Mission Sunday 2011

Evangelization is the reason for the Church's existence. It was the last message of Jesus to the community he formed and a mandate which has from the beginning been  primary. The Church is always in mission. Especially today, when as the Pope says, it seems we have lost the sense of ultimate realities and even the meaning of existence itself.

Oct. 23 is Mission Sunday throughout the Catholic World. All of us will hear the Pope's message on this day, and our Catholic papers are devoting space announcing the importance of mission, the sharing of our gift of faith with others. The Catholics of Korea understand this mission, and many are  not embarrassed  to convey this message to others. 

Many parishes take this mandate seriously, providing programs to educate the community, praying for the success of their efforts, printing leaflets to distribute, and even going into the streets to introduce Jesus to those interested. Programs are often set up twice a year to invite candidates to come to a Sunday Mass where the community will acquaint the candidates on what to expect, assigning them to different catechetical classes.                                             

Korean statistics show that about half of the population consider themselves without a religion so the possibilities to evangelize are bright.

There were a number of examples in this week's Catholic papers  on  what was accomplished by parishes and mission stations. In one of the mission stations, 170 people showed an interest in joining the  community. When we consider that it was a small mission station, it is a reason to marvel.

One pastor stressed that in the education of the Christians, it is not the words that are important but our lives; mission is best done by the wordless examples of our lives. A journalist from the paper wanted to visit a parish to write an article for this recent issue but was told not to come. The process of evangelization is not an event to be observed and written about but an inner relationship with those who are intending to join the community. 

The lack of concern for the tepid and the diminishing zeal for evangelizing  in many parts of the world are regrettable facts. The reason for not desiring to  share the gift is possibly a loss of the joy we should  have as followers of Jesus or when the  experience of Jesus is not an important part of who we are. Whatever the reasons, lack of interest, one writer concluded, is the biggest obstacle to mission in the world today and when lost, is  not easily regained.

Words Often Say More Than We Want

The blind in Korean society have a history of  working in massage parlors, work  as acupuncturists and fortune tellers. Massage parlors  in Korea do not have a  good reputation. It is often a place of decadent behavior, one of the shady spots of our society.
 
Writing in the Catholic Times a columnist who has been working with the handicapped for many years mentions the effort that was made to change the image of the massage parlors. A massage center was established to educate the public to the  value of massages, making it easier for them to accept its healthful benefits, and gradually the image began to change.


The columnist points out that the words we use for the handicapped are very telling. Before 1981 the handicapped were described as 'deformed for life'. Over time the words 'handicapped' or 'handicapped person' came into use. Some of the words were extremely sensitive to those with handicaps but were not thought to be grammatically appropriate. The writer feels that addressing the handicapped as 'persons with a handicap' or the blind as 'persons with a sight problem' would be more helpful.
 
The writer has no expectations that changing the words we use is going to help the handicapped in any measurable way. But we are sending a message by the words we use. When we use positive words we are helping to influence a change to a more positive appreciation of the handicapped.
 
The importance of the words we use in our speech and writing is often forgotten. It is not difficult to know where anyone stands on any issue by the words used to describe those we disagree with; words are loaded with meanings and emotions. It is not easy to use neutral words when writing or speaking, and often the words we use communicate more about ourselves than about the subject we are addressing. 

Confucianism and Catholicism

Confucian values permeate most of  Korean society. And Catholicism, before it became an object of belief, was an object of study for Confucian scholars. When Catholicism finally took root in Korea, it was not merely a transplant of a foreign culture to Korea that was to influence the culture of the country but was in turn influenced by the Confucian culture.

Confucianism is covered by the 3rd article in a series on Catholicism and  Other Religions, appearing in the Peace Weekly. The Jinsan incident in 1791 resulted from a refusal of the Korean Catholics to follow the Confucian mourning rituals, worsening the dispute between Catholics and Confucians.  
 
There have been two approaches suggested to deal with the dispute: accommodation with Confucianism, the Jesuit approach in China, or respond to the difficulties by a strict adherence to traditional Catholic teachings. The difficulties between the two religions are briefly noted in the article. The Confucian idea of heaven would be similar to the Christian understanding of the God of the Old Testament; it's both a transcendent and immanent idea of heaven. In early Confucian writings, a word meaning the king of heaven was used, with some implication of the existence of a supreme personal God. 
 
There is a difference in the way Confucians see the creation; it is not a creation from nothing, everything begins with the human and ends with the human. Everything is subjective, positive and optimistic. We are given, they believe, a mandate from heaven that can be attained by the practice of virtue.
 
The ultimate virtue for the Confucian is benevolence (note its Chinese character above left), that quality of goodwill toward others that can and should exist in any personal relationship. This understanding is similar to 'love' in Christianity. However, the  approach to fulfillment in life in each religion is different; in Confucianism, fulfillment is self-achieved while in Christianity, fulfillment, that is, sanctification, can't be achieved only by personal effort.


For a Confucian, there is not much interest in creation apart from humanity. Their interest is in living a life of natural goodness that can be expanded by self-actualization; that is their aim in life, their salvation. The Confucian wants to cultivate his moral sensitivity so that he will be able to act correctly and bring peace to others. All that the Confucian aims for, the Christian finds in Christ.


 

Humanism and Catholic Family LIfe

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Bernard Wonkil Lee came to  the island of Gyodong where he started the first Catholic community on the island. The trip from North Korea had been short, but when he lost hope of  returning home, he soon became the leader of the island's Catholic community, which developed into the Gyodong Mission Station.

The Peace Weekly in its special feature on a recent meeting of an international forum on Catholic humanism, convened to consider what is meant by Catholic humanism, used the life of Bernard Wonkil Lee as an example of what this might mean for all of us in living a more fulfilling life. One of his sons, a priest from the diocese of Washington DC, reminisced about his father, who was, he said, a man of action and a trail blazer, whose daily Mass attendance had a great influence on his own life and family.

Wonkil Lee remained here on the island until 1954 before moving to Seoul, and after retiring in 1988 went to the United States where his sons were living. In all these different locations, his Catholic humanist principles were evident by the concern he had for those who were having difficulties in life: he taught the illiterate to read and helped those who were hungry.

One of the participants in the forum, a professor at Seoul University and a one-time education minister in the government, spoke on humanism and the family, noting that there has been a breakdown  of the family not only in Korea but in other parts of the world. This world-wide development, he said, has to be brought to an end if we are to have a truly functioning society. Catholicism considers the family as the origin of, and primary stabilizing force in, society, as it was meant to be in God's plan. A healthy society, he emphasizes, begins with the healthy family. Even if much of society has been infected with evil, the family need not be contaminated if strengthened by the humanistic values of Catholicism, which allows each member of the family, and thus society, to express our inherent human dignity.

The professor proposes a plan to implement this within the context of Catholicism. Beginning with family attendance at Mass, he notes that family members often attend Mass at different times. There are Masses for the very young and also for teenagers; he would like to see them all attend Mass together. The family could attend, he suggests, a Mass at 9:00 am and, after Mass, have the parents teach the children. And those who come to the 11:00 Mass with the family, could remain after Mass with the parents again teaching the children. He would also like to see the Church take more of an interest in the young parishioners, getting them actively involved in educational programs aimed at eradicating the problems within families.

The other participants shared their ideas on what Catholic humanism should mean. The professor who proposed working directly with the family is applying the same ideas here that motivate Marriage Encounter and Focolare movements. Whether it's feasible now to devote more time and effort to working on family issues, considering the pressures of society on the family, is a difficult decision for the Church to make.

It is Difficult to be Naive

Chinese characters are seen on the walls of many houses and public buildings. They say much in few words. On the opinion page of the Catholic Times, the writer introduces us to the Chinese characters that mean: "It's difficult to be naive."

In this phrase the Chinese word used for naive or fool would mean in Korean "to gloss over." In the past when a Korean would apply the word intelligent to another, this person would usually refuse to accept the compliment by some appropriate response. For, as the writer states, if this person had not responded and refused the compliment, the gloss over, he would be seen as naive or a fool. But if we were to call someone a fool and the person does not respond, refusing to defend himself, who would think such a person a fool?  No one would be able to determine the depth of his or her thought. This is the reason, he believes, for preferring the saying: "Those who appear naive are the wise."

Relying on his own experience, he believes that when we speak we should reduce by half the number of words we habitually use. This would also reduce the number of mistakes we make in speaking. He believes this way of behaving has its roots in silence, and refers to the book "The World of Silence," by the Swiss philosopher Max Picard, who has written insightfully and lyrically about silence. He quotes  from the book:

Man is not even aware of the loss of silence: so much is the space formerly occupied by the silence so full of things that nothing seems to be missing.But where formerly the silence lay on a thing, now one thing lies on another. Where formerly an idea was covered by the silence, now a thousand associations speed along to it and bury it. In this world of today in which everything is reckoned in terms of immediate profit, there is no place for silence. Silence was expelled because it was unproductive, because it merely existed and seemed to have no purpose. Almost the only kind of silence that there is today is due to the loss of the faculty of speech. It is purely negative: the absence of speech. It is merely like a technical hitch in the continuous flow of noise."

There is also a worldly-wise way of being silent, an aggressive play acting of what is thought to be humility.  Why does one act in this way? It is seen as a way of disarming another so that a more devastating tactical offense can be applied. According to this thinking, to show our true self, jealousy or deference would likely be the expected response, thus removing the possibility of controlling the  situation and moving it in a direction more favorable to the individual.

Humility was  an unknown virtue in the cultures of Greece and Rome, and today possibly has a  meaning far removed from that  understood by Christians. Humility has nothing to do  with not appearing as proud in the presence of others, which some find attractive, but has everything to do with seeing oneself as nothing, but for the grace of God.

Age is What We Make of It.

"If study is not part of today don't say you have a tomorrow....Take advantage of today for time quickly passes"--two sayings of the well-known Chinese Philosopher Zhu Wen Kung, which appeared in a Peace Weekly article praising the work ethic of the man profiled in the article, a doctor of  nuclear medicine.

Retired from his position  as professor at the  Catholic University after 37 years, he has continued to work in medicine for the last 16 years. He thanks God for the good health that enables him to keep working, and is happy  to be able to help those who need his care. Age is not a problem, he says, when it comes to his research studies; when he's involved in study, it feels like he's meeting his sweet heart, because of all the joy that it gives him.

He has been working in PET-CT (Positron emission tomography-computed tomography). the field of nuclear medicine, a branch of medical imaging, that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose or treat a variety of diseases or abnormalities in the body.

"Humanity is a mystery," he says.  Are we able to make hair or fingernails? We are God's masterpieces, made with delicacy and exquisiteness that only we humans can understand."

A recent study of his that culminated in attaching a gamma camera to the eye of a needle to search for fractures appeared in his dissertation published last year in a medical journal. "When one continues to do research these moments of discovery come. It may seem that the discovery was by accident, but it was not."

He has published over 380 treatises, and of this number over 40 are listed in the Science Citation Index. And since  retirement he continues to write, publishing two treatises each year. But even a cart, he says, can go on moving for a 100 years if the chassis is strong and the wheels are in good shape. What is important is where is it  going and the  reason.

His occupation, he makes clear, is his vocation to help people according to God's wishes.  Since it is a vocation for the welfare of others it is a life of study, even into old age, which draws all of us to admire not only this remarkable doctor but all those who keep mentally active and  concerned for others. The Prophet Micah said it beautifully: "You have been told, Oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

Living Without Pretense

Some 30 years ago when China was beginning to open up to foreign influence, a group of Koreans visited China. Their guide was an ethnic Korean living in China. One day the ethnic Koreans serving as guides to visiting Koreans met and discussed what they found interesting about their work. They talked about three tendencies they observed in Koreans visiting the country: pretending to be all knowing, pretending to be wealthy, pretending to be important. In the beginning there had been great curiosity in guiding the Koreans, but gradually, as they got to know them better, this interest turned into disdain. Such was the way a Korean priest in a recent bulletin for the clergy summed up the feelings of the Korean guides.

He gives another example of how certain nationalities are often distinguished. The Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists who climb the Eiffel tower in Paris all have similar facial features, so it is difficult to distinguish one nationality from another, but it is said that from their actions it is easy to know who is visiting the tower. Those who are busy eating and talking are the Chinese. Those who are taking notes, listening to the guide, and looking over the structure of the tower are the Japanese. Those who are busy taking pictures to show on their return home are the Koreans.
The writer acknowledges that we all have an innate desire  to be recognized but wonders if Koreans have more of this desire than most. They like, he says, big and expensive cars, big apartments and lavish material goods, and wonders if this is not an effort to raise themselves in the estimation of others by what they have.

Most people, he reminds us, usually like those who are humble, and care little for the proud who  push themselves forward. He believes that if we do want to draw attention to ourselves the best way is to not make much of ourselves.

We Christians know that humility is the  DNA of a Christian; it was Jesus' repeated theme in the Gospels. Koreans, despite the perception of many, are probably no different than others in wanting attention. Italians are considered by many to be more interested in making a good impression than other nationalities, which amounts to the same thing. Sometimes the desire to make a good impression, or to gain attention, is subtle and less immediately obvious, but this again comes down to the same thing: being too concerned with oneself and how we relate to others. Effort may not be the only thing that is needed to change this natural trait. Sometimes what happens to us, perhaps in a moment of grace, reveals the foolishness of this kind of behavior.