In a bulletin for priests the editors give us the example of two persons who as children received much from others and in their later years in gratitude wanted to return what they had received back to humanity.
One of these men was John. He was extremely
poor. His father died when very young and his mother supported the
family with working odd jobs for others. He was helped by a religious
order and others to continue his schooling. He graduated from college
and worked as a teacher for over thirty years. After retirement he went to
China in gratitude for what he received as a youth. He worked for three years without pay as a teacher among the ethnic Koreans and was an inspiration to many.
They also give us the example of
Dr. Albert Schweitzer who spent most of his life helping Africans in
medical work. His father was a minster and he was brought up in well off
circumstances. One day he was in a fight with a child his own age, and he
made the better of the fight but at the end the loser said to Albert: "If I ate meat soup like you, I would not be on the losing end of this
fight." This made Albert cry. It was from this experience that he began
to take an interest in the poor, and finally ended up in Africa. "I am
enjoying life but many do not have this opportunity." He became a
minister, philosopher, and teacher.
He knew that he receive
this happiness not from his own efforts but from God, parents and environment. In gratitude he wanted to repay this gift by devoting his life to
Africans who were deprived of much of what he enjoyed. At the age
of 40 he became a doctor and went to Africa.
A
proverb in Korean is to write the name of your enemies in water, and
blessings in stone. These two men inscribed what they receive in stone
and remembered it in their lives. Many instead of repaying what they have received forget it, and write it in water, and their grudges in
stone. This is not an easy proverb to follow. But gratitude makes
for a more fruitful life. There is another saying: if we don't have anything to be thankful, we need to look over the way we have lived.
The article ends with the incident in Luke 17:15-17 where
Jesus cures 10 lepers and only one returns to give thanks. Jesus asks where are the other nine?
Homosexuality is a topic you would rarely see mentioned in the Catholic press but recently with the results of the referendum in Catholic Ireland and the legalization of homosexual marriages in the Christian United States we see a response in the two Catholic papers.One priest columnist In the Catholic Times reviews some of the issues involved for the readers.
During the last Sunday of June in Seoul they had a queer festival for the supporters of homosexuality. He mentions how many of the Protestant Churches in the West have accepted homosexual marriages and have dropped the terms husband and wife for the word couple.
Not a small number of Christians have accepted this drift in society which they consider progressive and are waiting for the Catholic Church to join. The columnist limited by space addresses the issue from a Catholic understanding of marriage.
First it is necessary to understand the Church's teaching. Sex can not be separated from the understanding of procreation in Catholic thinking. The love of husband and wife lead to the fruit of life. Consequently the use of the sex outside of marriage is not supported by the Church. For one's own pleasure in masturbation, sex outside of marriage, before marriage, prostitution are all the same. True also with two people of the same sex for it has no intention towards life. However, the Church does not condemn the tendency but only the homsexual acts.
Secondly, whether homosexuality is legal or not, supported by the public or not, we should not consider the issue superficially.The Church like a mother has always embraced those with these inclinations and accepted them although there have been times of strictness in outlook, they have tried to help those with this tendency. He hopes with the crisis in the family life and the talk we are having on these matters will help us to come to a better understanding of family life.
Thirdly, with these discussions our faith life, actions, and the Church's relationship with society must be examined. Like many of the other religions who have accepted the will of the majority of the citizens the Church does not see it as a matter of majority vote. Our faith is not something for the present only, and requires more attention from us. We have to know what are the essentials of our belief and examine ourselves on how to behave in the present world.
We talk a lot about the cross and this is also present in dealing with this issue. We are all faced with carrying the cross and those with this inclination also have a cross to carry.Our faith tells us that in following the way of the Gospel we will enjoy the resurrected life here and hereafter. We all need give the issue a great deal of thought on how to live fully with what we can't change, and change what we can and trust that we will be given the grace to live with joy and peace if we follow the dictates of our conciences and Church teachings.
Today we celebrate the 20th
Farmers' Day in Korea-- remembered each year on the third Sunday of
July. The Korean bishops established Farmers' Day to bring the problems
of the farmers to all the parishioners and to mobilize concern for the
farmers in 'save the farm movement'. They were also concerned to thank the farmers for their participation in the work of creation.
In the two editorials in
the Catholic papers, sadly, we learn that during the past 20 years
matters have become worse. The money invested in farming and the
farmers' assets have decreased. The potential for growth also has
eroded.
Production
has increased by 20 percent and the prices have increased by 39
percent; farming materials have increased by 112 percent and gross
income has decreased by 36 percent. The import of farm products have
increased two fold and commodity prices have increased 82 percent. The
gap between city and country has also increased. With the free trade
agreement and the import of foreign rice, which is much cheaper, does
not point to a bright future for farming.
"Solidarity and
Fraternal Charity" is the theme of the the bishops' message to the
Church. All the citizens need to be concerned with the life on the
farms. Many have been interested in cooperatives, and buying locally and
working for food sovereignty: the right to healthy food produced and
controlled by the farmers. These efforts have been made but with little
success.
The
government has been concerned with the growth of the industrial
section for good reason for that is where the biggest
changes are found, but for the good of the country and the future of
Korea it may be the time to think deeper and not put all the eggs in the
same basket.
Young people are leaving the country for the cities, and the elderly farmers are not
being replace which means that we will see changes in the country in the
years to come. Farming is a treasure and the benefits for the whole
country are not readily seen and once lost will be difficult to regain.
"For the glory of God is a living man; and the life of man
consists in beholding God. For if the manifestation of God which is made
by means of the creation, affords life to all living in
the earth, much more does that revelation of the Father which comes
through the Word, give life to those who see God" (AH IV, 20, 7).
We
use these words often not always with the meaning that St. Irenaeus had
when he wrote them. Life is a gift but not always enjoyed, and the
reasons are many. As Christians we have both the vertical and horizontal
aspects of life which expands our vision and should make life more
joyful and meaningful but one of the problems is our relations with
others is not always smooth, nurturing and beneficial for the two
parties, which will affect our relations with God.
Jesus was strong in the wording he
used to show us the importance of being on good terms with others. "If
you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has
anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first to be
reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift" Matt.5
A
priest in the labor apostolate gives us his thoughts in Bible & Life
that come from his years working in labor groups within society.The
article is about the liturgical meetings he has in the work place for
the Catholic workers once a month. He recalls one of the Masses where he
told the workers after they retire they are welcomed back to the
meetings. He knew that this would be a difficult thing to do but he sent
out the invitation.
One of the men who had retired came to the monthly Mass and made
everybody have a good laugh for the reason he came was to see if the
group was continuing without his presence. There was another man who
the priest noticed did not seem to pleased with the presence of the
retired worker.
Before the Mass the worker
approached the priest and wanted to talk; they quietly left the group
spent some time together. He told the priest that the retired individual
was his boss in the factory and although outside of his work position
he was pleasant to be with in the work place he made the work difficult.
And was sorry to see him join the group. They finished the conversation
and went back to the group and the Mass.
After
Mass they went to the meal but the priest noticed that the two were
missing. He was afraid some thing not nice had happened but the retired
person returned and told the priest about the problems the two of them had in the past but that night they were to go out together for a drink.
He concludes the article with life is difficult
but we make it more difficult by not maintaining good relationships with
others. The two were taking the steps to improve their communication,
and he would like all of us to be on good terms with all especially
those of the community of faith. This would go a long way in improving the environment of parish life, and fill us with joy that we would want to share with others.
Catholicism has for the last 25 years compared to other religions,
the greatest amount of trust among citizens in the surveys that are
made by different groups in Korean society. In an article in Now/Here
(Catholic-news) the writer reviews the contents of the surveys for
readers and gives us his opinion.
He mentions some red lights that are seen and
one of them would be in comparison to other religions Catholicism does
have more trust but not in comparison to other organizations in society.
Citizen organizations have 27.8 percent public confidence, second is
the press with 10.6 percent, and religion is 3rd, with
9.2 percent, and the writer says this is continuing to fall.
Women
had a higher rate of confidence in Catholicism than men. Those in their
50s had the highest index of confidence when comparing ages, and 32.7
percent of unbelievers had the highest rate of confidence, and the more
education the higher the level of confidence in Catholicism.
The
writer mentions the confidence level will not change in the near future
but he gives five reasons why this confidence in Catholicism in
comparison to the other religions in society could change overnight.
First,
he doesn't believe the confidence is directed to
Catholicism but rather a lack of confidence in the other religions. Once
the other religions make some positive changes and portray a different image the relative ascendency of Catholicism will change.
Secondly,
the Church can continue to weaken its strong points. Unity has been one
of the images of the Church. Protestantism is seen with their many
divisions, and Buddhism with their religious factions fighting with
each other, something the Koreans did not see in Catholicism. On the
other hand with the democratic movement in society, and the Church's
authoritarianism, we see a negative
response by some.
Unity as a strong point is no longer what it
was. When we have dissent being expressed within the institution,
the unity becomes weakened.Within the conference of bishops we have
agreement and some bishops speaking,and behaving
differently from what was decided. We have groups like the Patriotic
Catholics for Korea which don't care for some of the directions the
Church is taking. We have the Justice and Peace Priests not always
understood, and some devotional groups that speak differently on
traditional teaching. All these will be seen as disunity and lower
the confidence of the public in the Church.
Sex scandals
that became known in the States was a great problem. We have some
Catholics who with some Protestants have an unfriendly attitude to
other religions. Sex scandals and financial corruption in works of
welfare given to the Church by the government, and bankruptcy will all
lower the trust in the Church.
Thirdly we have the
possibility of seeing the Church as overly strong and pushing its might
on society. Fourthly, not continuing their work of service for society
as in the past. Our religious are getting older and retiring from their
work and they are not being replaced which will make a difference in the
way society looks upon the Church. Fifthly, we have the way society
looks upon the Vatican: at present it is very positive but like Europe it
could change.
As was mentioned in the beginning the
confidence that religion has in society is 10 percent points lower than citizens' groups. The Gallup poll that was
made in 2014 mentioned that religions over the last 30 years continue to
get criticized and the writer reminds the Church to be humble and
keep a low profile.
Why did Cain kill his brother Abel? A priest from the Seoul Diocese
asks the question and surprises us with an answer which you rarely hear,
and it makes a lot of sense. The first Israelites
were sheep herders, and the story is a teaching story for their
descendents, and it all fits together. He explains his interpretation
in an article in the Kyeongyang magazine.
We usually
say it was jealousy on the part of Cain but if we leave it at that we
make God the one who aroused the jealousy. Did God prefer meat over the crops, fruits and vegetables of the land? The
writers want us to understand that Cain was a sedentary farmer with a
lot of land and rich, while Abel was a wandering shepherd with his little
flock going from one pasture to another. He was not what we would call
a large stock farmer. He had to work in the rain, and cold; he was a poor
shepherd. God appreciated the life of Abel and accepted his sacrifice.
We
today in the Church take the example of God in choosing to be on the
side of the poor.This choice is not always easy. Pope Benedict after he
retired was considered a very conservative pope, but in his Encyclical
Charity in Truth he was called a German Communist in certain areas of
the World. Here in Korea we have the same response when anyone speaks
for the poor, listens to their complaints, and becomes active in their
cause-- they are labeled 'followers of the North'.
What
kind of world are we living in? We still have many who are without
property and are living a difficult life. We meet many of them in Korea.
Marxism was a movement that wanted to liberate them and at one time had
over half of the world in their control. The curtain came down on their
efforts, workers were hoping that a change would come in their
situation, but it has deteriorated. Today the gap between the rich and poor has grown
larger. We have another Cain and Abel story.
The priest
looks at the situation in Korea. As a member of OECD ( Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) it has the
largest number of suicides and the lowest birthrate, a sign that life is
not very attractive to many Koreans. Land is no longer easily bought. The
number of industrial disasters is the highest, hours of work
are the second longest in OECD. Of all the countries money
spent on welfare is the lowest, and family debts are high.
The
middle class is ceasing to exist and the rich are getting richer.
Young people are finding it difficult to find work, and the many irregular workers always in danger of being fired. The condition of the old people in society is the worse in the OECD, and we are absorbed in
improving the situation for the wealthy, and this is the reality in most
of the world.
He concludes the article with a hope that
instead of greed, disobedience, and jealousy we will accept modesty, humility and be influenced by the teachings of Jesus. The dignity
of all human beings, hopefully will be recognized. We should not only
help the strong we need to work for a society in which we are all brothers and sisters. We all need to work for a society in which we all
are holding hands working together.
Pope John XXIII defined the common good as "the sum total of social
conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to
reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily" (Pacem in Terris #
55). Common good is a term that appears often in the social teaching of
the Church and a basic concept.
A priest with a doctorate
in social studies and now working in the labor apostolate
sees the lack of sensitivity for the common good as one of the primary reasons
for the MERS epidemic, contagion and death that resulted from the
epidemic. He writes about the spread of MERS in his column, and gives a
great deal of the blame to seeking efficiency over the common good.
Information
on the spread of the disease, and the name of the hospitals involved
was not made known at the start, and keeping this secret did much to
help the spread of the disease: more concern for private
issues than for the common good.
The desire of the Church
is to work in the area of the common good. He finds the government
retreating in the areas of public health and promoting private health
endeavors. This he also sees as a reason for some of the problems
experienced during the MERS epidemic.
His thoughts come from reflection on creation. God gave the goods of creation to all of
us. We should all benefit: not especially difficult to understand. There are times when a decision made will result in a loss either
materially or in humiliation, but the public
good benefits. The columnist gives blame for the quick development of capitalism
in society where efficiency is everything. Medical care, education, labor, and lodging all become commodities in the market, and those who
are sacrificed for efficiency we do not see.
In conclusion, he wants us to learn a lesson from the MERS
epidemic. More than to maximize efficiency in our society we need to increase our concern in working for the common good, which will promote a more peaceful life for all. Also help us to live according to
the order of creation and the road we Christians are called to follow.
