What is Meant by Well-Being?

Here in Korea, as in other parts of the world, many of us are spending more time exercising for reasons of health. Mountain climbers, walkers and joggers are all looking for better health, often sacrificing large amounts of time and money to achieve it. Although a healthy body is a good and necessary part of our life, a problem arises when the desire becomes fixated on achieving the ideal muscular or  good looks.

An article in a bulletin for priests, commenting on the problem, tells us the World Heath Organization (WHO) defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." We as Catholics would add, for well-being, spiritual to the other three  This spiritual component is the one that has been overlooked by many in  the human family, as the physical component became more important. In our Korean society, up until recent times, three important areas of life were defined as knowledge, virtue and body, requiring for optimum development mental training, character training and physical training.  Without the harmony of all three, we will not have the well being we desire.

The article moves on to discuss life in society and what we understand by a healthy society. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been used as the gauge of a healthy economy but has not been accepted by all. The problem seen by many is the tendency to take the financial and economic potential of a country as indicative of societal health. The fear is that when we strive for these material goals all other values fall by the wayside. To have a healthy society, the mental and moral virtues must keep up with, and be in harmony with, the financial and economic growth of the society. 

When we are tempted  to quench our thirst with a sugary, refreshing soft drink that does not succeed in slaking our thirst, we should turn to the important values of life that make life fulfilling and beautiful, instead of treating them like relics from a bygone era. The third  Sunday of Lent we heard about the living water that Jesus came to give us. This water that will well up within us, we can be sure, will bring satisfaction. 

Learning How to Empty Ourselves

The columnist writing on spiritual issues for the Catholic Times tells us about a priest he remembers from his days in the seminary. He was then very chubby, very spirited and very worldly-wise. When he met him recently, thin and very serene, he was surprised and somewhat worried to see him so changed.

"How come?" he asked. "Inscrutable are the ways of heaven," was his answer, explaining that he has learned what this means. The columnist was surprised to hear this from a man in his early forties who had once had an expansive view on life. This peeked his curiosity and he asked for more information.

"Brother," he said, as a priest I have  had many dreams. I had all kinds of plans and ideals lodged in my head. Every time I was assigned a new parish, I had great expectations.  However, when it came time to leave, few of my expectations had turned out the way I wanted. Almost daily, things I didn't want occurred, leaving me perplexed, but in the long run it was all for the good. During the last ten years, my heart has become bigger and more empty."

Having known him in the seminary, the columnist suggested that the reason for the change was his humility. He disagreed, saying he knew how proud he was, but now has come to a point in his life where he can empty himself, his body becoming lighter and his impetuosity diminished--adding up to more leisure. He recalled the times in his life when he lost his temper, raised his voice and lived with resentment. In trying to attain his goals all that he  succeeded in doing was to vex himself. He never achieved what he wanted, he said, and when he  did, it wore him out. He finally decided to give himself a break.

Lowering our personal expectations to achieve more, the columnist advises, may be just the kind of break we all need to become a new person. But we must stop pushing ourselves, as his seminary friend found out, to grow to this new level.

This year, in the liturgy for the scrutinies, there are lessons for the new Christians being baptized on Easter. Last Sunday we were there with the woman at the well, as she became someone quite different, a new person, after her conversation with Jesus. This Sunday we were there with the blind man who knew he was blind and received sight. And also there with those who thought they could see, but were blind.  At the  last scrutiny we are told to come out of the tomb and begin a new life--a life of grace, with its accompanying emptiness that allows God to work in us.

Difference between Revenge and Hate

A guest columnist for the Catholic Times does some deep retrospection on the horrific suffering of our Japanese neighbors in the wake of the earthquake. He quotes his father: "Those around my age remember the cruelty of the Japanese; they are now receiving their penalty." The family found these words at this time so out of place it was difficult to accept, but the writer, trying to understand his father's feelings, uses a Talmudic explanation of revenge to make sense of his father's feelings.

"When a friend refuses to lend you his hoe, revenge would be to refuse to lend him your shovel. If he asks you for the use of your shovel, and you tell him  he refused to lend you his hoe, but you are going to lend him your shovel. This is hate."

Adapting this to the situation in Japan since they trampled on our country for so long the natural disaster can be  seen as repayment. We suffered much at the hands of the Japanese, but to think they should not have pain permits us to hate. The writer is conjecturing that his father  is saying that revenge is better than hate.

The son does not go along with this way of thinking, but he is trying to defend his father's distorted way of seeing the situation.

He describes the difficulties faced by his father growing up. He never went to school  and doesn't remember ever playing with anybody during this time. He began working as a street vendor at the age of 10 and as a father, had to care for a family of seven children. There were many reverses and little time for anything but making money for food and clothes and for educating his family.

The son feels it would be rude to tell his father to forgive the world for his difficulties. Throughout history, it's usually the poor who suffer the most. And those who have not suffered directly or who have suffered relatively less will find it easier to forgive than those hearts have been brutalized.  With the passage of time this can be forgotten, but when trauma comes with the suffering, it's more difficult to forget and more likely to be passed on to later generations. The son believes this has  happened even to him.

Jesus did forgive those who were killing him and the writer knows the Church continues this message of forgiveness and love. Since the Second Vatican Council, we have often heard of the necessity to be on the side of the poor and the alienated. Those who remember the pain and  the alienation that comes with poverty do not  easily forget. Better than to ask them to  forgive is to try to  understand their situation and the trauma which does not allow them to open their hearts. To help this process along requires the concern of society and more pastoral outreach and care by the Church.

The columnist concludes the article with  fear that we try to forget and bury  and not listen to the many who have been traumatized. In doing so  we add trauma to trauma which some day will come back to haunt us.





























I

Foreigners In Their Own Country

Many of the refugees from the North who are now living in South Korea face many hardships and not the least is being a foreigner in a country that was once united.Those who have defected have done so for many different reasons and economic reasons,for many, may be the most important. They usually cross the border into China hoping to go to a third country because China is a close ally of North Korea, and does not grant refugee status and considers them illegal migrants.

This situation is such that those who arrive in China are exploited by the Chinese and often  sold into forced marriages. Life is difficult and no matter how long they remain in China they are not recognized as citizens and their  children can't be registered; they always fear that they will be sent back to North Korea. 

The religious sister working with the refugees in Incheon mentions a young girl who because of a deformed ear received  medical help to correct the abnormality.The mother was married to a Chinese and finally made it to South Korea. The operation  made the child's  ear almost normal. She can now wear glasses and is no longer open to ridicule by the children.

The sister mentions that these children and the mothers who have lived in China for many years speak Chinese but because of their illegal situation in China live in fear of being  picked up by the authorities. Their  mental state is very unstable. In the South  the treatment the children receive from their classmates is such that they hide their North Korean background except to very close  friends to whom they will say they are foreign born Koreans or  lived in China.

In  the 1990s they went through a very difficult period of hunger, which stunted  their growth and  gave them weak bodies.This  makes it hard to concentrate in school; many can't read the Korean script. Since the parents were trying to make a living they often lived with their relatives which did not make for a warm family relationship.

Each new semester, the sister explains,  when the children have to go to school, they become sick.   Everything is new to them, they find the society uninviting. Life in the South is not easy. They can't hide their  accents. The children because of their hard lives, are at the bottom of the class, have great difficulty with English, which the Koreans start learning in grammar school. Children can be cruel and when they are treated with contempt it is no wonder the refugee dropouts are many times over the normal.

The sister is optimistic about their future, but it is a problem for the country to find ways to make these new  members in the free society of the South one that will be the harbinger  of what the future unification will be. At present, the difficulties are numerous.

Martin Luther And the Protestant Reformation

The 500th anniversary of the posting of the 95 theses on the Wittenberg Church door by Martin Luther will be coming up in 2017. The Catholic Times editorial discusses what was involved with the posting of the theses and clarifies the meaning of the word 'indulgence'--the "selling of indulgences" prompting Luther to post the theses and sparking the Protestant Reformation. Usually translated into Korean as "the forgiving of sin," indulgence is a word that is continually being misunderstood in the press, in history books and,too often, in many internet blogs.


The bishops have clearly pointed out that 'indulgence,' a theological term, is being misused when it is understood as a means to forgive sin, as a quick sell and purchase of salvation--as some critics have viewed it--by the donation of money. The bishops have sent the mass media a list of Catholic terms, asking that they be used correctly, anticipating that many articles will be appearing in the daily press in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. And many of those articles will be discussing the "granting of indulgences," wrongfully understood even by Catholics at that time that sins could be forgiven on payment of money. In the history of the Church, one can always find those who have abused what the Church teaches for reasons of gain or out of ignorance. In an effort to collect money for different projects, many used indulgences as a means to collect money. That this was an abuse is clear; however, it  is not a reason to misunderstand or distort the meaning of this word, as understood by the Church. Indulgences do not forgive sin, whether by the use of money, prayer, good works, or by any other means; it forgives only the temporal punishment due to sin. (The sacramental forgiveness of sin must include confessing one's sins, usually verbally and usually to a duly ordained priest, sincere sorrow for having sinned, and a firm purpose of amendment.)  This will be difficult to  understand for those who have no sympathy for this process and for what temporal punishment for sin means or who don't care to know.

The editorial was also concerned that this issue might damage the image of the Church by passing along information not warranted by the facts. The Church has never said that by giving money sins can be forgiven, and this has been the teaching well before the reformation. As in present times, those who do not follow what the Church teaches should not be used as examples of what the Church does teach.

October 31 is Reformation Day and will be celebrated in the Protestant world. For Protestants, it is an opportunity to  continue the reform that was started with Luther. According to the columnist in the Catholic Times, the Reformation was also a time for self-examination by the Catholic Church, and a time to  begin the process of change. The Council of Trent came shortly after to clarify troubling matters that surfaced as a result of the Reformation; and in dioceses, seminaries were started to educate the clergy, many of whom lacked the knowledge necessary for their calling, a reason for the corruption that the Reformation brought to light.

Thanks to the reformation, the Church was motivated to work for new programs to educate its priests. The columnist mentions Fr. Hubert Jedin, one of the outstanding Catholic historians of the last century, who said it was the Reformation that enabled the Church to look at itself and begin it own reform and renewal.

Protestants, reflecting on what  Luther means to them, also present us Catholics with an opportunity to see where we have been and where we are now; on our way to an on-going reformation, keeping ourselves humble and penitent.                        

Being Hurt an Opportunity for Growth

Writing for the Kyeongyang Magazine, a professor and executive officer of the Family Counseling Association begins her article with a mother's heart wrenching lament. She was walking home after buying some groceries and saw her daughter walking with friends on the opposite side of the street. Happy to see her, the mother called out her name and after their eyes met for an instant, the daughter quickly turned away and without a word, or recognition of any kind, continued on her way with her friends.  

There was a burning sensation in her stomach, the mother said. She was not able to concentrate on anything after she returned home. She cried. Was the daughter embarrassed about her mother? Did she think her mother would scold her? The mother was perplexed. 


The writer asked the  mother if she spoke to her daughter about it. Not at first, she said, fearing being hurt by the answer, and when she did ask, the daughter said she didn't see her, and without another word, avoiding her mother's gaze, went to her room.

This situation is normal in the growing up process, the writer believes. In wanting to be grown-up and adult, many children will go to any lengths to act independently, as if needing no support from their families. This should not be surprising to parents  but prompt them to turn their gaze toward themselves.

Parents should also be growing, she says, along with their children. By middle age, adults should be growing an interior life. While the growth of children, both physically and mentally, is easily seen, with adults this is not the case but the growth should be there.

Those who have  made a study of this adult growth, she says, divide it into exterior and interior growth.  With exterior growth, we reach out to others, not content to be concerned only with ourselves and our families, but concerned also with the welfare of future generations.

This concern for the welfare of others can also be called the enlargement of the self.  If this does not take place it will be like water, she says, in a puddle that in time will stagnate, become polluted and be a menace to others.

In contrast to the younger years, where the attention was on material prosperity, in later years attention should be on interior growth, on the mental, philosophical, religious and cultural aspects of life.  It will be a new beginning.

Children who see this growth in their parents and receive advice from this perspective will remember it. Children will  be aiming for this in their own life. It can provide the stabilizing influence of a compass needle that will point our children in the right direction in the years to come.            

"You Did it For Me."

On Saturday the 26th of March we had the 10th anniversary Requiem Mass for  Fr. Benedict Zweber, a Mayrknoll priest who worked in Korea for over 30 years. The Requiem Mass, in the last church that Fr. Ben built in Incheon, was celebrated by the priests who  knew Fr. Ben and considered him a friend. The congregation consisted of  those who remembered his work for justice, for the poor and those who suffered.

His first assignment after ordination was Korea where  his brother had died years before. He was a very successful missioner with a great love for the country and people. During his 30 years in Korea he built many island mission churches in the diocese of Incheon, built a hospital, electrified one of the islands, and worked to recover land from the ocean for the poor farmers. He took to heart the words of Jesus from Mathew's Gospel chapter 25:40-- "you did it for me."

Koreans  on  the islands were living in poverty, and he became their father, doctor and lawyer, and helped them in any way they needed to live decent human lives.  The orphans and Amerasians  he helped to go overseas to adopted parents are too many to count. With Fr. Alfred Keane, a fellow Maryknoller, he was also able to help pass a bill that aided Amerasians obtain visas to enter the US.

During the difficult political times in Korea, he was also on the side of the underdog and worked  tirelessly with others to see a new political reality. His sensitivity to problems of justice in society  and the plight of the poor was well honed.   I can recall on one occasion when he said that to use bread to clean the fingers after using the oils for Confrimation bothered him greatly. Something that was easy to understand for one who worked with the very poor.

After being called back to the States to work on recruiting for vocations and raising funds for the society, he volunteered, at the age of 66, to go to Russia to do missionary work in 1997.

When he first arrived in Russia, he lived for three weeks in  Vladivostok before the  bishop assigned him to the island of Sakhalin, where there were many Koreans and he began another chapter of his missionary life. He followed some Korean priests who had difficulty getting a visa to work in Russia. He worked to open two more parishes on the island and also served an American community working in the production of natural gas on the ocean floor near Sakhalin. He was responsible for building  the Church of St. James on the island, even though dealing with terminal cancer of the bones. The church was dedicated on August 15, 2001, shortly after his death.

I attended the Mass with a follow Maryknoller, Fr. Richard Rolewicz, who represented the Maryknoll Society. One of the first members of the congregation I met that day was a young man who, as a baby, was sent to the States for an operation on his heart. (An operation they were not able to do in Korea at that time.) Hearing that I was a classmate from seminary days, he wanted to thank me and show his appreciation.  Many, like this young man in  the congregation, remembered the Maryknoller with fondness and gratitude.