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"Let us dream for a better future" reminds me of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I have a dream" speech.
The recently published book titled "Let us dream: The Path to a Better Future" is an urgent appeal from Pope Francesco who encourages us to have a daring hope for the world suffering from the pandemic. This book consists of three parts: the first part, "Time to face," includes 14 short chapters; the second part, "Time to choose," 13 chapters; and the third part, "Time to act," has 15 chapters.
In spite of the pandemic, we go on our journey with a dream. The Pope says, "This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities ― what we value, what we want, what we seek ― and commit to act in our daily life on what we have dreamed of. We cannot let the current clarifying moment pass us by. You must change your life."
In this book that was written together with Austen Ivereigh, the Pope shares three personal crises where he was all alone: a lung infection at the age of 21, a moment of being in solitude in 1986 in Germany, and another moment of solitude from 1990 to 1992 in Cordoba, Argentina.
Reflecting on his personal periods of isolation the Pope recommends us to return to community-minded values, saying "Fraternity is the new frontier." Truly, the current crisis is a calling for communitarian values such as love, solidarity, belonging, synodality, oikos, ecological conversion, and integral ecology.
His experience of being a "cartonero" (recycling collector) as a bishop is very touching. He keeps saying to go to the peripheries: "If we want to discover a new future, we have to go to the frontiers… If we want to see the reality of the world, we have to go to the borders of our existence."
The times of crisis broaden our perspectives, let us go beyond the vertical limits, and give us a greater sense of tolerance, understanding, empathy, and forgiveness.
Such a noble dream was also revealed in the life of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon (1821-1846) chosen for UNESCO patronage at the jubilee of the 200th anniversary of his birth being held from Nov. 29, 2020, to Nov. 27, 2021.
The theme of the jubilee is "Are you a Catholic?" which was a question raised while he was under interrogation.
Saint Kim Dae-geon was born in 1821 in Solmoe, Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do. Together with Choi Yang-up Thomas and Choi Bang-je Francesco, he was chosen for seminarian studies in 1836 and went abroad to Macau. After studying theology for 6 years, he was ordained a priest in Shanghai under the French Bishop Ferreol in August 1845.
He began his priesthood but he was arrested during the persecution by the Joseon Kingdom and was beheaded at Saenamteo in Seoul on Sept. 16, 1846, at the age of 25. He is one of 103 Korean martyrs canonized on May 6, 1984, by Saint John Paul II.
He carried out his pastoral works for only about a year, but his dream is still alive in thousands of priests and transcends time and space.
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.
