Questions regarding the Special Grace that True Parents are offering

To: Mr. Jack Corley and the European Office staff: National and Community Leaders; Blessed Family Department Representatives; Second Generation Blessing Department staff:

We have had several questions submitted regarding the Special Grace that is being offered by True Parents. Those questions that we could not answer ourselves we put to Headquarters in Korea, and I am passing on those answers here. I hope you will find this helpful in preparing those in your community in the best possible way:

Q1a. This question is about disclosure: Is there a requirement, or should couples be guided, to make their transgression known to their spouse, or is this entirely between the individual and Heaven? Q1b. Related to the above question: It has been the case until now for a member of the Second Generation who has made a serious mistake (falling) before the Blessing, and who has gone through a forgiveness ceremony, to be required to disclose this fact, at any early stage in the matching process, to the parents and the potential match. So, even though forgiven for that mistake, it still is a matter of their history and we have worked with the policy that such a forgiven mistake should still be disclosed, to avoid problems later in the Blessing. Does that continue to be the case, following on from this new Special Grace? Answer: To tell you the conclusion first, there is no requirement to make transgressions known to the spouse. Borrowing your expression, “this is entirely between the individual and Heaven.” If you look at the Statement of Resolve form, there is no place to write the person’s name. This means that people do not need to reveal this to others besides Heavenly Parent. Individuals repent for their past, report to Heaven their past misdeeds and begin a new life centering on Heavenly Parent and True Parents. Only Heavenly Parent and True Parents can give permission to eliminate all the unprincipled deeds and past sins of human beings, and no one except Heavenly Parent can ask or accuse humans’ misdeeds after this Special Grace. But this is a one-time-only Special Grace granted and permitted by Heavenly Parent and True Parents. That is why it is called Special Grace, because by the Special Grace of God and True Parents everything is forgiven and all the sins and mistakes are not accused nor asked about by anyone except Heavenly Parent. However, more important than the Holy Wine Ceremony is our changed life and attitude after the Holy Wine Ceremony. In 2006, after the Entrance Ceremony into the Cheon Jeong Peace Palace and the Coronation for the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind as the King and Queen of Peace in Heaven and on Earth, True Parents also gave a Special Grace and forgave all the past misdeeds of human beings because Heavenly Parent needed His people and we must not and cannot have any flaws or sins which can be accused by Satan, as Cheon Il Guk citizens and as sons and daughters of Heavenly Parent. After a three-year mourning period, True Mother is opening a new era and a new providence with True Father in spirit world. She gave this Special Grace to start the new era within the realm of God’s and True Parents’ direct dominion. But if anyone falls or makes serious mistakes after this Special Grace, we must follow the original Matching and Blessing process as you said, by revealing their misdeeds to her/his spouse and to the parents if the person is single. Therefore, from now on we should ask blessed families or single Matching/Blessing candidates, if the person participated in the 2016 Holy Wine ceremony or not and if the person fell or not after the 2016 Holy Wine Ceremony. As you must know, if a blessed family member fell after starting his/her family, this person

must go through a seven-year period of separation and devotion. If someone is now in the seven-year devotion period, even if this period has not been completed, this devotion will end and this person will be restored after this Special Grace and Holy Wine Ceremony. But if someone falls after this 2016 Special Grace, then we must follow the same process by requiring a seven-year period of separation and devotion, if the unfallen spouse agrees to continue the relationship. But if the unfallen spouse wants to end their relationship, the fallen spouse can receive the Blessing with another person, but the person who fell must go through a much more complicated process to be restored and to pay indemnity.

Q1c: Further to the above, pure Second Generation, and their parents, often want reassurance that a potential match has had no prior sexual relationship. Under your current guideline about non-disclosure, this becomes, I presume, a question that parents or a potential spouse can ask, or not, but it is not information a person has to volunteer? Answer: We should not think with the human or our perspective but think with the perspective of Heavenly Parent and True Parents. The heart of Parents is the heart that forgives, loves and embraces everything. When we talk about “sin” or “unprincipled life,” it does not mean only having an unprincipled physical relationship. True Parents said hurting other people’s feelings, misuse of public money and unprincipled relationships are the worst sins. And no one on earth is free or completely clean from these worst sins. True Parents said that even tithes are public money. Heavenly Parent and True Parents are forgiving all humanity and embracing all the people and all the sins through this Special Grace. But, more important than this Special Grace and Holy Wine Ceremony are our life of faith and our attitude after this Special Grace and Holy Wine Ceremony. Of course, it is the gravest sin to betray one’s spouse, but with my 20 years of experience in the Blessed Family Department, when someone discloses that he/she has fallen, it is very hard to maintain or recover the relationship or Blessing, in reality. However, it is very clear that the disclosure is not compulsory only for this Special Grace. True Mother told us firmly and strongly that this Special Grace will be the last.

Q1d: Concerning Second Generation who have fallen, we have been guiding people up to now based on the distinction made by True Father in his definition of the Cheon Il Guk Standard, that never having had a relationship with the opposite sex was different from having received forgiveness for some mistake (the former was made a necessary qualification for True Parents’ matching; the latter disqualified someone). When we conduct Blessing interviews for Second Generation from now on, we will ask only about their mistakes since taking the Special Grace Holy Wine. Answer: Yes, that is right. When we conduct Blessing interviews for Second Generation from now on, we should ask if they participated in the 2016 Holy Wine Ceremony and Special Grace and then ask if they have made mistakes after this Holy Wine Ceremony. If they did not participate in the 2016 Holy Wine Ceremony, then his/her life and mistakes as a whole should be discussed at the interview, with confessions related to any time period, including the time prior to the giving of the 2016 Special Grace.

Q2: Should all four Holy Items be distributed to each family at the ceremony? Are these to be given to individuals taking part as well, and is it only the Holy Earth that is multiplied by the church leader? Answer: All four Holy Items should be distributed to each family in seed form. Each blessed family should receive Holy Salt and a Holy Candle in seed form and multiply them according to the official process. But Holy Earth and Holy Wine always should be multiplied and given by the church leader. Holy Earth, though, would be needed only for the Seonghwa ceremony.

Q3: If one of a couple wants to receive the Holy Wine, faithful to True Mother, but the partner does not, can the faithful person receive it by himself or herself? (We are presuming they can.)

Answer: If they are not divorced, please tell the faithful person to do his/her best to bring the spouse and family to the Holy Wine Ceremony. One of the intentions and purposes of this Special Grace is to forgive and to bring all the people who lost their faith to Heavenly Parent’s side and to the church. Even after trying to bring the family to the church and to persuade them to participate in the Holy Wine Ceremony, if the spouse does not change his/her mind, then at least this faithful person should go alone to participate in the Holy Wine Ceremony.

Q4: If the husband and wife are in different places and cannot do the ceremony together, can each attend a ceremony, or can one do it for both (drinking wine in two parts – for the wife, then for the husband)? Answer: First of all, blessed families can do the one-day education seminar until the 2017 Foundation Day. Since there is time until next Foundation Day, it is advisable and required that both of them attend the one-day education seminar. However, to receive the four Holy Items, a person can go to church and receive it alone as a representative of the family. And if they have children, each member of the family should go to the nearest church where they are now and everyone should participate in the Holy Wine Ceremony. Meaning, each person can participate in the Holy Wine Ceremony in the country/place where they are now. In the case of the father and mother, according to the process of the Holy Wine Ceremony, the woman will drink the Holy Wine first and then the husband drinks it after the wife. Following this process, when the wife participates in the Holy Wine Ceremony alone, she can drink half of the Holy Wine as her portion and then drink the last half of the Holy Wine as her husband’s portion. When the husband participates in the Holy Wine Ceremony alone in the country where he is now, the process will be same.

Q5: When single members over 16 take the Holy Wine, do they simply drink the whole cup? Answer: If the person is an only child, she/he can drink the whole cup. But if the person has brothers and sisters, then they should take only one cup and share the Holy Wine among themselves. For example, if there are four brothers and sisters, they should divide and share the Holy Wine in one cup, and each person can take a little sip.

Q6: A widowed blessed person is living with a non-Unification Church person. How should we advise the blessed member? Answer: In the recent past [May 2014? - ed.], after a period where no comfort blessings had been granted, by True Parents’ Special Grace four couples participated in the Comfort Blessing in Cheong Pyeong. This was carried out with the assistance of Dae Mo nim, who had gained the consent and agreement of the original spouses in the spirit world. On this foundation only, they were able to conclude their original Blessing [temporarily? - ed.] and have the second Blessing with someone else in the physical world. However three important facts were: that this was only possible by True Parents’ Special Grace; it was done with Dae Mo nim’s help, which included gaining the consent of their original spouse; and after the ceremony, the widowed member and the new spouse participated in a 14-day workshop at the Chung Pyung Heaven and Earth Training Centre. If a person is in a Comfort Blessing given by True Parents, then this couple can participate together in this Special Grace Holy Wine Ceremony. But if not, there is no other solution but for the widowed member to maintain his/her original family and original relationship as husband and wife. The only way a blessed widowed brother or sister can participate in the Cheon Il Guk Holy Wine Ceremony is by finishing his/her relationship with the other woman/man. Is there a child between the blessed widowed person and the non-church person? If they have a child, it will be very complicated to solve the problem of their relationship, lineage and family foundation. It is also very complicated to restore a child in these circumstances. But if they do not have a child, only by terminating the relationship (and by getting legally divorced, if they already registered their marriage) and by repenting of the second

relationship, can the widowed member participate in the Cheon Il Guk Holy Wine Ceremony with the original spouse in the spirit world. Only if the widowed member has not broken the four-position foundation that the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind endowed, based on the Principle, can that person participate in the Cheon Il Guk Holy Wine Ceremony and live together with his/her child in the physical world, maintaining the original family foundation until going to the spirit world to meet the original spouse. The non-member also should go to the Cheon Il Guk Holy Wine Ceremony and go to the Blessing of married couples with someone else. If the widowed member and the second spouse leave the church in order to stay together outside the church, that will not solve the problem in the spirit world but instead will make it even more complicated. And the person suffering the most is the late husband or wife who is witnessing everything in the spirit world. We understand how hard it is for a widowed member to continue life alone. But this is the only way he or she can receive the Cheon Il Guk Holy Wine and Special Grace. And True Parents told us that even though someone in the family goes to the spirit world earlier, they are with their family in the physical world and they will all meet together again in the spirit world. That is why True Parents said individuals cannot go to Heaven but the whole family goes to Heaven together.

Q7: In the memo it says that a blessed child who has fallen should receive the Special Grace and attend “the next Blessing (2017),” but surely this means “at the earliest opportunity”– they may take time to find a suitable match, so presumably a later Blessing would be OK as well; is that right? Answer: It is not compulsory to attend the 2017 Foundation Day Blessing Ceremony. When Second Generation participate in the 2016 Holy Wine Ceremony, they are completely restored and purified to the position of blessed children before the Fall, as if they have not fallen. Therefore, they do have the option to attend a future Blessing Ceremony and not particularly the 2017 Blessing.

These answers were prepared by Rev. Sung-man Bang, translated by Ms. Minsook Joo and edited for clarity by myself.

David Hanna Blessed Family and Education Department