Overcoming the Culture of Hate

A serious problem in society is the 'in group' and 'out group' thinking that is so  pervasive in history and our present society. Comes natural to us as individuals, members of families, nations, communities, factions, feeling  comfortable with those with similar views; many positive  benefits for growth but a need to see problems that often arise. 

As Christians we have the example of Jesus who felt comfortable with all, his  love was all embracing, extending  even to  the enemy. An article in the Catholic Times by a priest  asks us to overcome the

the culture of hate which is obvious to all but feel helpless to confront.

 

Adolf Hitler's "My Struggle", a compilation of his thoughts, expresses  hatred of Jews in words difficult even to transcribe. However, as is well known, discrimination against Jews has been a common phenomenon in Western Europe long before Hitler appeared. 

 

In the Middle Ages, when plagues were prevalent, Jews were often blamed for bringing about these disasters. People in those days, when  faced with the 'evil' of natural disasters were willing to participate blindly in scapegoating others. The genocide of Jews in World War II, a tragic tragedy in human history, cannot be viewed only as the sin of Hitler and his 'blind believers'. The 'Holocaust'  the extreme way a totalitarian society made overt fear and hatred of the Jews the 'enemy'. 

 

Currently, humanity is suffering from an unprecedented disaster due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While  important to do all that is possible to prevent the spread of the virus, fear-stricken countries raise barriers; we need to be on the lookout for the  growing culture of hatred. The phenomenon of treating and rejecting a specific region or country as a virus host is far from a Christian view of our situation.

 

Many experts say, we now have to live in a world different from before COVID-19.  To cope with disasters that may continue even after COVID-19, humankind must work more closely together. We need to create a more peaceful world where we can respond to global disasters together, rather than a world where countries and peoples are divided, fear each other, and threaten each other with military force. 

 

We need to reflect on the nature of the crisis and pain that afflicts the human family, breaking away from the mechanism of 'othering' — us and them kind of thinking. And refraining from making scapegoats of others.

 

In his address to the 53rd World Day of Peace, Pope Francis emphasizes the culture of fraternal encounter in order to overcome fear, the source of conflict, saying: "The culture of fraternal encounter leads us beyond the limits of our narrow horizons, constantly encouraging us to live in universal brotherhood as children of the one Father in Heaven."

 

It is the season of Advent waiting for the Lord to come for the reconciliation of the divided world. Pray that our church will better fulfill its vocation to unity in the face of the calamity of fear that fuels division and hatred.

Be Who You Are

 All efforts needed to make a better world, obviously begin with humans. We are the houses in which God resides, taking care of our spirit and body is the first step in working for the betterment of humankind. From here we work caring for the social community, living in harmony with one another and  concerned for the global environment where all living things can thrive healthily. So begins the column in the Catholic Peace Weekly by a priest professor at a College of Medicine.

 
Identity is the key to living as a person. In the three-dimensional house created by God, the most important and foundational is human ecology. Therefore, the restoration of the collapsed house should begin with the restoration of human ecology. If so, how do we recover human ecology?
The solution to this must start with the restoration of human identity. Today, we live as we live without deeply reflecting on 'Who am I?' and 'What kind of being are we?' In short, we are experiencing identity confusion for a variety of reasons. Human beings cannot stand upright  unless their true identity is formed or the identity confusion is overcome. Forming a true identity is the key to living as a person.
 
There is a short story that reminds us of the importance of forming a true identity. A baby tiger asked the mother tiger. "Mom, am I a tiger?" When asked by the baby tiger, the mother tiger replied, "You are a tiger," but the baby tiger was not convinced. So he went out looking to determine who he was. Leaving the road, he meets an elephant, a goat, and a bear, and asks if he's a tiger. When everyone answered yes, he finally is confident of his identity and returns home with joy. When close to the house, he sees the mother tiger from afar. The baby tiger runs to his mother and shouted, "Mom, I finally know who I am!"The mother hugged him. The mother tiger welcomed the baby tiger and said, "Good job, my puppy!" tapping the baby tiger's butt. At this, the baby tiger again fell into self-identity confusion. It is a funny and sad story for he runs away from home in despair, repeating, "Oh, I am a dog, not a tiger?"
 
This story suggests that my identity is not given by others, but eventually by myself. It shows that when we are not yet fully aware of our own identity, or when we feel confusion in our identity depending on the situation we begin floating. Therefore, clearly grasping the different aspects of who I am is the most important factor in living my life correctly, and it is the starting point for me to determine the direction of life and live with meaning. Our true identity is revealed in our relationship with God.
 
In my relationship with God, my true identity as a human being, a truly unique creature, is revealed only when God calls me. At this point, we are filled with infinite self-esteem. Here, self-esteem is not the self-esteem that is obtained because we have something or a certain status, but the self-esteem that comes from the surprise that we exist, and the self-esteem that we are loved free of charge. Only when we are filled with this inner self-esteem can we escape from the desire to prove ourselves by what we do or the attachment that needs the approval of others.
 
In addition, you can find the meaning of life in every in all situations in which we find ourselves in a true form, and silently carry out the mission and role assigned.  Above all, forming this true identity is the foundation for living a worthwhile life, and as the Bible says, building a house on a rock. The boy Jesus, too, at the age of twelve, realized his true identity in the temple in his relationship with God. "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?" (Luke 2:49).

Installation of the New Archbishop of Seoul

 

Recently the newly appointed bishop Chung Soon-taek was installed as the new Archbishop of Seoul. Both Catholic Weeklies had articles on the installation below are some of the thoughts expressed in the Catholic Peace Weekly by the journalists.

Archbishop Chung Soon-taek was installed on Dec. 8th, as the new ordinary of the Seoul Archdiocese. He said in his sermon: "We will think, share, listen and search together on how the church should act as light and salt in the world, following in footsteps of our ancestors." He asked the priests to pray and cooperate with him, and said he would think, seek, and cooperate together and be concerned about how to increase the vocations in the archdiocese. He said he would share with all of God's people with an open mind, listen, and try to move forward together.  

There were unusually loud voices wishing Archbishop Chung not to forget his neighbors in need, but to be with them and take care of them. One woman said: "I know that the socially underprivileged, marginalized, disabled, and young people were invited to this mass. Thank you so much. Young people are the future and hope of this society," she continued. "Young people are in a very difficult situation right now. I hope you will play a big role in making the world a place where we can all live well and walk together."

A religious sister director of a Welfare Hospital said: "I hope that like Jesus while on this earth was with the poorest, weakest, and forgotten, you will always extend a warm hand to those forgotten in society."
 
Another layman mentioned the many realities of conflict, pain, and those living in the shade, saying: "I hope the archbishop will help heal the conflicts and lead people to have a warm heart to help each other out of pain."
 
The members of the Archdiocesan Knights Association, who were in charge of the management of the parking for the Mass also agreed that they wanted believers to live harmoniously with each other and follow the Lord zealously. An 80-year-old member of the Knight's Association, said: "There are many believers who want to come to the church but cannot come because they are poor" and added, "Please don't forget these children of the Lord." A woman said: "I don't know why I cried so much during the Mass," adding, "I hope you can be with us as a bishop who thinks of the weak in the world."
 
Archbishop Chung, in his sermon, selected spirituality, youth, and synod as the concerns for the Archdiocese of Seoul. Regarding young people, he said, "We will try to become a church that works to accompany young people who are the leaders of the future and main concern of today."
 
A young woman who participated at the Mass as a student representative and presented a bouquet of flowers to Archbishop Chung, said: "I know Archbishop Chung is a person who cares a lot about teenagers and young people and hope he continues to do so."
 
A priest currently the director of the Catholic Youth Movement recalled, "The archbishop, participated at the opening and closing Masses at 14 universities, and visited students fervently like Jesus on his visit to the various villages." He then said, "I hope the Archbishop will continue visiting the teenagers and young people to meet, listen, and be with them."
 
A young man in his 30s asked the archbishop to remember the generation in their 30s and 40s. He said: "The faith has weakened due to COVID-19, so I hope that 30s and 40s can be comforted and cheered up in the faith."
 
Religious and priests wanted the archbishop to lead them on the path of spirituality. The former Korean provincial of the Carmelite Order said: "As a bishop from the Order, I hope  you will enrich the Korean church with academic and spiritual views. I hope you will create an environment where the rich spiritual assets and treasures of the Religious Orders, such as the Franciscans, Jesuits, Carmelites, Salesians, and the many others, can penetrate deeply and melt into the church and parish, bloom and bear precious fruit."

A newly ordained priest said: "During the homily of the Mass today, you said the church should be spiritually reformed to respond to the times, I hope that such spirituality and spiritual reform will be  implemented in all the individual parishes of the diocese."
 
The head of the Religious superiors Association said: "We hope that the spirit of 'Synodalitas', will permeate the relationship with all in the diocese as we walk together towards Jesus, and it will bear concrete fruit through the friendship of Archbishop Chung and all the priests of the Seoul Diocese.

Importance of Community in Spirituality

In the Spirituality of Everyday Life column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, a member of the CLC movement recalls the hard times working under a demanding boss. Many stories came out at the weekly Christian Life Community (CLC) group meetings. He shared how hard it was and how he overcame the difficulties.

At that time, the members who were in the group felt sorry for him. They gave him advice, comfort, and encouragement from the teachings of Jesus, and how Jesus was with him during the day as he continued to examine and reflect on his problems. The more he struggled, the more they listened and encouraged.
 
However, he was actually disappointed with what he heard. What he expected from the community was anger towards the boss, criticism of his behavior, and how difficult it must be for him to put up with the situation, he expected a lot of human comforts. If the
the community reacted in that way he would have felt much better.

As the community advised, he had no choice but to cling to Jesus and pray. While clinging to Jesus, on some days he dared to fight with his boss, and on other days he got deep comfort from Jesus. He despaired because of his unchanging situation, and other days, he felt joy and happiness in small things and gained strength again.

Each day was a time of struggle; he continued to share the process with the community. The community continued to be with him, listened to his sharing, and rejoiced together with him over the small happiness and joy he found in daily life. Because there was a community, he was able to meet Jesus and continued to have conversations with the community.  
What if the community had only provided human comfort, sympathy, and encouragement for his difficulties? Of course, that would have helped, too, but rather than clinging to Jesus that much, he would have relied more on human comfort and encouragement, and the effect would not have lasted. Human comfort and encouragement are only incidental, and fundamentally, one must meet Jesus personally.  

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini's book of Bible meditations: "The Gospel of Matthew," compares the journey toward Jesus to dogs chasing rabbits. Several dogs all bark and run, but the dogs who did not see the rabbit eventually stop, and only the dog who saw the rabbit continues to the end. The same goes for the journey to Jesus. A unique encounter with Jesus is fundamentally necessary.
 
Of course, just as there were dogs that ran together to further fuel the will to chase the rabbit, the process of coming to Jesus also requires a community. The Christians are a community who share the journey with Jesus. While seeking hope and joy through Jesus and trying to resemble him more, they encourage challenge, and exchange strength with each other.
 
The community does not solve individual problems. The community is not always on the right path. However, they can help members of the community to look back on themselves honestly in front of God, feel his love, and choose Jesus' way. Individuals are selfish and weak, but they can look back through the community on the path they have walked, have a change of heart, and move on towards Jesus again. This is because the Holy Spirit works through the community. This is why we have to go to him through the community.

Peace On The Korean Peninsula

"The accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations. This method of deterrence gives rise to strong moral reservations. The arms race does not ensure peace. Far from eliminating the causes of war, it risks aggravating them. Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of weapons impedes efforts to aid needy populations; it thwarts the development of peoples. Over-armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation" ( #2315 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church).

 

 Peace gained by force cannot last long. Peace can no longer be guaranteed when the balance of power is broken. This is why peaceful methods need to be used.

The Bishop's Justice and Peace Committee and Diocese Justice and Peace Committee held a seminar recently, the presenters agreed that to achieve true peace, arms competition should be avoided and fair distribution of goods should be achieved.

In a keynote speech, a bishop pointed out: "The Korean government wants to proceed with the peace process on the Korean Peninsula but the defense budget was raised 3.4 % from the 2021 budget. He explained that increasing the defense budget while working in declaring the end of the war does not make sense for peace will not enter the discussion.

Taking West and East Germany as an example, the bishop said: "Before German reunification, West Germany continued to provide economic support to East Germany for 18 years," adding, "This played an absolute role in fostering homogeneity among East German citizens rather than hostility to West Germany. If the South Korean government continues to devote its budget to food and welfare of North Koreans, it will have a positive impact on easing tensions between the two Koreas," he said.

 

The reason war and conflict occur in the world is that the gap, discrimination, and complaints between the country and the people deepen. This is because goods are not distributed fairly, he said. Such inequality and unfairness fundamentally stem from selfishness to excessively fill self-interest. Greed is the source of conflict, he pointed out.

 

"Mankind should be freed from the greed to have more, consume more, and enjoy more," adding, "If we really want peace, we should accept a poorer life, live simply and in moderation, and share the surplus with the poor, who lose their human dignity due to extreme deficiencies. That way, there is hope for the future of mankind, he stressed.

In a subsequent presentation, the director of the Peace Armament Center, presented the theme of "reduction of arms and peace on the Korean Peninsula." "On the Korean Peninsula, arms competition has been fierce over the past 70 years because of deterrence to war and has provided another cause for the crisis. 

 

The politics of war and confrontation to deny and annihilate each other over "value" and "ideology" have continued, and it has blocked peace and human rights," he said adding, "Peace must be achieved in a peaceful way, not by military means. "Not only should we leave it to negotiations between governments, but also the parties who have suffered from division and war should be the main agents and they need to speak out." He appealed: "Many people should pay attention to peace on the Korean Peninsula, participate in the peace campaign and join forces in ending the war.

The New President

A journalist from the Catholic Peace Weekly gives his hopes for the coming Korean presidential election.

March 9 next year is election day for the 20th president of the Republic of Korea. There are less than 90 days left. The 'political season is slowly approaching its climax, but the common element in the various opinion polls are those undecided. In particular, the proportion of undecided in their 20s and 30s is the highest of the 15 million young people who will vote. This is because the presidential candidates have not made know their policies and promises. 

Now, the public will not be deceived by the support or criticism of 'don’t ask'. They will not be deceived by lies and groundless black propaganda that shook up elections in the past. Rather, voters are more active in identifying whether one speaks lies disguised as truth. They also can thoroughly verify whether they're uttering unreasonable promises, and have their own insight into what the spirit of the times is. However, presidential candidates are still appealing for votes in the confrontational structure between regions in the ideological debate between progressives and conservatives, a legacy of the Cold War of the 20th century. 

Then, what are the qualities of a president the people need now? First of all, a just and fair president, not wanting a gorgeous image, eloquence, high education, and colorful history. A candidate who hides the truth incites hatred and confrontation with vulgar deception does not deserve to be president. They are looking for a candidate who protects the community while caring for the socially disadvantaged and striving to resolve the gap between the rich and the poor. But what about the current presidential election? The policy directly related to the real life of the people is behind the scenes: youth employment, housing policies are also deceiving voters by relying solely on numbers.

Policies and visions are the seeds of today, sown for the future of the people. This is because the seeds of policy are the hope of tomorrow. Policies and visions should have specific targets and feasible solutions. A concrete and feasible peace policy on the Korean Peninsula should be presented through competition and cooperation, rather than a diplomatic and security policy that leads to confrontation and isolation. In this presidential election, the vision of what kind of country they want to create over the next five years has not appeared yet. The people who are voters are worried about the president and the country and are restless. 

The people want a president who sympathizes, communicates, and integrates division and conflict. Pope Francis said, "The pursuit of the common good is the right politics, and governing is an act of serving the people."Confucius said in his Analects: "It is politics to have enough food, enough weapons, and gain the faith of the people," adding, "If you have to choose between these three, you have to gain the faith of the people." This means that there is no place for a president who does not gain public trust. Now, the people desperately want a president who sympathizes with living in poverty, becoming single parents at a young age, and living as disabled, elderly, and migrants.

A president who approaches political opponents who strongly criticize him, pursuing new policies and reform tasks that the times want and the people want, gives hundreds of speeches, puts down his vested interests, and sincerely tries to persuade. A president who accepts the results and is willing to applaud his opponent for the victory. The writer wants to vote for a candidate who presents policies and visions that heat the hearts of the people, gives dreams and hope, and wants to participate in actions as a citizen.

The Maximum Not the Minimum

A priest working in justice and peace examines the way we look at our actions in a Bible and Life magazine article.

The article begins with an example of a driver realizing he was going in the wrong direction decided to make a u-turn knowing it was against the law, only to be suddenly confronted by a police officer who gave him a ticket. The officer asked him: "Why did you do it? Did you not know this was not to be done?" "I didn't think a police officer was around."

This is how the law is often seen. Not as something to be followed freely and positively, rather, afraid of the consequences and followed passively. Consequently, when it comes to law it is not the maximum but the minimum.

The reality in many cases, not even the minimum is done. Keepers of the law are truly exceptional people. We live in a world with lawlessness and lawbreakers. Those in the legal world know how to get around the law, journalists often twist the truth, the wealthy steal, and the best-educated seem to lack good sense.

Jesus did not stop with being just but went beyond. We have the story of the young man who kept all the commandments from an early age and lived honestly. Jesus looked upon him with great affection and told him to sell all, give the money to the poor, and follow him (Mark 10:21). Don't stay with the minimum but aim for the maximum. Always strive for the greater. The young man found this too difficult and went away sad. Jesus is asking us to strive for the maximum (Matt. 5:48).

Christians are not those who keep the laws but who live as if without law, going beyond the dictates of the law. It is not only living without sin but becoming saints. Not done by force and sacrifice but out of love, positively, it is not falling into darkness but going towards the light. Not doing dong just a part but all.

We are introduced to St. Joseph. "He was a just man unwilling to expose Mary to the law, decided to divorce her quietly." The angel of the Lord appeared to him: "Have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child." It was not divorce nor closing one's eye to the situation it was not either-or but to save Mary, Jesus, Joseph, and all of us. Joseph was invited to do the maximum. It was not the justice of the law but the justice of God's kingdom —God with us, Emanuel.

In this world, we are faced with choosing between alternatives. Will it be the convenience store owner or part-time workers, the owner of the house or the renter, the older generation or the younger generation, male or female, mother or fetus? We are forced to select one. Again we are asked to do the minimum and not the maximum. Our worldly values do not allow us to embrace both but to select one of two. Consequently, we have the two sides fighting each other.

We need to show how we can choose both. The justice of a Christian is always directed to the maximum and not the minimum. An example is a case with the abortion issue. It's not selecting between the fetus or the mother but allowing both to live.  Permitting this to happen requires laws provisions and systems in society to change.

The writer suggests a 'Holy Family Life Movement' for efforts in this area. We have had the movement against abortion which has tried to uphold life,  but the desire for punishment for those who have had abortions is also present. The example of St. Joseph was not to select between alternatives. Using the right words are very important in matters of this type. Is this not the way of respecting all of life and embracing and seeing the whole world as a Holy Family? Indeed the church is in the world but there is enough room in the church to contain the whole world.