Seeing the Diciples at the Last Supper

On the opinion page of the Peace Weekly, the columnist introduces us to an aspect of the Last Supper that is very easy to miss and which many of the artists were quick to see and express in their masterpieces.

Homilies, was the subject of one of the classes the columnist was taking at a School of Theology. In many of the mission stations, catechists take the place of deacons and priests in the administration and pastoral work of the mission station. The priest usually visits the station once a month. Consequently, those in the formation programs for catechetical work prepare themselves to give sermons.

When the columnist's turn came to give a sermon, it was the passage in Luke 22:14-23 on the Last Supper. He mentions he knew the story very well: Jesus was showing his love to his disciples he was leaving them his body and blood. " I will not drink from the fruit of the vine until the coming of the reign of God." He was telling them this was his last supper with them.

During the last visit to Jerusalem a few days earlier the crowd was all enthusiastic hoping that the time had come to get rid of Roman rule and Jesus was the new general and leader. The disciples were even more excited. They were all dreaming the same dream despite the fact that Jesus told them repeatedly of his coming death they were not listening.

That night these words did not make any impression, after seeing what they did, how could they? He was not going to die. That night they had no inkling this was the last meal and testament nor were they interested. They were dreaming of a bright future and fighting over who would have the first places.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Battista Tiepolo, Albrecht Durer and Tintoretto expressed this very clearly in their paintings of the Last Supper. The columnist was surprised to see the greed on their faces; the distracted environment, self-righteousness and signs of betrayal filled him with dismay, sorrow and curiosity. They were even crazily pouring wine into the crocks, which made them just like all of us, even after their experience of Jesus.

Mencius said: when  we are embarrassed at not being embarrassed, we will not do things that are embarrassing. The disciples after the Resurrection did feel great embarrassment at their behavior, and we know how remorse and contrite they were, giving their lives completely to Jesus. He concludes the article with his understanding changed about the Last Supper: before only Jesus and holiness. He never saw the human embarrassing behavior of the disciples.

St. Teresa of Avila's Words of Wisdom

In the spirituality column of the Peace Weekly, we are introduced to St.Teresa of Avila, the first woman to be proclaimed Doctor of the Church. She mentions often in her writings the spiritual director. In her own life, she experienced many confessors and spiritual directors and reflected on their role and gives her opinion.

She recommends that all Christians open themselves up to a person who is well educated. There is nothing better to find a person who is steeped in learning. She is often quoted for having told her sisters that if they have to choose between a learned director and a holy one who is not learned, it is best to choose the one who is learned. Obviously if you have both, you are fortunate.

Presently according to spiritual theology, those who come for spiritual direction need confidence in those   they seek direction. Directors need to listen to all that the directee has to say and have confidence in their position as director. 

These are basic he says but beyond that they should not be limited by their experience but continue to study. This does not  mean that they  need an extensive knowledge of all the fields of learning but what is necessary to understand those who come for direction.

Basic knowledge of history, culture, philosophy and theology is a requisite. Of the required studies most important would be knowledge of the Scriptures and the fundamentals of modern psychology.

St.Ignatius of Loyola had the gift of discernment when it came to spiritual direction. This is not something that we can expect from those who give direction, and the reason one has to make the effort to have the necessary knowledge. This should be a life-long study.

Not all priests make good spiritual directors, he says. Many lay-people are capable of becoming wonderful spiritual directors.  We should not focus only on our own experience but our desire and the studies necessary to fill the role of a spiritual director. 

To be transparent is a quality that is very healthy, and in the spiritual realm one that gives great benefits. What St. Teresa has to say about spiritual directors should be remembered in searching for a person with cultivation and learning to develop our growth potential as human beings.

Pope Francis' Popularity in Korea

A Gallop International Survey made recently on the popularity of Pope Francis found that two out of three Koreans had a favorable opinion of the pope. This favorable rating was ten points higher than the average of the 64 countries surveyed.

After the visit of Pope Francis to Korea in 2014 the favorable rating went as high as 77%. In the recent survey 22% had an unfavorable opinion and 12 % reserved their opinion. Korea was rated 23rd of the 64 countries surveyed. 

Favorable ratings of some of the Developed Countries  were as follows: United States 58 %, Germany 57%, France 62 %,  England 37%. Survey was made last year from Oct. to Nov. taken among 1,500 Koreans not including Jeju Island.

Catholics had a 93 % favorable opinion, Protestants 64%, Buddhist and No-Religion 62%. In the overall survey the country with the highest favorable rating was Portugal with 94 %; only 2% with an  unfavorable opinion.  Philippines 93%, Argentina 89%, Italy 86%, Columbia 84%,  Spain and Lebanon were 80%. Countries with a large Catholic population in North, South and Central America were in the higher rank.

The lowest popularity rating came from Azerbaijan 5%, Algeria 9%, Iran 10%, Turkey 13% Mongolia 14%, Tunisia  15%,  Most of these countries, 60% of the citizens  give him little thought and have no real opinion on the pope.

Taking all the countries together Catholics have 85 % favorable opinion of the pope, Protestants 53 % and  Buddhist 33%. No-Religion 51%.

Korea has a openness to other religions. We see little prejudice and violence among religions and efforts are made to  work together.

Humanity and Artificial Intelligence

Recently, we had articles daily on the competition between the AlphaGo computer program and one of the world's best players in the board game Go. The first time the computer beat a professional human Go player. Articles in the Korean press were many and in the  Peace Weekly, we have a columnist giving us his ideas on the subject.
 
Work of the Church, he says, has become more difficult. In about 10 years, we will have Alpha doctors, lawyers, teachers and reporters. St. Benedict said many years ago that inactivity is "the enemy of the soul." Many will lose their jobs. Stephen Hawkins and Elon Musk have warned that within a hundred years, the end of humanity is possible because of artificial intelligence, and want some controls over the research.

Primitive artificial intelligence is not a problem,  but the strong advanced type should be controlled as is nuclear research. Terminator movies are examples of what is meant. Nick Bostrom of Oxford University says that in his research, humanity always ends up defeated.

AlphaGo program could upgrade itself and learn something new in the playing and be creative in beating the human player. Humanity in the use of natural resources has brought upon ourselves many problems, this, he says, will be the outcome of advances in artificial intelligence.  

AI will replace humans. Soon we will gain workers but lose more than are gained. With the loss of work, we will have the death of the human spirit and more suicides.  

Secondly, we will have these advances in the wealthier countries of the world and more inequality in the world, more conflict, violence and the destruction of communities.

Thirdly, more primitive development of artificial intellect will bring the temptation to develop advanced types and more money.

Google DeepMind made the AlphaGo, and they have instituted an ethical committee for its use. However, in the future with the greed of the human mind, and the possibilities of profit, it will be difficult to control. All humanity will be influenced. He doesn't like the idea of Europe and the United States having control. Studies have to be made on the good use of  the new possibilities. 

What Does It Mean to Understand?

We make a community by working with individuals. A philosophy professor in a Catholic University Theology Department begins his article in View from the Ark with these words, reminding us how important the individual was in Scholastic Philosophy.

He brings to our attention the principle of individuation a term which most of the readers would not be familiar, and wonders, whether he lost the interest of most of the readers by mentioning it. Most of the discussions we have deal with productivity, which makes this mode of talking unfamiliar and strange.  

Recently, a very popular TV program had three words  which they used in the title, and he had no idea what they meant, nor did the program interest him. Frequently, he hears words the young are using, original words; he doesn't understand, and admits  he is a member of the old school.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, English philosopher, mentions that women from a village, when he heard them talking, he didn't understand them even though they spoke his native language. Necessary is to know the rules they are following in speaking: accents, way of speaking, gestures, etc.. To understand another's words, knowing what the words mean is not all that is necessary. One has to understand the non-verbal, if we want communication.  

Presently, the word communication  is continually on our lips. However, if we don't understand the other person's life, and the word games used we will not understand what is being said. When we trust the words from our mouth and believe only that is necessary, we are bullies and talking down to the other.

When this is done even in the family, we are nurturing hatred, anger and even violence. Dealing with others in a different culture and with different patterns of life are we not making the same mistakes? In Korea when we use the word unification but use ridicule and threats, are we conscious of the harm that is being done to understanding? We are forgetting North Korea's history, for over seventy years is different from the South. We ignore the principle of individualization.  We need a language they understand. They are like another country.  

Even in the family when one justifies themselves, and nurses their hurts, there is little hope of a resolution, dialogue is impossible. Dialogue begins when we acknowledge the pain and scars of the other, and show understanding. Mutual understanding  does not take place with words but with sympathy for the other. He hopes that our leaders inscribe this on their hearts.

Cultural Shock

Catholic Church of Korea is sending missioners both lay, religious and clerical to overseas missions in greater numbers, and we are beginning to hear stories about their experiences. Many are diocesan priests who volunteer for a period of years and return to their dioceses and pastoral work.   

One such priest writes about his experience after two parishes in which he worked as an assistant and sent to Bolivia. Missioners receive a certain amount of formation but they usually are persons with a recent desire for mission so the thought and new experience brings fear. How was he going to live by himself and adapt to the new culture? He spends some time in his article for the diocesan bulletin, explaining one of the difficulties he brought upon himself.

He was at a mission station that became a parish. One of the girls in the mission station came to speak to him. He had finished the study of Spanish and worked in the parish for about 3 months but when the girl spoke he didn't understand her. He asked the girl to repeat what she said and she did, and this continued a number times. He told her: "padre, no entiende nada"  (Father doesn't understand anything).

As soon as he heard these words  he uttered, he was overcome with anger and returned home. He felt disregarded and his self esteem plummeted. His  guilty conscience made him so distraught he was not able to sleep that night. With time he regained his composure. He reflected on what transpired that day, and realized  the reason for his anger was not the child but himself.

An adult, a priest he felt snubbed and it was hard to accept. His self worth had been damaged and he looked strait into the face of his pride. It was a great learning  experience.

He thanked  the child for helping him to face his problem. Because of his position there is the danger of looking down on others;  when his own self esteem is hurt he can lose his stability.

We are all of us of great value. Jesus gave us  a running description  of how to accept  being snubbed and disregarded and we know  who he was. Humility and  love were his response.

Year of Mercy

Many initiatives made in society and within the Church often remain slogans that sound and make us feel good, but with little follow-up or change in what we do.  

"Merciful Like the Father" is the motto for the Jubilee of Mercy, we  began last year on Dec. 8th, and will continue to Nov. 20th. We try to reflect God's mercy in our everyday actions and as Pope Francis stressed to bring about a "revolution of tenderness."

Both Catholic paper gave us a report on the  priests in one diocese, who decided at a general meeting, as a group of 114 priests, to show mercy in three different ways. They discussed this among themselves in deanery meetings and on their own, initiative concluded with three distinct actions.   

They will love the Sacrament of Penance and  experience the mercy of God in their time in the confessional. Secondly, they will tithe and give the money to the needy, and  in their  dealings with parishioners will show kindness, make efforts to be warm and  work for understanding  with all those they meet.

As messengers of mercy, they will  make this known to all the religious working in the diocese and all the parishes. The  motto is "Happiness of the Merciful."
 
After the visit of Pope Francis in 2014, the bishops of Korea also decided to prepare a bank book to help the poorer churches in Asia. This year they will help four of the churches, and continue in the future. Bishops and clergy of one of the dioceses, have set an example for the whole church. This has great meaning for all of us, were the words used in one of the editorials.

'Beads gathered together need to be threaded to be precious,' is a Korean proverb that the editorial mentions.  We need actions on these movements  if  thy are not to remain only slogans. The editorial  notes that the parishioners will be very happy to hear of the resolution, and hopes the example  will spread to other dioceses. The editorial concludes with applause for the bishops and priests.