Humility and the Spiritual Life

The first step in the spiritual life, says a Catholic Times journalist, is "to part company" with pride.He defines pride as considering oneself creator. We are not the 'word' but the one that responds to the Word. Jesus is the Word of God; this Word made the world; light appeared, and the Word came to live with us.

We mistake our word for the Word of God. We speak our word as if we are the creators. The columnist wants us prepared to receive the question: Haven't you heartily spoken your own word, when you were sent into the world, instead of speaking God's word?

It's not easy to understand what we are being asked to do here. We have the examples of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, but we desire to show off ourselves.  God wants us to exemplify his word and to carry it out in our lives. We are to be united in a relationship with God, merciful with those we meet, and in harmony with the world. God has been speaking through the world by inspiring us from the beginning of history. And Jesus has shown us the unity, mercy and harmony in the world by the example of his life.

During the Chosen Dynasty, women were socially restricted. Because of male power and male vested interests, women suffered much.  What was central and missing in all this was not understanding that the center of family life is not the husband nor the  wife nor the children; the center of family life is the mystery that is in God.

We have difficulty in believing in the providence of God and very easily trust in the strength of our human resources. If the viruses we are exposed to daily were slightly transformed, says the journalist, we could all die. It is not what we see with our eye that is important but the mostly unacknowledged graces that come into our life each day: the sun that rises in the East, every day; awakening in the morning, every day, among other commonly taken-for-granted graces that make our life possible.

If we could add some  humility to the many facets of life we think important, much would change. Constancy is important. With this change in our lives, pride would begin to weaken, and our bodies, mental faculties, and our hearts would become more spiritual, more truly what they were meant to be.

Health of Body and Soul

The Catholic Times' desk columnist recalls his early years when the family kept bottles of vitamins and medicine on the dinner table.  He wondered at the time if they could  cure the ailments for which they were taken. Exercise and eating well, he thought would have been the better way.

He was not  concerned then about his health. It was mainly trying to keep away from catching a cold. At that time, a good night's rest or a nap would be enough to regain  strength. He played soccer, basketball and joku (playing volley ball with your feet). During his years of schooling, these sports  kept him in good shape.

As the years went by, things began to change. Aches and pains started to appear. Food was eaten no longer for its taste  but rather for his own taste for food. He remembers that he could make the rounds five times at a buffet table, and eat at different hours of the day without problems. But one day, coming back from a bath house, he fell to the ground because of an excruciating pain, later found to be gastritis and an esophagus problem. Even after this incident, he was not as careful, he admits, as he should have been. He now is more careful when he sits down to eat, even when it's a simple meal of noodles.

He is bothered with chronic tiredness which even a good night's sleep does not dissipate, and finds walking up to his third floor office difficult. Because of these latest symptoms, his wife also gets after him to improve his dietary regimen: including omega-3 oil, vitamins, brown rice, vegetables, beans with the rice, papaya enzymes and also, whenever possible, buying organic.

He has taken steps, he says, to provide for the lack of exercise and a good diet, supplementing with other health aids.  Seeing how this has improved his physical health, he wonders if similar steps focusing on the spiritual side of life will improve his spiritual health. He has been baptized for 30 years, but instead of making progress in spiritual maturity, he had been content, he says, with comfort and laziness. Especially pride which has brought  inflammation and hardening of the spiritual faculties.

The concern we should have for the  the body is similar to the concern we should have for the spirit.  Sunday Mass and our daily spiritual exercises, if not regular and desire is missing, may be a sign that we need to take some spiritual vitamins. They could be in the form of retreats and spiritual reading. And because of the interconnection of the body and the spirit, both need to be cared for if we are to live to the optimum of our possibilities.

'Walking with Philosophy'

Most people are able to  separate theory from practice, knowing and doing. A scholar with great knowledge is not necessarily a virtuous person; a philosopher is not always a moral person; and a great theologian is not always a spiritual person or a saint.

 

However, at the  appearance on the world stage of philosophy, both in the East and in the West, this was not the case. The study of philosophy began around the 6th and 7th centuries before Christ.  It was the intellectual  search for knowledge, not generally concerned with systematization and theory but was more practical: learning how to live. The goal was to discover the right relationship with nature, things and other people.

The Catholic Times, in its "Walking with Philosophy" column, pointed out that the first philosophers, for the most part, were not interested in abstract metaphysical theories or dogmatic systems. They were interested in living the good life.

The systematization, speculation and theorizing came later, and is the reason, according to the column, we have lost interest in philosophical  studies. In the beginning, the philosophers were interested in right actions. How was a right-minded person to act? They wanted to know how a person could be consistently one in action and in thought.
 

From the beginning of philosophical thought in those early centuries, we have wanted to understand the significance of existence and the world we live in. This desire comes from the very nature of humanity. The word 'philosophy,' as we know, comes from the word for wisdom (sophia) and the word for love (philos). We naturally and enthusiastically search for truth to solve the problems of life. As long as they exist we will always be philosophizing, always seeking meaning and a better understanding of life.

Being of the one Doing

A priest, reminiscing with friends concerning the times they spent together on Mondays for talks on different aspects of their work, remembers that it was not easy to sit attentively while hearing lectures. He mentioned that during these lectures a few of the priests were valiantly trying to keep themselves from dozing, and the professor, seeing the effort, commented that they must have had a busy weekend.

This incident was recalled by the priest in his column for the Catholic Times. At the time, the speaker, was an assistant priest who was responsible for the funeral and wedding Masses, morning Masses, and Masses for the young; it was a busy week, he told the Professor, who was surprised at the answer. "I understand the work that you are doing, he said, "but it seems to me that when you are saying Masses it should recharge you to do your work with new vigor and energy."

From that time on, the priest never ever said he was tired from the Masses he said. Many decades have passed and the Masses and communions have been a source of recharging and renewal for the work.

The Mass has, indeed, been life-giving. An antidote to our common experience of life, which at times is difficult and tedious, leaving us with a feeling of burn out, and dreaming of the kind of existence we would like to enjoy. Stress is felt by all of us. Even priests, who have devoted their lives to the service of others, find that even relating with their parishioners and fulfilling the requirements of a sacramental life can be tiring and unsatisfying.

It is at those times that we have to reflect not on what we are doing as much as on the one doing. Our being is what is important. By focusing on the one doing the work, we nourish the work, making it more effective in helping others. Seeing  ourselves with different, more understanding eyes allows us to receive new strength for the work. God has led us to where we are. We should trust that he will continue to move us with grace, making our response one of surprise and  gratitude--and more effective.

Wanting to Better the Life of the Elderly

Many, late in life, feeling a need for more education to do their work well, decide to go on for added studies. The Peace Weekly tells us of Monica, who worked  with poor and alienated women, and who decided, in her 50s, to go to Japan to get a doctorate in gerontology.

After 13 years, not knowing any Japanese when she started, she got her degree. Her dissertation was an exhaustive study of the Korean history of work with the elderly. She will translate it into Korean and plans to publish it in the future. At her age, to go on for a doctorate in another country, unfamiliar as she was with the language, is not something easy to image. Next year, she will be teaching at the Catholic University, which will make her life even busier.

She admitted to wanting to give up many times, but she overcame the difficulties and persevered with her studies, receiving help from many during her time in Japan, and has many to thank, she says. She now has the qualifications of a first-grade social worker, care-giver.  She saw a need to gain knowledge regarding the needs of the  elderly and made her decision to become a specialist in the field.

She has been  a leader in the Catholic Workers Movement and began  a home for women, becoming a Godmother to many. She received education in many different areas of study, and earned a master's degree in women's studies. She  aspires to starting a group home exclusively for the elderly with the necessary cultural accompaniments. Following England's example, she would also like to see restaurants that cater to the needs of the elderly, not only as places where they can eat and drink tea, but where they can get counseling and  enjoy their leisure time.

Her goal will continue to be, she says, to use her knowledge to further the well-being of  the elderly in Korea.

Are You Happy?

When we die and go to heaven, God will ask, according to Sister Park, whether we were happy. She believes we will not be happy without living a spiritual life. 

Sister Park is a Holy Name Sister who teaches spirituality in the States, and was written up in the Catholic Times on her visit to Korea. ( Before going to the States, she was a journalist for the Times.) Spirituality for the Sister is a way of being happy. If you are happy, she says, there must be, underlying the happiness, a spirituality of some sort.   Experience in  our faith life and  experience in our daily life are not separate.  Attempting to find meaning in our lives is what spirituality is all about.

She is preparing to write a book about her experience of community life in Shamanism and in Buddhism. She wants to show the rest of the world  the understanding of community life in Korean culture. She also feels it's a good way to understand our own Scriptures.

Her  community in Korea has taught her about her own personal journey. She was given strength while in the community and wants to discover why this was so. The synergistic effect from  participation in community living is an antidote, she feels, to the present individualism of society.

The article concludes by telling us never to despair. We live within a world where money is everything, but this gross distortion of the truth can be overcome, she says. Failures are means that allow us to grow as mature persons--when we use the failures as challenges. She tells the young to keep on looking for mentors to help in the maturing process. Keep on desiring and praying, she advises, and you will find your mentors.

North Korean Rufugees

North Korean refugees who  flee their communist homeland in order to avoid oppression and  food shortages risk their lives to resettle in the South. The number now living in South Korea is about 24,000.

The Catholic Times  tells us the story of Hong Teresa, 55 years old, who arrived in South Korea in 2008. She remembers hearing about the Catholic Church from her mother as a child and being told to be careful not to speak about this to anyone. This remembrance helped her to receive baptism, in 2009, while living in Seoul.

Teresa escaped from North Korea for the first time in 2002 and was returned to the North by the Chinese authorities. She escaped again in 2005. While in China, she saw the name of a Catholic Church written in Korean script. This brought  back the words of her mother years earlier.

Her mother told her about the foreign missioners who worked in the North and that her maternal grandfather had worked for the Church  but suffered under the Communists because of this connection.  Her family had difficulty finding work, she said, because they were considered undesirable elements within the society.

When she was in China and saw the Catholic church, she entered and introduced  herself to God as the granddaughter of her grandfather, and started to cry. The person that led her to the church gave her a prayer book which she has used ever since.  Three years after leaving the North,  she arrived in South Korea.

There are no Catholic priests in the North, about 3000 Catholics, and a mission station. She feels that the reason they have a semblance of religion there is to publicize an 'openness' to religion to the outside world.  While in Pyongyang, she never heard about the Church; she did, only when she arrived in the South.