all look the same. Do you want to leave this world imitating others?"

These words moved her greatly. Evil tends to be similar without any distinct features. Others have often mentioned this fact. If that's the case, the way to become a saint is quite simple. Saints are incredibly unique. All it takes is to be yourself. 

The words of the 15-year-old boy resonated with her. Of course, the thought came to mind that this truth is proclaimed similarly everywhere in the world. Yet, was Carlo Acutis a boy who carried the Bible and was solemn? No, he played the saxophone and was a computer whiz.

He created and distributed a program that announced the miracle of the Eucharist (since it was the early 2000s, only experts could have made such a program) on their own. After he died, his parents looked through his computer and found no records of him ever accessing forbidden sites. 

Facing death from acute leukemia, he said to his mother, 'Do not be sad. Sadness is a gaze turned toward oneself, but happiness is a gaze turned toward God. I have always done things that please God, so I feel I can die peacefully. However, after I die, my siblings will be born'.

As predicted, after Carlo Acutis died, his mother gave birth to twins at the age of 43. As the novelist prepared to write this article, tears welled up in her eyes.

Is there even one thing among these that she cannot do? Just as St. Therese of Lisieux became a great saint, who devoted her life to loving God in the early 20th century, she intuitively sensed that Acutis, the first saint of the 21st century, was a significant figure. 

"There is no need to move mountains, to heal the sick, to build great cathedrals, or to achieve anything. Just live with love. Is there anything else I desire beyond that?"

A Meditation on Money

In the Philosophy Chat column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, the professor offers a meditation on how one can view money.

Money serves as a powerful tool created by humanity, acting as the driving force of the modern capitalist society and playing a central role in human life. However, due to the power and influence that money holds, the desire of people to possess it is strong; as long as humanity exists, money will remain a practical issue in life that will continue. 

For a long time, money has transcended its simple exchange value, becoming an important means of accumulating wealth and expressing personal abilities and values. In the modern capitalist society, the ownership of money is directly linked to an individual's freedom. It serves as a crucial measure for determining the quality of life. 

Money also creates the illusion that if one has money, one can achieve anything desired in some way. However, money cannot be the absolute value of life itself. So, what is the true meaning of money?

In this context, the German sociologist Georg Simmel (1858–1918) meticulously analyzed the inextricable relationship between money and the deep structural characteristics of modern culture in his work "The Philosophy of Money" (1900), revealing the symbolic meaning of money. 

According to Simmel, money appears as a crystallization point in modern society, where various value relationships coalesce and become objectified. This means that individual and diverse values are crystallized into one through the medium of money. Beyond the economic means of simple currency, money plays a formal role in collating various values and the contents of 'objective culture'. 

We use money as a medium to create countless diverse relationships within society. In this sense, money serves as a significant medium that connects both personal life and culture. Money also has a crucial role in pursuing and realizing one's own worth. So, how do various objective cultures become the foundation of one's subjective culture?

How can we cultivate a mature and desirable culture of money in this society? It seems we must seek it above all in the paths that aid in our development physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, leading us to become a truly authentic person.