Sympathy, empathy, are words that express a value in the present world society. Politics, finances, science, art and religion and many other facets of life engender for many a sympathy for where society finds itself. We can't say we are in touch with our world society without this sympathy. A newspaperman who worked in an editorial room writes in the Catholic Times on his views of the Catholic Church's media savvy.
Sympathy comes from communication. It grows into a means of change.To sympathize does not mean to approve but to understand the other's situation. Pope Francis in one of his Peace Day messages: "The clear distinction between the producer and consumer of information is relativized and communication appears not only as an exchange of data but also as a form of sharing. This dynamic has contributed to a new appreciation of communication itself; which is seen first of all as dialogue, exchange, solidarity, and the creation of positive relations."
The empathy index is a way of measuring a person's ability and disposition. According to the writer, the Church knows little about media, empathy, and communication. It pays little attention to these areas of life.
The Church has the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times, dialoguing with the world and using the light of the Gospel to interpret what is seen. After the Second Vatican Council, these phrases are often heard.
He mentions a committee affiliated with the Bishops Conference that recently changed its name from Mass Communication Media Committee back to Public Relations Committee. Why would they do this in a world in which communication is so important and go back to an earlier age?
He feels they have deliberately mistranslated the word communication to public relations or PR. At the Council, the media of social communication was used but the Church deliberately chooses to go back and use public relations instead of communication.
Public relations or PR is to make know our position. Expressing what we want and avoiding what we don't want to be known. In the past this was our way of acting but in a society of open communication, going back to a relic of the past is a failure to understand media, communication, and empathy. And we see this thinking expressed in the way many of the issues are treated.
He mentioned two incidents relating to church institutions that the general mass media covered in most cases negatively but without any complete coverage of the issue in the Catholic Press. Granted, there may be a need for a difference from the social media, in the way news is covered but if the Catholic press fails to be a conveyor of truth we lose our reason for being.This is true when we are only interested in publicity and a conveyor of only what is for our benefit and not the whole picture.
He quotes a priest who in the use of the new media for evangelization recommends to the young people that they don't overextend themselves and go beyond their abilities but use their efforts to ferret out beautiful things that will be helpful to others. He found these words shocking.
Laypeople will find these kinds of words disconcerting. In the present situation no matter how qualified a layperson, if a priest says no, that's it. In the Church today laypersons have little influence in the decision making and this is truer in the world of communication.
Priests who are in the know about the mass media are few and he ends the article hoping this will change. Authorities, he hopes, will spend more time developing classes in the seminary on the subject of the mass media and communication.
A Catholic University professor of ethics writes in Bible & Life in response to a person who wants a Mass said for a dog. He has for many years been afraid of even the smallest dogs which bark and come towards him. This was not always the case but bitten once on the thigh all changed.
The incident left him with a trauma on seeing dogs. A few months ago, a celebrity whose family dog bit a neighbor, who died shortly after, was the reason for much talk in society about dogs and owners.
When the change took place he doesn't know but we called them pet dogs, now they are companions. Up until 10 years ago, you would never hear talk about a dog cafe, hotel or funeral home but they have quickly appeared. The new understanding of pets in society can depend on many factors but the nuclear and one person families have multiplied in society. Loneliness is experienced and many look for the companionship of pets, they are faithful and fill a need of warmth in the life of many. Guide dogs and rescue dogs give a service the humans cannot do.
This is all true but there is another thought that should enter when we consider this subject. Is there a problem when we treat animals like human beings? During this time of the year we have not a few people who are cold and hungry; do we see any problems dog cafes where dogs are treated almost like humans? There is an entrance fee and you are able to feed the dogs. In ethics, we have the words for the moral subject and moral object. An example would be giving a poor neighbor some coal briquettes: the one giving would be the moral subject and the one receiving the moral object.
If, he says, he took an abandoned dog and raised it the dog is the moral object of his action. He is the moral subject and the one responsible for the dog. All human actions towards nonliving objects are not moral acts. An example would be the kicking of a soccer ball is not the same as the kicking of a dog. The soccer ball does not have life.
Respect for life is an obligation of a moral subject but here we can see a problem when we have a homeless person and our companion dog drowning at the same time. Where does our attention go? The dog that has been our companion, eaten, slept and lived together has a greater loving attraction than a nameless homeless person. That is why people leave their wealth to pets and some want Masses said for their pets.
From prehistoric times humans and animals have lived closely together. They have been our food, they have given us our clothing have helped us do our labor. In recent history have helped us cure diseases, extend life and that is not all. According to the Scriptures animals were created just before humans and were named by the first humans. They are to be respected but remembered they are of a different level of life.
The article finishes with the story of a classmate who has a white Maltese dog which he raises in the rectory. It's a friendly loveable little dog. He doesn't know how long it will take but his fear of dogs, he says, will disappear.
On the night before he died, the Lord took bread, said the blessing and gave it to his disciples, saying: "This is my body for you." Afterward, he took the cup and gave it to his disciples, saying: "This is my blood to be shed for you; do this in memory of me."
"Do this in memory of me " are words that ask us to remember what the Lord did at the Last Supper. In a diocesan bulletin, a university professor tells us of the four ways these words can be viewed.
1) Not remembering the words and not acting on them
2) Remembering them but not acting
3) Doing them but not remembering why
4) Remembering and carrying them out
A Catholic who doesn't remember or act on these words is a person who has lost his sense of direction. Today one way tomorrow another way, a person who doesn't know what is important.
A person who remembers but does not act on what he remembers can be called lazy. He knows what needs to be done but hesitates. The response is rationalized to make one feel good.
Those that carry out the words but don't remember why, are living by habit. When one repeats the acts it becomes second nature and no longer remembers why.
Remembering and acting is the act of a person who is at peace and not moved by the mundane. A person happy in all that is done.
Most historical Christian Churches believe in the literal meaning of the words of Jesus at the last supper. The later Christians began to see this as a metaphor and a symbol of encountering Jesus. Strange, "Do this in memory of me" in the context given it's difficult to give a symbolic, poetical, or metaphorical meaning to the words.
Sad also that one of the most important imperatives to the Church before his death could have been misundersood for so many centuries. 'Faith in search of understanding' is a humble approach to the encounter with Jesus.
During the Unity Octave from Jan.18 to Jan 25, we prayed to understand the words of Jesus as he wanted them understood. We can begin with a long, deep look at the words at the Last Supper and try to enter the minds and hearts of the early Christians to understand why they would take these words as literal when doing so cost them so much during the many years of persecution.
In a pastoral bulletin, a priest tells us about a big ball a child received for Christmas in an orphanage in India. It was the first gift he ever received from anyone, a constant companion. He would sleep with it, never leaving his hands. One, day while playing with the ball on the rooftop it ended up on the street where it was run over by a truck. Going down to the street his feelings were like the flattened ball he picked up.
He cried and cried. A religious brother tried to console the child, patted him on the back. The crying continued. However, the next day the brother saw him playing with his friends and laughing and enjoying himself. The Brother was happy to see that he had forgotten the ball and could go on to find joy in other aspects of life.
He introduces us to a man who showed great interest in buying a new car. He was not well off and with great difficulty bought a foreign car. Since all his attention was concentrated on cars he went for what he considered the best. He was filled with great joy but it required cutting back on his lifestyle. He avoided friends and meetings that would cost money. His car took away the freedom that he once enjoyed. His connection and vanity with the car took away his freedom. He was possessed by the car.
Many are the wise who have told us the less we possess the more we own. The less attachment to the material the more we enjoy the material. Voluntary poverty is freeing oneself from obsession and a life of grabbing and clinging.
Jesus in the Beatitudes tells us: "How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is an important teaching of Jesus. If we are detached we will be free. It is not having much or little but not being bound and free for everything.
St. Paul was a free man. " I am not talking about the shortage of money: I have learned to manage on whatever I have. I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty" (Phil. 4:11).
We all are familiar with the Evangelical Counsels: Poverty, Chasity, and Obedience. They call us to the spirit of detachment. Most Catholics would understand Chastity of life and Obedience to God but when it comes to Poverty we are open to all kinds of interpretations. They apply to all baptized Catholics but possibly few would accept this in the manner of life we choose.
Ironic as it may sound poverty calls us to have more not less. When we are attached to the material we miss so much that is immaterial because our gaze is only on what we see. Poverty allows us to be more interested in what is good, true and beautiful and the oneness of life. When obsessed with the visible does it not close our eyes to the important things in life?
As the digital culture continues to develop in the 4th industrial revolution our lives are being transformed beyond imagination. At the same time, we see the dark side of this emerging culture. A diocesan priest writes in the Catholic Times' column of what he has heard on studies on the use of smartphones in Korea.
We call the society in which we live the addicted society. An addiction that destroys our humanity and the society in which we live. Humorously we say in one family the father was addicted to pornography, the mother to shopping, the daughter to SNS, and the son to games. These addictions bring serious harm not only to the individual and families but they break down the spirituality and the trust among believers: the church lost in the culture of death.
Children and infants are the ones potentially the most venerable. This problem has been with us for some time but appearing even among infants under 5 years old who can't be separated from their smartphones.
As smartphones become a necessity for children the average age of first use is just under 3 years of age. The problem is the use of smartphones at an early age according to some experts are serious obstacles to brain growth and development. Researchers found an imbalance in the brain chemistry of young people addicted to smartphones and the internet.
A child's brain develops unevenly making it difficult to learn, remember and judge information. Language development may be delayed. Peer relationship may not be smooth and communication difficult and aggressive. The writer mentions talking to an authority in the field who was overly concerned about the harm being perpetrated on our young people.
His words showed the inability to compromise, to sympathize and feel the pain and suffering of others. This is not a good sign for society as we get more who are indifferent to what is happening in society and this will continue to old age. No room for love, experiencing and showing mercy to others.
There is a new word used 'Smombie', a smartphone zombie: combination of the word smartphone and zombie. A pedestrian who walks slowly and without attention to their surroundings focused on the smartphone, now a significant safety hazard.
Silence is now being marketed as more people are escaping from the digital noise. Noise detox products are released. The 'Buddhist Temple Stay' is popular because people seek silence, calm and peace.
The Catholic Church has also begun 'Seoul Stay', a period of retreat away from the digital world and a time for silence, self-examination, meditation, a time for prayer and renewal. A believer taking time out for a retreat once a year will be a good opportunity to get away from the digital noise, addiction and to look over one's life.
Without love, we have hell, with love, paradise. A college teacher in a Catholic Peace Weekly column gives the readers a meditation on Love. A couple who have lived together for a life time make this trip to heaven and hell a few times a day. Love is not a word but a way of life. Husband and wife, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, between brothers and sisters this journey is made often.
Giving and accepting of love is more difficult the closer the bond is. A well-known family code of conduct shows the truth of this by clearly saying: "if love is found in the family you can love everybody."
Jesus asked of us two things: a reverential awe of God, and secondly to love one another. All the other virtues can be said to be contained in these two precepts.
The writer mentions a woman she has been concerned with for some time and lives alone. On a visit to the woman she found her living in an unheated room with a blanket on the floor of the room. She spiritualized the whole issue and saw no problem.
She asked how much she has to live on each month. With the money, she got on welfare and the other income it was not much, not enough to take care of her heating bill. She left some money to help in heating the house. On another visit, the woman was still on the floor with her blanket. She told the teacher it was still no problem with the cold and gave the money that she received to help some of the refugees from the North. She was like the widow in the Gospel with her offering in the temple.
On one occasion she asked about the writer's father who she knew was sick. She told her that being the daughter she should be close to her father during these difficult times.The writer knew what was behind these words. She told the woman that if anything happens in the future to contact her. "I will be with you." She was relieved to hear these words from her friend.
Love is concern for another in little things, a little hillock that a person can use to rest. We can not save our country. We can make small contributions to the poor living in Africa but we can't have a direct impact on them. However, I can convey my interest and love to the people I meet daily.
She is an educator who teaches students. Nowadays, most of the students acquire their knowledge through the internet, and show little concern for the lectures they hear in the classroom. She reminds the readers that in the future it is said that artificial intelligence robots will do a much better job giving lectures and the teaching profession will disappear.
She finishes her article telling the readers she has changed her way of teaching from imparting information to the conveying of love. To do this we have to get rid of authority, practice patience and be closer to the students. Forming a loving community: is there anything more educative than that as an aim for an educator?
Both Catholic Weeklies remembered the 70th year of
the Jejudo uprising, an insurgency that brought about the death of over 30 thousand on Jejudo island from April 3, in 1948 to Sept. 21, 1954. A tragic event whcih many citizens have never heard mentioned because it was hidden in Korean history.
Japanese colonial rule which lasted from 1910 to 1945 came to an end when the United States and the Soviet Union liberated Korea. August 15, is National Liberation Day in both the North and South. Since Japan unconditionally surrendered, Korea was divided between the United States and the Soviet Union. Unable to agree on joint trusteeship, Korea was divided between Russia and the United States: Communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the North and the West aligned, First Republic of Korea in the South.
The First Republic was established on August 15, 1948, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. This was done independently and the leftist elements in society began to oppose the First Republic and those on the right, in opposition, gave rise to the death of large numbers of innocent law abiding citizens. We know from history that these kinds of incidents don't just happen overnight but were fermenting over many years.
After liberation, the sympathetic pro-Japanese security forces with the help of the American military administration began to use military force against the citizens which was the beginning of the 4:3 killings. This continued even after the Korean War ended. This reality and that so few know about it is no small matter.
Because of the different ideologies involved the examination and review of history is not a simple task and the divergent opinions are many but the events should be known and efforts to resolve the anger found.
The diocese of Jejudo has formed a committee to find ways to approach the issue pastorally. The anger that remains in the minds and hearts of many is not limited to the local area but is present throughout the country. The left-right divide has been a reality in Korea for many years previous to the Korean war and after.
When we search for justice and truth all things work together for peace. We have not as yet arrived at a point where we have taken care of the justice issues facing the country and consequently the lack of peace within society.
The aim of the Committee which is composed of 13 members is after 70 years to bring forgiveness and reconciliation for the pain and scars inflicted during those many years. It is not to place blame but to have a win-win approach to the issues that continue over the years. This is the object of the committee, to find a true peace and healing. Expressed in the many events during this period and ending with the April 1st to 7th, a commemorative week after Easter, hoping for a new beginning.
Confucius in his Analects is quoted: "we don't have to agree on all things, to live harmoniously with one another." In the Catholic Peace Weekly a columnist uses these four words: 和 而 不 同 (living at peace with another doesn't mean you think the same) and agrees that there is no reason you have to agree in all things before living together harmoniously. Isn't this what we want to see between North and South Korea?
North Korea's Kim Jong-un said he would participate in the Pyeong Chang Olympics and the door to the North-South dialogue has been opened. If we look closely at the talk given by Kim Jong-un he strongly maintains his right to continue his nuclear advancements but at the same time wants to work towards a peaceful climate on the peninsula.
President Moon wants to strengthen the friendship and cooperation to resolve the nuclear issue while improving the situation between the North and South. Both North and South have given a message of hope that relaxation of the tension and peace can be achieved without abandoning their identities.
The United States has made clear there is no change in its strong sanctions policy toward North Korea. This is the US position in the international community and a warning message to the Korean government.
We live with the Confucian thought that we can still get along with others without having to agree on all things. In domestic affairs on the basis of different ideologies groups unite together and oppose those with different ideas and we close our eyes to the problems of the country as a whole. Under the last government, we criticised those we considered followers of the North and refused to see the problems in our own government.
It is natural that our allies have doubts about our attitude towards each other since we ignore the greater dynamics with the rest of the world. We are new to the Republican ideals. In the Roman Republic, two consuls were elected to work together. Today in the Western democracy it is built on the system of the separation of powers.
Modern democracy operates on the principle of diversity according to the principles of the Roman Republic. The existence of a different other is meaningful to my existence. People come together to form communities. We maintain peace by respecting each other without giving up our identities. However, living with plurality harmoniously is not one of our ideals. In the Roman Republic, the two consuls had veto power on the other and cooperated with each other.
The principles of democracy should not be difficult for Christians to accept because we are taught to love our enemies.
An article in the Kyeongyang magazine by a mental health specialist tells the readers about a doctor who had a CT scan done on himself to discover half of his liver was covered with tumors that had metastasized to the lymph glands and to other areas, and he was surprised he was not conscious of any symptoms.
At the longest it was three months he said spitting out the words. He was a specialist in liver cancer and worked operating on liver patients for the last 30 years. He retired 5 years ago but still gave of his time to the hospitals attached to Medical Colleges in the country. He never deduced that in his own body cancer was growing.
Death is destiny. Once we become clearly conscious of our own death fear enters.This fear has helped to develop the medical sciences, given life to religion and faith, many maintain that even, art, culture and our whole worldly reality is tied to this fear of death. Fear of death, paradoxically, has given birth to what makes life beautiful. The doctor had donated all the money earned over the years to the hospitals, he now took two hundred dollars and put it in his wallet.
Fear of death makes one attached to the material. Why this attachment since we will be leaving it all behind shortly? Materiality temporarily allows as to forget the anxiety of life and compensates for the emptiness felt. We all live as if earthly life will not end and yet we know our material things will be divided among others at the grave site.
Often we hear the five steps of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We don't have them necessarily in that order and often many are skipped but few come to the complete acceptance of the inevitability of death with peace. Strange, facing death we should be less concerned with what is going on but often the opposite is seen when death is seen as coming many become more obstinate and want to grasp what they are losing.
The doctor lived over six months and died peacefully in the arms of his wife. We all have to meet death but it is not all in the same way for the way we live is varied and different for all. Old age, sickness, pain. poverty, loneliness are steps in the process. One of the great desires of many is to die in their sleep.The way of death is not always just.
The less satisfactory our life is the more we try to amass the material, and with change we see obsession. Some become attached to an unorthodox faith life, trust only in skilled doctors and get lost in an imaginary world. Fear of death can make the years before death hell, and a hell like life makes for a hell like death.
According to some studies on a good death, honesty and transparency, cheeful relationships with others an interest in the world around oneself: not to particular things but to the future of descendants, family, spouse and enjoying time with them are all elements often present.
We begin dying right after birth. How do we fill up the life that we have been given? This is our decision. A life well lived will be followed by a beautiful death.
When different groups in society can agree to work together for the common good we have something all can celebrate and encourage. Articles in the Catholic Weeklies have reported on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Seoul City and the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul.
According to the understanding the Seoul Archdiocese
will increase generating solar power via the roofs of its parish
buildings and on church-owned land including parking lots. It will also
encourage parishioners to install solar generators in their homes.
The Mayor of Seoul wants to produce enough energy to replace one of the nuclear power plants by 2022. Waste that follows the operation of our nuclear power plants is a positive talking point. Mayor's aim is to decrease the use of fossil fuels and reliance on nuclear energy with the increase of solar power in the city.
What would happen if all the roofs of the Seoul Buildings had solar panels? If 45 % of the roof space of our buildings were used there would be a 25% increase of energy produced. Seoul City has
inaugurated this plan for the new year and will be asking other organization to participate which the Cardinal did for the Seoul Archdiocese.
Seoul City has worked in the past to reduce the consumption of energy which it did achieve and now they have turned to the production of energy. They will invest a great deal of money on this project and mobilize the public to participate.
The Catholic Church has been been a leader in the anti-nuclear movement in South Korea. Fukushima in 2011 was a reminder of the risks that come with nuclear energy. The earthquakes we had last year in Korea helped the anti-nuclear movement but the citizens are still concerned with the price of electricity and the abandonment of nuclear power which is a money maker for the country. The majority are ambiguously for the continuation of nuclear energy.
Korea is the fifth largest user of nuclear power with over 20 nuclear reactors scattered throughout the country. The new government and the the desire of the President to follow the will of the people gave the president little room but to go ahead with the construction of the the nuclear plants that were under construction. His desire clearly is to abandon nuclear energy in the future and hopes the people will come to embrace this position.
Decreasing fossil fuels and increasing renewable energy is the movement spearheaded by the Seoul City. Seoul Archdiocese is not only opposed to nuclear energy but wants to do something concretely to show its willingness to work to together with Seoul City to produce renewable energy and our dependency on nuclear energy.
In a column of the Catholic Times, a priest university professor, brings to the attention of the readers the understanding of time from ancient Greece: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos was quantitative, the time we count with our watches and clocks, physical, chronological time by which we are surrounded. Kairos is a special time, qualitative time, opportunity, the moment in experiencing God together. It's becoming part of God's history in time.
How do we meet the Kairos moment in 20l8? Kairos is the kiss from eternity and a movement of grace in the here and now. We need to step away from the Chronos clock that controls all our movements.We live in a time of compulsion to improve our comfortableness. 'Time is money', a record that continues to play in our heads. Necessary if we are to make life comfortable for the elderly so we believe.
The candlelight processions of last year brought big change to society. The evening prayer of Mary the Magnificat became the desire of many of the citizens. Candles illuminated the darkness and leaders were removed.
We need to reflect humbly on where are we going? Do we want the wealth and glory of the past? Is it a time we feel the presence of God but not completed presence? Christians are never captivated by the glories of the past but move on to the eschatological future. We are invited to live by looking at the new heaven and earth where the will of God is unfolded. Not satisfied with our life of yesterday and today. Politicians, business people or religious people who are bound by their own vested interests are not able to accept God-centered time.
According to the writer, we have been living with a struggle to break away from the colonial days but are still tied to the Japanese ways. We need to go in a qualitatively different direction.Conversion of the heart is first and most important but the structure also has to change.
We need to remember the lesson of the Sewol Disaster and our recent government problems. If our lives and safety are to be replaced by vested interests namely the maintenance of political power or the means of earning more money we are moving away from God's time.
Let's build a society that welcomes God's time in the poor.Those who are wounded and marginated by social exclusion, those excluded from our church community; we want to get out of the pressure of Chronos, let 's go to the place of life of the alienated, there we will meet Kairos the time of God which is full of life.
Despite the long-term economic downturn, North Korea's nuclear development, the sad dictatorship and the tension in East Asia do not be afraid to ask for God's grace to go in a different direction. As a Jesuit he finishes the article, using the words from the Spiritual Exercises: For both me and our world, God is sweating and constantly laboring (#236).
Recently, Koreans use the words gold spoon and earth spoons to describes a person's upbringing with plenty of this world's goods or their lack. Are you happy? Is it because of a comfortable lifestyle or happiness despite the difficult life lived?
An article in Bible and Life by the leader of the 'Handanfamily' Happiness Center reminds her readers that it is not easy to match those who are happy in life with the material comfortableness they experienced in growing up or its lack. Her experience in counselling has shown that wealth and honor does not make life easy for many. They grumble and struggle. They resent their parents, hate their spouses and are pessimistic about life. What in the world makes their life so difficult? It's all somebodies' fault. They are wealthy but their emotional life is a mess.Often it was trying to fill the wishes of the parents never achieved, and in the process damaged was the attachment to the parents.
Many have been brought up with the earth spoon but they are not upset by the surrounding environment and have a peaceful disposition and a positive outlook on life. They have experienced the attachment to their parents and an empty bankbook does not disturb their enjoyment of life.
Countless studies have shown that it's not what we are born with but the way the child faced life that makes all the difference. Attachment to the parents is what goes beyond time and space and is the tie with the parents that make the difference. The writer mentions 5 things the child needs to receive from the parents: a love nest, care, naturing, support, direction. When they are not received you have damage to attachment. Today we have parents subletting their tasks to others.
Science has shown that it takes about 4 people to raise a child.With the break down of the extended family in Korea, we no longer have those who can help raising the children. This is what will determine the happiness and direction of a child. Many are motivated to raise a successful, bright, famous personality and forget the most important attribute is joy of life.
The writer concludes her article by mentioning that she believes all children have the seed for happiness at birth. Parents are there to help the child develop this bud. They are helped in this by relationships within the family, with contacts outside of the family but the important element is attachment. She wants all the children to have a gold spoon emotional life. This comes with attachement. Attachment is the beginning of love and the beginning of happiness.
In the recent Kyeongyang magazine, the rector of a Catholic University graduate school, with a degree in psychology, revisits the place of the capital sins in Catholicism. The listing of the seven capital sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and sloth, are no longer as familiar to us as they once were. We see daily in the news how these are so much of the life that we live here and now.
In this past year, we had a student who asked for his grades and was told to take an exam. The student in anger sent the teacher a home-made bomb by home delivery service from which the teacher was burnt. Also, we have the recent incident of a man who was sexually mistreating his wife and abducted the daughter of his friend, killed her and abandoned her body: the results of lust.
Anger can make us all murderers. lust makes us rapists, jealousy can make us all criminals. When we surrender to these capital sins we deface our human dignity, and the spiritual life becomes difficult. They are very much part of our daily life. They increase immorality by their many by-products: lust give rise to a pornographic culture, gluttony, the abuse of drugs, envy in the use of terror tactics, anger begets violence, sloth predisposes us to be unconcerned with the pain and despair of others, avarice a lack of sharing, pride breeds coldness and disregard of others. We are all in small and big ways influenced by the society we have made.
We can give undue concern to the negative aspects of life but the writer feels the concern for the virtuous and the ethical has been abandoned by many. Self-centeredness, materialism, hedonism, individualism, has been espoused by many in academia and especially in some schools of psychology, with their theories have begun living a relaxed moral life and seek to rationalize it.
We have the two extremes in the way morality is seen. Even if we are not a member of either group we can not be at peace for there are many who do not have the proper understanding of the harmony that should exist but see it all mixed up.
Many are those who when examining their consciences only see the results of their actions and not the cause of the wrong act. I fought with someone, I nagged, I was angry this is good but more so is the reason behind these actions to uncover the roots of our actions. To find the root of our action is important not only for our spiritual life but our mental health. The integration of the psyche and the spiritual is necessary for mature growth.
Capital sins were a stable part of our preaching and spirituality but over time it became encrusted with theological talk that made the whole issue difficult and separated from life. Even priests began to use other language instead of the seven capital sins. There are parts of the psychological language that is not in harmony with our teaching but a great deal is.
These seven capital sins have deep roots in the Catholic Tradition. They go back to the 4th century and were introduced to Europe by St, Cassian and have merited many studies and used for the examination of conscience to understand our inner life and the way it impacts society. They still separate many of the believers from unbelievers for many have no understanding of sin but only right and wrong acts that bring about harm to others. However all our acts leave footprints, often forgotten.
Recently North Korean missiles and experiments with nuclear weapons is not only a concern for South Korea but the whole world. This advance in scientific knowledge, mathematics, physics, and technology leaves a science professor emeritus sad. He writes in the Kyeongyang magazine on the subject.
South Korea's pursuit of material well-being gives him pain. After the destructive Korean War, efforts were made to develop our scientific knowledge and education for development. All participated in the construction of a new society and we saw the miracle that followed with pride. However, with the rapid process of development, we have done harm to our educational programs in an excessive pursuit of material improvement.
In 2015 we have indications that things were to change. In the Character Education Promotion Act, briefly: "character education is to educate students to develop a well-balanced and good inner state and to nurture the personalities and competencies of human beings needed for harmoniously living together with others in communities and with nature." Probably the first such act ever promoted by any country.
However, will this be the reality in our schools? How do schools go about realizing this ideal? Is it the task of principals, teachers, the placing of placards on premises? Implementation of the ideas expressed will not be easy. We are familiar with various ideals in our educational history: forming scholars and not to dirty one's hands. A desire for knowledge, harmonized with practicality, hands with the head has enabled the west to leave behind many scientific achievements. Imitation of the west is going on but changing the face of our present climate will not be easy.
God's creation is not fickle, it's orderly and beautifully spread out around us. Many look for miracles but all nature working together in an orderly fashion is a miracle, what more is necessary?
Adults have the obligation to give the younger generation the right understanding of reality. However, we see lies and deception the inside and outside are different. We see the untruthful words of politicians, conflict between industrialists and workers. What are the young people seeing? We are not a good example of what kind of education can be transmitted.
Integral, holistic education is not only for the young but for all. Among the Korean saints, we have nobles, those with much education, nobodies, a court lady, farmers, storekeepers, the handicapped and those who weren't able to recite the Our Father or Hail Mary. They were persons in pursuit of God and the practicing of the virtues. A true human is to live in silence and find time to reflect on death.
Study of natural science requires according to our writer the need for a foundation in holistic basics of education. Developing of nuclear armaments and the training of technicians without concern for the object of their study and use is wrong. We are created to continue our studies until death and develop and grow in practice of virtue. The two of them go together.
The last night of the year and dawn of the new year begins with an ardent prayer. A time that can't be ignored by anyone. It's a time to look deeply into oneself, reflect, examine the past and resolve for the future. A time of hope.
Korea has experienced a great change in society over the past few years. Modern times have been tumultuous and Korea understands. The editorial in the Catholic Times reminds the readers of what we have undergone recently in overcoming the adverse conditions faced by society.
Citizens with the same dream, with candles in their hands, took to the streets to resist the absurdity and irrationality they saw all around. Many small flames opened up a new chapter in citizen's democracy and brought about change in our way of doing politics and a new hope.
Now in the new year, many are the tasks that are piled up in front of us. The North Korean nuclear issue raises tensions between the two Koreas. World powers surrounding the peninsular continue vying for control and we continue to ask urgently for international cooperation for Peace in East Asia.
Conflict and stress follow the efforts to remove social abuses. We have the challenges of national economic growth and polarization of society into the haves and have-nots. Urgent are efforts to find work for our young people and concern for our aging society.
The church also has many challenges to face. Church statistics show clearly the participation in the life of the church continues to decrease, the vitality of the believers is lukewarm. Young people are leaving in large numbers, a sign the future is not bright.
Secularism blossoms in Korean society. Loss of faith and attraction to the material is hardly something new but more so than in the past, results are depressing. Secularism does not give a person what they think they need, it's an emptiness that the mass media has fueled without good results. We have articles in the news on the numbers mentally ill that continue to grow. The results of losing meaning in life is a disaster with repercussions too many to number. Korea leads the world in the most extreme of the results: suicides and even among the young.
As we celebrate the new year, believers are willing to work together on a new evangelization effort. Jesus assures us of hope. His disciples are not frustrated by adversity.
We begin the New Year with a new resolution. We make a decision for the common good beyond personal interests for the future of the community, the region, society and the nation.
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