Politics and the Pulpit
I'm usually not in favor of priests inserting politics into the homily, unless, of course, I am in agreement.
Today marks the 56th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. I went to 5:00 pm Mass, which is presided over by an elderly retired priest. His homilies are usually of an historical nature, going into detail on Biblical and Church history. Since I am a bit familiar with the background, even with my imperfect knowledge of Korean, it is easier for me to follow his homilies.
Today, the priest began his homily by retelling his experiences at the opening of the war. He was in middle school, if I remember correctly, and heard the sounds of explosions. The next day he and thousands of others escaped by foot to Suwŏn. A few days later, that city fell and he was found himself under the "People's Army." It was not until December 27, after the UN Forces advance, that he was able to resume his schooling.
Then the politics came in. He used a colorful epithet to describe the "professors in their forties" who insist that the North Koreans launced a "War of Reunification" or that it was the South that started the war*. He had even stronger words for the DPRK's Kim Dynasty, current South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, seen by the Right as an appeaser of the North, and his predecessor Kim Dae-jung, whose Nobel Peace Prize the good father went so far as to call into question!
All this was very well received by the congregation. I'm often very thankful that I ended up in South Korea's Rightist stronghold in the Yŏngnam region. Had I ended up on the other coast, Honam, a hotbed of nationalistic Leftism, I might not have been able to stay this long in Korea.
*See Historian Debunks Claim that South Started Korean War
I'm usually not in favor of priests inserting politics into the homily, unless, of course, I am in agreement.
Today marks the 56th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. I went to 5:00 pm Mass, which is presided over by an elderly retired priest. His homilies are usually of an historical nature, going into detail on Biblical and Church history. Since I am a bit familiar with the background, even with my imperfect knowledge of Korean, it is easier for me to follow his homilies.
Today, the priest began his homily by retelling his experiences at the opening of the war. He was in middle school, if I remember correctly, and heard the sounds of explosions. The next day he and thousands of others escaped by foot to Suwŏn. A few days later, that city fell and he was found himself under the "People's Army." It was not until December 27, after the UN Forces advance, that he was able to resume his schooling.
Then the politics came in. He used a colorful epithet to describe the "professors in their forties" who insist that the North Koreans launced a "War of Reunification" or that it was the South that started the war*. He had even stronger words for the DPRK's Kim Dynasty, current South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, seen by the Right as an appeaser of the North, and his predecessor Kim Dae-jung, whose Nobel Peace Prize the good father went so far as to call into question!
All this was very well received by the congregation. I'm often very thankful that I ended up in South Korea's Rightist stronghold in the Yŏngnam region. Had I ended up on the other coast, Honam, a hotbed of nationalistic Leftism, I might not have been able to stay this long in Korea.
*See Historian Debunks Claim that South Started Korean War
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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