On the Spot Experience of Poverty

Writing in a newsletter for priests, the writer recounts  a visit to one of the poorest sections of Manila. He wanted to experience  poverty  first hand, and tells us he did it with  'pure motives,' although he did put a question mark after the word. His plans were to live with three families during a period of 15 days. In retrospect, he  confesses that he had a romantic notion of poverty  and  a very immature mindset. He was not able to last a week before he raised the white flag of surrender. Poverty, he now realizes, is not the simple back-to-nature condition he imagined but tends to create hopelessly difficult living conditions.

The life of poverty for this Korean, an 'alien' in a foreign land, meant not only being deprived of food, shelter and clothes, but being affected in spirit as well--he was frightened. One of the houses was built on water with logs used as piles for a foundation, making a four-square meter small house. Eight people lived in the house. Drinking  water, which looked whitish, from a nearby well, was  bought for 10 cents. The toilet, a square hole in the floor at the water's edge, was open to the sight of all.

He changed his plans  not because he didn't eat well or wasn't able to sleep in the small quarters. The decision came because he feared a  typhoon would sweep the house into the sea. He left because he was afraid.

That he was not able to live up to what he had planned did bother him.For him now, poverty is an impossible dream. It's no longer the ideal he had envisioned. However, he knows that not all react in the same way to poverty.  He remembers the laughter of the inhabitants of a poverty-stricken village. The poverty he saw there did not make the villagers miserable, maybe a little uncomfortable, but it was not the cause for making them unhappy.

Seeing the life of these people living like they did, he realized the falseness of the belief that money makes for happiness and the more you have the happier you will be. He acknowledges that even though he's not living the poor life, he can appreciate the life of poverty of many who are. In his own value system he does not want poverty for its own sake, but for the peace and freedom it can give. Jesus said, "Happy are those who are poor in spirit." Is this, he asks, really the case? This will be his topic of meditation for some time to come.

In Korea, there are many who want to experience the life of those with whom they are not familiar. Bishops go to farms and mines for an on-the-spot experience. Seminarians come to Korea to see what mission life is like. German bishops have been here to experience the small community group meetings. This learning experience is acknowledged as the best way to understand a way of life foreign to one's own--better than reading, hearing, or seeing pictures about it.  There is nothing  like an on-the-spot experience to move the heart and to change the way we see reality.

Helping to Build Bridges With North Korea

This coming Sunday we observe, as we have since 1993, Overseas Aid Sunday when  what we collect in all the Churches is shared with the poor in the world. This year, however, a new organization, Caritas Korea International, formerly Caritas Korea, will help with this work and will have a broader global outreach than in the past.

  

Caritas Korea International began originally in 1974 with the name "Human Development Committee," becoming Caritas Korea in 1991. Most of the relief work was done here in Korea but for the last 18 years $21 million has been allocated for foreign aid, some of it, in recent years, going to North Korea. The domestic relief services will now be conducted by the Bishops Social Welfare Committee.
   

The two Catholic papers, in front page articles, described the beginnings of the new organization. The Bishop responsible  said there are many difficulties that have to be surmounted when setting up a network for receiving donations from the Korean Church. "But from now on," he said, "Caritas Korea International is going to take charge of these international dealings and pave the way for humanitarian aid to North Korea, which is currently at dead lock."
 

Father Gerard Hammond, the Maryknoll local superior, was asked to form the new group responsible for helping the North. Fr. Hammond has been to North Korea 60 times  since 1995 and is familiar with the difficulties of working to the help the North. "The people are poor, the children and the women and the old are especially in need of unconditional help."

During the many times, he has made trips to the North, he and his group have brought aid to TB patients, given advice on farming methods and seed distribution, provided farming equipment and many other aids for self-help projects. Fr. Hammond  said there is much poverty, and TB is a big scourge. He regrets that more help is not available for the North.

Expressing himself on the rigidity that exists in the present relationship with the North, he said   help that was given by Korea Caritas and now International Caritas was sorely needed humanitarian aid. He hopes that it will not be distorted by the political infighting that goes on.

He wants to build more bridges of communication with the North and to see more flexibility on both sides of the relationship. He will do his best to be a bridge builder.

 

  

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Going in Search for the Lost Sheep

The effort the Church is making to return the lost sheep to the fold is impressive. It is also old fare, said the Peace Weekly in its  editorial, with results leaving a great deal to be desired. One third of registered Catholics are no longer seen at Church.

One diocese was given their marching orders by the bishop in his pastoral letter to all the Catholics: "Let all the parishes and districts of the diocese work together in harmony, and with all our energy in the work of evangelization." 

One parish makes clear that this pastoral work is not new and is rather simple: You go to them and bring them back. The key is the will and the effort of the pastor. It is no easy task, especially when there is not a good feeling toward the Church, so wholehearted effort is required.

The lead article in the Peace Weekly profiled a pastor who visits all the families within his parish area, often hearing confessions for those interested, and when the visits are finished, he has a Mass in the village where they all gather. If you listen to them and show them a warm interest, the pastor says emphatically, they will return.

The Sisters mentioned that a woman blocked the priest from entering her house with her body at the front door, telling him to go home. The priest had telephoned in advance and was told that he would be greeted with insults. He asked only for 5 minutes of her time; the sisters say that in most cases of this type there is a change of heart.

Those who don't want to talk to the priest will often say, "I will be going out soon." This is a Korean way of not being blunt and at the same time saying no. However, there does seem to be a difference between the tepid in Korea and those from other areas of the world. It  seems to be, for most of them, not a question of loss of faith, but rather circumstances that make it difficult to go to church--sometimes it's work-related, and sometimes it's difficulties within the church community.

The culture in Korea does not  seem to have accepted the ideas of the West when it comes to truth, authority, relativism, objective reality and skepticism. They may do what the West does but with a very Korean state of mind and with a feeling of guilt. The young may have accepted more of the Western ideas, which means that we will be seeing a change in our society soon.                            
    

Pilgrimage--Seeing Life In a New Way

The Joong Ang Ilbo recently interviewed the lawyer Kang Keum-sil (Esther) who was Minister of Justice in the  past administration, the first woman to hold that position. At that time, she was not a Catholic but always thirsted for knowledge from the time she was in college. The interviewer notices the bookshelf in her office where one can see  her present interests: Korean Philosophy, The Upanishads, The Origin of the Species, The Spiritual Diary of Thomas Merton, among many others.

During the first years of college, she seriously considered switching her major to religion, and attended a program in ascetic practices at a Buddhist Temple, read many  books on theology, and books on philosophy by Erich Fromm.

A turning point in her life occurred in a museum on a trip to Russia. She saw a painting of a man prostrated on the ground, surrounded by dark trees. The moment she saw the painting, there was a heart-felt response. Because of the dark tones of the painting, she  didn't know at first what she  was looking at and then realized it was Jesus in the garden of Gethsemini. She was baptized the following year, and subsequently wrote "An Old Soul," her reflections on a religious pilgrimage in Italy.

"Why did the painting move you so?" the interviewer asked. "It was," she said, "the words: 'If it is possible, let this cup pass me by.' These are the words of a weak human being; they moved me deeply."

"After leaving politics you started your own law practice. What was it like?"  She answers that those who come to her are hurting. It may be financial problems, it may be family, it may be problems in politics--all who come are in a crisis situation. She is like a consultant, she says, and finds the work rewarding and also provides her with the opportunity to learn a great deal.

She is disturbed, she tells the interviewer, that there is a great deal of discussion about politics but no clear idea of what we should be doing in politics or where we should be going as a society. The concerns of society are going to be the agenda for government policy, which means one does not have the opportunity to put into some sort of order the government departments in which one is working. You are always trying to fix and don't have the time to prevent the problems from happening.

Those who are deeply troubled, she feels, are the ones who often turn to religion. Religion starts from our roots; it deals not only with our inner world  but with all of life. That is where we get our world view. She feels she is just beginning the journey and hopes that our society will come to have more dignity in the future.

"How has she changed because of the pilgrimage?" She says that when she drank coffee in the past, she just drank coffee, and that was that.  Now, after visiting a coffee farm, when she has her cup of coffee, she sees in her cup not only coffee, but the history, the labor of all those responsible for growing, harvesting and preparing the coffee for market. The  coffee tastes different.  In the same way, her pilgrimage allows her to see life in a new way.

When Something Good Can be a Burden

There are many Catholics in Korea who feel an extra burden when someone in the family is in religious life. The writer on spirituality in the Catholic Times discusses this often troubling situation. 

The pressure they feel is many times more than what others are likely to feel because of what they see as a deterrent in doing what they feel they should. When living in an impossible situation, liked a failed marriage where divorce seems out of the question, they are depressed not knowing what to do  because they have a religious in the family.

And there are difficulties not only with divorce. When there is a suicide in the family, an abortion, a mental problem, they have difficulty talking about it with others because of the self-imposed  burden. It is something that they brood over and speak about only within the family circle.

Yes, it is a fact, says our writer, that those with religious in the family are faced with pressures that others don't have. Even if they are not living an exemplary life they are concerned about what others will be thinking, and it affects their life. The religious person may tell the family to go about their lives and forget about having a religious in the family, but these are just words and do little to relieve them of their concerns. 

There are times when a  priest or a religious, even though choosing the life he wanted, has difficulties of his own; where can he go to complain? Often, during vacation or when free he can go home and unburden himself with the family. He can then give vent to his irritation, complain, lose his temper and find relief in the family. The family also has to endure these outbursts and pray that he continues in his calling.

The writer figures that with the number of priests and religious in Korea, the  immediate families would be about 100,000. If  you include the close relations the numbers would be much larger. Having a person devoted to this way of life, though most often a cause of joy, can at times bring pain. All this may be overcome with prayer, and these  efforts deserve our applause.

He feels that there should not be a burden on others in these situations. Those who are neighbors or friends of these families should  pray for their happiness and relate with them naturally, casting  away all uneasiness. Though the writer knows it may not be that easy, with right effort and prayer he knows it can be done.

Death of a Fighter for Freedom

Both Catholic papers  had articles on the death of Lee Don-myung (Thomas More), who defended democratization and the human rights of many during the politically dark days from 1970-80. At the Funeral Mass, they quoted the words from Isaiah, which exemplify what he stood for during his long life, "Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard."He was 89 years old. 

The bishop who heads the Peace and Justice Committee said, in his funeral message, "The deceased, a  human rights lawyer, worked wholly for democratizing Korea. He was the mouthpiece for those who suffered unjustly. He lived as a disciple of Jesus and now is gone." He was to all of us like a zelkova tree, whose widely spreading branches provide relief to all those who come to rest in its shade.

When he was a judge in Daejon he became a friend of a priest of the diocese, and soon took an interest in the Catholic Church. He was baptized in 1974.

In his own life, he suffered much for being a spokesperson for those whose rights were being ignored and trampled on. He was threatened with death and followed by detectives; his phone was tapped and he was finally interrogated and imprisoned. But he never gave up his quest for the rights of citizens, although suffering during this time from many ailments: heart problems and cancer and was operated on for a leg condition. He considered all his problems as badges given to him by God.

During the movement for democracy, beginning in June of 1987, at the age of 65, he walked with the young people to the Cathedral, demanding the end of the dictatorship. As far back as 1978, as a  member of the Justice and Peace Committee-- becoming chairman of the Bishops' Committee in  '86--he never lost sight of his goal. Respected  and an inspiration to all who fight for citizen rights, he was truly a disciple of Jesus. May he rest in peace.

Foot-And-Mouth Disease in Korea

A columnist in the Catholic Times tells us about the meeting held in Seoul with representatives of Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Won Buddhists and the Chondoists. The message inviting the participants to the urgent meeting follows below.

 "From November of last year, when the foot-and-mouth disease began to spread, about 200,000 cows and pigs have been buried alive; since the disease continues to spread, we don't know how many more will be buried alive. Because they do not have the appropriate medicines, they say it is necessary to bury them alive. We want to meet because of this gruesome offense against life: to show our deepest regret for this loss of life, and to discuss the situation and learn why these steps  were taken, and to find ways to prevent it in the future. We need also to find out why our livestock policies have brought this on us. And to talk about the problems with our food supply."

The columnist reports that the Catholics were the largest group attending the meeting. It was a strange feeling, he said, to see Catholics lamenting  the death of  animals, more strange than seeing the different rites. However, our columnist was not put off by the ceremonies but respected the other religions for their display of sympathy.

He feels that the animals became the scapegoat for the financial concerns of the live-stock policies of the government. Seeing on TV the holes being dug and animals being buried alive was heartbreaking. It was, said The Peace Weekly, criticizing the government policy, a man-made calamity. If the situation had been handled properly, the editorial states, it  would not have developed in the way it had.

The editorial goes on to say that  animals are not allowed a natural life, are confined to small spaces and given antibiotics, growth hormones and preventive injections--all because of the industrialization of farming (the factory farm system), which has further diminished the animals' immunity. But the ultimate culprit may be the consumer's demand for more and cheaper meat.

It was reported that a woman, called the 'mother of pigs,' was so upset by seeing the burial of live pigs that she fell into a deep depression and had panic attacks; she took to her room and would not leave.

The government does reimburse completely for the financial loss, but it will take time. In the meantime, the farmers will not be able to start again for six months, and perhaps even more time before they will be able to buy younglings in the market.

Although the columnist cannot lessen the pain of what has happened, he said that he can in some measure share that pain and lament with those who have been so afflicted in this difficult period.

This outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease is extremely contagious and demands swift action on the part of the government. Because of the  disease, Korea cannot  trade  in meat products with the rest of the world. The reaction of many in Korea would be quite different from other parts of the world because of the Buddhist influence on our culture. Many of the farmers, along with the government officials involved in the massacre, are suffering from some traumatic stress disorder, which is easily understood when so many innocent animals have been killed in such a brutal way.