Mission Stations: Small Christian Communities

 Setting up small Christian communities is a concept the Korean Church has been working with for about 20 years. In the early years of the Church the primary interest was focused on building mission stations in the remote areas of the country where Christians would be able to meet together with a catechist. He would conduct the mission station liturgy and take care of spiritual needs. These were small Christian Communities. The catechist would function as lay deacons do in the present Church.

In the past most of the parishes would be responsible for large land areas because of the small number of priests. The understanding was that any Christian who lived 4 kms from the parish had no obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Consequently, Christians in these outlying areas of a parish would construct a building to be used as a mission station, or use a house that would serve to gather the Christians together on Sundays for the mission station liturgy.

These mission stations would not have a resident priest. The pastor of the parish to which the mission station belonged would visit the station once a month, and sometimes more frequently, for Mass, and be of help to the Christians for their spiritual needs.

In recent years the number of mission stations has decreased because more people have moved to the cities, the number of priests has increased, the ease of transportation and new and better roads. In many cases, the parishes would have vans picking up the Christians to take them to Mass and returning them to their homes after Mass.

Many of the mission station buildings are not in use today, and have fallen into disrepair. One of the journalists for the Catholic Times laments the loss of these mission stations, which have a great deal of history associated with them. There have been efforts to have the Catholics visit the remote mission stations--rediscovering mission station life-- to see what life was like for many of our ancestors in the faith.

Besides the stations that continue to be used, there are others that have become museums, and places were children would go for summer camp and retreats. To lose this memory of the past, some say, would be a catastrophe.

Dissent Continues in Naju

Dissent is a word that  often describes how people react to controversial issues, many of which can lead to positive as well as negative results, causing many to question which side of these controversial issues they should be on. Resolving conflicts between proponents of a position and those opposed is often an insurmountable task. 

There are times, of course, when we readily say no, and just as easily say yes; no one has difficulty with this common occurrence. However, the word dissent usually is understood to be dissent from the majority. When we deal with the authority of the Church, it should be clear what the response should be, but as we know, it is not.

The Korean Catholic Church, for the most part, is not fragmented by dissent. We have dissent, but it is usually not publicly visible. The recent editorial in the Catholic Times mentions the dissent of a group of followers of the miracles of Naju in the diocese of Kwangju.

The Naju incident began in 1985, with the weeping statue. Despite the fact that the so-called miracle has on four different occasions been condemned by Church authority, as not in keeping with Church teaching and spirituality, the movement continues to flourish. Their members repeatedly say that the fundamental duty we all have as human beings and members of the Church is: " always to obey the certain judgment of ones conscience. If a person were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself" (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1790).

With these words they defend themselves, although the authority of the bishop, with the backing of the Vatican, has told them to give consent and return to the communion of the Church. Some of the confusion comes from the words of some senior members of the hierarchy, who in the beginning were sympathetic to the movement, and it continues to use this to defend themselves. In the words of the diocese, they are doing this to deceive their followers: for they say  they will soon have the approval of the Church.

The diocese, after investigating the so-called miracles, has made clear that there is nothing supernatural about Naju, and the diocese has asked the Christians to refrain from attending the shrine and participating in the events at the site. However, the movement continues to welcome priests from overseas, and there are priests who conduct services at the shrine. The bishop hopes that Youn Julia and her followers will humbly accept the teaching of the bishop. If not the bishop warns that he will use canon law: "A person who publicly incites his or her subjects...or who provokes the subjects to disobedience against them is to be punished by interdict or other just penalties" (canon 1373).

Benefits of Praise

The uses of praise was the topic of conversation recently among some priests who were eating together. The Daily Life and Faith Life column of the Catholic Times brings the topic to our attention with its headline: "Praise Makes Whales Dance." The column goes on to say that it makes people positive and helps them to think positively, noting that the priests had decided, following their conversation, to be more active in its use.

One priest mentioned a teacher he had in grammar school some 40 years earlier. He not only remembers his name but much more. It was the teacher's example that showed him the value of praise. In grammar school, the class had the task of making a small cloth pouch. On the outside, he wrote 1+2=3. The pouch was not that well made nor was much thought given to the outside lettering, but the teacher, seeing his careful scissor work on the borders, praised him for it.

It was not an overall "well done" or "good job" type-of-praise to the whole group, but the teacher made it clear to him that it was something special in his work that was singled out for praise. Otherwise, it would have been forgotten as unimportant, as simply polite words. This was the first time he had been singled out for something he had done and praised for it. He has never forgotten it.

However, it is easy to abuse the use of praise; it has to be merited and honestly given. When used authentically, both the one praised and the one praising are moved, keeping in mind that it is not praise for the sake of praise but to help someone grow. This use of praise is common to humanity. In the States, Mark Twin is quoted as saying that he could live two weeks on a compliment. We can also say, sadly, that criticism can bother us for as long a time, if not longer.

Anger: A Serious Problem

Anger is a serious problem that many of us have to face. Lectures on Happiness, a column in the Peace Weekly, discusses the subject and, using the example of Christ, leaves us with some helpful pointers to follow. Koreans usually consider anger a disease, and it may not even appear outwardly as anger but remain simmering inside.

In chapter 8 of St. John's Gospel, we have the incident of the woman caught in adultery. Lawyers came with the woman to Jesus, asking him what was to be done? She broke the law of Moses and was to be stoned to death; they wanted to hear from Jesus. Wisely, he bent over to write on the ground, giving her accusers a chance to have their anger subside.

Jesus then tells those without sin to begin stoning the woman, as he again writes on the ground. He gave them plenty of time to reflect on the situation. They all left, and Jesus told the woman to go and not sin again.

The columnist gives us five steps to control our anger, after first advising us that when anger invades our psyche, counting to ten is a great help in regaining control.

The first step is to breathe deeply. When God made us, he breathed into us; when we have difficulty breathing, we have difficulty controlling our life.

Second: Walk. It cleans and heals our hearts. Take the rosary beads and go for a walk.

Third: Go easy on fast foods and flesh meats. We can see the effect of this in the animals that are flesh eaters and in those that are herbivore.The more natural the food we eat the less anger we will have, he says.

Fourth: Enjoy life. Take time to rest. Jesus worked six days and rested on the seventh. Seek harmony between work and rest.

Fifth: Be good to yourself. If you are happy, you will not get angry. Do not think that is going against our religious beliefs. Our Lord did say what does it profit a person if he gains the whole world and loses himself (Matt. 16:26). It is when we are happy that we can help others to be happy.

Korean Catechumenate

Apostasy of a Christian during the times of persecution was always a traumatic event. A columnist of the Catholic Times discusses how catechumens were treated in those early days of the Church and what was done to accept new members into the church community.

One of the early written directions dealing with the catechumenate was "The Apostolic Tradition" by Hippolytus, who emphasized the importance of motivating the candidate and providing guidelines for living a proper life thereafter. When their occupation was not in harmony with the Christian life, they were told to leave it. They continued in the catechumenate for three years, but it was the quality of their lives, which determined the person's suitability for baptism and not their knowledge of the catechism. This, however, was not the policy of all the churches.

During the difficult days of persecution in Korea, there were few priests and the forming of a catechumenate was difficult. Those who applied had to give up their superstitious ways and follow the ten commandments and the Christian way of life. After meeting with a priest to discuss the matter, they were considered candidates, and after a period of 40 days could be baptized.

This was considered too short a time, and in 1932, the Directory for the Korean Church was published and the period of preparation was set at six months. This has continued to the present time but in recent years, there are many who feel it should be a year to understand the love of Christ and to have a feel for the Christian way of life.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), after Vatican II, is used by some parishes in forming a catechumenate. We have the three  steps; the three scrutinies during Lent, the baptism at the Easter Vigil, and the period of deepening of the Christian's spirituality after baptism--called the Mystagogy:  a  wonderful way to get the whole community to be involved in the reception of new Christians. However, when the numbers are large, it is no easy task to follow the RCIA steps.

Priests and lay people in the parishes work together zealously to form the new Christians. But despite their efforts, within three years after baptism many fall away from the community. To guard against this, it would be helpful, the columnist suggests, to have programs after baptism, and to urge the whole community to take more interest in the newly baptized. In our modern society, there are many who are divorced and have remarried; it is necessary to make the effort to regularize these marriages when the partners prepare for baptism. Those who come to Catholicism from Protestantism also would be better served if those who are entrusted to teach them had a basic understanding of Protestantism, to point out more easily the differences between the two religions. The work of formation is a difficult one but in today's culture extremely important.

Traditional Korean Medical Practices

In the culture of life column in the Peace Weekly, adoctor of oriental medicine answers a question he often hears. Why do we use more medicine than in the past? He feels, along with many of his colleagues, that the increased use of medicines that are mostly grown commercially, a cultivated product, as opposed to relying on medicines gathered from the mountains and fields in their natural state is one reason for the change. Another reason is that our health has deteriorated from what it was in the past. Because of the health advances in recent years, many more babies are living that would have died. Their resistance to infection is low and health is conspicuously weaker.

In former days in Korea, according to traditional books on care during infancy, "ten commandments of health" were recommended: Keep the back, stomach, feet and intestines warm to help digestion; keep the head and breast cool to prevent fever and distress; keep strange play things away from the hands of babies; do not breast feed until the baby stops crying, be slow in giving medicines to babies; and bathe infrequently.

It was said that it was easier to treat one man than 10 women, and 10 women would be easier than one baby. You can't ask a baby what is the problem, and taking a baby's pulse is no easy task. A baby's energy to develop is strong, which means that unless it is a serious matter, the body will take care of itself.

He mentions that it is not necessary to give medicine to break a fever, and he doesn't use a thermometer but touches the ears. If they are cold, the body will take care of the problem, he says. But if the ears are hot, it would be wise to use a fever breaker.

There are times when medicines should be used; if not, some conditions will get worse and even death is possible, or at least impede normal growth. This decision should be left up to the doctor.

Korean traditional medical practices go back to prehistoric times, and in one of their founding myths wormwood and garlic were used as curative herbs. The West would see much of this as the working of the placebo principle, and yet the East, in its medical practices, seems to be ahead of the West in its appreciation of the need to heal the whole person.

Love is Caring

Words of wisdom come to us from many sources, sometimes helpful, bringing about needed behavioral changes, and sometimes, though making a great deal of sense, have little influence on our lives. A columnist in the Catholic Times recounts a snippet of wisdom he remembers hearing from a  friend who said it influenced him throughout his life.

The friend, a priest, would go as a child, during winter vacations, to the home of his grandparents down country. He tried to find a way of relating with the children his age, but being from the city he was not accepted by the country children; so it was Blacky, the family pet, that he spent most of his time with, walking in the fields and climbing mountains.

One evening his grandmother roasted some sweet potatoes, and brought him some. He began eating the potatoes and remembered Blacky out in the dog house. Taking one of the hot simmering potatoes, he broke it in half and gave the dog the other half. Blacky swallowed the potato and let out a scream. His grandfather and mother rushed out to the dog house to see what the ghastly scream was about. It was then they realized that the boy had given the dog a hot potato. The dog after the episode stayed in the dog house  for a couple of days.

His grandmother gave him a lesson on what dogs do not like, and spent some time getting the message across. It was a lesson the priest has never forgotten. Not everybody likes what we like and the columnist concludes the column with a very simple and obvious moral. Love means many things, but the meaning he likes is 'caring.'

Working in a different culture the reality of this is often seen in what is eaten and  what is avoided  Recently, Koreans have made some changes in what they care about when it comes to eating preferences, coming to appreciate wheat products, cheese and milk, a change which has come about gradually. There are, however, areas of life in which likes and dislikes go much deeper and are probably more similar to the experience of the priest with "hot food and dogs."