In a diocesan bulletin, a priest
writes that he made a trip to Panama, Central America, early this year
because he read it was the happiest country in the world. After the
visit, he said he could now be considered one of the happiest persons in the world, after meeting the "happiest people in the world."
The
index used for determining happiness in this case he learned has
nothing to do with possessions or finances. This realization brought to
mind a poem by Sister Hae-in Lee- A Happy Face. (She has been struggling with cancer for many years.)
"Because
I say I am having difficulty doesn't mean I am not happy. And because I
say I am happy doesn't mean that I am not in pain, for sure. When I
open wide my heart happiness comes with a thousand faces--no, it comes
with numberless faces, and I'm able to experience the joy of happiness.
Where it hides I don't know, but with beautiful wings, furtively, the
happiness appears. I am playing hide and seek with it as it pulls at my
heart strings, and today I am again happy." Poor as the translation
must be, the meaning is clear: no matter the circumstances, happiness
can be found.
The key to happiness, the poet is saying, is to open wide the door to our hearts.
When that is done the eyes naturally open and our thinking changes, and we can see the
world and ourselves differently. I can then cry out truly, the priest writes, "I am the
happiest priest in the world!" Just as we all can cry out, he says, "I am the happiest person in the world!"
However,
there are many
people who have closed the doors to their hearts. Our 'apartment
culture', which tends to move us toward individualism and egotism, is
influencing us, beginning, he says, by living with the doors to our
homes being locked. When our doors are locked, our hearts also tend to
get locked, he says. This is one of the reasons that many do not want
people to come to their homes, and a reason there is so much difficulty
in building small Christian communities. Helping to break this down is
one reason
we use parishioner's homes to hold small community meetings. When we
refuse to have
others come to our house, we are refusing Jesus, he says.
Christianity
is a religion of revelation. In Korean, 'revelation' means open and
seen. God so loved us that he opened himself to us; he gave us all of
himself. This is what he wants from us. Our life, likewise, following
God's example, should be open. We don't want to refuse him entrance and
have him "go to the stable."
If
we open the doors to our homes we will be opening our hearts and
opening ourselves to happiness. We will begin to live, the Church will
begin to live, and the
world will live. Happiness will be the natural result, and all of us
will be able to cry
out, 'I am the happiest person in the world'.
A priest who heads a
rehabilitation home for the young discusses, in the diocesan bulletin, a
serious problem which was highlighted recently when a video, widely
circulated on the internet, showed high-school students, on a visit to a
home for the aged, treating them abusively. The images went viral,
generating a lot of comment, mostly critical of the students, and often
quite angry. Their high-school also became the focus of a great deal of
the criticism, and the school responded with a letter of apology, and
expelled the students.
In
the article the priest expresses three reasons why he was astonished by
the incident. First of all, by the thoughtless actions of the
students, by the immediate comments made following the viewing of the
video, and by the subsequent response of the school.
There
is no question, of course, that what the students did was wrong; they
should have been rebuked and punished. However, there was no reference
to the responsibility of the society that had created the conditions
contributing to the incident. There was no concern, the priest said, for
the problems the children had in growing up, the difficulties they had
in the home and school, and no criticism for the supervisors who were
supposed to look after the students. The comments, he said, were only
attacks on the students.
Though
the school did send out an apology and the students were expelled,
there was no attempt made to help them rejoin the human family. The
priest couldn't rid himself of the idea that the school was only
interested in protecting its image by punishing the students.
Disciplining the students was the proper action, he said, but by
neglecting to help them correct their behavior, the punishment could
only be seen as punishment for the sake of punishment.
He
refers to the time when Jesus said to those who dragged the woman
caught in adultery before him, "Let the man among you who has no sin be
the first to cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). Jesus brought her to where
she had sorrow for what was done, the priest explained. Though this
incident appears to be quite different, the love and concern Jesus
displayed for the woman was what the priest felt should have guided the
response of everyone, when the abusive conduct of the students became
known.
Recently,
there has been a great deal of concern for the problems of the young,
with many TV programs talking about the crisis. The priest hopes that we
will be able to learn how to move forward from this crisis of the
young, resolving many of its most pressing issues by having the kind of
heart Jesus has revealed to us.
The encyclical Light of Faith was
written up in the two Catholic Papers, both considering it important
enough to editorialize on the subject. An accompanying article in the
Catholic Times, quoting a Vatican official, mentioned that the teaching
on faith is a means to help heal the wounds of our society. The Peace
Weekly expressed the hope that it will be translated into Korean as soon
as possible, as the Year of Faith will be ending with the close of
this liturgical year.
Most
of the Catholics would not be readers of the encyclical, but they will
be getting snippets from their reading, from sermons, and from
religious educational programs that many will attend. The Catholic
understanding of faith is quite different from many other Christians,
for it does not see faith separated from the community of the Church,
from our brothers and sisters in the faith. We do not baptize ourselves
but are led to the faith by others. It is a gift of God from the past
into the present, and it grows within community. The apostolic
succession and the first community of faith cannot be separated from our
faith life.
Consequently,
the Catholic approach will not be popular to many. We have accepted, in
many cases, the primacy of individual initiative, to an extent that
finds little place for the help we get from others and the community. A
sign, perhaps, that the Church is in need of public relations help.
Jesus left us a believing community, and it was this community that gave
us the Scriptures, and the community into which we are born as
Christians. But, unfortunately, It is not something we think about too
deeply.
We
are shown how our faith can lead humanity to unity, how it fosters
solidarity with others, and how it brings us peace in living with
others. This is not the understanding of many; religion is often seen
as a cause of division but this is not the understanding we have of
faith. Faith is not a private matter. We believe in order to understand,
which gives us great freedom and teaches us that we should be open to
dialogue with everybody, for we are also in search of truth, and faith
needs truth. Faith is linked to truth and love. Love and truth are
inseparable.
"Clearly, then, faith is
not intransigent, but
grows in respectful
coexistence with others.
One who believes may not
be presumptuous; on the
contrary, truth leads to
humility. Since
believers know that,
rather than ourselves
possessing truth, it is
truth which embraces and
possesses us. Far from
making us inflexible,
the security of faith
sets us on a journey; it
enables, witnesses and
dialogues with all" (#34 of the Encyclical Light of Faith).
Since
the encyclical is, in the words of Pope Francis, the work of four
hands, it will be examined to see who wrote what, but it is the
signature of Francis that comes at the end. Benedict wrote an encyclical
on love and hope. This one on faith will complete the commentary on the
three supernatural virtues we are so familiar with.
The encyclical makes clear that
faith does not get rid of our problems, our pains, but we are enabled to share our
pains with the knowledge of God's love, and to find new meaning and
hope.
Why are the young people leaving
the churches? is a question many are now beginning to ask. The problem
being addressed is not solely a Catholic
or a Protestant concern but one common to all beliefs. The young are
obviously not finding what they are looking for among the present
religious establishments.
The desk column of the Catholic Times attempts to find an answer by
introducing us to the Taizé Movement.
Taizé, a little village in France, is home to a
community of brothers who hold everything in common and live a simple
life as celibates. Brother Roger, born in Switzerland, founded the
community in 1940. Three times a day they gather together for
prayer, which is the center of their communal life. Each Sunday
thousands of young people come for prayer, reflection and sharing; and
each year over 100 thousand visitors, mostly young people, make the trip
to Taizé from all over the world.
When
the young join the community for short periods of time, they do what
the brothers do: pray three times a day and join in the work of the
community. It's a very simple life and yet visitors from all over the
world are motivated to leave home and share this simple lifestyle.
To
those who leave the churches in Korea this kind of thinking is foreign to them, says columnist, and she
wonders why this is the case. She found the reason by reading the book
The Community Called Taizé. The author asked many of those at
Taizé why they came. Most said they had the feeling of being accepted by
the community of brothers. Race and religion had nothing to do with
being accepted; it was the first time they had experienced this kind of
acceptance. Moreover, the brothers of the community showed great trust
in them, they said, allowing them to make their own plans for service
and work, which gave them an unexpected sense of freedom.
The
columnist quotes from a news account from a
State-side newspaper on the results of a questionnaire that asked the
young why they
had left their churches. The answers were not what we would have
expected. Many of them explained that it was the inability of the
churches to satisfy their thirst for the spiritual. The messages given
by the churches were not clear, they said, and their answers to the
problems of life were superficial. "The young are looking for faith and
are offered only entertainment" was a typical view of the problem.
Another put it this way, "If you
really believe that the church can change for the better the behavior
of others, why is this not more readily seen in the behavior of
Christians?"
She
concludes with the observation that the questionnaire was for the young
in the United States, but that it also had a great deal to teach us.
Those who have authority in the Church and the older generation should
take a hint from what has been accomplished at Taizé, she advised, and
from the thinking of many of the young who have left the churches.
St. Mary's Hospital, managed by
the diocese of Seoul, was selected as the number-one hospital in the
country for the outstanding services provided to its patients. In giving
the award, the Korean Standard Association considered all business
enterprises, not only hospitals. And this
is not the first time for
such praise, as the the editorial in the Peace Weekly points out, as
does an accompanying article. Over the years, they have received other
awards for the extraordinary care shown their patients. The credit
belongs, say hospital personnel, to the respect they have for life,
which is the motivating
force behind the running of the hospital.
"The
hospital that doesn't satisfy the desires of its patrons will not
continue to exist" is their motto. St. Mary's has made it a regular part
of their service to patients to listen carefully to those who come to
the hospital, and has done everything possible to please them: doctors
monitor patients around the clock, nurses follow the angel system of
nursing, and first-time patients are accompanied by hospital personnel while at the hospital, and there are many other ways they try to satisfy the needs of their patients.
Another
reason for welcoming the award, the editorial cited, is that the
hospital is following the teachings of Jesus. Our Lord told us to love
our neighbor as ourselves. This is the reason the Church exists and the
reason for all its works. Of all the works managed by the Church,
hospitals especially, and other places that care for the sick, should be
model examples of this kind of compassion.
The
editorial notes that though there are many different operations run by
the Church, too many to count, if these operations do not show the
compassion of Jesus, there is no reason for their existence. The reason
the Church is running these operations is not to make money, it goes on
to say, but to express and share the love of Christ.
When
customers are happy dealing with a Church-run organization, such as St.
Mary's, it's a sign the organization is acting in a Christ-like way.
The editorial expresses the hope that St. Mary's will be the model for
all operations of the Church.
On the spirituality page of the
Korea Times, the columnist discusses his accidental meeting with a
priest friend, who had recently returned from a pilgrimage to Egypt and
Israel.
During
dinner at a restaurant that evening, he asked him what was most
memorable about the visit. Nothing really stood out, the priest said.
All of it was a great experience, and he was full of gratitude that he
was able to make the pilgrimage. However, there was one place where he
learned a lot about himself; it was on Mount Sinai.
His
curiosity aroused, the columnist asked what he meant. The priest
mentioned that they began the trip up the mountain at two o'clock in the
morning. Each climber had a hand-flashlight and they began the ascent
slowly. When they arrived at the top of the mountain, they were greeted
with the thrilling sight of the sun's rays. Meeting God in this place
was the feeling he had, and he relished the time. During the climb he
reflected on his life as a priest, the meaning of the ten commandments
and the law of love to which they pointed. It was, he said, a meditation
of great satisfaction, joy and thanks.
"Father, what did you do when you descended?" asked the columnist.
"My
thinking was not healthy and I fell into temptation." replied the
priest. "My body had become accustomed to many bad habits."
They were surprising revelations, which prompted the columnist to ask for an explanation.
The
priest mentioned that they all returned to their quarters, where they
were to have breakfast, go to their rooms to wash up, and then begin the
next leg of their pilgrimage. The whole place reeked of spices, he
said, and he didn't like what was on the menu. He lost his appetite, and
only had a glass of water before going to his room. The quarters were
seen as expensive by the local inhabitants, but he saw them as horrible.
He wanted to put water in the tub to rest his tired body, but this was not possible: the shower was in poor shape, with little water
coming out, and the soap and shampoo had seen better days. The air
conditioner wasn't working, and now fuming with rage and drenched in
sweat he went outside.
The
members of the group, on seeing him, greeted him, with one individual
remarking, "Father, your face this morning, when you arrived at the top
of the mountain, was full of joy." This hit him like a ton of bricks. It
was true, he said. Arriving on the mountain top after meditating on the
Commandments and deciding to begin living a more loving life, he did
feel filled with joy. And yet he had to admit that just a few hours
later, not able to gratify his needs of comfort, he was filled with
displeasure and criticism.That
afternoon, he said, he had plenty of time to think about the kind of
person he was. It's easy to be overcome with fine sentiments when
meditating and seeing yourself the way you want to be seen, he mused,
but it's often quite another thing to see yourself in less than ideal
circumstances, with results that are quite different. We are "animals
that easily forget" concluded the columnist. In our thoughts, we can
flatter ourselves by believing we have made substantial progress in
living a more loving life. Our actual living, however, is more difficult
than settling for the self-serving reflections we make on the way we
live. It was a lesson the priest did not expect from the pilgrimage but
one he gratefully accepted.
Living
in the information age we are bombarded by information, much of it of
low quality and not verifiable, which makes discernment difficult. The
internet adds to the problem, as does this blog and millions of others
that abound in the blogosphere. To navigate this flow of information,
what is necessary is the art of discernment. We know well the saying of
St. Augustine, "Love God and do what you will." If we are living a life
in harmony with the will of God, seeking his will in all things, then
our thoughts and desires will direct us correctly in making the right
judgements. This is the traditional Catholic teaching on discernment.
The View from the Ark in
the Catholic Times presents us with one of these occasions where
discernment is necessary. The columnist, referring to an article that
appeared in Focus, the magazine of the British Broadcasting Company,
mentions the most sinful nations of the world, according to the article,
and what capital sins those countries have the most difficulty dealing
with. Korea, overall, was listed as the 8th most sinful country of the
world, and placed number one in the lust category. This was determined
by the amount of money spent on pornography, in comparison with other
countries.
The
distinctive quality of a nation is not determined by the intelligentsia
or popular leaders, he says, but by the ordinary citizens. No matter how
good the laws and structures are, if the citizens do not follow them
they are of little worth. When the citizens have a sense of dignity and
are moved by conscience and good habits, this will be reflected in the
personality of the country.
Korea
went from a GNP of 100 dollars in 1960-1970 to over 20,000 dollars in
2010, which is the envy of many developing countries. In 1987, Korea rid
herself of a dictatorship and became a democracy. There is little need
to point out, the columnist notes, that economic improvement and
political maturity allowed Korea to join the group of free and
prosperous countries of the world. And in the last ten years, the
influence of Korea's culture has spread to many parts of the world.
However,
individual consciousness has not kept pace with economic development,
he says. Greed, lust, envy, hunger for power, and the like are seen as
the likely reasons for the immorality and corruption which has earned
the country the low moral rating described in the Focus article. How can
we rid ourselves of the stigma of being the 8th most sinful country in
the world? he asks. We have to refine our moral education, work on our
self-improvement, and work for the common good. Helping to change
Korea's image in this all-important area of life, says the columnist,
should be the duty of everyone.
The
wrong-headed desires of some politicians to gain power is offset by the
virtues of sincerity, authenticity, and justice exhibited by others.
The overwhelming desire of all citizens is that the individual should
live as a caring human being, and that our society, made up of such
human beings, is working for the common good.
