Seonghwa Ceremony for Walpurga Beutl

My blessed mother Walpurga Beutl went to the spirit world on October 29, 2012 at the age of 86 years. Her Seong-hwa was celebrated on November 3, 2012 in the beautiful parish hall of my hometown filled with people who wanted to express their gratitude and appreciation for her life, including the mayor and others in important positions who came to attend this beautiful ceremony.

For those who understand German you can listen to an audio recording at the link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9451474/2012%2011%2003%20Seung%20Hwa%20Walpurga.MP3

My spiritual son Martin Deininger, a former catholic priest guided everybody through the program which opened with the Song of the Garden followed by a short presentation of my mother‟s view of life, which you find in the first part of this letter.

A letter from her spiritual father Georg was read by my daughter Christiane, and I offered the concluding prayer after a talk by our local church pastor and touching songs by the choir which offered valuable contributions to move the hearts of those who had come to join the ceremony.

My mother Walpurga joined our church in 1974 and in 1981 she was blessed with my father Robert at the 39 couples Blessing in Germany. (See Blessing trinity photo)

For many years – as long as her health situation was not a hindrance - Walpurga invested her heart into outreach work to the approximately 360 homes of my home village, in order to testify to her deep conviction concerning God‟s Will being fulfilled with the arrival of the True Parents. Because most inhabitants of my birthplace are firm Catholics and the former Priest spoke out against our movement, a lot of persecution was inevitable. But my mother was always faithful to the essential task of loving one‟s enemy and she did her best to meet those who opposed her with a loving heart.

On the left side of the hall we put a small presentation of photos of Walpurga‟s family

My mother loves flowers a lot, so we prepared a special flower decoration

Letter from one of Walpurga‟s sons

To my beloved Mom!

I am very, very sorry that my family and I cannot be present but in spirit and in heart we are fully with you on this important occasion.

Dear Mom, you have given me your love and your life. That is a most precious and beautiful present. I would like to thank you for this gift from the bottom of my heart.

It is difficult to express in words what your life means for me. You have been much more than a mother who has fulfilled her responsibility. You have always done more than your responsibility. For you there were no limitations when it came to giving. You have given birth to ten children and invested wholeheartedly into raising them with a deeply caring love without taking a rest. Besides this huge task you have done many other things like practicing the tradition of painting on glass and manifesting your love for flowers.

My dear mother, I know that you wanted not only a family where Love is the center but our Heavenly Father. Your strong love for God and fervent desire to do His Will was not only focused on your own family but you have been a missionary for the Word of God which you have brought to many people. You are indeed an example for me and for many others.

Dearest Mom, your life has truly not been easy while you had to digest many disappointments, but you never gave up. For me you have always been a source of encouragement. Your suffering, your tears and your sacrifices have not been in vain. Soon they will bear fruits.

I am very grateful that my wife Taeyo and I could spend such a valuable and beautiful time together with you. Not only these but so many other wonderful memories of you are alive in my heart.

True Love knows no age or end. Through True Love I can be eternally connected with you. I wish you a wonderful entry into the Heavenly world.

My dear Mom, from my deepest heart once again many thanks for everything.

Your son Georg

About Walpurga Beutl‟s attitude in life

In front of God, our Heavenly Father we are as His children brothers and sisters. That is a basic understanding not only in Christianity but also in other religions. It has always been the desire of Walpurga that people meet as brothers and sisters beyond religious and other borders in order to share God‟s Love with one another. Therefore we bring most joy to our ascended blessed sister if we say good-bye to her in an atmosphere of brotherly/sisterly love.

Walpurga was born on December 15, 1925 and ascended on October 29, 2012 after a sacrificial life not only for her ten children and many more grandchildren.

During her 86 years on this earth she has been dedicated to care for countless people, starting in her parents„ restaurant and in later years in her Home Church area.

The death of a beloved person moves many people to reflect about the meaning of life. Walpurga expressed again and again her deepest conviction that at the end of our life we will go to spirit world, which means also for any person, the birth into a world of love.

Similarly as we are born, as a son or daughter after nine months in the womb in order to lead a happy life on earth, our passing on to the next world represents the starting point of an eternal life, where we harvest the fruits of our efforts: the more we have brought joy to others, the more beautiful will be our life in Heaven.

From this perspective it is understandable that in line with the plan of our Creator we are supposed to be born in love, grow up in loving relationships on earth before we enter the unlimited realm of God‟s boundless love.

Based on such an understanding it has been a priority for Walpurga to pay special attention to cultivating loving relationships. True Love has been the center of her life. Walpurga has always been dedicated to care for others with a loving heart.

Her attitude in life may be put in the following way: to live for others and to feel responsible for them.

That all people embody such an attitude has been the greatest desire of Walpurga. By doing our best to express such an attitude we can show our gratitude to our beloved sister who is now entering the next world.

Prayer by Nikolaus Beutl

Our beloved Heavenly Father,

We would like to express our gratitude that we can meet today as your children who love You. Each one of us is unique and we express our love in unique ways. What we have in common is a loving heart.

Our existence has its origin in You. We understand that You are Love as the Bible teaches because also for us Love is most precious. We know about the life of Jesus Christ, Your true son, who gave his life out of love for us. He has shown us a wonderful example of sacrificial love for which we are ever so thankful.

Today we have come together in order to accompany your daughter Walpurga on her final path. Heavenly Father, we are very grateful for her life as your daughter who went beyond many kinds of difficulties in her life.

When I was six months in her womb my mother made a pilgrimage to Rom and dedicated the life of her next child to You. My heart is overflowing with gratitude for everything my dearest mother has done for me and for my three sisters and six brothers.

We have come together in order to remember the life of Walpurga Beutl what we are doing gladly because we know of her sincere efforts to be a loving woman and mother who strove continuously to be there in support of others.

Beloved Father, we would like to use our time together in order to renew our relationship with You. During this meeting we could listen to wonderful songs which are an expression of people‟s desire to connect with your Heart. We appreciate it so much that we have in you common Parents and that we are siblings beyond external barriers.

No matter what mistakes we make, in You we can always find forgiveness. In the same way we would like to forgive each other on this day when we say good-bye to Walpurga by meeting each other with a loving heart and the desire to renew our relationships in line with my mother‟s fervent desire that people meet one another with a loving heart and become one.

Accordingly we would like to offer you our promise that we will strive more than ever to become a loving person who is dedicated to help others and to support those whom we can reach. We would like to meet them with a loving heart so that finally this world will become a happy place where all people are well taken care of.

In my parents, Robert and Walpurga, we have a beautiful example of your son and daughter who did their best to raise their ten children as religious people who believe in You, as your children who are connected with You.

Even though our understanding of how we see You as the origin of our life may change over the years, we know that you are a loving God who created out of love and we know that it is most important that we love one another.

With this kind of heart I am offering you my prayer together with my brothers and sisters in deep gratitude for each one who has come here in order that we may bid my mother Walpurga farewell and to share good memories of her with one another.

We want to look back at her life with gratitude and go forward with confidence, knowing that True Love is unchanging and overcomes death. Accordingly we want to become your son/daughter who walks the path of True Love which my mother has striven so hard to practice during her life here on earth and which she will continue to walk now in spirit world, in the realm of the Heavenly world.

It is my sincere wish that my brothers and sisters present in this place will offer this prayer together with me, that we are truly united and one in heart.

This is my prayer at this hour,

The choir singing at the burial ground in the warm afternoon sun of the beautiful autumn day

Instead of a cross my son Gabriel who is a carpenter prepared a board where we put the Principle sign and a wooden frame where we could put flowers so that a few hours after my mother‟s Seong Hwa the place was nicely decorated including a short text which reads:

“God is Love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 2:16)

Walpurga Beutl 1925 - 2012

For Walpurga it has been important to live not only according to the two fundamental commandments to love God with all your heart and your neighbour as yourself but to practice loving one‟s enemy in line with Jesus‟s words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven… Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:44-48)

Pope Benedict XVI. wrote in his Encyclical “Deus Caritas Est” about God‟s Spirit as the inner strength that “transforms the heart of the Christian community so that it becomes a witness in the world for the Love of the Father who wants to make all humankind in His son into one family.” Accordingly it is Walpurga‟s heartfelt desire that all people become true brothers and sisters beyond any religious and other barriers, sharing God‟s Love with one another.

To conclude this report I would like to quote from a letter sent by an Austrian sister who knows Walpurga well: “Your mother remains in my heart. She will be very familiar with her new surroundings soon and be very active together with True Father, Heung Jin Nim and his brothers and sisters, Jesus and the saints and many others, especially also your father. The blessing which they have brought to Sandl will soon be more and more visible.”

In deepest gratitude for the support offered for my mother Walpurga,