Korean Catholicism has spent a great deal of time working with small Christian groups in the parishes. An article in the monthly bulletin for priests on pastoral matters, questions, whether the efforts have failed.
Parishioners
do not attend is a common complaint. Members heard words spoken at a group meeting spread to the larger
community, and stopped coming out. Groups get involved in arguments about politics and stop meeting.
The writer agrees failure to respect confidentiality, and conflicts over societal problems have done harm to the movement but are these problems confined to the small-group movement? Is it not more correct to say they are problems the Church community has?
When we look into the mirror and see some disfigurement, we don't blame the mirror for what we see: smashing the mirror doesn't make the disfigurement disappear. The problems we have in the small communities are the ones we have in the Church. We can take the population of the world which we can consider 7 billion and see it as a population of 100, and determine from the hundred how many are literate, malnourished, have computers are college graduates and the like. We can use the 100 as a mirror of the 7 billion.
The work we are doing with the small communities are opening our eyes to the work that we need to do with evangelizing in the Church. The small communities are a mirror of the whole church. By getting rid of the small communities, we know the problems with the church, remain. We need to understand the problems, and begin to evangelize and work pastorally to overcome our failings. "Let us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more...." (Heb.10:25). We need to return to this way of thinking.
Positive values from the small-group meetings are obvious: Christians are reading the Scriptures, reflecting on what they read, and is influencing their daily lives. This alone is enough to want them to continue. The writer wants to see the seeds of the Gospel spread at these meetings, and our parishioners filled with a new vision: a community on fire with the Spirit and a dynamic force for good in the world.
The Korean Foreign Mission Society celebrated their fortieth year of establishment with a Mass of Thanksgiving on Dec. 5th. At that time, they had a an academic conference in which they looked over the past forty years and looked ahead to their fiftieth year. The Catholic Times acquaints the readers of the celebration and the results of the conference.
Forty years ago when the Society was established the understanding of mission in Korean Catholic society was deficient but during these years, there have been changes, the place of mission in the life of the Church has been established. Korean Mission Society has strengthened its identity, examined itself theologically, and is imbued with the teaching of Vatican II.
The keynote talk by a priest, head of a research institute, congratulated the Society for its example. The Mission Society, and the Korean Church as a whole is faced with a crisis in implementing the teaching of Vatican II: authoritarianism of the clergy, separation of life and religion among the laity, also a country in which the gap between rich and poor continues to grow and will impact the Mission Society.
A member of the Missionary Society of
St. Columban, gave the first presentation in which he showed how after 82 years
of mission in Korea the missioners have become old, the decrease in
younger members, has in his opinion, been a blessing in bringing the
talents and insights of the laity to the church.
Problems and difficulties in mission, the sudden changes in pastoral efforts in the local church, the scandal of clerical sexual abuse, brought confusion and frustration to the fore but also an invitation to missioners to be humble.
He recommends
that the society after 40 years be theological open to the reading of
the signs of the time, reflection on the history of the Church in Korea, and its traditions, and to bring the laity into the life of mission.
Another participant mentioned that during the past 40 years of mission, the Korean Mission Society has realized that mission is the life of the church. Mission to Asia and especially to China should merit the attention of the Society: a research institute to educate specialists for the work, and to begin a society for mission in China.
He urges strengthening efforts in education, and preparing specialists for mission and a new model for lay people in mission.
Natural religions placed great importance on the place of virtue.
From Taoism, Buddhism and finally Confucianism, we see how grace builds on
nature. Catholicism's stress on virtues was not foreign to the thinking
of the sages who began to look into the new thinking that came from
China. This similarity in a virtuous life with which they were familiar,
made Catholicism in Korea, easy to accept.
In the spirituality
column of the Peace Weekly we are told that the first of the natural
virtues is prudence. Before Christ, in China and the Greek world we had
the wise and philosophers teaching the need for virtue in search for
the good life. They discovered that these required repetition. In
Confucianism we have benevolence, propriety, fidelity, wisdom, and
righteousness. We find lists of these virtues both in the Old and New
Testaments.
In the book of Wisdom: "Or if one loves justice, the fruits of her works are virtues; for she teaches moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude, and nothing in life is more useful for men than these" (8:7).
Philippians
4:8 "Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true
everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything
that we love and honor, and everything that can be thought virtuous or
worthy of praise."
One difference for a Christian when
we speak about the natural virtues is we understand God's grace can
enter to make our acceptance more complete but it begins in the
natural and our efforts are required. Cardinal Virtues are Prudence,
Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. All the other moral virtues hinge on
these four and consequently are called cardinal. They can be infused
with the grace of God but they begin in the natural.
"Prudence
is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good
in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it;
'the prudent man looks where he is gong.... It is called the charioteer
of the virtues; it guides the other virtues by setting rule and
measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of
conscience" Catechism of the Church #1806.
On the first four days of December, a group of Korean Bishops made a trip to North Korea. Bishops and priests have made the trip as individuals but this was the first official trip by a group of bishops. One of the priests who accompanied the bishops writes his impressions of the trip for the Peace Weekly.
The distance from Seoul to Pyongyang is only 155 miles. They arrived in Beijing, and the flight to Pyongyang was delayed two hours. The trip from the time they left Seoul, and arriving in Pyongyang took almost 12 hours. They were greeted at the airport by a contingent from the Changchung Cathedral in Pyongyang and the Chosun Catholic Association. The arrival at the airport was not complicated and contrary to expectation, they were permitted to have their smart phones, cell phones and cameras which they used frequently during the trip. On the second day, they went sightseeing in bustling Pyongyang.
On the third day, they visited the Changchung Cathedral. At the front of the Church, they were greeted by the choir of six women all exquisitely dressed; facilitating admirably the liturgy of the Mass. About 70 to 80 attended the Mass, and the participation showed they were familiar with the liturgy.
The day of the Mass was the Feast Day of St. Francis Xavier, and the president of the bishops' conference who was the main celebrant, mentioned that we needed to evangelize ourselves if we want to be missioners. During the Mass, an Icon of the Mother and Child, symbolizing the desire for peace between the North and South was presented to the catechist of the cathedral. They found a photograph of Pope Francis, presented a few years before, by a group of priests to the community, on the wall of the sacristy.
The vice president of the Supreme People's Assembly, invited the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly where he thanked the Church of the South for their efforts toward peace from the time of Fr. Mun's visit up until the present, and stressed the importance of the meeting of the leaders of the North and South. This was an unexpected official welcoming of the delegation from the South.
The faces of those they met were all welcoming and always natural, smiling and joking with the group from the South. Employees were all polished in the way they reacted with the group. The bishops did a lot of talking with the representatives of the Church in the North, bringing them closer together. They promised to work for a better tomorrow, repair the Cathedral and in the future work to have priests go to the North for the big feast days of the year.
A university professor, a dramatist, writes in a diocesan bulletin about a newsletter he received from a friend, who works for a scientific research center. He has little knowledge of the scientific world, consequently, enjoys reading in the field of science.
A recent newsletter he found extremely interesting: a poison mushroom and an edible mushroom has only a 1% difference in its makeup. According to the newsletter: mushroom is over 90 % water, protein less than 3%, carbohydrates less than 5%; mineral is 1% and can be either poisonous or medicinal.
Reading this information brought to mind his own human situation. We can easily turn into a poison mushroom. Like a knife, a sharp word can cut, coldness in dealing with others can be poisonous, an insult can leave lasting scars.
What makes us like a poisonous mushroom? What is the percentage of difference between the one who builds up and the one who tears down? Just 1% proud and prejudiced, can do harm to others and society. It doesn't take much energy to do great harm.
We can spend a great deal of our time in what we think is loving and doing good, it may be 99 %, but its the 1 percent of time spent in hating, that can do great harm to ourselves and others.
99% in doing good is not enough in the professor's way of calculating. One percent of poison can unravel all the good we do with the 99%. This is not difficult to understand and a reality we have experienced in our lives. A small defect can destroy much of the good we do. This should not upset us but make us humble and ask for mercy and be merciful to those we encounter daily; something to remember during this year of Mercy.
Father Benedict Min-seo is the first unable to hear or speak Korean priest; ordained in 2007 after many years of discernment and study. Thirty years ago, the handicapped found attending college almost impossible. He writes this month in the Seoul Bulletin on the people he wants to thank for making the path to the priesthood possible.
He was on pilgrimage in Turkey when he received news of the sudden death of a priest who was the vocation director of the diocese. There was no possibility of receiving the necessary education for the priesthood in Korea but was told of the possibility in the United States. He spent 10 years studying in the States and communicated monthly with the vocation director about his studies and spiritual life.
He had heard that the vocation director for the diocese because of eyesight problems was asking for a change but when he returned he was still in his position for which he was thankful. He was the one who persuaded the cardinal, bishops, and priests to permit his ordination. He was ordained to the diaconate by the cardinal. The vocation director was changed, and he began to have doubts about the ordination to the priesthood, but all went well and the vocation director was there to receive his first blessing.
As
soon as he returned from the pilgrimage, he went to the grave site to
thank his mentor for the concern and love he showed him during the many
years of preparation.
Fr. Park doesn't express himself completely on all the difficulties that he had in his article, but has made known in his writings obstacles faced by those with disabilities.
He was born in1965, and lost his hearing at the age of two after receiving the wrong medicine. His desire for the priesthood began at a young age, but this was not possible in the Catholic Church. Protestant Congregations have had deaf pastors for years.
He wrote an article: Deaf Culture and Deaf Church, in New Theology Review, Nov. 2009. In the article, he shows us the way the deaf perceive the way Christians look upon the deaf and the difficulties they have in relating to fellow Christians. As we know it is difficult to understand problems others have, and the only way is to walk in their shoes for a good period of time, which is not really possible. The article written in English gives us an understanding of those with hearing problems and reminds us how little we know of those with disabilities.
Often we are told the deaf feel more alienated than the blind. Concern for those with disabilities has improved greatly. We have parishes in Korea for the deaf and pastoral care people devoted to their needs. We are more sensitive to the needs
of others: thanks to people like Fr. Park.
"Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of hope!" With these words from Joy of the Gospel, a seminary professor, in an article of the Kyeongyang magazine,gives us a meditation on the ever-present fruitless pessimistic temptations of culture.
Pessimism's
dictionary meaning: seeing only the dark side of life, gives rise to sadness and an attitude of despair. He uses a line from a novel in
which the author says pessimism is a conscience without courage that
continues to eat away at itself.
In Gaudium and Spes #16, we have the words: " In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart: do this shun that."
"In
some places a spiritual 'desertification' has evidently come
about, as the result of attempts by some societies to build without God
or to eliminate their Christian roots. In those places the Christian
world is becoming sterile, and it is depleting itself like
over-exploited ground, which transforms into a desert” (#86 Joy of the
Gospel). This attitude according to the pope leads to pessimism.
He brings to our attention the film: Life is Beautiful, directed by Benigni in 1997. The last part of the movie takes place in a concentration camp. Under the Nazi regime, they rounded up the Jews in Italy and the hero, and young son were sent to a concentration camp. The father makes a game of the incarceration. The point the professor wants to make is that even in such unspeakable circumstances, forgetting the merits of using the Holocaust as a background, the father was able to give the boy hope by turning the boy's experience into a game. Briefly, what images we have in our head and the understanding we have of God is going to determine what we see, how we judge and what we do.
Christians because of Jesus should see,
think, and act differently than those without this relationship. When we
have a defeatist attitude we can't help but fall into pessimism. When we lose sight of hope, and images continue to enter our head
that militate against hope, we need to look at the Cross. Because
sorrow and pain have disappeared we have not overcome pessimism; when we
fail to see the victory of the Cross, and God's providence, pessimism
remains. Consequently for a Christian the opposite of pessimism is not
optimism.
Christianity is a religion with hope in the desert. We don't curse the darkness but light a candle and know that something will happen that will give us more hope, and a desire to give these candles to all willing to accept them.
