Farming That Is Life Giving

Today, the third Sunday of July, is Farmers' Sunday. The president of the bishops' committee for Justice and Peace issued a message on the theme, "We are Peace Makers and Agents for the Preservation of Creation." The problems facing farmers are many and serious, he said, stressing the importance of choosing an ecological lifestyle and rejecting the consumption-oriented life.

The editorial in the Peace Weekly reports that Korea's rate of food self-sufficiency is 26 percent, needing to import most of its grains. The United States produces enough food to feed itself, and France produces 300 percent of what it needs. Of the countries who are members of OECD, Korea's rating in food self-sufficiency is one of the lowest.

The news that the country is considering using its surplus rice for animal feed is a concern of many different groups in society. Although the rice in reserve is more than adequate to deal with emergency situations, consumption of rice continues to decrease, which poses problems for the country and for farmers.

This is the first time that a government official has publicly announced that excess rice can be given to animals, reflecting the rising cost of maintaining huge stockpiles of the staple grain.

The life-giving farming movement is spreading. But what the Catholic Farming Leagues need more than policy statements are priests who are interested in the problems of farmers. In the city, sister relationships have been set up successfully with farming parishes but all too often when a priest is changed, the interest in keeping these relationships also disappears. The relationships are important not only because of the buying and selling of farm produce, but also because of the life-giving programs exchanged between city and country.

Farmers have to consider not only current market realities, but these life-giving programs and what the future will mean for their children and all children, by preparing now for a healthier environment and, ultimately, a safer world for all.

Our Habits Make Us What We Are.

In Korea, many see life as being directed by a mysterious force or energy called destiny or fate, over which we have no control. This is not the Christian outlook, although a guest columnist in the Korean Times thinks there are Catholics, in larger numbers than one would think, who are influenced by this way of looking at life. Instead of entreating God, they go to fortune tellers or shamans for help, and often leave the Church.

The columnist, reflecting on his own life, admits to having seen many things incorrectly and being embarrassed by the results, but that at other times, when seeing correctly, there were good results. He remembed a time when he decided to run as a candidate for his college presidency, after being assured of the support of many. But when it came time to vote, he lost. He was overwhelmed with distrust and anger toward the college community. Locking himself in the research room, he vented his frustrations to God, the only way he saw open to him. God did give him peace and another way of seeing what happened; the results were very satisfying to him personally.

He mentions the case of one of his younger college classmates who lost everything in a large business operation, even causing financial loss to his older brother. He was fleeing to Seoul with the intention of killing himself, when his daughter's image flashed before his mind's eye, and the words, "let's live," changed everything. He returned home, and with a new determination and effort, he was able not only to recoup his losses but expand his operations to other countries.

He reminds us that in Korean the word for suicide is made up of two sylables; when read with the last sylable first, the word means "let's live," which requires a change of thinking, a new attitude towards life.

Many pray as if everything depends on God, forgetting that we should act as if everything depends on us, otherwise we will fall into the same frame of mind as those who have a fatalistic way of looking at life.

The writer concludes his opinion piece by telling us that we live by habits that have become part of us. The time we spend thinking about the spiritual is limited, but we can continue to work zealously at what we do daily and also increase the time we spend with God: meditating, thinking about spiritual things; praying, conversing with God; and spending sacred time at Mass with Jesus. When we think about the words of our Lord and act on them, God will change what we think is our unfortunate fate to one of blessing.

Fleeing Daily Life for Silence--Retreat

Retreats have always been a part of Catholic life, and at this time of the year there are many kinds of retreats being offered for the Korean Catholic. The Catholic Times set aside a full page to list them all, with an introduction that briefly highlights the benefits of each one.

By "retreat," we mean leaving our daily life for a period of time to commune with God. In Korean, the word retreat is formed with two Chinese characters: one meaning to flee and the other silence. One flees a busy life to go to a place of silence. On the front of one of the large retreat houses, there is a stone with the words, in Latin, "All welcome, remain alone and exit as another.

The Church in Korea has developed a very organized way of introducing the priesthood or life as a religious to students; it's an important focus of Church life and the results have been encouraging. Many retreats are for teenagers who are thinking of a vocation. These retreats allow prospects to briefly experience the life they are interested in, and at the conclusion of the retreat, those who wish are given the opportunity to keep in contact with the group by internet.


There are also retreats for families, for children, and even retreats that include experiencing life on a farm or visiting historical sites, and others that are not specifically spiritual.

Retreats are organized in different ways: directed, preached or private, in the Ignatian style, with lectio divina, or retreats that follow the traditional methods of the sponsoring groups.

The Korean Bishops' website has a detailed list of all the retreats. These opportunities to deepen the life of our Catholics have proven to be very attractive to many Koreans, who have a natural desire for the spiritual.

How The Catholic Church Sees North Korea

The plight of the North Koreans, especially those not having enough to eat, is a problem we have had for many years. It is not getting any better and with the North's response to initiatives from the rest of the world being so negative, there has not been much sympathy for their unfortunate situation. The efforts of the North to bolster their nuclear capabilities and the sinking of the South Korean warship have made the problems more difficult to deal with.

The Catholic Church in Korea has tried over many years to work for reconciliation. The Bishop of Masan, the president of Caritas Korea, in an interview with Fides, said "Even if hope for reconciliation seems to be impossible to humanity, it is not impossible to God."

There are people in Korea who do not want to dialogue with the North, especially after the boat incident. The Catholic Church has made it clear that humanitarian aid for the sick and starving should not be politicized but must be carried out regardless of the circumstances.

In recent articles and in an editorial in a Catholic newspaper, this position of the Church has been emphasized. Caritas International, in its recent meeting to discuss programs in North Korea, said the current situation has made it more difficult to draw attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the North: "The North Korean Government's militant attitude provokes further hard line stances among political sectors in the South and other countries involved. A vicious circle of aggressive actions might lead to further unintentional damage in relations...."

It is very clear to many that without more help now for the North, despite all the problems--even forgetting the humanitarian and Christian response that we are called to give--there will come a time when the many problems of the North will be a massive burden for the united Korea of the future. If the efforts of the South to help the North are not greatly increased, the results of this lack of commitment will have to be confronted when the day of a united Korea finally dawns.

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Migrant Workers In Cucumber Farms

Since I do a little farming, I enjoy reading about the joys and difficulties of the farmer's life. A writer in her weekly Catholic Times' opinion piece mentioned getting a box of cucumbers from a friend, and putting the smaller ones aside to pickle and eating the larger ones. The cucumbers started her reminiscing about the trip to a farm the previous year.

On her trip, she saw a number of foreign workers on the farm. Some were thinning the cucumber flowers, others were picking the small cucumbers and throwing them away, and others were looking for the large marketable ones.

She recalled a Korean proverb that said you can spot the signs of genius at an early age. This made her sad knowing that so many cucumbers were not allowed to mature but were picked and disposed of because not big enough or pretty enough for market. When not producing for the market, one can be unconcerned about the appearance of vegetables, but, sadly, farmers need a product that is marketable. Vegetables and fruits have to look good, being as perfect as possible so the farmer can ask for the best possible price. I was told at last year's harvest that very few of my sweet potatoes and peanuts were marketable; they were either too ugly or too small.

The writer felt sorry for the foreign workers after seeing their living quarters and the worn out bedding. She made a search of her kitchen and gathered together unused kitchen utensils and bedding that had piled up over the years, finding it difficult to give them even to the parish bazaar. Now she filled a number of cartons with them and notified her friend of her intention; the utensils and bedding were gratefully received.

Many foreign workers are working illegally in Korea, doing work that Koreans do not care to do, like farming. With its long hours and physical labor, it's work Koreans prefer not to do. Another reason for hiring foreign laborers is the increasing age of the population and the low birth rate. The fear that more jobs for foreigners mean fewer jobs for Koreans is no longer valid, for it actually gives Koreans more opportunities to work thanks to those who are doing the dirty, difficult and dangerous work. This enables many Koreans to continue working at more skilled jobs, otherwise many of these jobs would be going to other countries with cheaper labor costs and an abundance of workers.

Interview with the Bishop of Wonju Korea

The Wonju Diocese, one of the smaller dioceses in Korea (click here for an overview of the statistics), was the subject of an interview, written up in the Peace Weekly, with Bishop James Kim Ji -seok, the second ordinary of the diocese.

The interviewer asked about the foreigners now living in the diocese, those who are married to Koreans.

The bishop said this seldom happened in the past, but now we need to be concerned with families from different cultural backgrounds, and to get rid of the idea of being a homogeneous people concerned only with our own problems. We shouldn't forget who we are, our cultural heritage, but we have to become interested in learning the culture of those who have chosen to live among us, and they also have to become acquainted with ours. So far, there has been little progress, but we have to continue our efforts to accept those from another culture as Koreans and as Christians.

The diocese of Wonju has 10 percent of their priests working in social welfare projects; the bishop was asked the reason for this emphasis.

He said that Bishop Tji Hak-Soon, the first bishop, was very much interested in the poor and the alienated in the diocese, that the nation has a responsibility to help, and that it is also a concern of the Church.

He was asked about the large area of the diocese and the many mission stations and what he, as bishop, thought of the pastoral care of these mission stations.

The bishop agreed that there were many mission stations and that the area was large. The catechists and the volunteers are doing much good work but there is much not being done. I have, he said, for the past few years tried to get retired sisters to come and live in the mission stations, to pray and to teach; their presence alone helps to evangelize. One of the mission stations with the sisters in residence has come to a point where it will become a parish.

The interviewer asked a question (on the minds of many) concerning what our position should be when it comes to politics, the environment, and our relationship to North Korea. He stressed that there are all kinds of viewpoints, and it's difficult to know who is right or wrong. How are we to decide from among so many?

The bishop said it's not an easy question to answer. Everyone has his own way of thinking about these subjects. This is a fact, but when it comes to problems of life we have to have one voice. This teaching on life is very clear. To preserve life is the absolute duty of the Church. This does not change with the times and is a standard we should be united on.

The bishop was asked for some words that he would like to address to his Christians.

This Diocese is a small diocese, he said. At some of the diocesan functions we have had about 100 people attend. Because we are small, we have the opportunity to be more like a family; any Christian can easily meet and talk with his pastor. This is a sign of community. Those who leave the diocese find they very much miss this communal atmosphere. I pray that this feeling of community does not change.

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A Visit to Flower Village Korea

For the last two months, we have a new Internet TV Station that is going out to the world from Kkottongnae, meaning Flower Village, a Christian community, which provides the homeless and the abandoned with care and love in the hope that they will realize the love of God and find peace as the children of God.

In 1976, Fr Oh, the founder of Flower Village, saw 18 beggars living under a bridge in the parish where he was assigned, and decided to do something for them. He thought: “It is God's blessing that one can have the strength to beg for food”; he built a house of love, started accommodating the beggars at the house, the beginning of Flower Village.

With the help of many it has spread to other parts of Korea and the world. The work has proven a great blessing for the country, and for many who come in contact with poverty so great that it leaves one helpless. Kkottongnae is a heaven for many who are working in welfare: a place to send those who are homeless, who will be loved and taken care.

The Peace Weekly has an article describing the new Internet venture of the Flower Village. They have a small studio where five Religious of the Community are working in planning, production and implementation of programs, with the help of a volunteer who worked for a major network and directs the operation.

They introduce the different events of Flower Village, the facilities, recorded lectures, their work, the sponsors and many other areas that would be of interest to friends of Flower Village. Korean is the main language used, but you do have an English menu. The story of the village, in English, is done in animation for those who would like to hear and see the progress of the Flower Village from the beginning.

The head of the program, a lay volunteer, says they do not have the equipment and the necessary help the operation needs, so they have scaled the operation down to fit the situation. It does show the work and the spirituality of the Flower Village.

The dream of the founder was to have a world where no one gets abandoned, everyone is respected, and everybody loves the other as they love themselves. This dream is now being introduced to the world. For those who are interested you can access the Internet TV Station at www.kkottv.com.