Purification Azalea Festival Holds Hyojeong Prayer-Wish Offering Ceremony for Restoration
· MAY 6, 2017
By Julian Gray, FFWPU International
May 7, 2017
The title is long and may be unfamiliar to some, but the heart behind it is the same heart of forgiveness and redemption that is part of True Parentsf love and commitment to bring us back into our full potential of relationship with God.
Members who come to Cheongpyeong spend a lot of time in prayer and self-reflection. One expression of that is the writing of prayer-wish papers on which one expresses a heartfelt wish in writing on a piece of paper, and then offers it up to God. This eveningfs ceremony is the occasion on which all the prayer-wish papers are symbolically offered to God.
The evening was blessed first and foremost by True Motherfs personal visit to the training center, during which she spoke to the several thousand assembled members, some of whom had come from overseas.
Mother spoke about the history of the providence of restoration, emphasizing that Jesus needed the environment prepared to enable him to succeed in his mission; but that the central figures of the time were unable to provide that environment, and as a result Jesus went the path of the cross. In the end Heaven selected the people of Korea to be the chosen race. But Korea is divided North and South. Only when we move in unity with True Parents will unification be possible.
Mother mentioned the work of Daemo-nim in the spirit world to guide members at Cheongpyeong to become true sons and daughters in front of God. She asked us to think of all the ancestors, all the people, who have gone to the spirit world without knowing True Parents, and explained that we must act. Our responsibility is to establish a homeland for God in this nation of Korea, so that it can embrace the 7.4 billion people of the world.
We must accomplish our heavenly tribal messiah calling. Blessed families will determine human history in the future. We must all do our best in this. Mother asked us if we could be victorious and fulfill national restoration. We need to create the environment where God can work and use His authority, and to realize Godfs will, which is to see one human family under God. Mother concluded by asking us to take the lead in this work, and to become proud owners of the Unification movement; she expressed her wishes that Heavenfs blessings would be with us.
Following Motherfs speech, the ceremony to offer up the prayer-wish papers submitted over two days by the many members present was held.
First, Korean church president Rev. Yu Gyeong-seok read a prayer-declaration in which he stated that fallen humanity was being cleansed and Cheon Il Guk established; we know that Heaven and Earth are one. In mentioning the 3-year mobilization period that Korean church is embarking upon, Pres. Yu said that we should accomplish tribal messiahship. He expressed that we all want to be pure and clean in front of Heaven, cleansed of our sins, and we thus offer up the prayers on the wish-papers. He asked God to guide us to live in joy and happiness.
Sun Jin Nim and In Sup Nim then presided over the offering ceremony, by which four representative leaders dipped representative prayer-wish papers into holy water contained in crystal vases that the International President and her husband held. The prayers are written on special paper that dissolves in water. In the past, the prayer-wish papers were burnt in a huge pyre, but water dissolution has become the more eco-friendly method of symbolizing the cleansing of our past sins and shortcomings and the sending of our prayers to Heaven.
After the ceremony, Sun Jin Nim and In Sup Nim left the stage and everyone present held unison prayer to conclude the offering.
Three cheers of Eok-mansei were followed by celebratory entertainment that warmed the cool night air and gave a sense of the joy we are meant to be surrounded by in the world of our Heavenly Parentfs original ideal.