Different Levels of Spirituality

A popular columnist who gives advice to readers of his weekly newspaper column, and also to those who go to his website and the more than 40,000 readers of his book, was interviewed recently in one of the secular daily papers and in the Peace Weekly. He admitted, with a chuckle, that he didn't know if he should be sad or happy because there are so many who have a need for counseling.

He is a pastor of a parish in Seoul and, in addition to his weekly  column and his website, lectures once a month in his own parish. His method of counseling is unique. If a woman tells him that her husband is breaking her heart, he asks her why she continues living with him. If a woman is having difficulty with her mother-in-law, he recommends that she put a picture of the mother-in-law on the wall and vent her feelings. If a mother tells him that her son is giving her trouble, he tells her not to worry about him and go on with her life. Many Catholics are suffering, he says, from a "good child complex." When they suffer in silence, believing it to be the 'good' response to troubling incidents, depression often follows, and sometimes serious disease.

Since he writes in this vain some priests criticize him, he says, for advocating anger and  hate. He answers that the Catholic Peace Weekly continues to serialize his columns and has no problem with his approach. There are many who cut out his column and paste it on the refrigerator door. 

He says it is necessary to develop not only the good emotions but also those that are not considered good. If we do not defend ourselves, we can come under the control of the others' emotions, he believes, so at times, the emotions of hate, anger and jealousy are all necessary for the sick and imperfect.

The interviewer then brings up the passage from Scripture that tells us to turn the other cheek.  What is that all about? he asks. He answers that in the spiritual life there is  the diseased level, the healthy level, and the holy level. If you recommend the holy level of awareness to a person who has a diseased level of awareness, there is a big gap. Also one has to be careful when a person begins to complain about their situation--being sympathetic can easily slide into seeming compliance with the complaint. And it may be necessary at times to use shock therapy, he says, to get a person to come out of  their cage of self-imposed limitations and stand on their own two feet.

Jesus told those who were sick and poor to ask and it will be given, to knock and it will be opened. But he told his disciples to give everything away and to follow him. He was asking them to go to another level. If one is to climb a high mountain he has to strengthen the muscles of his legs first. That is true also for the muscles of the spiritual heart; they have to be strengthened to be able to turn the other cheek.

He has decided that the next book he writes will be called "Leave the Bird Cage." He says that when we get angry and realize the reason for the anger is in ourselves, then that is when we will be able to leave the cage we have made for ourselves. The Church is a place where we treat the sickness of the heart. If we have made a cage  for ourselves, then when we go to church we make it a place of judgment instead of a place where we find healing.  A place where we encounter God. A place where we find peace and rest.

Why is Happiness a Mirage for Many?

"Happiness is ridding oneself of power and calmly becoming empty, and suddenly happiness appears. It is not something you grasp but  receive as a gift" These are the words quoted by a journalist of the Catholic Peace Weekly at the beginning of his interview of the Jesuit  chairman of the board of trustees of Sogang University. The title of the article was "By remaining in the presence of the Lord, happiness will come to us."

Today those who are happy are rare, says the Jesuit. As a teacher living with students and as a priest ministering to Catholics, he feels there are few persons who are  really happy. Constantly in competition and seeking to possess, they strive to become what they think they should  be. Absorbed with getting all the specifications necessary for a  well paying job in a good company they realize the happiness was a mirage.

Actually, to achieve happiness is much easier than making money or getting educational accreditation or enjoying power, All you have to do, he says, is adopt a welcoming, non-grasping attitude. He introduces us to a poem that tells us about a child who is told that if he is able to grasp 3 petals falling from a cherry tree before they touch the ground, he will be happy. The child at first  could not do it. When he tried to grasp for the petals, his moving hands stirred the wind around the petals and blew them away. The child of the poem learned that all that was necessary to catch the petals was to stretch his open hands out in front and let the petals fall onto the hands.

Indirectly, it is the search for truth that brings happiness. The only effort required is to rest in God. If we are in a restful state the Holy Spirit will lead us to the truth. When we understand what truth is we become happy, and can directly experience what happiness is. The journalist asks the priest what is the formula for finding  happiness. He laughs on hearing the question. Looking to find happiness, he says, would be going in search of a second-hand, unreal happiness. Happiness does not come with the possession of something but rather with the reception of something by first emptying ourselves, and keeping our eyes wide open.

Those who do not have an anchor cast deep into the meaning of human existence will be like a flame before the wind or a castle built on sand. To have recourse to the origin of existence,  prayer and self discipline is necessary. For those who believe they have no time, are too busy, and find life too difficult for much prayer and self-discipline, he recommends an hour a day of quiet time in prayer. In this digital age we cannot go back, he admits, to a more leisurely time, but this lack of leisure time is one of the reasons that happiness eludes us.                                                       

Muslims in Korea

A priest-professor of patristics (the study of the early Christian writers) at the Catholic University and guest columnist in the Catholic Times this week, reflects on the death of Bin Laden and how his death was received in different parts of the world. He noted that his death was greatly cheered, not surprisingly, in the United States as a victory for justice.

Here in Korea, much of the press were clearly excited and not suppressing their joy that "the darkness was not able to overcome the light." The professor quotes Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Pope's press spokesman, who said that Osama bin Laden was responsible for promoting division and hatred among people, causing the death of many innocent lives and exploiting religions. However, a Christian never rejoices at the death of anyone, he said, but should reflect on the serious responsibility that bin Laden had before God; we should also think deeply on this responsibility ourselves.

Because of bin Laden many think that Islam is a hothouse for terrorists, some even seeing the Crusades as a Christian jihad, a holy war against non-Christians similar to the terrorist activities of the extreme Islamist of today. The Pew Research Center has reported that 23 percent of the world's population is  Muslim. Knowing this, can we continue to say that Muslims are terrorists?

In Korea there are currently 130,000-140,000 Muslims, and of that number about 45,000 are native-born Koreans. We should be careful of the way we think of our Muslim Koreans, many of whom, simply because of their religion, have been harassed and made to feel like outsiders. We have many different nationalities and religions living together in Korea so we should try to understand and share our different cultures.  
Islam and its culture entered Korea during the 13th and 14th centuries. During the Koryo period there was already a thriving community of Muslims with their own culture, and language. At a public ceremony in the time of King Sejong, the Muslims were present, reading parts of the Koran and wishing the King good health. But gradually during the ascendancy of Confucianism in Korea, Islam died out. 

The professor reminds us that we have been living with other people and other religions in our country for a long time. And we should not, without justifiable reasons, criticize others even though their way of life appears strange to us. We should instead try to find the  common elements that unite us. 

Pope Benedict tells us that the commandment of love is what should unite us with the Muslims. They are my brothers and sisters, and they should not be seen as terrorists. The professor, summing up his reflections, asks:  Isn't it often true that we make others terrorists by the way we treat them, by our prejudice and distorted views, and by the violence we use against them?

Aromatherapy in Korea

The guest columnist in the Catholic Times starts his article by telling us that God made everything out of nothing but humans have also made many things. Those with a religion do not take objection to what God has made because of our faith life. However, what humans have made we should not just take as presented but examine it  to judge on its  goodness or not.

Often we mix the two of them, he says. To accept what we have made without any study or verification is not to act wisely.

Plant life was given to us as a gift  for our sustenance. It is not only for our daily  food,
but for our mental and bodily healing. The abundance and beauty of nature, oxygen, ions  etc. the gifts we have received from God are awesome. It is our task to protect and use these gifts. To  use them  in excess and to abuse them is to go against the will of God. These days in the medical world instead of using the word substituting which can be misunderstood the word complementing is more often used. In recent times  we often hear the word Aromatherapy, horticultural therapy, forest bathing, ions and Phytoncides  as a scientifically verified way of complementing the use of   plant life  used for  therapy. It is a method of therapy that uses a small amount of essential oils from plants.

We find some of these aromatic plants recorded in the Scriptures: frankincense, hyssop, coriander, rose flower, cypress, peppermint, juniper,  cinnamon etc. Over 2000 years ago these aromatic plants had various uses in daily life. In the very first civilizations of the world  we have aromatic plants being used for healing.

Whether this use came from instinct or the healing of animals who ate plants we don't know, but from experience and study plants were used as a means of healing. The use of some of these aromatic plants were also used in religious rites from the beginning of history.

In the middle ages in the Church and monasteries this plant therapy was used. From the times of the Crusades what was used in the Arab World was brought to Europe. The trade  between East and West also introduced many herbs and medicinal plants to the West, Arabic medicine, distillation and other methods were introduced. At that time in Europe bathing was not a frequent event and to cover the body odors this whole world of perfumes began to develop.

The modern scientific study began with Rene-Maurice Gattefosse (1881-1950). He is regarded as the Father of Aromatherapy and the inventor of the word. His studies gave scientific plausibility to the use of essential oils in the healing of wounds, antiseptic,
sterilization, anti-virus, anti-inflammatory, burns, skin rejuvenation, mental therapy, cosmetics and more. In France the government has recognized this method of treatment.

In Korea since the middle of the 1990's there has been an interest in the field of aromatherapy. Study is continuing and it is expanding and very active.

Celebrating the 50th Anniversay of the Inchon Diocese

This year, on June 6, the diocese of Inchon will be celebrating its 50th  year of independence from Seoul, as a Vicariate Apostolic and, in the following year, as a diocese.  An  article in the Catholic Times on the Cathedral Parish of Inchon, Tap Dong, says the Cathedral was the primer for the diocese. The cathedral, built at the end of the 19th century and overlooking the Inchon harbor, is considered the gateway to Seoul.

The final documents of the Inchon Synod give a brief history of evangelization in the diocese.The facts are not easy to find, but it is surmised that since Lee Seung-hoon (the first  baptized Catholic ) and Whang Sa-yong (the writer of the Silk Letter) were active in the early Church, the gospel spread rather early in Inchon and Kangwha. And since there are many martyrs who were born, or at least resided in Inchon, we know that Catholics were living there during the persecution.

The Chemulpo parish, now the Tap Dong Cathedral parish, was the first parish of Inchon, established in 1889. With the Korea-France Treaty of 1886, missionaries were allowed to come to Korea and to Inchon to construct rectories and churches. With the increase of Catholics in October of 1958, Inchon became a separate deanery of the vicariate apostolic of  Seoul, which was entrusted to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. On June 6, 1961, Pope John XXIII made Inchon a vicariate apostolic, separating it from Seoul.

On March 10, 1962, all the vicariates became dioceses. Today there are no longer any foreign ordinaries, all is in the hands of the Korean Church. Inchon began its own diocesan major seminary to train seminarians  for the diocesan  priesthood, as well as to form future missioners for North Korea.

The Cathedral is considered a national treasure and there are plans with the city to set aside an area around the Cathedral for a park and exhibition hall. The present pastor of the Cathedral  parish says: " Our Catholic community is like a giving tree; it unsparingly takes care of the parish, refreshes and gives rest to all those who participate, no matter how briefly. It also strengthens the faith life of our Christians, both by the beauty of the surroundings and by the example of our community life. We do not have many young people, which is a problem, but the Cathedral parish is trying to make the community a place of joy and peace for all."

Problems with Reproduction in Korea

A professor  emeritus at the Catholic Medical School mentions in his column on the culture of life that 15 percent of married couples are sterile, or over a million couples. During the last 10 years this number has increased almost  four times.

Generally, the male is responsible for the sterile condition about 30 to 40 percent of the time, and the female for about 50 to 60 percent; about 10 percent is unknown. On the women's part, the ovulation phase is mostly the problem and with the man it is the testicles that are not producing sperm or in the numbers necessary.

In recent years the age of marriage is later than in the past, which brings in physiological problems for reproduction. Abortion on the part of women before marriage also plays a part, the professor says.

This problem with sterile couples is a problem for the nation. The government is helping couples with in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to decrease the number of sterile couples. The professor admits to having a strange feeling when he heard that the government was helping those who were not having babies. For a Catholic all that is possible is not always the way to go.

The professor goes on to say that with these artificial means of fertilizing the egg, there are problems: legal, social,  and moral problems  but also medical problems that come with  fertilizing outside the womb and   implanting  the embryo in the uterine wall.

The Catholic Church continues to be concerned with the problems of sterile couples, publishing in 1985 the Instruction on Respect For Human Life In Its Origin And On The Dignity Of Procreation: "Nevertheless, whatever its cause or prognosis, sterility is certainly a difficult trial. The community of believers is called to shed light upon and support the suffering of those who are unable to fulfill their legitimate aspiration to motherhood and fatherhood. Spouses who find themselves in this sad situation are called to find in it an opportunity for  sharing in a particular way in the Lord's Cross, the source of spiritual fruitfulness. Sterile couples much not forget that 'even when procreation is not possible, conjugal life does not for this reason lose its value. Physical sterility, in fact, can be for spouses the occasion for other important services to the life of the human person, for example, adoption, various forms of educational work, and assistance to other families and to poor or handicapped children." (58)

The Church is asking Catholic doctors and the medical  world to find ways of solving the problem of sterile couples that do not include artificial fertilization and fertilization outside the womb. There are, he says, many ways that sterile couples are finding medical help to conceive and this will continue.


 

Life Without Meaning Is Empty

Counting with numbers, both in the East and in the West, makes use of the decimal system. A poet writing for the Catholic Times suggests that we started counting this way because  we have five fingers in each hand, for a total of ten.

Why, he asks, do we have five fingers in each hand and five toes in each foot? Not easy to answer, he says. Is it the  natural order of things or did it happen by chance? There are many other series of fives in life. We have the five physical five senses, and in the East the basis of philosophy is the negative-positive of  the five elements that compose all life: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. He asks what is the meaning of these five? Isn't this meaning hidden from us?

Because we have the five senses, we can go out to the whole universe, he says, and the universe can come to us--by way of these five passageways. However, the poet  prefers to use, instead of the word  passageways, the metaphor of a window, five windows of different colors to express the five  senses. 

Each of the senses has it own sphere of interest. How full of splendor the world the organ of vision sees; it dazzles the eyes; the world of sound, how deep and solemn; the world  of smell, and so on... Even though there  are many sense openings to the world, they come together in a harmony of oneness. Trying to  discover the depth  and different facets of the universe, we are captivated by the worlds our senses bring to our awareness. 

We have received our bodily life from the material substance of the universe, and by accommodating and overcoming the difficulties of this environment we continue to have life and live.

The way we see life forms our attitudes. It is obvious that the whole of life is not only what we can see. We can say that material things are necessary for life, but we can't say that material things are  the whole of life. We can say that depth psychology and its revelations about the unconscious has been able to explain much of our actions. But to say it explains all our actions is clearly preposterous. Life is made up of many different and yet harmonious factors that still elude our understanding.


We are faced with accepting this often mysterious life, with all its difficulties--accepting it with meaning or seeing it without meaning, as essentially empty. You are forced, our poet says, to accept one or the other. If one accepts meaning than with time more meaning appears and with more depth; all will then be seen positively and with hope. Even pain itself will make us see life more completely. On the other hand, seeing life without meaning with time all becomes more meaningless. We end up in the grasp of the god of nihilism from whose hold one has difficulty escaping: the variety of its fascination is numberless.

The writer says that he is just over thirty years old and after many ups and downs he has given the  meaningless position  a kick and withdrew from its embrace, joining the side for meaning. Since then his world  has been a zig zagging path but still keeps going toward light and life.