In a column of the Catholic Times, the writer wonders whether economics isn't the greatest strength of our society. All the other values: moral, human, and of life, lose their meaning in its presence: law and logic have no place.
Values from life and the environment take a second place to the comfortable and abundant life offered to society by the nuclear power stations and other scientific advances. Solidarity with community, concern for the poor, all surrender to efficiency and competition. Economics is of the greatest value and its logic surpasses all else.
For many, the difficulties surrounding eating and just living trumps all the other values. Easy to understand, but at the same time materialism, and our need to adapt to the present reality is bitter to the taste.
It's a fact that when humans work for their own ends and competitively they accomplish great results. However, this is looking at the situation narrowly and superficially. For humanity working for the good of others, cooperating has also seen great economic results.
Economics the word itself comes from the work of housekeeping. 'Oikos', the ancient Greek word, means house, (family) and it can be equated to the work of family to support and achieve all that is necessary to live.
"Economy, as the very word indicates, should be the art of achieving a fitting management of our common home, which is the world as a whole. Each meaningful economic decision made in one part of the world has repercussions everywhere else; consequently, no government can act without regard for shared responsibility. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find local solutions for enormous global problems which overwhelm local politics with difficulties to resolve. If we really want to achieve a healthy world economy, what is needed at this juncture of history is a more efficient way of interacting which, with due regard for the sovereignty of each nation, ensures the economic well-being of all countries, not just of a few." (Joy of the Gospel #206).
St. Irenaeus used the phrase 'economy of salvation' to describe the workings of God. Even the word ecology wants to include all of our natural environment.
Our society sees competition and efficiency as all important. They appear to bring us all the wealth and development made. This advancement has not benefited all of humanity. Difficult to call this an abundance when so many are shut out from attaining or participating.
More important are cooperation, community, solidarity, compassion. Values of life and concern for the environment will bring even greater abundance. This is the way of reconciliation, and living in peace with all of creation. We have examples of this in cooperatives, community possession, and community responsibility.
Two of the best known Christians in the present society are Pope Francis and Mother Theresa of India. They have received respect even outside the church. However, both of them had a different understanding of donations that came from what is called black or dirty money, (money made from illegal or nefarious means).
In an article in a bulletin for priests, the writer mentions that both of them received praise and blame for the way they looked upon dirty money.
Mother Theresa used the money for the poor and sick which makes understanding her actions easier. However, there are those that did not look benignly on the money she took from dictators and from those who seemed to lack any moral sense in the way they made their money.
Pope Francis was reported to have returned a million dollars given to his charity Scholas which was an initiative he began while Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The government of Argentina gave the money to the charity and the pope was not happy when he heard the charity asked the government for help because of its situation. The government has raised the prices of the public utilities of the country and he rejected the public money because they should focus on the needs of the people.
Pope Francis told benefactors to forget about donating money to the church if their earnings came from mistreating others. "Please, take your check back and burn it," he said in one of the general audiences. "The people of God -- that is, the church -- doesn't need dirty money. They need hearts that are open to God's mercy."
Scholas Occurrentes, connects technology with arts and sports in order to promote social integration and the culture of encounter for peace. It is present in 190 countries through its web made up of over 430.000 schools and educational networks in five continents. Pope Francis did not appreciate the help for he wanted the charity to be financed by personal monies and not public money.
The charity has no right to ask the government for help in developing their programs and was a good lesson to those who heard his talk. The government was quick to give a response to the request for their own reasons and the pope returned it for the reasons given.
Dirty money is not cleaned by use in the church. To prevent any misunderstanding money received should be vetted to see from whom and where the money is coming. The pope's message was heard loud and clear and our writer would like this to be understood by all those who are receiving donations of money.
Martyrs who have died for their faith are many in the history of Korea. In recent years we hear often about the martyrs that died during the years of the communist take over of North Korea.
The Korean bishops have asked the Vatican to open the beatification process for the bishop of Pyongyang Hong Young-ho and his 80 companions after the division of Korea in 1948. Rome has approved the request and the study of the information has begun.
On the list, we have a number of foreign priests of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, the Columban Fathers, foreign missionary nuns, Korean priests, religious sisters, seminarians and lay people and on the list are two Maryknollers: Bishop Patrick Byrne and Maryknoll Korean Sister, Chang Chong-on Agneta the sister of John M. Chang (Chang Myon) who was ambassador, vice president, and prime minister of the Republic of Korea from 1960-1961.
Bishop Patrick James Byrne a member of the Maryknoll Fathers was the first missioner chosen in 1923 to begin the work in Korea and is listed as one who has died for the faith in North Korea. He was named Prefect Apostolic of Pyongyang but in 1929 had to return to the States after being elected Vicar General during the first society chapter. He returned in 1935 to a new mission in Kyoto, Japan, where he helped to calm the people during the American occupation. In 1947 he was appointed the first Apostolic visitor for Korea and in 1949 the first Apostolic Delegate to Korea.
In 1949 he was consecrated bishop in Myong Dong Cathedral, Seoul, and the following year the Korea War began. Knowing the imminent fall of Seoul to the invading army the Americans were advised to flee to Japan but he didn't want to leave his responsibility to Korea. He complained about the persecution of the Church in the North and the imprisonment of Bishop Hong and the priests and Christians.
He was arrested in July and before a people's court with many other foreigners was imprisoned and was sentenced to die. He was transferred to Pyongyang and imprisoned again on July19th. On Oct. 8th he was moved to Manpo and shortly after began the four-month death march.
Bishop Byrne became ill and finally died of pneumonia. Before he died he told those who were with him: "After the privilege of my priesthood, I regard this privilege of having suffered for Christ with all of you as the greatest of my life." He received the absolution the night before from Father William Booth a Maryknoll priest who was his secretary. Bishop Quinlan, a Columban priest and Prefect Apostolic of Chunchon recited the prayers at the gravesite. He died on November 25, 1950, at the age of 62 and was buried in an unmarked grave.
A great sadness is the age of the martyrs has not ended. In North Korea, we have no way of knowing the suffering of the Christians that remain.
For those who may be interested in more information about the Maryknoll Society and its work in Asia you are invited to go to these sites:
https://maryknollsociety.org/
http://brianbarrons.typePad.com/
Chinahands-typePad
Problems we have in the pastoral work with the young are not something that just recently appeared but has a long history. Many solutions have been tried and much discussion has transpired over the years but matters have gotten worse. Students who are coming out to the Sunday school programs continue to decrease. Middle and high school students only one in ten are attending Sunday school, and of the teenagers, we have only six or seven out of one hundred who are coming to church.
Many dioceses are gathering interested persons together to find solutions to the problems and all agreed the whole program has to be overhauled. We can't continue conducting our programs for the young in this way.
In one of the diocesan open discussions on the topic, one priest mentioned it is no longer a crisis but a question of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. If we continue in this way in a few years only half of those now coming out will be in our programs. The class system that was used for the past fifty years is not working and only ten percent of our students in middle and high school are coming out.
One priest mentioned we should forget about teaching doctrine and concentrate on how to hand down the faith. We have to change the whole framework of what we are doing. We need to forget the Sunday school program and envision a pastoral plan for the young.
One diocese agreed that the whole framework used up until now has to change. One participant feared that by working with the problems of the young people and working for a solution we may consider that all the problems are being handled which is not the case.
One priest considered one of the big stumbling blocks was the priests themselves with their control of the program and autocratic ways. The bishop of the diocese said they can be a problem but they are also the ones that give life to the programs and asked for their continued concern.
In one of the diocesan discussions one student leader mentioned the changing of the assistant priests every year is a big problem and detrimental to the spirit of the teaching staff. We need a committee to be responsible and more of a hands on policy by the diocese.
Teachers suggested in one of the open meetings: education for the parents, common use of good programs, texts that consider the situation of our students in our present reality, and priests who are educated in youth work that will visit the parishes and work with the teachers. Catholic Schools should also work harder at developing a Catholic Spirit among the students.
One person who has taught for over thirty years in the catechetical program for the youth thinks that more time should be spent in teaching about marriage and Christian family life. That will solve many of the problems that will we have in the future.
A person with a background in cultural studies with a doctorate in the field stresses that the church community has to be different from the world, and when the young people feel this, they will come. With the values of the world: they will receive what they give and give of what they receive, has to be changed to a foundation based on love where you give without condition and receive of blessings. Once they feel this in community the thirst of the young will be satisfied and they will find joy.
"When you lose the capacity to dream, then you lose the capacity to love." These words are a quote from Pope Francis during a talk he gave on the family. In an article in the Peace Weekly, the columnist laments the loss of dreaming among the young.
When you want something and the possibility is there to achieve what one desires but no dream, we have an unhealthy society. Meeting a young person with dreams is not easy. The columnist has asked many young people about their dreams and the response is: "I don't know." "I don't have one."
Our education system is set up as a preparation for the next step in education: middle school preparation for high school and high school for college. He mentions asking a class what their dream was for the future and the same answer came back but one student answered with a low voice: "teacher". The student sitting behind him patted him on the back and said: "Hey you bloke, have you forgotten that you are not good in studies?"
From the last years of the 1990s, teachers, and civil servants are considered good occupations. Only a little raise in the salaries but a guaranteed lifestyle has made them popular.
We are persons who exist to dream. When we feel a lack of something and have a strong desire to attain it, we have a dream. It makes us want to live and enjoy life. Living in a society with grownups we are helped to have dreams. In our society, unless a student has outstanding marks the possibility of being a teacher is impossible and the competition is great.
Without dreams life becomes hell. Is this not the reason for suicides and the desire not to have children? What is the Church to do in this kind of society? What needs to be done if we are to be a light and the salt of the earth? Even though the solution may be beyond our control, we need to work to change the environment in which we live. What can be done?
In one of the diocese, they have decided to build a lighthouse and center for migrants living in Korea. It will be set aside for the migrants in Korea as a gift. They have come to Korea for economic reasons and the church wants to give them a sense of worth by this splendid building for their use.
The Seoul Diocese also wanting workers to dream, has a goal to examine the working conditions of workers and their needs, and work to realize this in their advocacy for concrete programs in the diocese to bring this about.
It is important to work to overcome the ways of the world but more important is to live our lives correctly. We need to work for a society in which all the members can dream.
These days many find themselves busy. One of the first words uttered in a telephone conversation: "You must be very busy" as they begin talking. A university professor dares to show us the difference between busyness and chaotic living in his Catholic Times' column.
What does it mean to be busy? The numbers of those who think they are busy aren't as large as one would think, but rather many are living a chaotic lifestyle. They say they are busy but examining the life one comes away with a different understanding.
With a chaotic way of living making a promise to meet someone is not difficult but when the time arrives the conversation is disordered, and difficult to stay concentrated. During the conversation when the smartphone rings, quickly receiving consent with a facial expression, one begins talking. After finishing talking they return to the partner in conversation and ask: "Where were we in our discussion?" In conclusion, they met to talk about an issue but now put it off to another time in the future when they will be less busy.
On the other hand, those who are really busy, selecting a date is not easy, but once a date is agreed upon, the allotted time is used to accomplish all that was envisioned peacefully, with no rushing as if the person involved had nothing else to do, and not disturbed by the ringing of the smartphone (very likely on silent). Busy people respect the preciousness of time of those with whom they are talking as important as their own time.
Where is the difference in the busy person's time and the other? It will depend on what a person considers the center of his life. Whether it is his own needs which determine the priority or whether it is the needs of the situation in which persons find themselves. This will determine whether the person is busy or living a disordered life.
What are the results of a chaotic life? There are many signs but our columnist sees the lack of focus on what is present as the most important sign. An example would be when the need to be attentive to what is being done the person is playing around with the smartphone, or during Mass receiving or sending text messages or not listening to the person with whom one is speaking and the like.
We are under the compulsive obsession that we need to be busy. It's a good impression society wants us to convey for it makes us feel we are accomplishing something. But if the life we lead is not busy but chaotic, we are not only tiring ourselves but fatiguing those with whom we are relating.
He concludes his article by asking himself is he truly busy or living a chaotic life? And ends with a prayer: "May this be not a chaotic day, but may the time that is given to me today be used wisely so that it will be truly a busy day."
Both
Catholic Weeklies had first-page articles and editorials on the anti-missile
system decided for South Korea in cooperation with the United States. Not
only are many of the citizens opposed but the neighboring countries also.
Presidents of the Commissions for Reconciliation and for Justice and Peace of
the Catholic Church reject the military escalation and stress that peace comes
through dialogue and economic development in North and South Korea. They fear
it will make the Korean peninsula, “the center of a new cold war” and increase
the situation that Pope Francis has described as “ a Third World war being
fought in pieces.”
According to the government, this is for the security of the citizens but why
from the very beginning do we have such an uproar from the people? When we have
an issue dealing with the citizens' security and issues that concern them
directly, there is a need to gather with the citizens wisdom and to come to
a consensus. What the editorial sees as a possibility is a return to the cold
war days and the escalation of armaments.
The Church is opposed to all acts that break the possibility of peace.
Self-protection is understood but when this is surpassed and we have the
amassing of munitions this militates against security and peace. "There is
a common belief that under modern conditions peace cannot be assured
except on the basis of an equal balance of armaments and that this factor is
the probable cause of this stockpiling of armaments" (Peace on earth
#110).
“Peace is not merely the absence of war; nor can it be reduced solely to the
maintenance of a balance of power between enemies” (Gaudium et Spes #78). The
Church is opposed because peace is not achieved with the might of arms but
established on a foundation of justice and works of love.
One editorial mentions that it is not the increase of armaments on the
peninsula that will overcome the nuclear threat and we need to rid
ourselves of this illusion. Buildup of armaments will only bring more
stress and be of no help in bringing peace to North East Asia. What we need now
is not a missile defense system but communication and cooperation between the
North and South. We Christians need to pray for this reality to come quickly.
The bishops also cite Pope Francis’s speech at the Blue House (South Korea’s
presidential palace), during his visit to South Korea in 2014. On that
occasion, the pope said that “diplomacy, as the art of the possible, is
based on the firm and persevering conviction that peace can be won through
quiet listening and dialogue, rather than by mutual recriminations, fruitless
criticisms and displays of force. ”For this reason, the Catholic Church wants
South Korean authorities to stop THAAD and Pyongyang to halt its nuclear
enrichment projects. In fact, competition and military escalation carry
"dangers for humanity” and cause “economic suffering among the poor."
What the bishops want is a way to make Korea a nation of reconciliation and
life in cooperation instead of a place of clashing states.
