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SOME BASIC QUESTIONS ON NAJU
Question #1
: What is the
reason for and significance of Julia Kim's sufferings ?
Question #2
: What is the
meaning of the miraculous descents of the Eucharist in Naju?
Question #3
: What is the
meaning of the miraculous descents of the Lord's Precious Blood on the Blessed
Mother's Mountain in Naju ?
Question #4
: Isn't the
devotion to the Blessed Mother excessive among those who make pilgrimages to
Naju?
Question #5
: Some saythat, if we are diligent in the ordinary practice of the faith, we need not accept the messages and miraculous signs in places like Naju. Isn't this true?
Question #1
: What is the
reason for and significance of Julia Kim's sufferings?
Answer : Our
Lord atoned for all human sins more than sufficiently by suffering pains and
dying on the Cross. Nobody else can
replace this role of Our Lord as the Savior of the human race. Jesus Christ is the only Savior for us, who
can fully satisfy the divine justice that has been offended by our sins and
demands reparation. At the same time,
Our Lord wills that His followers participate in His work of human redemption
with their own sacrifices, sufferings, and other works of charity, and thus
help His graces flow more abundantly to numerous sinners so that His work of
human salvation may bear more fruit and become completed. With His compassion and mercy God sees our
prayers and penances and bestows overflowing graces upon many people for their
repentance, despite our unworthiness.
Explanation
: In our modern age, there is a strong tendency for people to
think everything in the context of their own goals, desires, and preferences
instead of doing God's Will and seeking His glory. Because of this, their perception of the
concept of "sin" has become diluted and blurred. When we ourselves stand in the center of our
value judgment, we are going to become less sensitive to the concept of "sin",
which is an offense against God, and less eager to avoid it and more sensitive
to what we ourselves want. Instead of
seeing evil in the sins we commit against God, we may see evil in whatever
prevents us from satisfying our own wishes.
The true fact is, however, that sin, that is, an offense against God Who
is the source of all truths, justice, goodness, and love, is the greatest
possible evil and misfortune possible in human lives. Losing one's health, failing in business, and
losing wealth and honor certainly are misfortunes, but committing sins by
offending our Creator, damaging peace, good will and respect with our
neighbors, and becoming unable to achieve eternal life is undoubtedly the
greatest evil that can befall us.
Animals cannot commit
sins, as they do not have free will, but humans were given free will and can
willingly choose to serve God or choose not to serve Him. The whole Christian Faith is focused on how
we can be cleansed of the original sin and our own actual sins and be
sanctified by living in conformity with God's Will. The lives of all the Saints in the entire
Church history have also been focused on the same objective. Our Lord also instituted the Seven Sacraments
in the Church for the purpose of cleansing us from sins and giving us the
graces we need. It is also the priests'
duty to sternly warn people against the evils of the world, prod them to repent
of their sins and do penance, and encourage them to strive to advance in virtues,
especially charity, and, thus, sanctify themselves with the help of God's
graces.
In order to save humans from the misery of their sins, which are their
greatest misfortunes, God the Son became incarnate and suffered death, thus,
atoning for all human sins and reconciling the human race with God. By embracing this fact with faith, repenting
of our sins, and being baptized, we can start the journey of salvation as
members of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ.
On the other hand, according to the Protestant reformist thinking,
salvation can be attained simply by professing our faith in Jesus Christ as our
Savior, and no further human efforts can contribute to our salvation, even
though a virtuous life and avoidance of sins are encouraged as fruits of the
faith. Many Protestants pray a lot, do
charitable works, and even fast frequently, but none of these are believed to
make any difference regarding whether we are saved or not. What is missing in that thinking is the truth
that a positive response on our part to the graces from the Lord is necessary
for our salvation as long as we live on earth and, therefore, working out one's
salvation, which means "our sanctification", is a lifetime
task. Without understanding this truth,
it will be difficult to appreciate this concept of "our participation
in the Lord's sufferings".
Actually, even many Catholics nowadays do not seem to understand the
significance of "our participation in the Lord's redemptive sufferings",
and, thereby, our becoming little helpers for the Lord. This is a sad consequence of the widespread
propagation of the Protestant ideas even among many Catholics. A correct understanding of the authentic
Catholic teachings has so weakened in our age.
Concerning how we can achieve salvation, Our Lord said:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my
Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21) and
"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).
St. Paul the Apostle also said:
"With fear and trembling work out your
salvation" (Phil. 2:12) and
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your
sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of
Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Col. 1:24).
Our Lord is saying that professing the faith alone is not enough to
attain salvation and that we should live a life of following the will of God
the Father and we should follow the Lord, carrying our own cross every
day. To this, some may protest, "You
mean Our Lord's sufferings and death were insufficient for our salvation? Can't we just accept the fact of His Passion
and thank Him for that?"
However, the question here is not regarding the sufficiency of the
Lord's sufferings for atoning for all human sins. In 1343, Pope Clement VI said that even the
tiniest drop of the Lord's blood would be more than enough to cleanse all the
sins of the human race. This is because
Our Lord is fully human and fully divine as God the Son, and, therefore, even
his smallest suffering has an infinite value in atoning for human sins.
Despite this infinite merit of the Lord's
sufferings, however, we humans still have our free will and thus can willingly
choose to accept the saving graces from the Lord or choose to resist and reject
them. This is true not just at any
particular moment but throughout our lives on earth. Because we have this free will, we need to
use it properly and manage our thoughts, words, and actions accordingly every
day and at every moment, so that we may always remain in the truth, justice,
and love of the Lord. Conversely, by
misusing our free will, we can go against the Lord's Will with our thoughts,
words, and actions and fall off from the way of salvation. Actually, because of the misuse of their free
will by so many people, rebellions against God and His Commandments are rampant
all over the world. Also, even if one
becomes a member of the Church, it does not automatically mean that he will
continue to be faithful to the Lord's Will and help His work of human
salvation. Even if one has the faith,
works may not follow unless the free will cooperates.
Our Lord entrusted the task of making the saving graces known and healing
the sick souls and sanctifying them to the Church. As members of the Church, we all have this
mission from the Lord, Who is the Founder and Head of the Church. Of course, He did not tell us to do it with
our own power only. The Lord said,
"Without me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5). We can bear good fruit only by remaining in
union with the Lord, by receiving His graces, and by relying on the power of
the Holy Spirit. When St. Paul the
Apostle said that in his flesh he was filling up what was lacking in the
afflictions of Christ on behalf of His Church, he meant that, by participating
in the Lord's sufferings, he was making a contribution to the sanctification of
the members of the Church - in other words, he was helping the body (that is,
the members) of the Church achieve what had already been achieved in the Head,
relying on the graces from the Head, which is Christ Himself.
As this same work has been entrusted to every
member of the Church, we need to offer up sacrifices, reparations, and prayers
in our daily lives, thus contributing to the growth and sanctification of the
Church and the evangelization of the whole human race. By doing this all of us can become little
helpers to the Savior, that is, little co-redeemers. That we can become co-redeemers for Christ is
not because His merit is lacking but because, with His goodness and generosity,
He wills that we freely and lovingly participate in His work, making little but
real contributions to the accomplishment of His plan, which will increase His
glory. In the Protestant thinking, human
salvation is dependent solely on the merits of Our Lord's suffering and
shedding His Blood, which are of course irreplaceable by anyone else's, but
this thinking leaves no room for our cooperation. Martin Luther himself was pessimistic about
humans' free will, as he believed that human nature was irreparably
corrupt. Regarding this subject, the
Church teaches as follows:
"God is the sovereign master of his
plan. But to carry it out he also makes
use of his creatures' cooperation. This
use is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God's greatness
and goodness. For God grants his
creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their
own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of cooperating in
the accomplishment of his plan" (Catechism of the Catholic Church #306).
Throughout the past two thousand years of Church history, countless
Christians were martyred in defense of the Christian Faith. In Korea
also, between 1784, when Seung-Hoon Lee, a Confucian scholar visiting China, was
baptized with the baptismal name of Peter, and the end of the 19th
Century, about 20,000 Catholics were martyred. One hundred and three of them have been raised to Sainthood so far. These martyrdoms were ultimate sacrifices
through participation in Christ's Passion as well as the strongest possible
testimonies that humans can give to the Lord and His messages. It probably is because of these numerous
sacrifices that God is bestowing special graces upon Korea, by means of special messages
and miraculous signs of unprecedented intensity and depth in Naju. Furthermore, probably because of Julia's
ceaseless prayers and extreme sufferings, God continues to send down the graces
of conversion despite the persistent rejection by many people including some
clergy.
Question #2
: What is the
meaning of the miraculous descents of the Eucharist in Naju?
Answer
: In order to give more
graces to the children in the world, the Lord and the Blessed Mother have
repeatedly asked that a tabernacle be installed in the Chapel in Naju, but this
has not been done yet because the local bishop has not approved it. Being anxious about this, Our Lord has
repeatedly come down directly to the Chapel in Naju in the form of the Sacred
Hosts.
In Church history, we can read about many
Saints who received Communion directly from the Lord or through an angel,
especially when they were not able to go to church because of illness or other
unavoidable difficulties. In Naju also,
as Julia has not been able to go to church for the past several years, the Lord
has come directly to her in the form of the Eucharist on several occasions so
far.
The Bishop of Kwangju and other liberal
priests in Korea
insist that the Eucharist cannot exist except through priests'
consecration. When we read the Church
teaching carefully, however, we can clearly understand that the Church is
teaching that the validly-ordained priests only can do the Eucharistic
consecration (against the Waldensian and other heresies that advocated general
priesthood) and is not teaching that the Eucharist can exist only through
priests' consecration.
Question #3
: What is the
meaning of the miraculous descents of the Lord's Precious Blood on the Blessed
Mother's Mountain in Naju?
Answer
: Let us first review
the Church teaching on the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord:
"His Paschal mystery is a real event
that occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events
happen once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. The Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast,
cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and
all that Christ is - all that he did and suffered for all men -
participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being
made present in them all. The event of
the Cross and Resurrection abides and draws everything toward life" (Catechism
of the Catholic Church #1085).
Ever since 1980 when Julia was rescued by the Lord from the danger
of death caused by her terminal colon cancer and embraced the Catholic Faith
(which was five years before the Blessed Mother's first weeping through her
statue), it has been repeatedly made clear through the messages and signs in
Naju that the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord's Passion and Resurrection along with
Our Lady's close association with this Mystery is an ever-present reality. For this reason, we need to always be aware
of the continuing reality of Our Lord's miserable bleeding and Our Lady's
weeping tears of blood because of our many sins, indifference, and pride and
also need to realize that the miraculous signs of the Precious Blood and tears
of blood in Naju are not an exaggeration for the purpose of increasing the
educational effects or phenomena that only correspond to what can be seen in
visions but are the signs that point to the true reality that is always with
us. Especially, in the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass, even though Our Lord's suffering and resurrection are not externally
visible, the Eucharist, which is truly the Lord Himself, is offered up as a
sacrifice in atonement for our sins and we also unite ourselves with the Lord's
Passion and Resurrection especially
through Holy Communion. The Mass is the
same as the Lord's Sacrifice on Golgotha and
His Resurrection two thousand years ago as a true and permanent extension of
this Paschal Mystery. So, whenever we
are at Mass, we should be aware that we are truly with the Lord being
sacrificed on the Cross, with the Blessed Mother, who combines her own immense
sufferings with Her Son's and offers them up to God the Father as the Associate
to the Savior, and also with all the Saints and Angels who also participate in
the celebration of this Mystery. In
addition to the Mass, the Lord is present and at work in all other Sacraments
of the Church for the purpose of forgiving our sins and giving us the graces
that we need.
The miraculous descents of the Lord's Precious Blood and all other
miracles and messages in Naju are God's own testimonies intended to deepen our
appreciation of God's work of human salvation that is always with us as a true,
living reality and make us more zealous in participating in it.
Question #4
: Isn't the
devotion to the Blessed Mother excessive among those who make pilgrimages to
Naju?
Answer
: If it were true that
our salvation could be achieved simply by professing our faith in Jesus Christ
as our Savior, the role of anyone other than Jesus Himself for our salvation
would be a hindrance rather than a help.
Also, if we could safely abandon our faith in the role of the Church in
our journey toward salvation and in the Doctrine of the Communion of the
Saints, which we profess in the Apostles Creed, and we only need to
focus on our direct communication with God, we would certainly feel that any
help from the Blessed Virgin Mary or other Saints would not only be unnecessary
but also be an obstacle in achieving our salvation.
However, humans are not only individuals but also are members of
various communities such as families, schools, workplaces, regional
communities, nation, the Church, and so on.
It would be unnatural and unrealistic to think of human beings in the
individual context only, ignoring their social character. In the Old Testament, we can see that God
dealt with the Israelites both as individuals and as a people. When God the Father sent His Only Son as the
Savior of the world, He did not send Him down on clouds but let Him be born as
the son of a woman like any other human baby.
After His Birth, Jesus grew up as a member of the Holy Family, as a
Nazarene, as a Jew, and as a member of the human race. He also died on the Cross not only as an
individual but representing the whole human race. He did establish His Church, of which He is
the Head and his followers are the members, so that His work of human salvation
may reach people in all corners of the world and in all times until the end of
the world through this Church. This Church
is His Family and His Kingdom that He wills to nurture and perfect with the
help of all His followers.
The Baby Jesus born of Mary grew up with as much dependence on the
mother's love and care as any human baby. Throughout His youth and adult years, the total unity and cooperation
between the Son and His Mother remained intimate and grew stronger. St. John Eudes of the 17th Century
described this special closeness between the Lord and His Mother as the
mystical unity of their two Hearts. In
the Gospels also, we get some glimpse of the togetherness between the Lord and
His Mother - for example, we can read the accounts of the miracle at the
wedding at Cana, the Blessed Mother's suffering with the Lord carrying the
Cross and dying on it, and the Blessed Mother's being together with His
Apostles in the upper room in Jerusalem praying and awaiting the Coming of the
Holy Spirit. Many Popes have elaborated
on this profound truth to enlighten our minds.
Pope Leo XIII said in his encyclical: Jucunda Sempter (September
8, 1894): Mary was associated with Jesus in the painful work of the
redemption of mankind. Pope St. Pius
X called the Blessed Mother "the repairer of the fallen world"
and said that she was united to the redemptive work of her Son in his encyclical:
Ad diem illum (February 2, 1904).
In the same encyclical, Pope St. Pius X also called the Blessed Mother
"the dispenser of all gifts, which Jesus has acquired for us by His
death and His blood." Pope Pius
XII said in his encyclical: Mystici Corporis, 1943): "she
offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of
her maternal rights and her motherly love like a new Eve for all children of
Adam." Pope Pius XII
promulgated a dogma of the Blessed Mother's Assumption in his encyclical: Munificentissimus
Deus (November 1, 1950): "Mary, the immaculate perpetually Virgin
Mother of God, after the completion of her earthly life, was assumed body and
soul into the glory of Heaven".
Thus, the Blessed Mother, while being in the indescribable glory and joy
in Heaven, never forgets us, who are still trudging on the difficult road of
reparation and sanctification, but constantly prays for us and helps us
whenever we seek her help, because she is our true Mother. Therefore, as members of the Church, which is
God's Family and Kingdom, we honor the Blessed Mother as our Mother and our
Queen, and rely on her boundless motherly love and queenly mercy and
generosity, as she is in the closest union with God that is possible to His
creature and is filled with God's graces, especially for the sake of all her
children.
We could be complacent and say
that we are doing quite well and do not really need a mother's help or that we
are grown-ups and should be more independent, but are we really that mature and
capable concerning our lives, especially regarding the spiritual and moral
matters and eternity? Is it really wise
and safe for us to alienate ourselves from the Mother while walking on the
difficult and dangerous road of working out our salvation? Our Lord said that those who are poor in
heart will enter the Heavenly Kingdom and we cannot enter the Heavenly Kingdom
unless we become like children. The
Blessed Mother never weakens our worship, love, and loyalty toward God but
always leads us to Him and nurtures us in His truth and love. That the Church has its Mother is a powerful
sign of God's love and goodness toward us and a convincing sign of hope for
us.
Our current age is a human-centered and
materialistic age and is more unfaithful to God than in any other age in human
history. It is also an age when the intense love for the Blessed Mother and
devotion to her in the minds and hearts of all the Saints in Church history
have faded away. When our love for the
Blessed Mother is restored, our loyalty to God will also be restored.
Question #5
: Some say
that, if we are diligent in the ordinary practice of the faith, we need not
accept the messages and miraculous signs in places like Naju. Isn't this true?
Answer
: On September 22,
1995, right after Bishop Roman Danylak from Canada witnessed a miracle of the
Eucharistic species changing into live flesh and blood in the shape of a heart
on Julia's tongue during an open-air Mass on the Blessed Mother's Mountain near
Naju, Our Lord gave the following message through Julia: "Because My Mother's loving and kind
words for the past several centuries have been ignored, sin has reached a
saturation point, even within the Church." Our Lord meant that, because too many people
had ignored the Blessed Mother's anxious messages through St. Catherine Labour?
in Paris, France, in 1830, St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France, in 1858, three
children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, and elsewhere, the world has fallen into
such moral degradation and unfaithfulness to God as now and this crisis has
spread in the Church as well.
The so-called "private revelations", which were
more correctly called "special revelations" in the Council of
Trent, are never intended to bring any new truths. (Thus, if any reported messages claim to
contain new teachings or alter the existing ones, this would be clear evidence
that they are not true.) Special
revelations are the messages and miraculous signs that God sends to the people
of a particular age to warn them of the dangers that they have fallen into
through their neglect and unfaithfulness and to encourage them to make
corrections. Special revelations are different
from the officially-defined Church doctrines in terms of the nature of the
obligation they impose upon the faithful.
In the case of the defined teachings, all the members of the Church are
obligated to accept them as infallible divine truths, whereas special
revelations are calls to actions and prod people to take the existing teachings
more seriously and act upon them accordingly.
Our obligations regarding the defined
truths and the special revelations are of the same nature in that, in both
cases, the sender of the revelations is God Himself (of course, assuming that
the special revelation in question is genuine).
We may not reject either revelation without being disrespectful of God,
from Whom both revelations originate.
The consequence of rejecting either revelation can be terrible. In the times of Noah and the Great Deluge,
most people were laughing at the warning from God and perished as a
result. In the case of the people in Nineveh, in contrast,
they listened to God's message through Jonah, acted upon it, and avoided God's
chastisement. Also in Guadalupe in 1531,
the Blessed Mother's miraculous image and messages were well responded to and,
as a result, most people in Mexico
were able to abandon idolatry and embrace the Catholic Faith.
We may feel secure,
because we observe the Commandments and are exemplary members of the parish
community, and conclude that we can do without the special revelations from
God. If we truly love God and are humble
before Him, however, we would find it difficult to ignore what He tells and
shows us through the Blessed Mother with such urgency and anxiety. Can we say that, if I can be saved and my
family can be saved, we need not worry about others? The Lord and the Blessed Mother suffer
extreme pains because of the sins in the world and are so anxious to save even
one more person. As members of the
Church, we are solemnly obligated to help other people come to the knowledge of
God's truths, practice the Faith, and be saved.
In Naju, the Blessed Mother has repeatedly said that the fate of this
world depends on whether we accept her messages and signs and act upon
them. Human resistance against God's
messages has lasted too long, and His chastisement seems to be intensifying.
Benedict Sang M. Lee
Mary's Touch By Mail
Gresham, Oregon, U. S. A.
September 8, 2005
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