True Father's Seonghwa Holy Ascension and Inheriting the Tradition

As if True Father were preparing for his Holy Ascension, during the last three years of his life, beginning in 2010 when he proclaimed the heavenly calendar, he pushed himself relentlessly, to the point of being cruel to his own body. At his advanced age, traveling even once a year would be difficult. Nevertheless, he traveled overseas on more than ten occasions to speak at locations throughout the world. He maintained his schedule of daily Hoon Dok Hae and personally educated members, speaking about the urgency of advancing the providence.

For the sake of world restoration, True Father wanted to complete the unfinished providence for the United Nations. So on the 27th day of the 5th month by the heavenly calendar (July 16) in 2012, True Father inaugurated the Abel Women’s UN. This was the last providential organization he established in his lifetime.

A month before his Holy Ascension, on the 15th day of the 6th month by the heavenly calendar (August 2), True Father suddenly visited the Osan School, which had been relocated to Seoul from his hometown of Jeongju in North Korea.

There he took some time to reminisce over his life. The following week, on the 25th day of the 6th month (August 12) at the Cheon Jeong Gung Palace he prayed, “Dear God, blessed are You. Please allow me to offer my life for You. The next day, on the 26th day of the 6th month (August 13), he offered his final prayer on earth in which he proclaimed in the presence of True Mother, “I have finished all of my mission for the providence of restoration. At 1:54 a.m. on the 17th day of the 7th month by the heavenly calendar (September 3) in 2012, at the age of 93 by Korean counting, True Father ascended to heaven.

During the thirteen-day period following his Holy Ascension, countless people from virtually every nation came to pay their respects at memorial altars that were set up throughout the world. Leaders from the world, including many heads of state, sent floral tributes and messages of condolence. A message of condolence from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) via telegram stated, “Although Reverend Sun Myung Moon has passed on, all of his efforts and achievements to bring harmony and unity to the Korean people, to unify the Korean Peninsula, and to realize world peace, will be known forever. North Korea also conferred on True Father a special “Unification of the Fatherland Award.

Media outlets in Korea and throughout the world, including the Associated Press and CNN, treated the story of True Father’s passing as headline news. They published and broadcast special reports about his life and achievements, which highlighted that True Father’s entire life was one of true love and dedicated to world peace. In this way, people around the world expressed their condolences over the passing of True

During this time, members from across the world gathered every morning at the Cheongshim Peace World Center, where they offered prayers, devotion and Hoon Dok Hae. At Cheon Jeong Gung Palace, where True Father’s body lay in state, heads of state and former heads of state, leaders from throughout the world, and an endless line of members paid their respects.

At the Ipjeon Ceremony (when the body is placed in the coffin) on the day before True Father’s Seonghwa (Holy Ascension Ceremony), True Mother declared her determination, saying, “As long as I remain alive, I will devote myself completely to the establishment of Cheon Il Guk on earth.

On the following day, the 29th day of the 7th month by the heavenly calendar (September 15), True Mother officiated the Holy Ascension Ceremony at the Cheongshim Peace World Center. An enormous crowd attended, including thirty-one religious leaders representing different religions and denominations from Korea and around the world, current and former heads of state, and more than 30,000 blessed members of the church. They crowded inside and outside the Peace World Center as well as in the meeting halls of the Chung Pyung Training Center.

On the day of the Holy Ascension Ceremony, the funeral procession bearing True Father’s casket departed from Cheon Jeong Gung Palace at 10:00 a.m. and, proceeding slowly, arrived at the Peace World Center 40 minutes later. With two True Children in the lead and True Mother and the rest of the True Family following behind, twelve pallbearers bore True Father’s casket into the Peace Center, where it was placed atop a platform covered in roses and lilies.

Amid outpourings of emotion from the crowd, distinguished guests from Korea and overseas offered tributes praising True Father’s legacy. One said, “Reverend Moon, you have left behind many accomplishments that we must continue to develop. You are the victor who led the way for inter-religious harmony and taught all of us to follow the will of God. Your life accomplishments will always be remembered. The ceremony, which lasted two hours, was webcast by Internet to members around the world. All had an opportunity to unite with the teaching and love of True Father and make a new determination to work toward the settlement of Cheon Il Guk.

As True Father’s casket left the Peace Center and headed back to Cheon Jeong Gung Palace, shouts of “We love you! You worked so hard! We will attend you forever! rang out. As the funeral procession climbed the road to Mt. Cheonseong, members holding flags, roses and lilies pledged with shouts and tears, “True Father, we will fulfill your will without fail! We will unceasingly move forward with True Mother, and we will be victorious!

True Father’s casket arrived at the burial site, called the Bonhyangwon (Original Home Garden), and there the Won Jeon Ceremony took place. After a reading about the reality of the spirit world, members of the True Family and other representatives each offered a rose, then a shovelful of soil. The ceremony closed with everyone joining in three cheers of Eog-mansei, “Eog-mansei for the true, holy and virtuous Lord of

Cheon Il Guk, who reigns over myriad peoples, is triumphant on all levels and inaugurates the era of peace and prosperity!

“Eog-mansei for the Won Jeon Ceremony for the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind! This concluded the 13 days during which True Father was sent off to the next world, filled with tributes and heartfelt love from all over the world.

You do not understand God’s situation. I am sitting here in front of you because I know about it. What do you think I want at the age of 92? I don’t want anything. I am trying to give whatever I have to others. Even as I speak to you, I am choking up. If you had eyes in the back of your head to see all your shameful past, all you could do would be to cover your face and run away.

I would like to go with you and protect you; however, the responsibility of the Son and the Daughter whose mission is to pioneer the way of heaven is a fearful one. Korea could vanish. Asia could vanish. The entire world could vanish. Until you die, you may not understand what I am saying.

Where do you think I want to go right now? It is a place I miss so much, where when I was a boy, I came to know the will and wept countless tears. Whenever I had a chance, I would hold onto one particular tree and weep so bitterly, thinking that no one before me ever understood God’s situation. When I went to North Korea I visited that place, but the tree was gone; someone had cut it down. I am thinking of restoring that place to its original form.

When you can follow in my footsteps, shedding tears of gratitude, and move together with me, that fatherland of my birth will begin to revive. That is how you can liberate me. I will leave this world with such a hope in my heart, but it is you, who actually live in this world, who can do it. I will have to pass away, and when I do, I will entrust this world into your hands.

I suffered in the prime of my youth. Because of the course of suffering that I passed through during all the younger years of my life, I could not give my own sons and daughters and their children all the blessings that I wanted to give them. My only wish now is to become the ancestor who can bequeath all of them to your future descendants. I have no other wish. That is my only desire.

In order to take responsibility for God’s bitter pain and sorrow, I think that I should go to the spirit world quickly. When I go there, I will appear before God as a devoted son. He will invest me with a royal robe. Then, I will make a new start.

When God sees me, he will kiss me and tell me that ever since I was a little baby, he has loved me more than any prince or princess in the world. I already know His heart as my Parent.

He would want to hold onto me and promise me in tears over and over again, “I will not let you suffer anymore, not for thousands of years, not for all of eternity. Because God has such a heart, when I stand before Him I cannot say, “Heavenly Father, look at all that I have done for You. I already know the love

the Father has for me. I know that as soon as I arrive in the spirit world and say, “Heavenly Father, here I am, even if he is sitting on a throne thousands of stories above, he will rush to be with me, shedding tears.

Now the time has come for me to send you out. It means that you need to have your own foundation. When I am in the spirit world, do you think that I should make your foundation? Should I go to the spirit world or not? Should I go to the spirit world soon, or later?

We have not yet opened the age when the ideal that God harbored in His heart is fully realized. Those in the spirit world have not been fully educated either. I should educate them. The time has come for me to assemble all the spirits, even if I have to compel them to come. When I say something there, it will instantly take effect, like a constitutional decree.

People do not realize how polluted the vast spirit world has become. I am the only one who can straighten it out, so the spirit world is waiting for me. Our life on this earth is like a transit station. That is why I must go to the original homeland and help the people there secure their place.

During the forty days after Father’s Seonghwa, he visited many places in the spirit world. He met the providential figures in history, and he personally experienced the situation that existed when God created heaven and earth. Throughout those 40 days, Father visited me at Cheon Jeong Gung, and I spoke with him heart to heart. Father’s thoughts were my thoughts, and my thoughts were his.

True Father and I resolved that we will compete the final phase of God’s providential work with oneness in heart, oneness in mind, oneness in thought and oneness in harmony. In particular, True Father agreed with me 120 percent when I told him I would revive the Korean church with Spirit and Truth.

Today, having concluded that forty-day period, we are at the starting point of a new providence. True Father is making a new start in the spirit world. Hence, in order to return glory to heaven and bring settlement to Cheon Il Guk on earth, we also will have to make a life-and-death determination and totally invest ourselves. We must walk in step with True Father.

The forty days after True Father’s Seonghwa is a special period when Father and I, with one accord, are preparing for a new start in the providence. Suppose you buy a new house. What is the first thing you do when you enter your new house? First, you turn on the lights. Next, you place your belongings in the right places.

Only when everything is in order do you start living in your new house. That is what we are doing during these 40 days after Father’s Seonghwa. It is a very important period for Father and me. When I told Father, “I will bring the church back to the spirit of the church in the early days, making it live and breathe with Spirit and Truth, Father replied, “Mother, thank you very, very much!

Now the time of Father’s Seonghwa is over. During that time we had to take care of so many things. Since you did not know everything from A to Z, you could not do everything that was required. However, now, when it comes to the work of the church, you know what you must do. Hence, I am asking that you assist one another in each area of responsibility to complete your tasks with unchanging love and devotion, and also that you fulfill your given responsibilities.

You are the people who directly attended True Father in this age. As members who received the Blessing, you grew up personally listening to True Father’s words. Although you were unable to fulfill everything according to his direction, I urge you that even now, you compress ten years into one. Make a life-or- death determination and invest yourselves completely. You need to live such a life every day.