Coffee Culture in Korea

Coffee, a newcomer to Korea, and the culture it has developed are now very much at home here. Koreans love coffee and the social ambiance it generates. What better way is there, many are now thinking, than to spend time relaxing and drinking coffee while working, talking to a friend, sitting at the computer or just getting away from the crowd.  Responding to the demand, specialty coffee shops in the cities are opening practically next door to each other. But more than just enjoying the coffee, customers are looking for a quiet space, to rest alone or with others, for as long as they care to stay.

The Peace Weekly thinks this coffee culture is important enough to discuss in an article in this week's edition and also in its editorial, headlined "Moral of the Parish Cafe," which comments on this trend in society and the decision of many parishes to join the coffee culture by opening their own cafes. Parishes that have the cafe are more than satisfied with the results. It is usually difficult to get volunteers to do service in the parish, but getting volunteers to help in the cafes has not been a problem; they are vying with each other to volunteer. Those who become baristas (those who make the coffee) have much to do, as do the other volunteers. Price is cheaper than in the ordinary coffee shops, and the profits go back to the community; this makes it worthwhile not only for the Christians but to all the residents in the neighborhood. Those who would usually come to Church only for Mass now come because of the cafe, which has helped  to make for fellowship among the Christians.

The opportunity these cafes present for evangelization cannot  be ignored.  Residents living near the parish also visit them, and it is not  difficult to see how this enables many of them to become interested in the Church. These cafes may well represent the next important direction to be taken by the Church in promoting its pastoral and evangelization programs.  Strengthening  the community and evangelization are two important goals the Church is currently seeking to implement. Getting involved with the cultural aspects of Korean life, as the Church is now doing by opening parish cafes, is a need that has been felt by many in the Church.

The Cafe is just one example of this acculturation. There are many other areas in which the Church can approach the larger community. Finding ways to be the yeast, salt and light to those we live with will always be the work of the Christian community.

Moving from Analog to Digital in the Church

A priest writing for other priests recounts his early life on a small farm, helping his parents. Paddy field farming requires many hands at the time of  planting and again at the time of harvesting. Dry field farming, however, requires continual labor throughout the growing season, and without such help it was difficult to make a living farming. Compared with preparing the crops of beans and sesame for market, cucumbers and potatoes required another step: selecting and grading the products for market.  The price is determined by size. While the parents were picking the cucumbers, he would be in the house determining, by size, which were superior, best, good, or inferior. Digital scales now make it  easy to do this, but in the old days it required judging with the eyes. And when in doubt about which grade to give, the farmer would most likely convince himself to give a higher rather than a lower grade.

"'Each time is different" is a phrase that was often used back then; judging was done according to  circumstances. The persons, the time, the situations are all different, so  are the results. What is the standard that we use to make our judgements? It is easy to say that if we make our judgements on greed, it is wrong. And if we make our judgments without regard for personal benefit, it  can be good.  When something is important to another, we should not consider it unimportant. How many, without concern for their personal  benefit, live freely? How many politicians have forgotten the will of the people and decide on the benefits to the party? And how often do those in industry not think of the welfare of the workers? Another example of not seeing the greater good because of deriving personal benefits would be the Four River Project.

In all our actions, we are to desire the common good in our action; that is what we mean by living the Gospel. When we live according to Gospel values, our behavior will seem ridiculous by the world's standard, but that is the only way we can live. If we're interested only in having more Christians and larger collections, we then become accustomed to the ways of the world and in the process destroy the Church and lose our strength. If we just work according to worldly values and forget Jesus and what he  taught, we  lose our way.

The writer concludes that the change from analog to digital scales brought a big change in the selection of vegetables. It is time for all of us to switch from analog to digital.  But we are still living according to our feelings, going in the direction of personal benefits and comfort. It is time to leave all this behind us, as we are doing with our analog devices, and begin to think like the Lord for whom we work.   

Spirituality

A columnist in our Catholic newspaper, writing about spirituality, reminds us that we are all unique,  one of a kind, all in some way different. Uniqueness, putting aside the philosophical meanings of the word, is the basis, he says, for our spirituality. Each of us can rightfully assert that there never was anyone like me before or will be like me in the future.

When a married couple who are supposed to be one fight, it is because they are not one. You are you, and I am I. In the convents and monasteries, there are many who live in discord. Priests with their communities are often in conflict because of each one's  uniqueness.  Because of  uniqueness, it is not surprising to have dissension.  It is the natural results of living with others.

It is natural that each one expresses his spirituality uniquely. Each one lives his faith, his love, his prayer life, the experience of grace in many ways.The prayer of a grandfather and a young  theologian are different. A person can have satisfaction in prayer by reciting the 'Our Father,'  while another may meet God in contemplation.There are those that find inspiration on visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and those that are fascinated by spiritual reading, and those that find their satisfaction by going on a meditative mountain-climb.

Consequently, a parish of 4000 can have 4000 different ways of expressing spirituality. Just looking at the virtue of poverty we see what this may mean. It  doesn't make any difference how much money one has; the one with money may have a greater sense of the virtue of poverty than the one with no money.

God is leading us as individuals and we try to be open to the movements of the Spirit. But it should be clear that no  individual  should attempt to make his or her  spirituality substitute  for the individual spirituality of those in the   community.

We cannot then speak about the collective spirituality of a community. No director should move the community in this or that way. The director tries to give the Church's teachings on the basics of spirituality to the community, which then waits for the Spirit to move each one uniquely. It does not mean that the community is unimportant, but that the community is to help the individual grow in spirituality and not interfere with the growth. The columnist reminds us that when we forget this principle, we become 'secularized,' forgetting the will of God and making our own will supreme.

Korean Example to the Catholic World

In the world of cyberspace the Seoul diocese  has been an innovative force since 1998, when it began the Yang-op system that united all the parishes in the diocese by facilitating the exchange of information. In 2008 this became the integrated information network that included all the dioceses and parishes in the country. Recently, the diocese has made access to Catholic information available to mobile phones users. And the diocese is now beginning its standard administration with a GIS (geographic information system) to unify all 225 parishes in the diocese in a network that will help make pastoral work more efficient. 

GIS works with hardware and software in order to manage and analyze data, which is then shown on a digital map. One can then quickly interpret the data to reveal patterns, relationships and trends in the form of maps, reports, graphs and charts. In the parishes, it will quickly show the number of Catholics in relation to the total  population, the number going to the sacraments, the number of Catholics in each age group, the number of  tepid in any one area of the diocese, and many more possibilities. It will enable the pastoral workers to customize the work to the needs of different parishes.

In the future it will help make parish lines clear and also help determine the location of future parishes and where they should be divided. The vicar of the diocese said that the system will not  only give us information on a map but help in many other ways. He hopes that it will also allow our Catholics, and all who are interested, to have easy access to the program.

The editorial in the Peace Weekly reports that there is great significance that a diocese, in our information age, is taking advantage of this fact, and is looking forward to the future in its policies and strategies. The capability  of customizing the work will insure that the GIS system will be very much utilized. 

Cardinal Cheong, in his  remarks at the inauguration of the new system, said, "Our diocese can take great pride in beginning this new standard of administrating, for there is no parallel of this being done elsewhere in the Church. The priests will be given a tool to help them do the pastoral work more efficiently, and it will also help the Christians in their faith life."

The Catholic Church benefits greatly because of the quality of internet access in the country. Korea leads the world in  broadband access and in comparison to the States, the monthly cost is much cheaper. Korean technology and  the high quality of internet use have facilitated greatly the interest and desire of the Church to be out in front in cyberspace.

Owner's Manuel for Life,

Mr. Kim Hong-sin, a popular novelist, politician, lecturer, and professor, is the first Korean author to sell more than a million books. Interviewed by a journalist of the Catholic Times this past week, he prefaced his remarks by saying, "I have in my lifetime killed many trees. I have used much paper in my writing...reflecting on this fact, I try to use every inch of paper when I write." Writers, he says, are all faced with this same problem, a problem that affects him deeply. 

During his eight years as a congressman, he was seen as a man of honesty and integrity and received high marks from his constituents. He was a strong voice for democracy and human rights during the 1980s. After retiring  from politics and for three years living like a recluse, he started writing again and now has about 300 books published. He also returned as a popular professor to the college classroom.

After many years of receiving questions such as, Why live? How are we to live? Why does love change?, he went in search of the answers. And found some. "The reason people are not happy, he says, is because they confuse happiness with pleasure. We are always comparing ourselves with  others, which usually results in making us feel inferior. However, we know what is necessary to be happy and should bring this knowledge to mind more often, but we have a tendency to forget.

He makes clear that this is also true of himself. As an example, he mentions how over 10,000 books in the cellar were spoiled with rainwater, and how he could not deal with the anger he felt at what had happened. He finally succeeded in putting himself at peace but the anger did not disappear. What changed was his ability to deal with the disaster. Such problems will always occur, he says, until the time he goes to meet God.

When people see him, they say he has all that is necessary for happiness but he disagrees, saying he continues to fret and get irritated, driven by a desire to do and accomplish more. When feeling driven this way, he likes to remind himself of advice given to him by his teacher: "Look at the mouse, he doesn't know the bait is poison and eats the bait; we know our baits are poison and yet still eat them...When a glass is full of hot liquid, why not put it down instead of grasping it even tighter with both hands." "Remembering this advice from my teacher," he said, "from that moment on, I gave up smoking, which I had been doing for 37 years and 9 months."             

He became a writer, he explains, because as a child he used to get from the French priest of the parish comic books he had received from France, which he would then translate into Korean for the children to read. It was from that time on that he became familiar with  books.  Even now, when he has a weighty problem on his mind and no desire to read, he will pick up a comic book.

His latest book, Owner's Manuel for Life, is advice on how to live well, using his own life experiences. He wants each young person to know how important he or she is and to acknowledge their dignity. And he cries out to the  older generation to feel the pain in the hearts of the young and to try to make this world a better place to live in. The young, when they make mistakes and fail, have the special privilege to be forgiven; they should never give up but face bravely the challenges of life. The have the duty, he says, to never give up on hope.

"The pine needle, when it  is scared, gives off," he says, "a fragrant scent.   We are the same. Those who have not been scared will not give off a fragrance. Don't be afraid of  hate, anger, frustration, pain. They should simply be thrown off. True, it is not easily done.  However, they have to be discarded.  Why?  We only have one life to live. We  can rid ourselves of the waste of the body, why can't we  rid ourselves of the waste of the heart and the head? We work at doing this with prayer, meditation and thoughtful reading.  Getting rid of things we don't want, we have to change our way of thinking to make room for the things we do want. Moreover, it's all free."

Defamation Laws in Korea

A broadcasting company producer writing for the Catholic Times, in  the "View from the Ark" column, comments on the present defamation laws in Korea. Many of the libel cases reported by the press, he says, usually involve, as the ones most likely to instigate the lawsuit: politicians and cabinet members, celebrities,  members of a government organization or those  managing members of some press group that instigates the lawsuit. Those  being  sued are the media those working in the media or private individuals.

When the media criticizes some policy or makes known some unsavory fact or shows some skepticism, those involved will often respond with a lawsuit, contending that such revelations slander them and they will seek redress under the law. Individuals who write or otherwise express themselves on the internet, radio or television are always vulnerable to defamation suits; there will always be some who will look for any excuse to lodge a lawsuit. The examples are many and are familiar to all.

Regardless of the result of these cases, the stress incurred by those who are accused of libel is great and generally increases while the case is being tried. The typical scenario pits a relatively powerless individual against powerful individuals or organizations. As an unintended consequence, the ease of pressing a libel suit places the  right to free speech in jeopardy.

The columnist then tells us what the penalties are for libelous speech. Whether the charges are true or not is immaterial if the person has suffered some damage; that alone is a sufficient reason for the suit, and if the charge is true, the penalty is less. There are conditions that must be met if the charge is found to be true, but these conditions, he says, are not easily fulfilled.

He mentions that the defamation laws have been criticized for years. The report to the UN, from the office of Frank La Rue, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on the right of freedom of opinions and expression, was critical of the situation in Korea.  There were 8 areas in which he expressed reservations on the way Korea has handled human rights issues. Many of these involve the freedom of the press, the freedom to create, and the freedom to speak freely in cyberspace; these form the foundation on which a democratic  society is built. The present defamation laws in Korea, our columnist says, are shaking this foundation and threatening our democratic society.  He asks if the the report of Frank La Rue will have any results in Korea. The answer, he says, will have to come from those in the media, our artists, and the citizens of cyberspace.

The Catholic Press is not  happy with the  current defamation laws that curtail freedom of speech, and have expressed this on a number of occasions. However, because of the security laws of the Country and the  situation in the North, the efforts to make changes have been slow in coming. The hope is that with enough dissatisfaction with the defamation laws, the necessary changes will eventually be made.

A Korean ex-patriot living in France writes about life as a monk, which began five years ago when he was in his 70s, in the monastery of  Abbaye de Sainte-Marie du Desert, a cloistered contemplative order of Trappists. According to Catholic history, he is living in the country considered the eldest daughter of the Church, a country epitomizing the struggle for human rights: freedom, equality, fraternity.  

The writer has lived most of his life in France where he retired from his work. He has always wanted to devote the last years of his life to silence and prayer, but until recently his circumstances did not allow it. And when he was ready, looking for a place to do this, he found that age was always the barrier. Then one day he asked a parish priest for help in his search and was introduced to the Trappists and their 150 year-old monastery, which became well-known in the surrounding area when a member of the community was  beatified. 

In the beginning he spent some time with the monks in prayer and silence and was hoping for an opportunity to do some service. He found it very helpful but didn't know how long it  would continue. One day, after looking over his life history, the Abbot asked  if he was willing to become a novice in the community. He was  surprised  and wondered if he would be able to live up to the requirements.  Six months later he was approved to begin training as a monk. He was  pleased but wavered because of his back ground of marriage and fathering a child. This would be, he says, a very strange thing for Koreans to understand.  Even his lay friends in France were surprised to hear of his joining  the community.

He thanks God  for the opportunity to live this life of  prayer and work, which starts each day at 4:00 am and ends at 8:00 pm. Besides meeting for Mass, they meet for prayer eight times during the day, and work in silence.

Though it is unusual for someone his age to take up the life of a monk, and perhaps even more so the strict life of a Trappist monk, he tells us of a priest in Hong Kong who joined the Trappists at the age of 75, made his solemn vows at the age of 100, and died at 110.  He also mentions the father of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who  sold all his possessions to join his son's community. He concludes that what he did is not so strange after all.

However, the cloistered contemplative life is not for everyone. It is a special kind of spiritual life that attempts to imitate the interior life of Jesus. He notes that a recently read article reported the death, at 101, of a Religious Sister who, since the age of 17, lived this hidden life.  He considers her a martyr for love.  Those who die for their country are called patriots and those who die for God are called martyrs, but all those who live the cloistered contemplative life can also rightly be called, he says, martyrs for love. Now his life is one of silence, work and prayer.