[김애란] 'Mother of four priests'

'Mother of four priests'  

By Kim Ae-ran

In the old days, a large family was a virtue. There were at least more than three children at home, unlike the present nuclear family. A family with many children was common. My parents also had five sons (three of them died very young) and four daughters.

But nowadays, large families are very rare, and a childless family seems to be the new trend. Unfortunately, abortion is increasing day by day. As a result, many mothers and mothers-to-be are suffering from trauma after abortion. In Catholics, those who lost their children before birth are desperately praying for the eternal peace of those aborted children in heaven. In some pilgrimage places, there is a shrine to pray for the aborted children.

Now is a time quite different from before. The culture and values have been developed and changed rapidly beyond our imagination. The keyword of the consumption trend in 2017 was "Yolo" (You only live once, Carpe diem), and this year of the golden dog follows the same line. 

This phenomenon is expressed by terms such as "sohwakhaeng" (small but sure happiness), Placebo consumption (fake effect or fake-sumer), work-life-balance, my only querencia for cocooning, a loner, bye-buy sensation, meaning-out, 1economy, gig-economy, everybody becoming atom, on-demand market, calm or intact technology, fast healing among others.

Happily, the values of experiencing with fun, face-to-face services, and personal attraction are highly regarded as some forces to stimulate consumption. Giving maximal or utmost service is a matter of success and survival in society. How to add more premiums, new service or bonuses to marketing is a critical problem in the struggle to constantly gain more clients.

A book entitled "Mother of Four Priests," a story of a mother with 11 children, had become the bestseller among Pauline books by the end of last year. Among her children, three daughters died young, four sons became priests (Fr. Sang-cheol Oh, Fr. Sang-hyeon Oh, Fr. Se-ho Oh, and Fr. Se-min Oh) and the only surviving daughter became a nun (Sr. Jin-bok Oh). The other three sons are married. One of her grandsons became a priest as well.

In those agricultural times perseverance and sacrifice to survive poverty and to get more education were great codes of life, giving birth to a baby was a merit, and that seemed to be the only duty of a mother.

With "Mother of Four Priests," a collection of prayer poems, letters and the diary of the mother of four priests, Maria Choon-son Lee who passed away in 2015 at the age of 97, the Pauline marketing team together with the Mission team presented the book concert with a music retreat presided over by her youngest son Fr. Ludovico Oh from October to December 2017, which was held 11 times in various parishes in Korea. 

Telling some parts of the story of his mother during the book concert, Fr. Ludovico sang various songs with guitar and thus, touched many people who attended the concert. Ten percent of the sales of the book were donated to support the vocations in each parish involved in this event. 

While bearing children, Maria used to read the story of saints even though she had to endure much poverty and physical weakness, and she always offered her children to the Virgin Mary. For her, inheriting faith was the only value and principle in the family. If her children did not go to church to celebrate Mass, she did not give them meals. 

In this rapidly changing and developing society, how good it is to see that some of us are still struggling consciously and appreciating wholeheartedly to enlighten the spiritual and moral values of life.

The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (Figlie di San Paolo) living and giving the Good News to the world by means of social communication. Learn more about the congregation at fsp.pauline.or.kr.