Understanding Ceremony and Ritual in Confucianism

Ceremony and ritual are concepts in Confucianism that are at the center of any discussion of its moral code.  The columnist in the Cultural of Life column in the Peace Weekly introduces us to the Confucian view of life. The aspect of ritual or ceremony so  intimately connected with Confucianism has a relationship with society that we  may tend to disregard and see only ceremony and ritual. It is a relationship with others and with heaven.

The character for ritual in Chinese is 禮, which can be explained simply. On  the left is  the icon for heaven--the stars, moon and sun hanging from the heavens; on the right-side top, a dish filled with food, bottom right the stand on which it is placed.  

 All of life has a connection with natural life. Humans are dependent on other forms of life for existence. The columnist writes that human life is not satisfied with just life but wants to go out to other life in search of nobility. Human life shows us that societal life is an important dimension of our humanity. Accordingly, the individual finds meaning in life especially in ritual, that is, in relationship with others in ceremonial encounters.

Ritual is connected with sacrifice and with social life. When we are not engaging with others in society, we are thought not to be living an authentic life, and are barely escaping death. Society asks us to live authentically. When we don't know the meaning of life, we are just existing. The meaning of human life is concretely shown by our living in society. This understanding, the columnist says, is not easy to realize. Confucius said he didn't know the will of God until he was 50 years old.

Humans are questioning people. Questions about life and death are always with us.  Confucius received a question about death and answered: "If we don't understand life, how can we understand death?"Questions about death are all contained in life. When we are dead to others, life is not worth living. There is no meaning to life and, according to Confucianism, we are a 'dead person' in society.

Confucius wanted his disciples to move into the life of society and not to remain in an individual life. To live with others he considered the just way to act. We can only understand the meaning of our own life when that life is lived among others. Individual life is given its generative meaning by life in society. The columnist concludes that the Confucian traditional societal vision of life is that our lives are given meaning by our life in society. And that this vision, because it is in harmony with  justice, will teach us what an ideal society should look like.

What One Individual Can Do

A Korean bishop has consistently shown the readers of his column in the Catholic Times how to select the moral and Christian values that will ultimately change the world into a more beautiful and healthier place.

We have, the bishop said, seen persons who have given their life savings to help the poor, those who take care of their health by a new way of living, those who are helping the marginalized of  society, those who are more interested in being of service to others than in making money. This attitude, he says, is spreading in society.

It is easy to think there is little that can be done by a single individual in our consumerist society, he said. Yet there are many who are living the resurrected life of Jesus in our world. The bishop tells us about a woman in her late 60s who went to the home office of Goldman Sachs, one of the most powerful investment banks in the world, to offer some advice.  Three of the officials greeted her politely. She had three requests: executive salaries should be controlled; there should be transparency in the running of the company; and the poor should be remembered. This woman is Sister Nora Nash, a religious sister belonging to the Franciscan order.

Sister has been watch-dogging  the corporate world since 1974, when she became interested in the by-products of world investment: polluting of the environment, and the low salary of workers. Deciding to do something about the situation, she took some of the money from the sisters' severance pay plan to buy shares in different companies, so she would  have  the right to speak at the meeting of the shareholders.  By doing this, she wielded an extraordinary amount of power. When the companies realized who she represented they had to be concerned.

In 1981, when she attended the general meeting of the  General Electric Company, the president of the company at that time was so impressed by Sister Nora that he went by helicopter to meet her at her convent.  There are CEOs that continue to consult with Sister on her ideas. Sister's movement, in 1979, joined the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), whose principles are based on the teachings of Christianity.

The bishop concludes the column by telling us that it is not only in the United States, but other countries are also spreading the values of Christianity; changing how these enterprises operate will help change the world, he said. The sisters' severance pay was a way of being salt and light to the world.  This is a good example, the bishop reminds us, of an answer to the challenges the world is giving us, and how answers to similar problems in the future should be discovered and implemented by first discerning the underlying moral values of Christianity as they apply to any troubling situation. 

Catholic Church of Asia

This past month was a busy time for discussions on  evangelization. Both Catholic papers devoted space to the meetings on this issue. The Missionary Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life (MISAL)  met in Korea to discuss common issues. They meet every two years, and this year the Korean Foreign Mission Society were the sponsors. This is the second time the meeting was held in Asia. In the past it was only the MISAL societies of Europe and the States that would meet, but since 1998 it has included all the societies in the Catholic world. Every other year, the missionary societies of the three continents of Europe, America and Asia meet to exchange information on mission.

Another meeting was under the sponsorship of the Federation of the Asian Bishops Conference. It was a workshop of the Institute of Theological Animation (BITA IV), held in Thailand. The topic was, "Youth in Asia: Challenges of Fundamentalism and Relativism."

The Peace Weekly and Catholic Times both commented on the workshop, stressing  that fundamentalism is not only a problem in Islam but also within Christianity.  Atheists are also pushing scientific fundamentalism, which has reached a level that can't be ignored. Both of these position need to have a pastoral response.

This type of workshop is conducted every 5 years in Asia, with a special topic selected and researched for the meeting. This year 30 bishops from 8 countries and 50 theologians attended.

Fr. Park, a theologian from Korea, spelled out in his talk the negative effect scientific fundamentalism and relativism is having on  youth. He said, "My happiness, my fulfillment is what the young are searching for; the absolutes of  religion no longer interest the young. To follow the teaching of Catholicism and endure  uncomfortableness and sacrifice is no longer of concern. The conflict that scientific fundamentalism is having with religion is causing the young to have an aversion to religion."

Religious fundamentalism with it it confrontational, narrow and cliquish understanding of what truth is and the fundamentalism of the  scientists such as Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking are very similar. This attack on  religious fundamentalism has great attraction, says Fr. Park,  for the young.

He emphasized that the "Apologetics of the past no longer serves its purpose; the Church is going to have to be a living example of authenticity. "The solution will require, he said, the faith of the martyrs and convincing arguments showing that theology and science need not be incompatible but can be companions in the search for truth.

My Brothers and Sisters in Prison

A journalist of the Catholic Times recalls Jean Valjean of Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables and the many other ex-convicts in our society. After 19 years at hard labor, he was returned to society with a criminal record and a yellow passport that recorded his past prison life. This made  life difficult, eating places and inns  would refuse  entrance. It was a bishop who went out to Valjean, "I am already familiar with your name you are my brother."

The journalist  reminds us that the United States is an example of a politically mature society. However, when we study the right to vote given to women and the blacks, we uncover something different.

It was only in 1920 that women received the right to vote, and the blacks did not receive the full right to vote until 1965. It was much later than our own country, which gave the right to vote to all in 1948. In the States, the  prevalent thinking was it was not  proper to give the vote to women and blacks. At this time, in history, it is  hard for us to believe.

Last month, the Catholic Committee for human rights petitioned a change to the voting  law which they say is in violation of the constitution in disfranchising those who are in prison, given a  suspended sentence or on parole. The committee showed from the constitution itself that  present voting laws were in violation of the constitution.

More than finding reasons to change the law from the law itself, we forget that the prisoners are our brothers and sisters, and the present law is a relic from the past.  Pope John 23rd in his encyclical  of  1963 ' Peace on Earth' said that the right to vote is one of our basic rights, and related to  loving our neighbor. The columnist ends the article  reflecting that one day in the future  we will look back on the present and be surprised in  the way we saw those in prison.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

'Home Sweet Home'

Random thoughts on the month of May is the topic for the desk column of the Catholic Times. During the month, we have special days for children, parents, and teachers. It is the month for families. In these days of bleakness as we move ever closer to an individualistic society, it is necessary, he says, to have the experience of things as they should be.
 
Last year on parents' day, many Koreans were buying carnations sold on the streets to give to parents,  happy and thankful for the opportunity to show love for their parents.The ability of giving thanks and experiencing joy comes from families, says the columnist. Those who did not have that experience growing up will find it difficult to trust and love others.
 
From the moment of birth, we are all members of a family community. We are not able to live alone in society. We need a place like the bosoms of our mothers as a place of refuge. This place of refuge is the family. It is the place where we see love, trust and sacrifice in the beginning of the drama of life. It is a place where we should not be seeing 'the everyone  for himself hardheartedness'  we now find in life. It is not a place where we should find jealously, envy, and competition.
 
What is the reality in our families? Those who are putting up walls between families are not an uncommon sight. In a fit of anger, we often have words and acts that result in a situation that is difficult to remedy. Some think that because it is a family, one can vent anger, and it will be understood, acting in the company of others by following all the rules of politeness but in the family acting like an unruly child. 

What is the reality in our families? Those who are putting up walls between families are not an uncommon sight. In a fit of anger, we often have words and acts that result in a situation that is difficult to remedy. Some think that because it is a family, one can vent anger, and it will be understood, acting in the company of others by following all the rules of politeness but in the family acting like an unruly child. 
 
There are many that forget the importance of family; it is taken for granted. We are too busy to spend time in conversation with family members.  Even though this is an essential element in families, it is put on the back burner thinking we know each other well enough so communicating is considered unnecessary.

The columnist introduces us to the song 'Home Sweet Home' written by John Howard Payne.  "Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." Strangely, the columnist reflects, Payne never had a wife or family, which is the very reason he felt this yearning. Many who have a family do not know how precious the family community is. 

He concludes that Christians should make efforts to make the family a place of faith: the basic community church.  We should  search for ways to foster trust, communication,  forgiveness, reconciliation,  understanding, gratitude, laughter, and fullness of love within families. This is what God would want from us, he tells us, and he himself will begin to do so today by returning early from work to spend precious time with his family.                                                                                                                                                              



 

Helping Others to Grow Old Gracefully

In his Sunday chat column, the Catholic Times' writer recounts how his mother at the age of 70, after the death of his father, was baptized. They lived in a small village on the outskirts of Seoul. Together with the neighboring women, she was happy doing volunteer work for the church. One day, desiring something more important to do, she asked if she could become a member of the Legion of Mary. She was turned down.

Her son doesn't know for sure, but suspects his mother was deeply saddened when she was not accepted. But she soon became active in the Purgatorial Society. It was at that time that they moved from their village and circumstances changed. The women were extremely kind to the mother. When the bus going to the cemetery had many who were going, she was kindly told she need not go.  When she heard there was a need for someone to clean the toilets at the church, she happily prepared all that was necessary. But when she went to the church, she was told: "Granny  there is no need for you to work, go home and rest,"  Disheartened, she returned home.

On reaching her 80th year, she lamented that "Others can work as volunteers, but they want me to stay home and do the house work." At ninety, she works around the house  after hurting her back, she is not able to stand up, but crawls around the house, cleaning and doing her work.

To make his mother happy, the writer became a member of the Legion of Mary.  On the  day of the Legion meeting, if he complains about having to attend, his mother is always ready with her unfailing question: "Aren't you going to the meeting?" The mother's devotion has been a great assist in his own spiritual life, he says.

Age in Korea is an issue that will not disappear easily. Workers are asked to retire at an early age. Respect for the elderly is an important part of  the culture, but at the same time the aging process is quickened by the hands-off policy of parents who turn everything over to the children.  How many grow old gracefully and find great joy in old age even when they enjoy fairly good health?  It is not a difficult question to answer. The elderly are put on a pedestal, respected and loved, but not always seen as a person having an important place in society.  When one feels of little use, something happens, to that person's morale.

New Vision for Pastoral Work in Korea

Looking over the recent statistical report for the year 2011, the editorial in the Catholic Times mentions areas of serious concern. The numbers of those not coming out to church and those not frequenting the Sacraments present serious problems, but just as serious is the ebb and flow of Christians: the continuing loss of the young, and in the opposite direction the increase of the elderly membership.

Comparing last years statistics with 2001, very conspicuously there is a decrease in attendance of 24.4 percent of those under the age of 19, but an increase of over 127.5 percent for those more than 70 years old.  Even compared with the whole of society this is a very serious gap between these two groups in the Korean Catholic community. The loss of the young and the aging of the Christians is a serious problem confronting the Church. The effort and money expended in these two areas is also seen, regrettably, as insignificant.

The editorial sees a need for an order of preference in the pastoral work of the future. There are mountains of concerns but the young and the old are two problem areas which will escalate, according to the editorial, to more serious problems if efforts are not made now to remedy the situation. 

The recent issue of the Kyeongyang magazine profiles a diocese that is doing something about the youth problem.  Bishop Chang of Cheongju has always considered the young in his pastoral message each year, and just recently built a youth center in the oldest parish of the diocese. The diocesan center, an expensive piece of property will also be used for youth activities. This in itself is a sign of where the bishop wants the  diocese to go. There is a room where the tabernacle and altar of the first bishop of Cheongju, Maryknoll Bishop James Pardy, is kept, showing the connection with the past, the present and future.

The Center is still not operating according to plans but this will soon change.  Before programs can be effective, however, the priest responsible for the youth work in the diocese feels there has to be a change of attitude among those working with the youth.  Our youth are not only the future but they are now making the future, he emphasized. The Center is not only for the young but will be run by them, he said. The young will make the Center the vibrant environment he hopes it will become.

Communication with the youth is the starting point, and from there everything else will develop naturally.  He hopes that it will be a stimulus for the young and a bridge to working with all the youth of the diocese.