An Environmentally Friendly Spirituality

The Eco-forum of the Seoul Pastoral Environmental Committee and the Catholic University, written up by the Peace Weekly, was recently held to discuss the thought of Thomas Berry (1914-2009), the Passionist priest who was internationally known as an authority in the field of ecology. The first presenter was a professor from Canada, a disciple of Berry's; the second was a Korean priest from the Catholic University.

Berry was not only a cultural historian but a critic of the intellectual and spiritual history of the twentieth century. His thought about ecology was not limited to the environment but influenced religion, politics and the arts.

He felt that we have destroyed so much of our environment that to continue to live as we have would bring on an ecological disaster. We have not understood the place of humanity in God's creation, he said, and by separating  ourselves from creation are destroying it. Humanity is not the center of the universe and even when we realized this, he pointed out, we didn't  appreciate the divine in the creation which gave rise to the environmental problems we are now experiencing.

Berry felt that it was necessary to have a spirituality that includes a functional cosmological vision, if we are to solve the ecological problem. How do we achieve this vision of the universe that would allow us to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong in our relationship with creation? Changing our actions that destroy the environment to actions that make it flourish.

We are all part of the cosmos, all related, all one family. Berry stressed that the  breath of God that has entered all of creation is what is drawing us to be one community.  After the universe's billions of  years of evolving, Jesus took on flesh and became one with us. He becomes one with all the matter of creation and shows the divine within creation.

Berry says that all creation has the right to exist, the right to seek its particular goal, and also the right to have what is necessary to achieve that goal. It is necessary, according to Berry, that the relationship  between the earth and humanity be mutually beneficial. This will require a vision of the universe that will encompass theology, economics and  morality.

In the second presentation, the priest mentioned that Berry considered Asian thought and religion as vital contributions to human thought and behavior.  A great deal of God's revelations can be found within it: wisdom which  can lead us into  the future. After the II Vatican Council, our theology in Asia had been concerned with inculturation, liberation theology, and feminist theology. It is now time to have an understanding of our ecological problems and seek ways to heal our environment with a theology that will serve this purpose. Thomas Berry, according to the priest, is one who can help us to achieve this goal.

Living With Hope

A million-book best seller helps greatly in bringing other books by the author to the attention of the public. Fr. Cha Dong-yeop, a priest of the Inchon diocese, wrote the best seller Blessing of the Rainbow, and now the Catholic Times reviews his new book, Return of Hope.

Father Cha is the founder and head of the Future Pastoral Institute. His new book treats  hope as the answer to our many problems.Those in their 20s and 30s, he says, have tasted the bitterness of the ever-present competition; those in their 40s, in search of success, have been overcome with fatigue and are worn out; and those in their 50s and 60s feel left out of society's mainstream.These characteristics are our self portrait, he says.To deal with these problems, he says, is to find hope in what appears to be hopeless situations. 

We are programed to be happy, to love and have peace, he says, but instead these values are trumped by a society that induces us to run after money and success.  The result is fatigue, overwork, and frustration; the antidote we are given is to seek solace and healing. For Fr. Cha, however, the answer is in the return of hope.

As sure as we are that  spring follows winter, we have to awaken the hope that remains within us, says Fr. Cha. We have been made in the likeness of God, with the capacity to love and create, as we continue the creation that God started. This ability is hidden within us but with our dreams nourished by hope it comes out to the light.

He makes a distinction between hopes and dreams: hopes being abstract affirmations of the future and dreams being formulations of goals to work toward. Hope is the more important of the two since it precedes the other as an affirmation of what lies deepest in us, and makes possible the ability to dream. Included with the hope, he says, are all the obstacles we encounter in life. When we are energized by hope, dreams materialize. The aim is to free the hope that is within everyone; too many have hope within easy reach, he says, and yet complain of its absence.

The spurs to hope can be found all around us,  and we do not see them and so keep on looking. We are so concerned about so many things that we miss the opportunities that come to us. The article concludes with the words of St. Peter (I Peter 3:15), "Should anyone ask you the reason for this hope of yours, be ever ready to reply...."   Christians have to be specialists in the field of hope, Fr. Cha reminds us.

Living an Environmentally Friendly Life

A journalist writing for the Catholic Times recounts opening his lunch box to find the usual egg on top of his rice, but for some reason it did not look the same as in the past: the colors were different for both the egg yolk and the white. He asked his wife and was told that she was not able to buy the organic eggs as in the past. She also mentioned that the outside of the eggs were clean in comparison to the organic eggs. Often the natural cuticle that covers the egg is washed away in cleaning the eggs, he said. These thoughts made him reflect on the recent opening of the Ecological Learning Center in the Pusan Diocese on April 6th.

Ecology and environment-friendly living is a frequent topic in the Catholic press. The diocese of Pusan has done something about living more conscientiously with the natural environment when they began construction of the Center in 2011, without any publicity. The intent was to search for the essence of creation and to see how it is to be lived in the here and now, and how to do this practically, by encouraging direct experience.

It will be a place of learning for those dreaming of going  back to the farm, a place for children to learn about nature, and for all of us to experience what is possible in a naturally friendly environment. Zero emissions is the goal:  energy sources are to emit no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate, and heating is to be all solar. They use Bacteria Mineral Water and have a building for recycling and an ecological pond.

Plans are to have a daily Mass, lectures on ecology, retreats, and meditations for healing. This year they want to begin with the school for ecology, followed by programs on how to experience what is presented, setting up a camp for children and providing training for those who want to return to the farm. The Center will have rice and dry fields and orchards, where hands-on  farming will be possible.

This is the first such Center in the country, built entirely from the finances of the diocese. It is an unprecedented effort to put into practice what many have simply talked about, providing a place where anyone who desires to do something about the environment can now do so, finding out first-hand what it means to have a friendly relationship to the environment.

Behind the efforts of the Center is their aim to provide the learning needed to live a simpler life, to anyone interested; which in practical terms means to live more poorly. But the Center not only intends to teach us the ways to relate to the  environment. It also intends to help us relate to one another more simply, and with more initiative and spontaneity.

Presuppositions for Renewal

Hooked on TV dramas, a columnist in the Catholic Times said he decided recently to watch some old re-runs of dramas he liked. He tells us about a scene where a brother decides to tell his younger sister that he was the one responsible, though accidentally, for her husband's  death. Forced by circumstances to tell his sister about his part in the death, he was prepared to confess but before he could she yelled "Don't tell me what you are going to say."

The sister had already surmised that her brother was involved and never got rid of the hurt in her heart. She was always playing with the idea of finding the culprit, and kept the resentment in her heart for the last twenty years. If he had confessed, she felt the last twenty years would have been spent in vain. She wanted either to have heard him confess when it happened and been forgiven, or to remain silent without the obligation of asking for forgiveness. The sister did not want to see his burden of guilt diminished, which was the reason for not wanting to hear his confession.

In a population of 60 million, it is not unheard of to hear this kind of story.  Although it is necessary that we are sorry for our own faults, the presupposition is that before it is brought to our attention by others, it is necessary to acknowledge what was done and be willing to freely take on the responsibility for the act. When we try to hide and avoid our responsibility, there is less of a chance of our being forgiven and receiving leniency.

The same is true in the sacrament of confession. All sins are forgivable, as long as we are sorry and the sorrow is genuine. We have all had that experience growing up. After doing something wrong and going to our mothers to confess, we often received a smile of approval, knowing all the while what we had done. A response quite different from the one from the sister in our example: "Don't tell me what you have done."

In a recent issue the Catholic Times commented on a survey of theologians, which indicated they saw a need for Church renewal. For a long time, there have been efforts to hide and avoid responsibility for the problems that have recently become public, such as the so-called  Vatican Leaks. This is also true in the West concerning the sexual abuse of minors. The efforts to hide and ignore the seriousness of what happened multiplied the seriousness of the problem and helped it to continue, resulting not only in the tragic consequences of making more youngsters vulnerable to abuse but also in the selling of church property in the effort to pay out the huge sums of money in penalty for what was done.

We have to learn the virtue of speaking, everywhere and at all times, the truth. Even before we are questioned by others, we have to examine ourselves, acknowledge our faults, and  make them known. To make our personal or communal faults known is the presupposition for renewal.  Pope Francis is aiming to do this for the Church. Is this not also what the Korean Church has to do?  Is this not the time for us as a community to strive for renewal and reformation? And to have this aspiration as an urgent topic for serious discussion?

Spirituality in the Middle Ages

History is not a subject that interests most Koreans, says a priest-professor who teaches spirituality and history. Writing in the Kyeongyang magazine, he notes that when Korean students select subjects for the college entrance exams, history is usually at the bottom of the list, which seems strange to the professor since Koreans are well-known for their sensitivity. And yet, though they are not interested, they want the people of the neighboring countries, he says, to study history because of the distortions that appear in history books concerning Korea. The article goes on to deal with the  laity's search for spirituality in the Middle Ages of Europe.  

The Koreans, he says, are familiar with the dark ages of Europe. Most Koreans vaguely think that Christianity was the reason for this darkness. Christianity had a great deal to do with this period of history, but the history of Europe itself greatly influenced Christianity, both for good and ill. 

During this period, people found it difficult to settle in any one place and to find opportunities for education. With the beginning of the Benedictine monasteries and a more settled life, there is a noticeable change in lifestyle. It was at this time that the Church sent missioners to evangelize the north of Europe.

The monasteries were not like those in the deserts of Egypt, where the interest of the monks was directed toward their own personal spirituality. The monasteries of Europe were dedicated to defending the Church and spreading the faith. They gathered together talented people and the monasteries became well-structured institutions, which led to the disparity between the educated monks and the uneducated laity. The influence of the monasteries did not extend to many of the country areas. The clergy were often taken from the uneducated classes to serve as parish priests, which made the gulf between the educated and uneducated members of the Church even greater.

Members of the royalty and nobles sponsored many of the monasteries, which sometimes resulted in having married men as abbots of the monastery--with family members in residence--obviously not a good influence on the monks.  These abbots were also involved in society, and their presence and status in society, along with their newly appointed status as monastery heads, tended to bring into the monastic setting worldly ideas and pride.

At this time, the Cluny Abbeys appeared on the scene, spreading quickly throughout Europe, and very much helped to elevate the spirituality of the period. However, here again the laity had difficulty in identifying with the liturgy because of its language and individualistic orientation. The mendicant orders also appeared around this time, but the monks had little education and did little to raise the educational level of the Christians. They were not clerics, and the laity were no nearer to understanding the liturgy and what constituted a faith life. The sermons were mostly centered on the humanity of Jesus and directed to the emotions, developing into superstition and far from the teachings of the Church.

Speculative theology, scholasticism, came to the fore but this was little help to the laity. There was a movement of laity that had great difficulty with this intellectual type of spirituality.  Around the Rhine River in Germany, there was a movement of people that left the parishes and walls of the monasteries to be closer to the common people. They used the scriptures as the basis for their spirituality and, not understanding the tradition of Christianity as embodied in the theological teachings, began to understand the scriptures as they thought best in search of a more personal spirituality. This gave birth to many aberrations from orthodoxy. They did not follow the traditional spirituality of Catholicism, but they still considered themselves Catholics.

The professor says the problems of the Middle Ages was not only limited to those times. They are present even today when one leaves, as he puts it, "the bosom of the Church," there is a possibility that the spirituality that is sought may not be for the person's good.

     

Faith and Reason

The teachings of Jesus when they left the culture of Israel after his death found a  new home in Greek culture. Greek philosophy and Plato in particular served as the means by which the Church Fathers, for the most part, used the Hellenistic thought of that time to explain the contents of our faith. It is difficult to convey the teachings of the Gospel within any culture without employing the help of the thinking basic to that culture. These are the words a professor of philosophy at the Catholic University uses in his last article in the Catholic Times on "Walking with Philosophy."

The revelation that we have received has been explained to us with the tools of philosophy; understanding those tools used by the Fathers of the Church, he stressed, makes us more understanding and comfortable with our tradition.

Justinus, Origen, Pseudo Dionysius, Boetius, Gregory of Nyssa, and of course Augustine, among many others, have given us the rich theological treasures we have today.  Attempts to understand  the Trinity, the two natures of Jesus, the incarnation, the logos (the word of God), without the help of philosophy would have been difficult.

If we hold, he says, that this philosophical attempt at understanding the divinity has changed the teaching or has polluted the teaching, we are wrong. What has changed over the years is our understanding of the teachings. St. Paul says we need milk as babies, but as we grow our need is for more solid food.

As we grow in maturity, says the professor, our thinking and understanding will also grow in maturity: our very being changes. There is no need be upset at the philosophy used to understand our revealed teachings.  We need not fear theology and philosophy; they help us to understand the Gospel. If we make efforts to understand, we will understand, says the professor.

In years past, philosophy was considered the handmaid of theology. It was a help to understanding what we believe. Instead of using the word 'philosophy,' we might have less problems if we use the word 'reason' instead.  “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart the desire to know the truth" (from the encyclical of John Paul II). God gave us our reasoning powers and Catholicism sees no conflict between faith and reason.  It may be beyond our reasoning to understand fully, but we have  the gift of faith and  reason  that  are to work in harmony. But this is precisely what Catholicism maintains. Because it does have great respect for reason, it holds philosophy in high esteem.

Living the New Life

"Father, what is the Resurrection?" This was an unexpected question coming from one of his parishioners that for a moment confused the priest. He writes about this experience in a bulletin for priests. The woman wanted a clear explanation and the priest confesses he was not up to it. He felt he could not say he didn't know, so he relied on what he had learned in the seminary for his quick answer. Eternal life, salvation, God's kingdom, a new heaven and new earth, were the words he put together for his answer. He only knew the theory.

He went back to his room dejected. Here he was a priest and yet was not able to give a lucid answer to a basic question. Are we waiting for another happier world than the one we are experiencing now?  Are we waiting for this new and better life? What is the new heaven and new earth?  These were the thoughts that were filling his head.

He remembers an incident in 2006 when he was with a group of young people at a neighboring parish, watching the soccer match between Korea and Togo for the World Cup. Korea was behind in the first half, but went on to tie and beat Togo by one goal, which made him and his friends deliriously happy. On the return to his parish, he heard about the death of one of his altar boys, who had been on his way to see the same soccer match when he had an epileptic seizure and, with nobody there to help, died where he fell on the road.

The priest wondered where he had been when the boy had the seizure. These thoughts began to confuse him. Under the same heaven, he had been drinking beer, laughing and enjoying the soccer game while the middle school boy had fallen down on the  ground, dying. This thought left him feeling wretched.

These kinds of incidents are happening all the time, he reminds us. Some people are enjoying their lives, and others are wondering where the next meal will be coming from. He knows that not everyone is living under the same conditions as the fortunate few, but this only makes him feel more upset. He now wonders even more about the promised new heaven and earth that we are dreaming about; he would like to think we all are hoping for the same thing.

We have the words of Jesus that give us hope. We know that working for a utopia on this earth is not going to do it: the attempted utopias have all failed, and often with hellish results. However, we have put on "the new person." Though not yet completed, it is present now, giving us hope for the future. Having put on the new person, and with the graces promised, we try to live this new life and want others to join us. The life begins now and will be completed after death. It is a tragedy to forget this fact. As Paul tells us in Romans 6:4 : "Through baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life."