Korean Catholics are waiting for Pope Francis' visit to
Korea from August 14th to 18th at the invitation of President Park and
the Catholic Church of Korea. Preparations have continued for some
time, and will include printing books, introducing the Catholics to the
lives of the 124 martyrs who will be beatified, pilgrimages to the many
shrines, lectures and programs to help the Catholics to grow in their
faith life, using the visit of the Pope as the catalyst. Reports say the
Catholics of North Korea have been invited to come to Korea for the
Mass in the Cathedral Church of Seoul before the pope leaves Korea.They have expressed interest.
Cardinal Yeom recently did visit
the industrial complex in North Korea for a one-day visit. After the
visit, Cardinal Yeom said: "The distance between Seoul and the Kaesong
Industrial Park is slightly over 60km. I thought about how we live
thinking this short distance is so far."
In
the Peace Weekly there is an article about Fr. Cha Dong-yeop of the Future Pastoral Institute
of Incheon on his program on Peace TV. He introduces the viewing
audience to ten key works, he says, helps to understand Pope Francis. The only
way most of the Korean Catholics hear what the Pope has to say is in
translation. The opportunities of coming in contact with the teaching
and values that the pope is expressing are not easily attained by the
ordinary Korean.
Fr. Cha has gone through the books written
by the pope, his sermons and news reports about the pope, and has made a list of 10
keywords which he feels gives a good idea of the emphasis that the Pope
is showing in what he says and does. Fr. Cha says, there is much
written on the theological and moral position of the pope but not the pastoral approach. They are also sign posts for our own spiritual life.
*
Happiness * Mercy * Poverty * Teaching on Love * Pope's Name, Francis
* His grandmother's legacy * The pope's prayer * What can be changed
and what can't be changed * Communication * A Church without walls.
These are the ten ways Fr. Cha wants to express the main points of
Pope Francis' pastoral concerns. The only one that may be difficult to
understand would be the legacy of his grandmother: "A burial gown
doesn't need pockets." Another of the many:"Celebrate each Mass as if
it were your first and last."
Father Cha uses these keywords on the TV program as one way to prepare the
Catholics in appreciating the message of Pope Francis and understanding his popularity both within and outside the Church. Fr. Cha will
eventually write a book with the 10 keywords explained.
The Sewol disaster continues to make the news remembering with sadness those who have died, and anger on the way the mass media reported the incident.The public is beginning to reflect on articles, where speed in reporting was more important than the truth.
Both Catholic paper had articles that pointed to many of the improprieties in the words that were seen and heard in the mass media. On the Internet, we had a failure, in some cases, of a lack of sympathy, a rudeness shown for the dead and their families.
Reporters, to find a story, went to the school of the students who died, taking pictures and searching for material for a story, without thought of the feelings of parents and friends of the deceased.
One of the guest columnists, in the Catholic Times, working in the mass media, apologies for the press for what was done. She mentions reports made, about survival and air pockets without any of the facts on 'Cold-Water Survival' in the waters where the tragedy took place.
The water at the sinking of the ferry was cold enough that even with the life jackets, she says, death would have come within six hours. She mentions that many of the reports on the sinking were thinking of the Mediterranean Sea, where the water temperature is not a problem. This is the reason why rescue efforts have to begin early, and this was often not reported.
Many of the reports were mentioning the chances of air pockets that gave hope without referring to the cold water and chances for survival. The columnist does make it clear that it was not easy to report the truth, seeing the crying parents of the deceased and missing. Korean sensitivity is very high and a reason hope is given without respect for truth. This false hope was also a reason for misgivings on the rescue efforts. The hurt, sacrifice and regret connected with the tragedy is great.
One of the articles in the Peace Weekly mentions the principles that Radio Veritas Asia uses to report the news. Get accurate and complete information and make a judgement on the information. More than speed is the accuracy and balance of the report and when possible to approach the story from many different angles. This ideal should be part of all news gatherers.
Reporters have a great deal of competition, and they want to survive, and continue in their work. In the Sewol tragedy, many reports were false. The media is prejudiced in the same degree that we are. Bias is often seen in what they choose to report on the front page and on a back page. The way the story is handled is influenced by the culture. The trust in the news sources from the government in the Sewol tragedy were strongly criticized and a reason for anger.
When the economy is stagnant, many find their livelihood jeopardized. Debts keep piling up; businesses fail; work places close, not a few people are faced with a bleak future. A diocesan bulletin gives us the thoughts of a woman who underwent such an experience, and writes about it very frankly. The title is: 'God, give me money in exchange for my husband'.
She was married for 20 years, and their world fell apart. They moved out of their parent's home. The parents moved to a small house, and they moved to a basement rented room. She liked the basement room. It was the first time in 20 years she had the freedom to do what she wanted. However, within a week, the rice container and the purse were both empty.
She always dreamed of living independently. Shortly, she realized that leaving the homestead she also needed to have financial independence and childlike, those thoughts came later. She felt helpless and with her husband started working in cleaning services.
Her husband was not accustomed to manual labor. When she dragged him along to work, that evening his whole body ached. He would lie down and grown with pain. She was not able to understand him nor did she want to understand him. She was angry and kept herself from being overcome by anger and hate. She prayed to God, and although she didn't want accolades for being a dutiful daughter-in-law for 20 years: why was she in such miserable straits? She couldn't overcome her indignation, and she started to cry.
She cried more during this time than in the previous 20 years. Her whole being was hurting, and the dislike for her husband continued to grow. Than one day in prayer, she cried out: "God, give me money in exchange for my husband. I no longer need him, give me money instead." When we are moved by greed, she says, there is no standard to the kind of words we may use in prayer. This is what she heard in reply.
"I am with you." Hearing these words a cold shiver passed through her. She recovered her composure and saw her husband. In her mind, she was the only one having difficulties, had grievances, and was desperate, that her husband was going through the same thing never entered her mind. She admits that her husband was the person she married 20 years before. What had changed was her way of looking at life. When all was well, there was never a problem but when the financial difficulties came she began to see her husband as incompetent. The problem was not with her husband but with her. The anger and hatred came not because of the husband, but because of her desperation.
She was yelling and desperate; her husband was without words and enduring it all with patience. When she realized what was happening, she was overwhelmed with shame and wanted to hide. "God, forgive me."
A seminary moral professor, writes in the magazine: With Bible, on a need to see the world with different eyes. He mentions the book by Kevin Perrotta on James: Put your Faith to work. When we believe in Jesus, we can't accept discrimination. He begins the article with the passage from the epistle of James 2:1-4-- "My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people." Do I spend a lot of nervous energy on deciding what clothes to wear or am I surprised at the tastes others have for clothes?
The writer mentions when he was in middle school one of his friends was wearing a crocodile logo T-shirt with pride. The group of boys began to argue about whether it was genuine or fake. The writer showed his socks to the group which had the crocodile logo, but the tail of the crocodile logo was going in the opposite direction. Although he said nothing, it was taken for granted that his friend had a fake logo and within seconds, his friend's situation looked shabby. He asks, was it the logo that was important or wasn't it something inside both of them, they wanted kept hidden, and were trying to express with the brand name? They were showing off, wanting to be seen better than they were. When he recalls this incident, he is embarrassed.
He introduces us to Merleau-Ponty (1908-19610) a phenomenologist and his book The Visible and Invisible. The body is what interacts with our environment: without the body, we cannot communicate with the world, and we can't explain our lives. In our present world not only is the body considered important but the way we express our sexuality, and it surrounds us everywhere. The mass media makes much of this sexuality and makes it a commodity.The result of this emphasis prepares us to see only with our eyes and foolishly miss what is invisible.
With a belief in Jesus, we can't at the same time, discriminate among persons. Jesus is the example that we follow. He had no concern for the person's place in society or fame; he loved them all. In the words of Perrotto when we associate with those who are well dressed we are dealing with someone important and expect some good to come, but with another person dressed shabbily being considered a friend is something we avoid. To judge only by a person's exterior is a fault. We are judging like the world and not a follower of Jesus. When attracted only by what we see, we will not be attracted by what we can't see: and that means God and the things about God.
He admits that even today when a person is shabbily dressed and well dressed comes to church the way he relates with them is different. He still does not want to be treated like an ordinary person. He knows that this is not what it should be for a follower of Jesus. He realized that to see what is impossible with the bodily eyes needs the tempering by belief. And reminds us of the words of Jesus to Thomas: "You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe."
In Korea, Youth Sunday is celebrated on the last Sunday of May. Pope John Paul II started the Youth Day in 1984 for Palm Sunday, and the Korean Church in 1989 moved it to the last Sunday of May: wanting to fortify the young peoples' desire for fellowship, justice and peace.
This year is the 29th Youth Sunday, and one of the two editorials in our Catholic papers mentions that the pastoral work with the youth is blurred. The numbers of the young people at the Sunday Masses continue to decrease. In last year's statistics those under 19 years of age numbered 650 thousand; this number has decreased 20 percent from ten years earlier. The numbers of those that go from elementary to middle Sunday school dropped 10 percent. When the young people are not coming out to church, there is little that can be done.
There is a need to be concerned. All those who have made a study of the situation are agreed that the big problem is parents. All depends on whether parents are naturally able to bequeath their religious faith to their children. This is where the first interest and concern of the Church should be in addressing the problems with the youth.
The bishop president of the committee for youth in his message for the Youth Day mentions three points: remember the importance of our faith, read the Scriptures and pray before the Eucharist, and thirdly, look at the world with a larger vision and prepare for God's kingdom.
Pope Francis will be in Korea, August 14-18, on the occasion of the sixth Asian Youth Day. The theme of the event is ' Asian Youth: Wake Up! The Glory of the Martyrs shines on You.'
There is the hope that the visit of the pope to Korea will be a help to kindle a new fire among our Christians and his presence at the Asian Youth Day as an occasion to lead our young people to a more mature faith life.
In recent years, education and the philosophy on which it should be grounded has been discussed repeatedly. The Catholic Church has shown a great interest in the need for a new pattern in educating our children, and has begun this in many of its institutions. The results of our present educational programs have educated for the society in which we live: education to get ahead, get a good job and make a lot of money. However, this has to be for a select few, and the many others are left with a feeling of being losers, and many of those who succeed lack the humanity we need in a happy and mature society.
A priest, in the diocesan bulletin, writes about the need to revamp the way we teach catechism to our children. The problems in our Sunday School programs are not what we see in the secondary educational system, but their problems are influencing the way the parents and children see religious education. Most of the students in the 12 years of primary and secondary education have not read the complete Bible. Do they really have a Catholic world view, Catholic values? In his opinion, there are very few. And bluntly states that it has been a repetition of what they learned in preparation for First Communion. The Reading of the Bible is not of course all that is necessary for a Catholic, but with a program in our catechism classes, he stresses, that doesn't have this goal is missing something important.
This may have been the unexpressed goal for decades in the teaching of our children, and yet we have failed. He puts the blame on the lack of vision by those involved in the education of the children: parents, teachers and clergy.
He feels that the parents do not see the need for a holistic approach to education, and do not consider the teaching of the catechism as equal to what they are getting in their educational programs in schools. He mentions 'The Duke of Edinburgh's Award' program. He feels that some of these principles should find a place in our catechism programs: non-competitive, available to all, voluntary, flexibility, balanced programs, progression, record of achievement, value of progress, marathon not a sprint and enjoyable.
Parents have to see a need for the education of the whole person and not see education as a means of succeeding in society. This is a big order and the reason why a change in our catechism programs will not be successful until parents see education in a new way. Holistic Education is of the head, the heart and the body. Nature, community and humanitarian values are important. However, in the society that we have made parents will see this approach as beautiful and noble, but not what the competitive society that we have made wants or needs. Consequently, parents will continue to feel without the academic rigor their children will not find employment and have a hard time adjusting to our society. That is the dilemma of parents: to educate for happiness or for worldly success. A hard decision to make, but shouldn't be for a Christian.
