What is the Blessing Offering and Why Is It Important?
The Blessing Offering is a big part of the process of receiving the Blessing. Although the Blessing is a bit down the road for you, it's important to start considering its value to you and start saving up for your epic day.
Some people are excited by the idea of saving up and making their offering of genuine gratitude for receiving the Blessing. Other people, understandably, struggle with the idea of making a monetary offering to receive the Blessing.
In this article, we'll explain its purpose and hopefully get you excited to start saving up.
What is the Blessing Offering?
The Blessing Offering is a big part of our tradition. It was standardized by True Parents in the amount of $2000, and is a personal monetary contribution of sincerity and responsibility when receiving the Blessing.
Why’s this offering significant?
What’s it used for?
Why’s it important?
The Blessing Offering means different things to different people.
First and foremost, it’s a substantial condition to receive the Blessing, as well as all of its historic value for one’s family and lineage.
One participant of the upcoming Marriage Blessing put it, “If people understood the value of the Blessing and could buy the Blessing, they would want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Spiritually, these funds belong to True Parents. Traditionally, a small portion of the fee will be used to cover the costs of the actual Blessing event, and the remainder is used only for the education and support of the families in our community.
Four ways the Blessing Offering can be significant
1. Giving money is a sincere way to show gratitude and responsibility
A sincere monetary contribution shows that we are sincere and take responsibility for what we are contributing to.
True Father coined the term “5% human portion of responsibility.” We human beings all have free will and responsibility, and so does Heavenly Parent. But He takes the majority of the responsibility and we take a smaller percentage. Heavenly Parent and True Parents do 95% of the work for us to receive the Blessing, and contributing the Blessing Offering is our 5% responsibility. When we go the rest of the way, we are giving back to Heavenly Parent, rather than just receiving.
2. It helps sponsor your local Blessing Ceremony
If you receive the Blessing in the U.S., a portion is given directly to the local community to sponsor an elegant and meaningful celebration for the local couples and guests.
3. It helps cover your expenses while in Korea for the Blessing
If you’re going to Korea for the Blessing, a portion is used to help cover your expenses while in Korea, from a fantastic Blessing Ceremony to transportation to the resort lodging to Korean meals to sightseeing.
4. It funds programs that support families and couples
The remainder is used exclusively to support families by funding the projects, programs, and services of the Blessing & Family Ministry, nationally and locally. Some of these projects you may have heard of, including the Matching and Blessing educational workshops, development of Matching support resources, parents' education, 24+ Connect retreats for singles, educational curricula for local communities, BFM website, and promotion, and much more.
