u/DiMae123456789

I will be doing service work with a church in the future, and I've learned we'll pass through Incheon. I'm trying to research as much as possible about Korea and thought it would be interesting to know how people from other areas of Seoul view Incheon / if you know people from outside Seoul, how they view Incheon

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1363047171

I did this at 2 AM yesterday, so if you see bugs, plz say so! I want to fix it up

(In case you're curious: I am mostly self-educated on theology. My mother was a PCUSA pastor who taught me the Bible as a child. When I converted, I did the adult version of RCIA because they figured I would be bored in the children's version, and I did Catholic school from middle school on, but all of that was review for me. So, no Catechesis experience. I can also be a bit scrupulous, and my diagnosed autism makes me care about the rules more than average, so this question isn't in bad faith. I'm not sure if I'm overreacting.)

>>I recently went on a mission trip led by a a 63-year-old who does youth ministry for my archdiocese.

>>I was shocked by the public school Catholics' lack of understanding. For instance, after I did not recieve the Eucharist because the man fed us breakfast right before Mass, I was asked by two girls my age why I did not receive, and they were surprised that only Catholics who had fasted and were not in a state of sin are to recieve. I was also asked what Purgatory was after I said "what the Purgatory," to which he answered, "the teachings on that have changed a lot," and I said, "yeah, the way it's explained to the laity has evolved" and then proceeded to teach them it while trying to politely point out that the Magisterial teachings are unchanging and infallible. A guy also asked me why there's suffering if God is good.

>>I learned that almost every kid there only interacted with the faith through him. One girl named him as her greatest spiritual role model, but later, when she was talking with her boyfriend about what schools she'd want her kids in, she said no to any Catholic school. I asked why. "I wouldn't want to force religion on them like that, you know? I mean, I don't even have a label on my own spirituality. My parents are Buddhists!"

>>At one point, I learned this man teaches Catechesis (which he called Catechism) and had been teaching for so long he'd taught it to even the people with us who had graduated college. Well, I asked how he teaches the Hypostatic Union. "...What?" Same response for the procession of the Holy Spirit. Then: "I really only teach the stuff that matters, you know?" "So... How do you explain the Trinity?" "Oh, easy. Three people in one God." That was it. But he mentioned Vat II, which surprised me, after Mass once. "Did you see how the priest was facing the wrong way? Yeah, that's how they all used to do it when I was a kid. It sucked." He kept reminding the kids how much better Mass/theology is since the 70s and that something called Vatican II completely changed the game.

>>His spending concerned me, too. He bought crystals from a witch while on this trip and told me that he uses his collection of crystals for spiritual inspiration while writing. One old guy who had converted from atheism to Catholicism thanked us for inspiring him to share his testimony with us and inspiring him to have hope in the next generation; the leader told me that this is why he uses the church's evangelization money for these trips (we were mostly feeding Arab immigrants sandwiches and never really showed our faith in public except when we prayed before meals).

>>I ranted to my parents when I got home, but was only told to have mercy and not judge. Am I overreacting?

I'm not spiritually distant to Him. We're close and talk all the time. But I guess it feels like a long-distance relationship, because in the brief moments I get to physically touch Him on this earth, He is hidden under the attributes of bread and wine. Does anyone else long for a physical hug and the actual sight of Him and Mary?