On Special Grace & the Blessing

Contributed by Christian Nseka, BFM Assistant Director

A Special Grace is a ceremony that we go through after our True Parents have established appropriate conditions allowing us to connect to a new providence that we really do not qualify for. For instance in 2016, after True Mother declared the providence of the settlement of the Cheon Il Guk, we did a Special Grace Ceremony. During this ceremony, every household received a box of Holy Item. In each box, besides the usual Holy Items, there was Cheon Il Guk Holy Soil. This was the first time that Holy Soil was bequeathed to members. The reason being, in my understanding, because we entered a providence of substantiating a physical territory for God⎯Cheon Il Guk.

Contrary to what some people may think, Special Grace is not True Mother’s invention. In 2010, there was a Special Grace Ceremony on October 14th, which was based on the Completion of the Settlement of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth, and Humankind.

Every Special Grace Ceremony entails two key elements: (1) repentance and, when applicable, a pledge of doing better from the participants, which is called a resolution form. Upon that foundation, (2) participants will drink Holy Wine to mark the new start, which connects them to the providence that the Special Grace Ceremony was organized for. 

That is a general overview of any Special Grace offered by our True Parents. There is also, however, a Special Grace that some Blessed Children receive before receiving the Blessing. In other words, there is a Special Grace that our True Parents offer to Blessed Children who wish to participate in a Hyojeong Cosmic Blessing Ceremony but need to requalify because of something that happened prior to making the commitment to receive the Blessing.

In a sense, we can say that there are two types of Special Graces offered by our True Parents. The first one is a Special Grace offered when there is a new providential milestone. This Special Grace is offered in order to close the gap between our standard and the standard required for the new providence. This Special Grace is offered to everybody regardless of the generation and regardless of the purity level prior to the Special Grace Ceremony.

The second one is a Special Grace offered to Blessed Children who have taken courses of action that are not in agreement with the standard that our True Parents have set for the Hyojeong Cosmic Blessing. Any Blessed Child who forgoes sexual purity will need Special Grace in order to participate in a Hyojeong Cosmic Blessing Ceremony.

It is a struggle for any parent whose Blessed Child needs Special Grace in order to receive the Blessing. Since it is so for a Blessed Parent, can we imagine how much of a struggle and heartbreak it is for our True Parents who have gone through unspeakable ordeals to secure the providence of the Blessing? Because Blessed Children are born through the Blessing, i.e., in God’s lineage, they are directly True Parents’ responsibilities. 

Blessed Children are the pride of our True Parents. A source of joy. However, they may also be a source of more heartache when they do not value their identity. When this happens, it becomes something that our True Parents must indemnify. This is regardless of whether a Blessed Child belongs to the physical lineage of True Parents such as a True Child or a True Grandchild. It also doesn’t matter where a Blessed Child was born or lives—Korea, Japan, somewhere in the Americas, in Europe, Africa, or somewhere in Asia.

Blessed Children may be born of their parents physically, but they are True Parents’ children by their eternal identity. This is because they are the byproduct of the work of the True Parents. They are the results of the work and any foundation that our True Parents established for the salvation of humanity. This is why any mishap by a Blessed Child becomes a problem for our True Parents.

This business of saving humanity cost Jesus his life. And he could only provide spiritual salvation. Our True Parents have been able to establish the foundation upon which humanity can receive complete salvation. Do we know what type of ordeal our True Parents had to go through? Have we ever thought about how many times True Father had to overcome death in order to establish the foundation for saving humanity through the Blessing?

It is no secret that True Father was married before marrying True Mother. The point here is that most, if not all, of us, ignore the fact that True Father never started the Blessing providence until he married True Mother. Is that a coincidence or is it that the young Hak Ja Han was the missing piece of the puzzle?

The Blessing providence was not possible before True Father found True Mother. Neither would it have been possible without True Mother. Are we still to continue to think that True Father did it all alone? Have we ever thought about the sacrifices True Mother has had to make throughout her life for our salvation?

Even though True Father started to establish the foundation of the Blessing before meeting True Mother, whatever foundation he established could not have been substantiated without True Mother’s participation and fulfillment of her portion of responsibility. This means that any oath that True Father took, or any responsibility that he accepted in establishing the foundation for human salvation through the Blessing, has been shared with and inherited by True Mother.

The providence of saving humanity from satanic bondage is a life and death endeavor. Hence, anybody fulfilling the mission of the Messiah does so at the cost of their life. This is how serious the mission of the Messiah is. We ought not to forget that Jesus’ life was cut short because he was determined to save humanity.

Jesus and True Parents have undertaken their salvation duties with the mindset of giving life for life. They are willing to save humanity even if it costs them their lives. They are willing to save humanity even if Satan will take away everything from them. Of course, this does not mean that they will sit idle and let Satan have his way, but it means that they will be subjected to unbearable pains and heartbreaks. And most of it has been and will be because of our shortcomings.

The Blessing is, by itself, a grace offered by our True Parents for the salvation of humanity. This explains why everybody who is preparing for the Blessing is expected to do a Blessing Interview (confession). This means that married couples who are preparing for the Blessing should also do a Blessing Interview. 

Once again, our True Parents went through hell to make the Blessing happen. And today, our True Mother continues to do so when establishing a special foundation upon which to offer a Special Grace Ceremony to those who need it. Wouldn’t it be nice if there came a time when our True Parents wouldn’t have to offer any Jeong Seong to compensate for our shortcomings?

Sorry True Parents for our shortcomings.