First Step is Listening.

 

"Thus the Church, at once a visible assembly and a spiritual community, goes forward together with humanity and experiences the same earthy lot which the world does.She serves as a leaven and as a  kind of soul for human society as it is to be renewed in Christ and transformed into God's family" (Pastoral Constitution # 40). In the Catholic Peace Weekly a Catholic University professor  begins her column with the above quote.

The Second Vatican Council, "speaking" to the world, says about the role of the Church in the world: This expression appears in the last chapter (Chapter 4) of the first part of the Charter for Pastoral Affairs, 'Human vocation and the Church'. The church, which wants to exist as the soul of the world, does not introduce itself to the world from the beginning, saying, "I am the power that makes you live."

 In fact, this is the first greeting of the Council. "Joy and hope, sorrow and anguish, for the present day, especially for the poor and suffering, it is the joy and hope, the sorrow and anguish of the disciples of Christ. There is nothing truly human that does not resonate with the believer" (1). In dealing with human dignity, the new man, true man, and perfect man, Christ, is introduced in the last paragraph (No. 12), and when dealing with the human community, it is only in the last item of Chapter 2 that Christ is proposed as the model and principle of the human community. (No. 32) This is the method adopted not only by the Pastoral Charter but also by the Second Vatican Council, the inductive methodology. The use of this method is evident in the literature of later popes, especially Pope Francis. 

 Even more interesting is that the Council acknowledged that the Church has something to learn from the world, not just to hear the voice of the world and to shine it with the light of the Gospel to suggest the Church's answers (Nos. 41-43). Just as recognition as leaven helps the world, so the Church does not know how much it has been helped in the history and development of mankind (44). ! However, it is too simplistic and even light-hearted to evaluate that the church has become “humbling” when it acknowledges that the church receives help as well as giving it. 

This is related to the fact that the Council declared that God was both Savior and Creator, and thus not only working in the Church, but in a mysterious providence, governing the passage of time and renewing the world, that the world was present in development (26).

After all, 'hearing' is the first step the church must take to be the soul of the world and to proclaim the gospel to the world. And this hearing must be done not only toward the world, but also within the church. In fact, if there is no hearing in the church, how can we say to the world that we will listen? 

The Chinese character for holiness, 聖  (sung) originally meant "the ability to hear clearly with the ear", and religiously, it is said to have been expanded to mean "to hear the heavenly revelations or the voice of God." 

The people of God are moving toward holiness, which is in fact God Himself. This journey, the first step of synodalitas, is also listening. On this journey where shepherds and believers become one, the shepherd listens to the believers and the believers walk towards the same place while listening to the shepherd's voice. 

Through this mutual listening, what we ultimately want to hear is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Hearing is the first step in life in the church, in fulfilling its mission, in order to become a soul in the world, and in fact, it is like a matrix in which that life and activity take place. ‘Listening’ makes many problems easier than you think. If we listen first, won't the world also listen to our voices about Christ? This expectation may seem overly  romantic, but did not the council propose it in this way and expect its practice within the community of faith?

Zero Waste Era

The Catholic Times had an article on ways to maintain a zero-waste life. The article begins with a report on the drilling of a land-filled area where they found fossilized plastic some 12 meters below the surface that had been buried over 30 years.  Four meters underground, a plastic wrapper for ice cream sticks came out. As they dug further, colorful vinyl, clothes, fertilizer bags, and Styrofoam appeared one after another like fossils. The land has now become a forest, but beneath the surface was unrotted thrash.

The Zero Waste movement aims to promote reducing the amount of material we throw away as much as possible by using the products of one system for use in another. 'Zero' does not mean extreme restraint in consumption, but to reflect on what we consume.
 
A consensus on the meaning and value of 'zero waste' seems to have been established to some extent in Korea. In a survey conducted by researchers at the University of Seoul from July to September last year, the majority of respondents, 74%, said they were interested in environmental issues. Only 4% said they were not interested. However, half of the respondents did not know the rules for practicing zero waste.
 

 'Rejection' is the beginning of waste reduction. The zero-waste movement started in 2001 when the California Comprehensive Waste Management Committee established a zero-waste policy goal. Ten years later, the concept entered the daily life of citizens when the New York Times reported Bea Johnson's blog 'Zero Waste Home. In this blog, Johnson documented her life reducing waste with her two children. Since then, the zero-waste movement has spread in the United States and Europe. In Korea, interest in the Zero Waste movement increased as the 'garbage crisis' became a social problem in 2018.
 
Johnson has summarized the principles required for zero waste practices into the 5Rs: Refuse (rejecting), Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot. 'Rejecting' is the starting point of zero waste. They do not accept disposable cups or straws and refuse to use plastic spoons or wooden chopsticks. Furthermore, it should be possible to refuse non-essential souvenirs, shopping bags, tumblers, umbrellas, and towels... This attitude is also directly related to 'reduce', 'reuse', and 'recycle'.
 
Reuse and recycling go beyond personal practice and are linked to the concept of 'sharing'. Individual practice must lead to community and social practice. In a country where zero waste has not yet become common, activists trying to reduce waste strive to spread the spirit and practice of the waste reduction movement.
 
The last principle of the 5Rs, 'rotting', is the most unfamiliar and difficult to practice. In Korea, rotting is the most difficult task because most people live in apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings. On the other hand, residents of single-family homes, in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, in areas that are not densely populated, "rotting" as the final task of zero-waste practice is possible. This means that you have to choose 'perishable' items in your purchases.

Korea has advanced to be one of the leading countries in recycling. Seoul has opened 'Zero markets' where  'You fill your own containers', no packaging, and pay by weight of the product. In the making for a greener and cleaner environment, Korea had done much and continues to find ways to increase its efforts in sustainability—meeting our needs and permitting future generations to meet their needs.

Pleading to Change our Focus In Korea

The director of a Theological Research Institute in the Catholic Times Eyes of the Believer column gives the readers her plea for change on the way we need to approach the unification of the country.

"Mother! I killed people." This is the first part of a letter written to his mother by a young student soldier who took part in the Korean War. The letter was written by a third-year middle school student in Seoul. The letter continues: "Mother, the North Korean soldier's leg and arms fell off. It was such a cruel death. Even though they are enemies, I think of them as human beings, and moreover, thinking that they are people of the same language and blood, my heart is heavy and depressed. Why do we have to go to war?"
 
The letter from this boy is not the relief of surviving or the joy of victory over defeating the enemy, but the guilt of killing someone, a member of the same country and language, filled with fear of dying himself and filled with lamentation for the tragedy of war.
 
The Korean War that even young boys were driven into battle is now viewed as a past event that stopped over 70 years ago, but in fact, our country is in a state of ceasefire with only an armistice agreement without the war being completely over. To completely end the war, a declaration of an end to the war and a peace treaty must be signed, but inter-Korean relations and the international political order surrounding the Korean Peninsula are increasingly moving away from the path of peace.
 
North Korea continues to threaten military threats by firing missiles 18 times this year alone, and the ROK-U.S. combined forces have responded by strengthening military exercises and armed demonstrations, raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
 
Contrary to the trend of both South and North Korea pursuing "peace by force" with the show of powerful weapons, the Catholic Church is concerned that such an arms race is not the answer to a peaceful solution."We need also to ask ourselves how sustainable is stability based on fear when it actually increases fear and undermines relationships of trust between peoples. International peace and stability cannot be based on a false sense of security, on the threat of mutual destruction or total annihilation, or on simply maintaining a balance of power" (Fratelli Tutti #262).
 
To those who judge inter-Korean relations mainly based on political and military interests, the church's teachings about national reconciliation, unity, and peace may seem naive—failing to understand the world. However, just like the young student soldier who did not forget that the enemy is a human being and that they are of the same ethnicity in a war in which they killed each other. We, as believers, must develop a view toward peace, not hatred and hostility, that sees them as people rather than enemies.
 
It is known that more than 4 million people have been infected in about a month since it was officially announced that there was a confirmed case of Corona 19 in North Korea last month. We are concerned because vaccines and treatments are not provided to North Koreans who have suffered from food shortages for a long time and have poor nutritional and health conditions. However, only the poor North Koreans will suffer amid concerns from the South that humanitarian food and medicine aid will not be accepted for fear that the regime's incompetence will be exposed.
 
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution for a truce on COVID-19 where fighting was going on to help in the fight against the pandemic.
 
Cardinal Tuxson, then Secretary for the Promotion of Integrity and Human Development, also called for a global ceasefire during the pandemic and suggested the money spent on weapons be used in the fight against the pandemic.
 
Wouldn't it be great if the two Koreas could spend the money they now use on their weapons against each other for relief and health care for those suffering from disease and starvation? If our believers first give bread and fish to their struggling brothers in North Korea, just as the Korean church promoted the "Vaccine Sharing Movement" last year, wouldn't it be a beautiful miracle for everyone living on the Korean Peninsula all will full stomachs enjoying peace?
 

Listening With Ears of the Heart

A pastor in the Catholic Times writes in the Eyes of the Believer column on the Art of Listening. There are many different ways people meet and talk. Some understand the other well with an attitude of faithful listening leading to a deeper and richer level of conversation. Others listen to what they want to hear rather than to what the other person is saying. 

 

Selective listening because of confirmation bias may fail to understand the intention of the speaker or distort what is being conveyed. Some people don't listen at all and show a rude attitude. The body is in the same space as the person speaking, but the mind and spirit are not—out-of-the-body experiences. When a priest gives a sermon during Mass, there are those whose body is in the church but the mind is somewhere else. Could this situation arise because the priest is not good at preaching? Or is it because believers are not good listeners? 

 

The theme of this year's Communication Sunday message was 'Listen with the ear of the heart'. Listening involves more than simply the sense of hearing. True listening is a foundation of genuine relationships, and foundational to the relationship between God and humanity. In many relationships, however, true communication is lacking, as dialogues end up as competing monologues, where the two sides refuse to listen to one another. This is evident nowadays even in public life, where people often end up "talking past" one another.

     

In today's social network era, there are 'eavesdropping, spying, and using others for one's own gain. We have a lot of monologues, and conversations, but no communication, talking but not listening. For example, he stressed the need to listen to the migrants if we are to overcome prejudice and alleviate our stubbornness of heart. It was also noted that this refusal to listen can often turn into an attack on others, as humans tend to "close their ears" by running away from uncomfortable relationships, turning their backs on them. 

 

The Pope's discourse mentions the importance of listening at the level of faith. As you can see from the meaning of 'Shema Israel' in Deuteronomy of the Old Testament, which means 'Listen, Israel!', the first thing the people of Israel should do is to listen to God’s word. Coming to the New Testament, the apostle Paul also affirms that "faith comes from hearing" (Romans 10:17). Faith begins by hearing the word of God. Prayer is also a time to listen to God before praying to Him. Faith begins with acknowledging God's initiative and responding to His Word. In the story of Mary and Martha, Mary did the better thing because she listened to Jesus. 

 

The Pope insists that listening is the most important thing in pastoral activity. He describes listening as 'the apostolate of the hearing ear'. It is called "the first act of charity" because, to listen to people, you have to be willing to give part of your time. Yes, The most important act of love of the pastoral worker is realized by listening to the believers by taking time with them and accepting their concerns, anguish, pain, and wounds, living the role of 'wounded healers'. 

 

If you pay attention and listen carefully when someone comes to you and discusses their concerns, we will grow in sympathy for others and also in wisdom with the help of the Holy Spirit always present.

 

Listening is important for all of us. If we listen to another person's words with the ears of the heart our conversation will be a meeting of hearts. 

 

It is said that 'the power to change the world lies in listening, not eloquence'. It should be borne in mind that mutual listening between brothers and sisters is very important for the necessary communion in walking together towards the kingdom of God.

Power of Love

 

"In many parts of the world, there is a need for paths of peace to heal open wounds. There is also a need for peacemakers, men and women prepared to work boldly and creatively to initiate processes of healing and renewed encounter." (Pope Francis: Fratelli Tutti # 225) 

In his weekly column Light of the World of the Catholic Times a priest begins with the above quote.

 

Amid COVID-19—"Living is no big thing. It's living courageously." As a result of the direct hit of Corona 19, companies that were doing well went bankrupt, overnight workers lost their jobs, were locked up in the house causing depression, and many people were seriously sick or died. 

 

What did we experience and learn in that dark tunnel? Wear a mask? Working non-face-to-face, quarantine, being alone? But what if that was all we learned? Hopefully, I've become a kinder person, my love for my family or neighbor has grown more affectionate, and my prayers have become more diligent. It is said that COVID-19 has brought a "new normal" (a new standard) into society and culture. But are we and society changing for the better?

 

What is a good change? A change for the better. It is an expression that can be interpreted in many ways, but the most important element is 'love'. Sharing the sorrow of a friend, showing concern for others, caring for others, and sharing with each other are expressions of love, the changing of society for the better. As people grow, we also need to change for the better. It is in this context that we deepen our faith, become sanctified and become deeply united with Christ. 

 

「A Brief Social Doctrine」 also mentions good changes. Those who realize God's love and become assimilated with Christ experience an inner transformation (44), realizing the deep mystery of life, and strive to change society for the better (4). They become catalysts for this (52). It is said that this kind of change is essential at all times, and what is needed for this is 'mutual love' (134). 

 

Loving, hugging, and having courage— I often hear stories of people who have been through the hardships of COVID-19. Some people overcame it well, but sadly, some people have ended their lives or their lives have been ruined. Our prayers and attention are needed. But if you endured, what was the driving force that sustained you? There may be factors such as individual competence and will, but wouldn't it be friends, family, and community? If we work together, there is nothing we can't do, and just as the core of our faith is 'the Lord is with us', wouldn't that love help us to overcome the lonely and difficult times?

 

Although COVID-19 is over and the world continues to change, it's mutual love that changes us and society for the better and lifts us up after falling. You're right. It would be a wonderful world if we could live together helping each other with our strength and concern, loving each other.

 

 "The transformation of the world is a fundamental requirement of our time also. To this need the Church's social Magisterium intends to offer the responses called for by the signs of the times, pointing above all to the mutual love between human beings, in the sight of God, as the most powerful instrument of change, on the personal and social levels" (#55).

'Viriditas' and the Kingdom of Heaven

 Last week we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost the birth of the Church, entering again the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Cycle: the season in which Christ, the Lamb of God, walks among us desiring to transform our lives. The church was born with the giving of the Holy Spirit; Christians try to live moved by the inspirations of the Spirit. 

Those who find it difficult to believe the Christian story see it only as delusional, expressed in many ways by unbelievers in the world's literature: pie in the sky thinking or more condemnatory seeing it as an opiate— taking our eyes off this world's reality. However, what they understand as delusional is in fact more delusional once they understand that the mature Christian not only believes in life after death but also that he is in God's Kingdom now while here on earth. No, the church is not the Kingdom but a tool of God to help in establishing the Kingdom. It is already here among us but not fully. Christians know only too well that weeds are always present within the church.

One of the great theologians of the past Origin (185 – c. 253) has left us the following words which are the second reading of the Breviary on the Feast of Christ the King.  

"The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Savior, does not come for all to see; nor shall they say: Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is; but the kingdom of God is within us, for the word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it might grow and bear fruit and become perfect. For God reigns in each of his holy ones. Anyone holy obeys the spiritual laws of God, who dwells in him as in a well-ordered city. The Father is present in the perfect soul, and with him, Christ reigns, according to the words: We shall come to him and make our home with him."

These words are what Catholic try to live as disciples bearing fruit, always hoping to be helped with God's grace.

Another theologian who lived many years ago St. Hildegard (1098-1179) one of the four-woman doctors of spirituality used the word 'viriditas' to describe God's spiritual and physical life force. The word is considered to be the union of the two Latin words Green and Truth. 

The symbolism of green is enormous signifying life, birth, renewal, vigor, freshness, hope, vitality, and creativity. Greenness is the creative power of life, seen all around us and nurturing both our bodies and souls.

The normal liturgical color for Ordinary Time is green. Green vestments are associated with the time after Pentecost, the period in which the Church founded by the risen Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit began to grow and spread. 

The New Testament Scriptures speak often about the Kingdom of Heaven or God's Kingdom, both the same. However often and by many, the understanding that we are now in God's Kingdom is not easily understood especially for those dealing with serious problems and yet it should be a foundational belief of Christians. Saint Catherine of Siena said: All the way to heaven is heaven. Jesus is the Way and where Jesus is there is also the kingdom.

Consequently, Christians  desire that all see the greenness of life and want all to reap the love, joy, and peace that it brings. The Kingdom is here now but not fully and we need to participate in its growth.

How to Deal with Appearance-ism (Lookism)?

 

In Bible and Life magazine a priest working on pastoral and human rights issues introduces the readers to the problems associated with evangelization in the present world of 'Appearance-ism'.

In Korea for some years, the composite word 'face/first' has first been used to designate a person with a handsome and beautiful face. The writer recently during a retreat heard the word addressed to him. It was welcomed even though he doesn't believe it to be the reality but would like it to be so even though for him it is of no great importance.

However in the competitive society in which we live this reality has great meaning. In the world of appearances, the best specs (specification) is a beautiful face. A teacher is quoted as saying: if one doesn't have a beautiful face you have to study and if you don't study you have to have a beautiful face. These are the golden words of this generation. Efforts to spend time and money to undergo plastic surgery are not different from the efforts made to study. Korea is not only a strong country for education but a reason why it is a plastic surgery powerhouse.

A world where looks are of great value is not limited only to the face. Wealth, social status, relationships, credit rating, everything that can be seen externally is more important than what is hidden inside. What can be seen and touched are more important than love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and temperance (Gal. 5:22). So rather than looking inside and changing, people only look at the outside. Is this not why people spend so much time on their appearance? 

In this kind of world, honesty and faithfulness have no place to stand. It's a make-believe life, a lack of reality, just full of images like the white-washed tombs (Matt. 23:27) a life full of lies.

The problem is this world of 'Appearance-ism', is one with the information world and has gone beyond the individual and entered all aspects of society.

Information is generally spread by the mass media, SNS, etc. by the written word or video; here also we have the 'Appearance-ism' problem arising. Suggestive, sensationalistic stories and pictures, not too concerned about the truth: only externals of the situation that become embedded in the heads of the hearers and viewers. 

Recently a composite word formed from the word journalist and trash (기레기) to signify that the world is being overcome with false news from the mass media is often heard.

Preaching the gospel of Jesus in such a world can be done by confronting superficiality. However, the gospel that reveals the precious work of the kingdom of God must be proclaimed as reality, not as an image, and must be proven by life and not appearances. Only then can the world understand.

What the church needs to hear is not the church is beautiful but it is different. In the past, many have gone to the cathedral in Seoul not because of the beauty of the location and church but because of the memories of the tear gas and the police clubs that persons were seeking refuge from. Appearance cannot hide the essence, and words cannot surpass life. This has to be shown in our lives.