We come across all kinds of obstacles in daily life. Some are called
stumbling stones; others are called stepping stones. Writing in a bulletin
for priests, a pastor reflects on the results such 'stones' may have in a
person's life.
A 90-year old grandmother in his parish, who
rarely misses Mass, met with him to discuss a problem in the family.
Among her
many children her daughter's husband died and shortly the daughter died, leaving the grandmother to raise their two children. One child, who attends
morning Mass with her, is mentally handicapped; the other had been in a
car accident 10 years ago and now solves his problems by
excessive drinking; both are unmarried.
The grandmother wanted
the
priest to make contact with city hall to find out what they would
suggest for her grandson's drinking problem. The priest did arrange for a
rehab program but when the grandmother talked it over with her grandson
and was told he was not interested, she asked the priest to cancel the
program. It was then that he began wondering whether the grandchildren
were stumbling stones or stepping stones for the grandmother.
If
we look, he says, only at the heartaches and the
worries, the grandchildren can be seen as stumbling stones.
If we look, instead, at this troubling situation as an opportunity to
bring added meaning into the grandmother's life, then the grandsons,
even though causing her much grief, can be seen as stepping stones.
In
each life there is bound to be many obstacles, but whether they become
stumbling stones or stepping stones will depend on the way
we accept the troubling situations. When we rest in the knowledge of
God's love, the priest says, stumbling stones can become stepping
stones.
Philippians (4:6-7) tells us "Dismiss
all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of
prayer and in petitions full of gratitude. Then God's own peace, which
is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and
minds, in Christ Jesus."
It's helpful to meditate on the
chameleon-like nature of the obstacles that come into our life. When we
fully realize that how we behave is largely determined by how we see
reality, and while resting in the peace beyond all understanding,
turning stumbling stones into stepping stones will become commonplace.
Subsidiarity, a word
often used to refer to an important principle discussed in the social
gospel of the Church and sometimes causing confusion, is not difficult
to understand. Our dignity as humans is protected by this principle,
which is on the shortlist of important principles that should govern the
way we should see, judge and act.
Church teaching
explains the principle of subsidiarity in the following manner: "A
community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of
a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions,
but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its
activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view
to the common good" (#1883 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church).
The
Korean Church has worked to develop a sensitivity not only to the
subsidiarity issue but to all issues of justice that affect many of our
societal problems today. The lack of a Christian understanding of these problems has prompted the Church to begin conscientizing
our Catholics by bringing greater awareness of the social teachings of the Church through lectures, educational programs and publications. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, identifies four
principles of Catholic social teaching that are valid always and
everywhere: human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, and
solidarity. Let us look more closely at the principle of subsidiary as
explained by a diocesan bulletin.
When
a person or a group is able to handle a problem it should not be
interfered with by a group belonging to a higher order. This is
regarded as an obvious truth. When a child, for instance, is finally
able to tie his or her shoelaces,
the parents should stop doing it for the child.
Subsidiarity is opposed to certain
forms of centralization and bureaucratization.The
non-governmental groupings in society should be helped to foster the
common good and the participation of all the citizens. This
participation is an important component of the subsidiarity principle.
For the principle to work effectively, citizens
should have the education, the information, the right standard of values
and view of history that will contribute to mature citizenship, preparing them to select the most qualified people to work in
government. When this functions properly the higher ranks of society will be
helping the lower ranks to fulfill their rightful role.
Misunderstanding
the social gospel teachings becomes more likely when there is
"either/or thinking" instead
of "both/and thinking." When we are concerned with our brothers and
sisters,
this does not mean we cease being concerned with our relationship with
God. Matthew 25:32 gives us plenty of reasons why the two are seen as
one in the teaching of Jesus.
For most of us, the aging of the body is not something we can control,
responding to our bidding whenever we would like. When we see the
elderly full of energy and life despite their advancing years, all of us
take notice of this unexpected achievement. And that is what the
Catholic Times did recently with its interview of 86-year old Teresa
Hong, who has recently published her 17th book of poetry.
Although
she has had two serious operations recently, she continues her reading
and writing, and has no plans to stop. "When my hand is no longer able
to hold the pen, that may be the end to my writing," she says, adding a
"but" at the end, perhaps implying that even then she will find a way to
continue writing. She admits to having misgivings about much of what
she has written--and she has written since 1945--telling the interviewer
she no longer desires to hear her poetry read, though she is resigned
to these inevitable events. Her satisfaction now comes, she says, from
recalling 70 years of loving relationships with others; the joys, the
suffering, and the pleasures of life have all become part of her story,
and part of her poetry.
Whatever she has seen, heard and thought
during her long years of life have found their way into her poetry and
other writings. Writing for her is like breathing, she says, but she
never thought her writing had any great merit. Though people call her a
poet, and she accepts the title, all she is doing, she insists, is
answering the call to write, and the pages just follow naturally.
When
she finished her 15th book of poetry, she thought that was a sufficient
goal to have in life, but she has exceeded that goal by two. It was
during this time that she had the operations and was distressed that her
writing years might be over, but God allowed her to take pen in hand
again and continue writing. The pain and personal struggles she endured
during this time have been the miracle drugs, she says, that enabled
her to return to writing, purified and hardened.
More than the
energy that comes to her when she writes, it is her faith, she says,
that is all important, even though she has not been consistently
faithful. She is always conscious of the many graces she has received in
life, and grateful for being a life-long Catholic. After publishing
her last book of poems, all that is left, she says, is to prepare for
death with dignity and a firm resolve. Thankfully, she will leave behind a remarkable body of work for
all of us to reflect on and enjoy.
That prayers are not answered is a common complaint and can
bring the obvious question: Is there a God to answer our prayers? Our
ancestors were faced with the same questions."Even when I cry out for
help, he stops my prayer. He has blocked my ways with fitted stones, and
turned my paths aside" (Lamentations 3:8-9). "Oh my God, I cry out by day, and you answer not;
by night and there is no relief for me" (Psalm 22:3).
In his article in Bible & Life,
a priest reminds us that our ancestors in the faith, being unconcerned
whether an answer was received or not, continued in prayer and examined
themselves, finding a response by redoubling their efforts in following
the will of God.
It was prayer that helped them uncover God's
will. The response to the prayer was not as important as the
relationship, the intimate conversation, the daily understanding--all of
it came as a gift of love, the essence of prayer.
If we are to
discover God's will--unconcerned with our own--patient waiting is
necessary. The answer to prayer may take a lifetime. God's way is not
our way, scripture tells us. Consequently, when praying we need to pray from the heart and give words to our prayer that is pleasing to God.
And yet,
many have spent hours in fervent prayer with important requests...but
the loved one died, a son never returned from the war, a business
failed, and the divorce did happen. Not surprisingly, many of them gave
up prayer as useless.
Scripture tells us to ask and
it will be given to us, but this is not what most of us experience. The
priest wants us to know that in prayerful asking we are asking for the
Holy Spirit, and that everything
comes with this gift. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be
unconcerned about whatever comes our way, welcoming both the inevitable
sorrows and the joys of life. The more empty we are of ourselves, he
points out, the freer the
Spirit is to work within us.
When a favorable breeze blows we
do not need the oars. When the Spirit within us is
allowed the freedom to move us, prayer becomes easy and a joy.
A
doctor, writing in the
Catholic Digest, asks "Who is the healthy person?" The dictionary
meaning
of health, often cited and generally thought to be accurate, is to be
free of mental and physical ailments, and to have a robust constitution.
According to this definition, the doctor says he would have to exclude
many friends, acquaintances, and patients he considers healthy. He gives
examples of what he means.
A friend
of his, another doctor, who has a crippled leg from polio, doesn't
hesitate whenever his patients need his help, often being the first one
to be at their bedside. At home, though often tired from long hours at
work, he plays hide-and-seek with his daughter--not an easy game for
someone with a crippled leg. And when his son, like all inquisitive
children, asks a difficult question, he always takes
the time to respond thoughtfully and appropriately. Can we say, he asks,
that his friend does
not have good health.
A man in his fifties, having recently
climbed one of the highest peaks in Korea, was told a few days later
that he had stomach cancer. Are we to think that from the moment he had
the
diagnosis he no longer was healthy? That he somehow lost the health that
enabled him to climb that mountain? Or for that matter, should anything
in the natural world that once was young and vigorous be described as
having lost health as it ages?
A 78-year old diabetic
grandmother, overly preoccupied with health, leaving the doctor's office asked: Doctor are you in good health? She just completed a physical exam, and yet she wants another MRI, just to make sure
she's healthy. Can we say she is in good health?
We don't normally
consider anything old as being healthy. But
even in the natural world, taking as an example an old persimmon tree.
Yes, it was once vigorous and producing fine fruit but now is producing
small, ugly fruit, eaten only by birds. Who would consider the tree as
not being healthy? Some of course would, but not our doctor.
He
clearly has difficulty with the generally accepted meaning of health
that restricts the word to a period of life where physical growth and
fruitfulness are most evident, and that describes the period of life
where physical powers decline as a lack of health. To focus solely on
the physical manifestations of health. he says, will lead to many
contradictions.
Instead of saying that health
is the absence of any physical and mental problems, the doctor would
prefer to say a person who lives his daily life without insecurity, and
enjoys physical, mental and spiritual peace is the healthy person. This
more holistic understanding of health includes even those who take
medicines to control their high blood pressure, those who
have been operated on for cancer and are living a normal life, those
who are taking medicines to control depression and yet are able to work
helping others, those who are handicapped and are out there teaching
others--all of them could be considered healthy, the doctor insists,
despite their physical problems.
A grandfather, after x-rays revealed the possibility of TB, was told to undergo more tests to
be sure. The doctor did not want him to take strong drugs that may not
be necessary and may prove harmful, but the grandfather
wanted to start taking the drugs, not for his own health but not to endanger the health of his grandchildren. He had lived a full life and the health of his
grandchildren was now his primary concern. Can we say the grandfather was not in
good health?
He gives us another example. A 45-year old man who
was
diabetic and obese, not wanting others to think he was unhealthy,
refused medicine but decided to exercise 4 hours a day, eating only the
best food. During the weekends, he would go golfing and mountain
climbing. He also cut down on his weekly workload and avoided foods he
previously wanted to eat. The family did not enter into the picture and were very much upset by his decision. Let us suppose, the
doctor says, that everything turned out normal after his efforts, can
we say he was in good health?
The doctor suggests that a
first step in correcting this misunderstanding of true health might
start with changing how we greet one another, which would also help rid
us of what he calls the "health neurosis" of our society. Better than
wishing other people good
health, which is normally understood to mean physical health, he wants
us to get into the habit of wishing them "Joy of life," "Be filled with
God's
graces," "Be happy," 'May your wishes come true"--all stressing the
importance of mental and spiritual health. It is our narrow
preoccupation with physical health, he says, that deflects many of us
from pursuing the health that counts, The real health that makes any
physical ailment of little significance.
There are few of us who have not had difficulty communicating our
thoughts and feelings. The problem often exists where we least expect to
find it: in the best of marriages. Regardless of the shared goals of the
partners and the love they have for each other, there is bound to be
some discord, some lack of communication. Imagine what it would be like
if one of the partners was unfamiliar with the culture and language of
the other. Yes, it would be difficult to imagine; such an obstacle to a
successful life together would seem almost insurmountable.
International
marriages struggling to overcome the language and cultural differences
of the partners are not uncommon in Korea, but marriages in which the
couples are not
able to communicate because the language barrier is too difficult to
overcome is a recent and disturbing phenomenon. When
society was simpler and the disparity between the country and city, rich
and
poor, educated and uneducated was not as pronounced, the problem had
easier solutions. A religious sister, attempting to find current
solutions to the problem, works with women who have emigrated to Korea,
many of them as foreign brides. Because most of the husbands are
struggling financially, most of them, after learning a little Korean,
will look for work in the factory area of the diocese. Working in the
factories,
beginning a family, and doing the household chores leaves the new bride
little time to
study the language.
Writing
in the Bible and Life magazine, the sister stresses how
important it is for these women to learn Korean. Without
the language, they will not be able to have first-hand knowledge of the
culture, or communicate with their husbands, their children, and their
neighbors. Many of the most distressing problems they are now
experiencing, such as depression and conflicts within the family are
caused, she says, from the inability to communicate.
Tien, a
young woman from Thailand,
a college graduate, is typical, the sister says, of women who come to
see her. Married to an earnest, hard-working young man, Tien has been in
the country for 10 years. Around the time of the birth of their third
child, she had to admit to herself that living in a foreign country is
far from easy. Because she kept putting off the study of Korean, Tien
was incapable of helping her children with their schoolwork, and even
simple conversations were difficult . But it still was a shock--from
which she's never recovered--she told the sister, when she overheard the
oldest son ask his father if it was possible to find a Korean woman to
marry.
An incident at the children's center prompted Tien to contact the sister. Her youngest child was
given medicine for her cold. Tien had asked her teachers to give the
child a
spoonful of cough medicine every four hours. When the child came
home with the empty medicine bottle, she realized they had given her
child too much. She complained but was told there had been a
misunderstanding, implying the blame was hers because she had difficulty
with the language, while making light of the whole affair. She wanted
to
change to another children's center but her husband gave her no sympathy
and made matters worse by siding with the teachers and blaming her for
the misunderstanding with the teachers. Tien told sister that because of
her difficulty learning the language, she now believes it is beginning
to harm the health of her children; she then broke down and began to
cry.
The sister feels that similar incidents
will continue to occur until Tien and the other foreign brides become
proficient in the language. She hopes they
will have the commonsense to avoid them by setting aside enough time to
learn the language. How diligent they are in pursuing this goal will
determine to a large extent the future happiness of the women and their
families.
"When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" A strange
question abruptly asked by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (18:8). In
today's world the question is no longer as strange as it once was. Pope
Benedict brings up the subject of faith in the life of the Church with
his Apostolic Letter of Oct. 11, 2011, Porta Fidei (Door of Faith),
which proclaimed that a "Year of Faith" would begin on Oct. 11, 2012 and
end on Nov. 24, 2013.
In conjunction with the Pope's
announcement, the 13th Synod of Bishops will meet in Rome, Oct. 7,
preceding the opening of the Year of Faith, and conclude Oct. 27. About
300 bishops from around the world will discuss the
need for a new approach to spreading the faith, guided by the theme:
"The New
Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith." During the
deliberations, the Year of Faith will be formally proclaimed,
commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second
Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the
"Catechism of the Catholic Church." The Korean Church is responding to
the event enthusiastically; hopefully the words and ideas exchanged and
debated will not be relegated to our personal archives, and forgotten.
The working document for the Bishops Synod has been published by the
Vatican and can be accessed by
typing Instrumentum Laboris in a search engine.
The
president of the Bishops Committee on Evangelization held a press
conference recently to provide details on the Year of Faith and the
Bishops Synod. A
journalist for the Catholic Times, commenting on the Bishop's press
conference, said the term "New Evangelization" is not well understood
by most Catholics. New ramifications have surfaced, broadening the
meaning of the term and requiring a change of perspective on how best to
spread the Gospel message. How this change will translate to the
current situation in Korea is too early to tell, the columnist says.
Successful
implementation of the evangelization process, according to Blessed Pope
John Paul,
will depend on how well we can bring to our work new passion, new
methods, and new aspirations of what can be accomplished, and how
mindful we are that changing a culture requires a change in the
methods used. The bishop in the press conference
speaking from the heart wonders if the change, first of all, has to
begin with himself. We need to experience God. What our society needs is not more teachers, but men and women who witness to what they believe.
The need for
discussion has been felt for sometime for the countries
that have been traditionally the bastions of Catholicism are no longer
so, and the hope is to change the present reality. The effort will have to
begin with each one of us examining our faith life, face the results,
and begin to evangelize ourselves with a new vocabulary and practices.
