Ancestral Rites
Yesterday was Chuseok here in Korea, a holiday in which one's ancestors are honored in a ritual caled the chesa. This ancestral rite includes the preparation of an elabortate traditional meal for the spirits of the departed followed by two deep bows (keun cheol) to the ground. This ritual is Confucian in origin.
The chesa is permitted by Catholics but forbidden by Protestants. Interestingly, it used to be the other way around. Nowadays, this situation can cause quite a deal of friction in families, especially when non-Christian parents have Christian sons or daughters-in-law (It's a strictly patrilineal affair).
While I have more intuitive sympathy for the current Protestant position banning the chesa, as it is allowed by the Catholic Church, I submit to her authortative teaching on the subject and have participated enthusiastically in the ritual at my in-laws' house. I took it as an opportunity to pray for the souls of the departed as well as for the conversion of the whole family.
Yesterday was Chuseok here in Korea, a holiday in which one's ancestors are honored in a ritual caled the chesa. This ancestral rite includes the preparation of an elabortate traditional meal for the spirits of the departed followed by two deep bows (keun cheol) to the ground. This ritual is Confucian in origin.
The chesa is permitted by Catholics but forbidden by Protestants. Interestingly, it used to be the other way around. Nowadays, this situation can cause quite a deal of friction in families, especially when non-Christian parents have Christian sons or daughters-in-law (It's a strictly patrilineal affair).
While I have more intuitive sympathy for the current Protestant position banning the chesa, as it is allowed by the Catholic Church, I submit to her authortative teaching on the subject and have participated enthusiastically in the ritual at my in-laws' house. I took it as an opportunity to pray for the souls of the departed as well as for the conversion of the whole family.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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