Easter is the beginning of a new creation. Both East and West have the same names for the days of the week. In the Christian tradition, the first day of the week was the first day of creation with the separation of light and darkness. The last day of creation was the sixth and the seventh was the day of rest-- Saturday the sabbath. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week the beginning of the new second creation.
A time to sing a new song. On May 9th Korea will choose a new president after the impeachment of the former president over a corruption scandal. The hope is to have a new beginning but presently the threat of nuclear war is very much in the thinking of the Korean people because of the actions of the North and the way it has been played up in the mass media.
A medical school professor sings, in the View from the Ark in the Catholic Times, an ode to the Easter Season and the new life. We are all invited to a new beginning and new life with Jesus in a new creation, who accepted death to bring us new life.
God's love allows us to see all the disharmony, pain, conflict and death itself in the light of the Resurrection. How do we live this Resurrection Life? We are freed from sin, abandon skepticism and the feeling of loss and frustration. With love, we overcome hate, conflict, and disharmony in the manner of the prodigal son.
The Empty tomb suggests to us that we have a job to do in building up Christ's kingdom. All our relationships take on new meaning and life itself takes on a different value. Not possessing but sharing, not ruling but serving, not imposing but listening. Heading for the lower place and remaining in a place of poverty. Christians enjoy the freedom that comes thru the Resurrection. No matter the difficulty or crisis, we have the strength to live the new life.
Our society is now waiting for the resurrected life, the extended hand of trust to overcome the lack of trust and the crevices that exist because of disharmony. The moratorium we experience needs to be filled with a responsible leader. We are praying for a wise choice of a new leader.
It doesn't all rest on our human efforts. With God, in humility and wisdom, we will be led on the right path. It will be a journey to the light together. We will be healing one another and returning to better times for we are all part of the tree of life, filled with new growth.
Looking for a messiah who will solve our problems and lead us into the land of milk and honey is a long-held desire of many. We see it in politics, science, literature, and religion where the true Messiah is not seen as a sufficient.
Humanity has and will continue to have false prophets and messiahs. Even when the trust that was placed on these so-called prophets is proved misplaced many find it difficult to give up the hope they once had.
A Catholic Peace Weekly article gives us the example of the impeachment of the Korean president and her group of followers who lament the decision: "Our poor President" and "Even if we have to die our President must live" and similar laments to the point of exhaustion for many were taken to hospitals.
More than 10 years ago a professor of veterinary medicine wrote a dissertation on research on human stem cell cloning that was a fraud. After it was known to be false there were many who continued to be his followers and even a movement to make him president. Bizarre was the way his followers tried to show support even after it was determined that it was a lie.
Religion becomes a part of our political reality our literary world, people are looking for a savior. We search for those to worship. Followers are willing to sacrifice for their hero. They see their savior suffering and oppressed, and the faith of the followers becomes more intense. They compare the suffering of their hero at the hands of the ignorant mob to the suffering of Jesus.
They are hoping for a messiah here and now. Facing reality is always painful, truth is not important, what is wanted is something to kill the pain. They grasp for any hope they can find, salvation here and now.
When Moses went to the mountain and didn't return for some time, the people were restless and weren't relieved until they made the golden calf and worshiped their new idol.
Korea is preparing for the presidential elections and looking for a new leader. One who will lead us into the new land flowing with milk and honey. Will the one chosen be that leader? We need to be slow with our 'Hosannas' for our earthly leaders and be wise in our efforts in selecting them in our democracy.
All of us have three persons that we can consider our fathers: our
birth father, those who have helped us in our mental development and God
our heavenly father. The Catholic Times Weekly columnist in his column
on unification of the country gives his readers what he has learned from
an Irish priest on the unification of Korea.
He knew
the priest from an early age and learned many difficult teachings from
him."Ireland was a country that suffered like Korea, went through
division and civil war. Live to reconcile and unify the country with the
one life that you have been given. See all of life with conservative
and progressive eyes. Looking at the past with a conservative heart and
the future with a progressive heart. You will be living with a better
future with these wings of wisdom."
At the time he
heard these words they made little impression on him. Only later did he
began to understand. The priest broke it down to a few steps. Work
hard for its realization, pay all your taxes, but live poorly. These
are the words of the medieval St. Francis of Assisi. In this way we will
have reconciliation and peace. When we have many who live in opposition
to this we will have enmity and conflict. Few are those who will walk
this path.
The Irish have a proverb: the 'apple tree
grows even during the winter months. We have to undergo trials to find
freedom. We need to overcome defeatism if we are to bring about a
different history. This is the Catholic spirituality of Ireland. Some
see the difficulties on the road and avoid it while the Irish see the
problem and make light of it and go ahead and dream and work to
actualize the dream.
For a thousand years they were
under England's oppression and contempt. With the break from Catholicism
at the time of Henry VIII and the beginning of Anglicanism the Irish
had another hardship to deal with which deepened their faith. After civil
war and the attaining of freedom Eamon de Valera as president ,
according to our columnist, devoted his efforts not primarily to
unreasonable economic development but to traditional Catholic and human
values unifying the country.
If he worked
primarily for economic development instead there would have been
divisions and conflict. Religion and art helped to unify the country. If
Korea had taken this path we would not have the class and regional
divisions we experience but rather a country unified and living in harmony.
Ireland
grew slowly economically and is one of the healthiest and
harmonious countries in the world. Korea grew economically too quickly,
and suffers from the aftereffects of this growth. Before we work for
the unification of the North and South we need to work for the unification of the South. We need to remember the advice of St.Francis, peace does not come automatically but with efforts, personal sacrifice
and slowly.
In our present culture, we are considered valuable by what we do. We search for what will make us more employable which makes for a stressful growing up period. Korea is a showcase for this thinking. Our worth in our society is what we do. As Catholics, we know that a Saint is not considered one because of what he or she did but in the way they did it.
We are valuable because of who we are and not by what we do. When we are what we are supposed to be we will do what is needed. St. Catherine of Siena said it beautifully: "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
Function is all important in much of the world culture and sadly has infected all of our thinking and doing. In the Scriptures, the story of Martha and Mary is a good example of a Christian's understanding of the dilemma that is faced in the lives of many.
A College professor writing in a diocesan bulletin gives us a meditation on the conflict that parents face in educating children. There are two kinds of parents. One teaches the children what they should do and the other the way they should do it.There is wisdom in both approaches.
Both are important the what and the how. The professor stresses the order is the most important. The one you put first will decide the way the child will live.
When you grow up what do you want to be? This is asking the child to look only at one area and we have the push from behind. When you grow up what kind of person do you want to be? With this kind of question, you are showing the child that he is not alone in the world.
When you ask what do you want to be the child will continue to compare with others, be in competition, and be stressed. Whether he achieves it or not will be the sign of his or her success or failure.
What kind of person do you want to be has a different result. The child will examine his life and find joy and satisfaction in the search towards the milestone he has set. God is more interested in how we do something rather than the what we do.
Also, the child who understands this will find satisfaction in whatever they do. When the what is put in second place and the how in first place, they will be more interested in being all that God wants them to be.
A priest writes an article in With Bible magazine, on seeing the body and sex in a new way. He begins the article with insights he gained from watching a popular TV show on the romantic life of the young. For many of the young romance means the sexual embrace, a very natural expression of love.
Talking about sex was taboo, consequently little was said about the meaning and value of sexuality. However, the change to openness has not been all positive but often cheapened and made light of sexuality. As one of the entertainers said it is a game. The increase of abortions and unmarried mothers is a result.
With the economic improvement of society, we had the movement towards birth control: " Boy or girl, two only and raise them well" or "A daughter well raised is worth 10 sons." These and similar slogans have weakened the understanding of sex: the unity of the spouses and raising of children. Another influence was the mass media.
In Hollywood movies and foreign dramas, the meeting of male and female in short order are in bed together. This message was seen with disapproval by the elders but with the repetition of this type of meeting of the sexes, it was taken for granted. This is the way people live and without criticism, was accepted as a cultural norm, spreading quickly in society. "In this area, society and the mass media most of the time provide depersonalized, recreational and often pessimistic information." This was the opinion of the Pontifical Council for the Family (1995).
Twenty years later we see this situation in Korea. We have been overcome with the popular culture and now we are exporters to the rest of the world.
Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae #22:
"We take this opportunity to address those who are engaged in education and all those whose right and duty it is to provide for the common good of human society. We would call their attention to the need to create an atmosphere favorable to the growth of chastity so that true liberty may prevail over license and the norms of the moral law may be fully safeguarded.
Everything therefore in the modern means of social communication which arouses men's baser passions and encourages low moral standards, as well as every obscenity in the written word and every form of indecency on the stage and screen, should be condemned publicly and unanimously by all those who have at heart the advance of civilization and the safeguarding of the outstanding values of the human spirit. It is quite absurd to defend this kind of depravity in the name of art or culture or by pleading the liberty which may be allowed in this field by the public authorities."
What do parents need to do to block this influence from the mass media? First of all, it requires an interest on the part of parents. Society does not make this easy because of the need for both parents to work to educate the children. Nowadays with the smartphone, the children are accustomed to enjoying the new way of being part of the world. The structure of society needs to be changed.
Parents have not been educated as children in the area of sexuality which makes it difficult for parents to know what to do. They need to know what the children have been exposed to and spend time with them explaining the meaning of sexuality if not the mass media will be their teachers. The church also needs to been involved and continue speaking about the Christian meaning of sex and its value in our life.
A priest writing for a pastoral bulletin recalls a question he received from a schoolmate in the 5th year of elementary school: "I go to church every Sunday... how do we believe in a God we can't see?"
He was perplexed on how to answer but did respond: "We don't believe with our eyes but with our hearts."
The question was concerned with the physical his answer was spiritual.
After the Resurrection hearing the news Thomas said: "Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails...and my hand in his side, I will not believe" (Jn. 20:25). These are the words of a man who wanted to die with Jesus when Jesus decided to go to Jerusalem. He showed great courage and faith. A desire to want to resolve one's doubts is a good thing. Doubt is often a way to a strong faith and maturity. A society filled with lies makes this necessary.
In a scientific society, doubt is not allowed, everything needs to be tested and proved. 2+2=4 type of truth is desired: clarity and preciseness. Objective truth, is what we want, when not accepted makes you a fool. This is what is demanded in the society in which we live, religious faith is difficult to accept.
We can always choose not to believe. We can see the same thing and choose to believe or not believe. Truth is not always objective but depends on the subjective attitude of the one seeing. Love, justice, truth, conscience and the like are related to the transcendent which depends less on our understanding than the way one has lived and one's experiences in life.
In the Gospel of Luke, we have the journey to Emmaus where two disciples met Jesus on the road and didn't recognize him. He explained the words of the Scripture and when they arrived at their house they invited him in for the meal. During the meal Jesus at the table took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece, their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished. Faith comes from hearing but is deepened by experience.
Life is made up not only of different views, and knowledge but experiences. A person from the tropics can hear what we have to say about snow but it is not like experiencing snow. We can meet a person thru a friend but it is not like having the two meet and talk together.
The words of a novelist ring true: "No one has seen God. However, those who love much are able to accept God." Since God is love, without love we are unable to receive him. Those who imitate this love will see God.
"Happy are those with a pure heart for they shall see God" (Matt 5:8).
