17th Anniversary of the Blessed Mother's first weeping tears of blood
? Oct 19, 2003
Praise Jesus and Mary! I pray that the Blessed Mother's
words: Together with my Son Jesus I bless you all gathered here in my
name, will be realized to all of you around the world who love Our Lady of
Naju. I wish the combined Love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary be with you.
On this 17th anniversary of the Blessed Mother's
first weeping tears of blood in Naju, about 1,000 pilgrims including many from
abroad came to the Blessed Mother's mountain and, then, participated in the
overnight prayer meeting in the Chapel. They did not come looking for more
miracles and signs but came because of their love for the Lord and the Blessed
Mother, after realizing the truth from God through the Blessed Mother who has
been showing us the shortcut to eternal life.
The sky was clear without any clouds. There were many
pilgrims on the Blessed Mother's mountain from early morning. The atmosphere on
the mountain was fresh and holy, as many pilgrims were quietly praying and some
were drinking the water from the Blessed Mother's spring.
At 11 a.m., Mass began near the statue of the risen Lord at
the 15th Station on the Way of the Cross. The Mass was concelebrated
by five priests: Fr. Francis Su from Malaysia, Fr. Louis Bosmans from Canada,
Fr. John from Indonesia, Fr. Yanus from Poland, and Fr. Clemens from Hong Kong.
The Korean pilgrims thanked the Lord and the Blessed Mother for sending these
foreign priests so that they could attend Mass on this mountain commemorating
this important anniversary. People prayed for their personal needs as well as
for the official recognition of Naju as soon as possible.
In the middle of the Mass, fragrant oil with milky color came
down upon the altar. The pilgrims were also greatly consoled by the strong
fragrance of roses coming from the direction of the altar during Mass.
I could see that the pilgrims who came to the Blessed
Mother's mountain and her Chapel in Naju were forming a chain of burning love
for the Lord and the Blessed Mother and also were becoming a reason for greater
hope for the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Mother. An intense
fragrance of roses covered the whole mountain as a sign of the Blessed Mother's
welcoming her children. The pilgrims deeply inhaled this fragrance as if they
were trying to replace all the dirty odors in their souls and hearts with the
holy and pure fragrance from the Blessed Mother.
At 12:30 p.m., Tom from the United States and other pilgrims
from abroad did the Stations of the Cross. Afterwards, it was the lunch time.
Many of the pilgrims were sharing food with each other.
At 3 p.m., pilgrims began the Stations of the Cross in
Korean. They meditated on the Blessed Mother's message on August 29, 1989:
In order to avoid the approaching calamities, the children who have been
called must climb Mt. Calvary with a deep, silent love—without sighs or
lamentations, even if they are ruthlessly despised and are insulted under the
heavy burden of pains. Thus, they are being crucified together with my Son
Jesus for the conversion of sinners. The pilgrims promised to themselves
that they, who are supposed to know the Lord and the Blessed Mother, will become
little sacrificial offerings and climb Calvary again and again carrying the
cross given to them, following the Lord and the Blessed Mother Who are suffering
extreme pains in their Hearts for the salvation of the human race. Especially
when they arrived at the 12th Station where the Lord had died, many
pilgrims cried loudly, praying for the grace of repentance and promising to live
a new life.
In the evening, the pilgrims came to the Chapel to attend the
overnight prayer meeting. There was not enough room in the Chapel for all the
pilgrims, but the front area was reserved for the foreign pilgrims. The prayer
meeting was led by Peter Kim from the City of Taegu. The atmosphere in the
chapel was quite animated and was filled with holy joy, love, and peace as the
pilgrims were singing a hymn of the Blessed Mother together. After the five
priests from abroad were briefly introduced, several prayers from the Catholic
prayer book were offered, followed by 15 decades of the rosary.
Then, Fr. Francis Su from Malaysia gave a sermon. He said,
The Blessed Mother loves all her children and pleads them to repent their
sins.?nbsp; He also said that he always carried a photograph of the Blessed
Mother of Naju shedding tears of blood in one of his pockets so that he could
take it out and look at it whenever he faced a temptation. He asked the
pilgrims to always remember the Blessed Mother's tears of blood and not to sin
any more.
After Fr. Su's sermon, there was an announcement. It was
about a book titled: Miracles. It was just published in Korean and is
being distributed through bookstores all over Korea, available to the whole
population in South Korea. It will become available in English later. This
book outlines the messages and miracles in Naju and discusses the current
question of the Korean church hierarchy opposing Naju as well as the following
debates and activities to explain and reverse the mistakes and errors that
prevail in the current atmosphere in Korea. The author consecrated the book to
the Blessed Mother. He was a reporter with a major newspaper company in
Korea.
During a short break, many pilgrims formed a line to smell
the fragrance from the spot in the front of the Chapel where the Eucharist had
come down and on August 27, 1987 while Fr. Raymond Spies and several volunteer
helpers were praying the rosary. This fragrance has continued ever since, for
more than six years, and is a sign of the Lord's and the Blessed Mother's
continuous presence especially in the Chapel.
The second part of the prayer meeting began with more Marian
hymns. After the singing, the pilgrims offered up a prayer consecrating
themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then, Fr. Louis Bosmans from Canada
gave a brief talk. He said that this was his 14th visit to Naju. He
first came to Naju fourteen years ago (October 14, 1989) when he was in Korea to
attend the International Eucharist Congress in Seoul. During that visit to
Naju, he witnessed Julia suffering the pains of the Crucifixion and of the
Korean martyrs?martyrdom. He also saw copious amounts of tears of blood
flowing down from the Blessed Mother's eyes on her statue.
While the pilgrims were joyfully singing the hymns following
the ladies who were dancing in the front, I thought that they were like
children. I remembered Our Lord's Words in St. Luke's Gospel (10:21): "I give
you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these
things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will."
After singing, the pilgrims watched a video of Julia's
mystical suffering of pains. In the section showing Julia's suffering the pains
of abortion, the cruel scenes of a little baby being killed in the mother's womb
were shown. Many cried and received many graces.
After Julia had visited a Catholic priest for the first time
in the early 1980s and soon afterwards had been miraculously healed of her
cancer and accompanying illnesses, she experienced a profound conversion and
heard the Lord speaking to her three times while she was praying: The gate
of Heaven is open.?nbsp; Likewise, regardless of how sinful we may be, if we
approach the Lord repenting our sins and asking for His forgiveness, the Lord
and the Blessed Mother will not ask questions about our past but instead bestow
abundant graces upon us. Therefore, all the pilgrims who have experienced this
hour of mercy during the overnight prayer meeting in Naju realize that the grace
that we must ask for most ardently is the grace of repentance and that all other
blessings follow afterwards. That is the reason for their coming to the Blessed
Mother's house every month. During this hour of mercy, abundant graces were
received by all the pilgrims thanks to the sacrifices of suffering pains by
Julia.
After the hour of mercy, several pilgrims spoke about their
experiences. The full testimonies will be available on the Naju internet site.
The following is a brief summary.
- Catherine Ahn from Pyungtaek (a city south of Seoul) ran
into trouble because of a loan guarantee she had made for her sister-in-law.
After knowing the Blessed Mother of Naju, she was able to forgive her
sister-in-law. Her health had deteriorated, but she did not have money to buy
the necessary (Oriental herbal) medicine. So, she has been praying to the
Blessed Mother for health and has repeatedly been smelling the odor of ginseng
from the water from the Blessed Mother's spring in Naju. She is convinced that
the Blessed Mother will cure her.
- Lucia Lee from the Youngsan-po Parish (close to Naju) had
been suffering from a malfunctioning heart valve for five years, but was healed
during an overnight prayer meeting in Naju. Another long-term illness of hers,
an infection in her sinus, also disappeared while she was making pilgrimages to
Naju.
- Tom Watkins from Prairie
village, Kansas, in the United
States, has brought large quantities of the water from the Blessed Mother's
spring in Naju and has given it to many people together with the Blessed Mother's
messages. His wife, a Korean, has helped him in doing this. So far many people
have reported miraculous healings. The following are two recent cases.
There are two young women who were told by their
doctors that it would be impossible for them to become pregnant and that if they
ever did it would be a miracle. These women did not give up and continued to
drink the water from Naju and rub their belly with it, praying. Tom recently
was told by both women that they became pregnant. (While Tom was in
Naju, one of the women came to his store in the US and
showed her 5 month old baby to his wife.)
During
her first visit to Naju in 1995, Elizabeth from Hong Kong was looking at the
photograph of the Blessed Mother's weeping tears of blood in the Chapel and
began wondering why she was crying. Then, suddenly, she saw a bright light
radiating from the Blessed Mother's statue and heard the Blessed Mother speaking
to her, Do not put your soul into mah-jong(a gambling in China) but tell
everyone around you to pray fervently.?nbsp; She bought a replica statue of the
Blessed Mother and says that, ever since, the statue has been exuding the
fragrance of roses.
Please
don’t forget the next overnight prayer meeting on November 1 (First Saturday).
The prayer meeting in Naju is being organized by pilgrims themselves, but is
actually being led by the Lord and the Blessed Mother. That is why many
participants experience amazing graces here and find the truth and eternal
life. I hope many of you will be able to come and experience the immeasurably
large and wide Love of the Lord and the Blessed Mother.
Romulo Tae-Ho
Lee Seoul, Korea October 2003
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Update on Naju ?September 17, 2003
We are back from the trip to Korea from September 1
to 11, which was for both work and pilgrimage.
We were so happy to see the Blessed Mother's statue again. She had some fragrant oil flowing down from
her head. On the Blessed Mother's
mountain, we washed ourselves with the water from the spring and many times
smelled the fragrance of roses. We
joined other pilgrims who were doing the Stations of the Cross barefoot. On September 6, a first Saturday, the Chapel
and the front yard were packed with pilgrims who came for the overnight prayer
meeting despite the warm and humid weather.
Scientists from abroad interviewed Julia and several witnesses who had
experienced spiritual and physical healings through the graces from the Blessed
Mother. These witnesses brought their
doctors?statements, X-ray photos, and ultrasonic scans. Their testimonies were
videotaped.
Despite the large and growing number of people around
the world who are sincerely accepting the messages and signs in Naju as genuine
calls from God for us to repent our sins and reform our lives, there still are
many including some clergy who do not adequately recognize the Blessed Mother's
essential role in the Lord's work of human redemption, do not appreciate the
true meaning of the Eucharistic miracles, and do not want to see Naju become
officially approved. However, we are
more hopeful than ever because of the above-mentioned scientists?efforts and
also because of the Holy Father's deep interest in Naju and his wish that the
graces in Naju will be instrumental in revitalizing the faith in the hearts of
many (For this statement, we especially rely on the testimony by Bishop
Paul Kim in Korea who had an extensive conversation with the Holy Father during
his ad limina visit in March 2000). It seems so necessary that we continue to
pray for the conversion of those who still oppose or are skeptical about Naju
and also for an early approval of Naju.
At the same time, we need to be patient while waiting for the Church
decision, as important matters in the Church are almost always handled slowly
and meticulously for the sake of prudence and certainty. In the mean time, we need to use our time
productively by diligently sharing the important information with other
people.
On September 8, the Blessed Mother's birthday, the
visiting scientist met Professor Jung Bin Lee at Seoul National University. Prof. Lee, also a medical doctor, is the top
authority in Korea in the field of forensic medicine. He is not a Catholic, but has tested blood
samples from Naju for the past several years. Professor Lee was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but, as he continued
his investigation and saw that the same results were being confirmed again and
again by additional tests, he has become more seriously interested.
Professor Lee and his team tested more than ten
blood-stained rocks from the Blessed Mother's mountain in Naju one after
another. He says that each sample was
tested at least five times, making the total number of tests more than
fifty. He issued a statement testifying
that the blood stains on all these rocks except two were male human blood and
that every test on them showed an identical DNA structure and blood-type, which
was AB. This blood type of AB for Our
Lord confirms the finding at Lanciano, where a Eucharistic miracle occurred
about thirteen hundred years ago and a scientific test was done in the early
1970s.
Blood stains on the other two sample rocks were found to
be female human blood with identical DNA structures and blood type, which was
BO. This probably was the first time
ever in history that the Blessed Mother's blood type was determined
genetically.
In addition to the more than ten blood-stained rocks,
Professor Lee also tested a piece of blood-stained gauze from Naju. On July 2, 1995, there was a Eucharistic
miracle in the Chapel in Naju. Fr.
Francis Su from Malaysia dipped his finger in the blood on Julia's tongue and
wiped it with a piece of gauze.
Professor Lee said that the findings from this sample were identical to
those on the male blood samples on the rocks.
This means that the owner of the blood collected during the Eucharistic
miracle in Naju eight years ago is the same as the owner of the male blood
collected on the Blessed Mother's mountain in November 2001, January 2002 and
August 2002. This connection is of
special significance.
The finding of the female blood from some rocks is
consistent with the Blessed Mother's message that Julia received on January 18,
2002: I am listening to the
sounds of fervent prayers that you offer up on the Way of the Cross, and am
walking with you, shedding tears of blood at the side of My Son Jesus, Who is
shedding blood and is with you. The female blood that Dr. Lee found must be
the Blessed Mother's tears of blood that she shed as she was following Jesus Who
was carrying the heavy Cross, shedding blood from His wounds for the purpose of
saving us.
There is one question
regarding the blood types of Our Lord (AB) and Our Lady (BO). Since Jesus was conceived in the Blessed
Mother's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother's blood
type is BO, where did the A gene in Our Lord's blood come from? There cannot be any scientific answer to this
question. God the Son's Incarnation was
a supernatural event that transcended the natural limits. A possible theological explanation is that
the Holy Spirit, Who does not have a physical body or genes, chose the A gene
specifically for the Baby Jesus and gave it to Him. This cannot be difficult at all to the
Almighty God Who created the universe out of nothing. Jesus is both God and Man.
To us personally and
individually, scientific proofs are not necessary to believe and accept the
words and signs from the Lord. However,
for the official recognition by the Church, the scientific testing and
confirmation are necessary. In Lourdes,
about one hundred out of the thousands and thousands of miraculous healings
passed scientific tests and were officially recognized by the Church. In the beatification and canonization
processes also, scientific confirmation of miracles is necessary.
Throughout the Church
history, the Blessed Mother has brought messages and signs to many places to
help the Lord's work of human salvation, but there has been no place quite the
same as Naju where powerful and comprehensive messages as well as numerous major
miraculous signs have been given. This
is a strong indication that the messages and signs in Naju are of grave
importance and also that our responsibility toward these messages and signs is
also grave. The future of the world is
not up to human wishes or control but depends on God's Will. It also depends on whether we faithfully
follow God's Will, obey His Commandments, and, especially, humbly seek the
intercession by the Blessed Mother who constantly prays for the conversion of
her poor and unrepentant children on earth.
Some say that we are not obligated to accept the special revelations such
as messages and miracles. But none of us
will be free from the consequences of whether or not we faithfully accept and
act upon the messages and signs from God, as was obvious in the times of Noah,
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of Jonah. An
important task has been given to us living in this particular segment of human
history to bring more people to a true understanding of God's words and works in
Naju so that they may begin living a new life practicing them with sincere
repentance and devotion and receive God's eternal blessing as citizens of His
Kingdom.
Sang M.
Lee Mary's Touch By Mail
|
Can we safely ignore special
revelations?
Some say that we need not
believe special revelations (like those in Lourdes, Fatima, Akita, Naju and
elsewhere), because they are not new teachings as those revealed during Our
Lord's earthly life. Such remarks are
misleading, because the purpose of special revelations has never been to give us
new teachings but to prod us to become more faithful to God's teachings already
revealed. God's revelations of all the
teachings necessary for our salvation were completed in the times of Christ's
earthly life and His Apostles. However,
God never ceases to send us His warnings, encouragements, consolations,
guidance, and assistance not only to individuals for their sanctification but
also to the whole Church for revitalization of the Faith and purification from
heresies and moral laxity.
Thus, if one
chooses to disregard special revelations, he would be in danger of failing to
know and follow God's Will and thus of offending Him. If someone refuses to accept a gift, his
rejection may be more of the person who sent the gift than of the gift
itself. Those who laughed at God's
warning through Noah perished when the Great Deluge came. On the other hand, the king and citizens of
Nineveh who listened to God's warning through Jonah and repented of their sins
were spared a major chastisement from God.
Therefore, the relevant question is whether certain messages and signs
are truly from God or not. If they are,
we have a serious obligation to accept them and act upon them.
Also consider these facts: Naju has already been recognized by the Holy
Father and several bishops who personally witnessed
miracles:
The Holy
Father: Eucharistic miracle in his
private chapel in the Vatican on October 31, 1995;
Bishop Daniel
Chi: Tears and tears on blood on Our
Lady's statue in Naju on January 20, 1990;
Archbishop Giovanni
Bulaitis, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Korea: Descent of the Sacred Hosts in the Chapel in Naju
on November 24, 1994;
Bishop Roman
Danylak: Eucharistic miracle during
an outdoor Mass near Naju on September 22, 1995;
Bishop Dominic
Su: Eucharistic miracle in Sibu,
Malaysia, on September 17, 1996;
Bishop Paul
Kim: Descent of the Eucharist in the
Chapel in Naju on June 12, 1997;
A bishop from
Rome: Descent of the Eucharist in
the Chapel in Naju on July 13, 1997.
Despite these facts, the
modernist priests in Korea, who distort Catholic teachings and are defiant to
the Holy Father, have so far succeeded in persuading their bishop in Kwangju,
Korea to declare negatively on Naju.
This is the Blessed Mother's spiritual war against the devil. All the faithful are called to fight on the
Blessed Mother's side with their prayers and sacrifices.
|
Update on Naju ?January 30, 2003
1. Il Segno, a reputable Catholic monthly magazine in Italy, reported in
its January 2003 issue on the miraculous descents of Our Lord's Precious Blood
in Naju, witnessed by Bishop Dominic Su from Malaysia and other pilgrims on
August 15, 2002. Our recent video:
Who Will Sew Up My Torn Heart? also describes the same miracles. Naju has been gaining an increasing
recognition in Italy since a few years ago when the Vatican permitted public
dissemination of the information about the Eucharistic miracle through Julia
witnessed by the Holy Father on October 31, 1995.
2. Mrs. Cecilia Pohl of
Wuppertal, Germany, who translated the Naju messages into German, informs us
that Bishop Roman Danylak, who now resides in Rome, will travel to Germany to
speak in several cities in April of this year.
His main topic will be Naju ?especially, the Eucharistic miracle that he
personally witnessed in Naju on September 22, 1995. Cecilia also says that the Naju video in
German is being translated into French, Portuguese and English.
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Letter
from Bishop Roman Danylak to Mrs. C?ilia Pohl in Germany
November 16,
2001
Dear
Madame Pohl,
I
thank you for your kind letter of concern with the way events are unfolding
around the messages and miraculous signs from Our Lord and Our Lady through
Julia Kim. I have been away from Rome these past seven months. I had returned to Canada for medical reasons, and it is only last Sunday that I returned to the Eternal City.
Your
concerns are shared by many in the Catholic Church, first those in their native
Korea, and around the entire
globe from the Far East and through the Americas. We know the reasons for
this, the progressive liberal attitude of the younger Korean clergy that are
dictating church policy to their bishops. This is a crisis that is pervading
the entire Catholic Church, and not only the issues of Julia Kim and other
visionaries, but addresses the issues of our Catholic Faith and the Christian
life, especially the life of the family and the education of children. The
crisis began during Vatican Council II, and infected all the ranks of society;
especially in the technologically advanced countries of Western Europe, the Americas and the Far East.
It is taking on frightening proportions. Our Lord forewarned us of this in the
Gospel. Who knows when the Son of Man returns, will he still find faith? The
faith is being rejected even by those who continue to call themselves Catholic.
This
is why Our Lord is now entering into the affairs of men. An awesome sign is the
disaster of September 11. As the Lord admonished through some of His
messengers: this is the beginning of the chastisement of the world for the sins
of abortion and the many others against life. Jesus did not blow up the towers.
He is a God of life, not of death. And at the very beginning God gave us His
commandment “Do not kill.?But as we learn from the Old Testament and from
history, He is present in the affairs of men, and uses even the folly of men to
chastise and purify.
The
Holy Father and the Vatican are very much aware of the world situation in the Catholic Church; and the Holy
Father knew of the miracle with Julia Kim of which he himself was a witness,
even though the Vatican and the Holy Father dissimulated about their knowledge of the Eucharistic
miracle for several years.
As
Mary's Touch informs us, the Holy Father addressed the issue of the Naju
miracles directly with Korean bishops in March 2001 during their quinquennial
visit to Rome? The latest now is that he and Cardinal Ratzinger are becoming more directly
involved in this issue, for they realize its importance as a voice of Heaven.
The new archbishop of Kwangju is continuing to submit to the pressures of his priests. It appears that the Vatican will now take a more direct stance.
Secondly,
in the past few months knowledge of these miracles has become publicly acclaimed
in Rome and Italy,
and also in Mexico and Guadalupe. And in Canada and the U.S.A.there is a lively interest growing, notwithstanding the reticence of the local
bishops. No one can continue to hide or to dissimulate about the voice of
Heaven. There is no need for you to organize intervention with the Holy See,
because it is fully appraised of the situation, and is now beginning to act.
What
we must continue to do is to make these miracles and messages, given through
Julia, more known throughout the world. You can now speak more boldly of it,
because the Holy Father has finally acknowledged the miracles. And more
importantly we must firmly believe that heaven is involved and will not allow
even priests and bishops to frustrate the work of our Lord and the Blessed
Mother.
Please
accept my sincerest thanks for your devotion to the truth about Naju and its
miracles and messages.
I
remain
Respectfully
yours in the Lord and the Blessed Mother
?Roman Danylak
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New Spanish edition of Messages of Love distributed at the conference of bishops and priests in Monterrey, Mexico
During the Conference of about 55 Bishops and
more than 1,000 priests from all over Latin America, the new Spanish edition of
the Naju message book, titled Mensajes de Amor, was presented to all the
Bishops in attendance.
The distribution of the book during the
Conference was personally carried out by Bishop Jorge Lozano Zafra of Colombia.
He was assured by Cardinal Fran is Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan from the Vatican of
the Holy See's knowledge and support of the supernatural events in Naju,
Korea.
Cardinal Adolfo Antonio Suarez Rivera of the
Archdiocese of Monterrey, who hosted the Conference, had been planning to invite
Julia Kim to speak at the Conference, but Julia decided not to make the trip in
the spirit of obedience to her own Bishop of Kwangju.
The new Spanish message book is also
available in the United States through Mary's Touch By Mail.
From
left: Cardinal Adolfo Antonio Suarez Rivera of Monterrey, Mexico; Bishop Jorge
Lozano Zafra from Colombia; Cardinal Fran?is Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan from
the Vatican; Thelma De Hoyos; Macedonio De Hoyos (November 2001)
Macedonio De
Hoyos, who helped the publication of the Spanish message book, presents the book
to Bishop Zafra.
Bishop Jorge Lozano Zafra from Colombia
(center) with Thelma and Macedonio De Hoyos with a replica statue of Our Lady of
Naju and the new Spanish message book
Bishop Zafra dedicates the message book to
Julia
|
Update on Naju ?May 31, 2001
Earlier this month, some pilgrims from the United States and Germany visited
Rome. To their great surprise and joy,
they saw a TV program in Rome covering Naju.
The date was May 19, Saturday.
The program included an interview with a priest from the Vatican. This is what the pilgrims heard him
say:
“We in the Church are very discreet, cautious and thorough on such
matters. In the case of Naju, the
Holy Father himself has become a witness, and Julia, who has been receiving the messages and pains,
has been leading a simple and
humble life.
The fact that such a program was broadcast in Rome, the center of the
Catholic Church, is highly significant.
The Italian tour guide said that a program like this could not be made
public in Rome without prior approval by the Vatican. Also, it seems unlikely that the priest was
speaking only for himself. The lady from
Germany who faxed us this information was filled with joy, saying that the
approval of Naju is now a matter of time.
Now we can see that the Holy See is making known its positive stance on
the Eucharistic miracle on October 31, 1995, witnessed by the Holy Father. If the Church in Korea still chooses to be
negative about it, it will be contradicting the Holy Father himself. Also, it does not seem to be by chance that
this TV program on Naju was aired in Rome soon after the Korean bishops?Ad
Limina visit to the Holy See in March, during which there were discussions
about Naju.
The pilgrims from Los Angeles continued their
journey to San Giovanni Rotondo, where Blessed Padre Pio lived. They report that, in the chapel above St.
Michael the Archangel's Cave, there was an area exhibiting many of the
Eucharistic miracles in Church history.
In this exhibition, they saw a photograph of the Holy Father witnessing a
Eucharistic miracle through Julia on October 31, 1995. This would also have been impossible without
a nod from the Holy See. After all, the
Holy Father is the Bishop of Rome, where the miracle occurred, as well as the
head of the universal church, and it is most natural and proper that he makes
his thoughts known on what happened in Rome.
In another case, Bishop Dominic Su of Sibu, Malaysia, wrote a letter to
the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Korea soon after witnessing a Eucharistic miracle
through Julia in the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Sibu on September 17, 1996, and,
in the letter, said that he considered it a miracle.
That the Holy Father
is favorable on Naju has been known for quite some time. Archbishop Giovanni Bulaitis, the Apostolic
Pro-Nuncio in Korea until 1997, visited the Chapel in Naju on November 24, 1994,
and witnessed miraculous descents of the Eucharist. Soon he made a detailed report to the Holy
Father and the Cardinals in the Holy See.
We have no doubt that the Holy See has hoped that the Church in Korea
would investigate the events in Naju in an unbiased, thorough way and without
unnecessary delays, because the messages and signs in Naju can be powerful
catalysts for revitalizing the authentic Catholic Faith and for evangelizing the
whole world, especially Asia, which has the largest population among all the
continents and yet has been the least evangelized.
However, the Church in Korea has been exposed to
powerful modernist influences for the past several decades. Especially the Kwangju Archdiocese, which
covers the Naju Parish, has been hostile to the messages and signs in Naju which
call for a revitalization of the traditional Faith and, based on it, a renewal
of everything. In particular, the
priests who belong to an organization called Priests for Social Justice
have been actively involved in the political and social issues in Korea,
neglecting the traditional Catholic truths and devotions, and have been playing
the leading role in opposing Naju. They
were also key members of the Naju investigating committee in the Kwangju
Archdiocese and succeeded in influencing Archbishop Victorinus Youn to issue a
negative declaration on Naju on January 1, 1998. Even afterwards, their efforts to persecute
Naju and, if possible, to put an end to it have continued. These liberal priests have been well aware
that the Holy See is favorable on Naju and is deeply concerned about the
modernist theologians in Korea, but have cared little about it and have
continued to push ahead with their agenda.
In late 2000, Archbishop Victorinus Youn retired
and was succeeded by Most Rev. Andrew Choi.
Archbishop Choi has been taking a moderate approach to the question of
Naju. To several priests in Korea, he
said that he was not opposed to Naju.
When the liberal priests repeatedly demanded him to close down the Chapel
in Naju, he refused to give in. After
his recent return from Rome, he invited all the priests in his diocese who had
been priests for 25 or more years to a dinner and asked them to restrain their
criticism of Naju and not to interfere with lay people's visiting Naju.
The liberal priests in the Kwangju Archdiocese
sensed a crisis rapidly approaching them.
If Naju were investigated again and approved, their achievements in the
past several decades in modernizing and secularizing the Church in Korea would
crumble. So they approached Archbishop
Choi again with much forcefulness and, to almost everyone's surprise, succeeded
in persuading him to sign a new document which they had prepared. This document was read during Mass on May 27,
Sunday, in every parish of the Kwangju Archdiocese.
In this document, those measures prohibiting all
the activities in support of Naju, which had already been mentioned in
Archbishop Youn's declaration, were reiterated.
However, there was no explanation of why such measures were necessary;
the document only called for an unconditional obedience. There seems to be much inconsistency in the
liberal priests?frequent criticisms of the teaching and pastoral authority of
the Holy Father and of the bishops and yet rely so heavily on their bishop's
authority in preventing the faithful from following their faith and
conscience. Moreover, this document did
not offer any response to those questions which have been raised about the
doctrinal soundness of Archbishop Youn's declaration and the fairness and
adequacy of the investigation of Naju conducted before the declaration.
For example, in Archbishop Youn's declaration, the
Eucharistic phenomena through Julia Kim were declared to be in conflict with the
Church teaching, which, according to the declaration, says that the species
of bread and wine must remain unchanged even after the consecration by a
priest. This, however, is a
distortion of the true Church doctrine which only says that, while the
substances of bread and wine change into Our Lord's Flesh and Blood by the
consecration by a priest, the species of bread and wine remain unchanged (cf.
DS #1652). In other words, this
doctrine explains the effects of the Eucharistic consecration and not what can
or cannot happen to the Eucharist after the consecration. If the Eucharistic species change into those
of Flesh and Blood by a special intervention by God, there is nothing that is in
conflict with any of the Church teachings.
The fact that a Church doctrine was distorted by the Korean theologians
in order to reject the Eucharistic miracles in Naju is most disturbing. If the assertion in the Kwangju declaration
were correct, all of the Eucharistic miracles in Church history would have to be
rejected. The Church also teaches that,
if anyone distorts any of the Church doctrines and persists in it, he becomes
guilty of a heresy (cf. Canon Law, #751). It becomes a dangerous problem in the Church
when a doctrinal error is sustained by the teaching authority of a bishop, which
is in fact the authority of Christ Himself.
This doctrinal problem in the Kwangju declaration has remained
uncorrected and unexplained for more than three years. The Kwangju Archdiocese, and the whole Church
in Korea which has been supportive of Kwangju, has been failing in one of the
most basic functions of the Church, which is to preserve and teach the truths
from God.
On the other hand, this negligence of a doctrinal
issue seems to be no surprise, because, to the liberal theologians, even the
Church doctrines can and must change according to the changing conditions in the
world. This could be one reason for the
repeated alterations of the wording of prayers in Korea. A Korean man, who seemed to be
liberally-oriented, recently declared on the Internet,Everything in the
Church changes: the liturgy changes, prayers change, and so do the
doctrines.? From the standpoint of
the liberal priests, there may not be any doctrinal problem in the Kwangju
declaration, because, to them, there is no such thing as “the absolute,
unchanging Church teachings?according to which everything else can be
measured. If their thoughts were right,
Christians would truly be vain people who place their hopes on shaky ground,
without absolute, eternal truths, without a firm faith, and without absolute moral standards. Then, everything will be degraded to a purely
human and secular dimension. If the
truths they believe were really from God, these truths could not be anything but
absolute and eternal.
The progressive forces in Korea not only
equivocate the divine origin of the Church teachings, but also emphasize
independence of the local churches. In
fact, the Pastor of Naju, who was reading the new document from the Archbishop
to his parishioners on May 27, said, The Kwangju Archdiocese has a
succession from the Twelve Apostles and functions as a separate church within
the Korean Church which functions as an independent church.? This can be interpreted as meaning that the
Kwangju Archdiocese does not need to be in union with the universal church or to
be obedient to the Holy Father. Also,
last year, a Vietnamese priest from the United States was in Naju and went to
the Naju Parish Church to celebrate Mass.
He was interrupted by the associate pastor of the Naju Parish Church, who
said, Why did you come to Naju? Do
not come here any more. The
Vietnamese priest replied, But the Holy Father is favorable on
Naju.? The Naju priest said,The
Holy Father is the Bishop of Rome. We
have our own Bishop here.? This
cannot be an incident that happened only in Naju. The tendency to assert local independence is
widespread among the liberal-minded people in the Church in Korea. When they are told that what they say and
write does not conform to the authentic Church teachings and is not in harmony
with the Holy Father's guidance, they simply don’t care. This is a crisis facing the Church in Korea
today.
Alongside the tendency to loosen their union with
Rome, a dilution and alteration of the traditional Catholic Faith has also
occurred in the name of inculturation.?
Many now say that other religions in Korea also teach love, mercy, and
other virtues and, so, are as good as Christianity. In saying that, they are forgetting the
fundamental Christian Faith: God created humans and infused the supernatural
(divine) life into their souls for their eternal participation in God's Life and
Kingdom; but humans have lost that life and brought about many evils into their
world by committing sin which represented a breach of faith with God; God sent
His Only Son to become one among us and save us by His Death; and we need to
constantly strive for our sanctification, as members of the Mystical Body of
Christ, the People of God, by avoiding sins, practicing love, and offering up
reparations with the help of the graces merited by Christ for us.
The essence of Christianity is a personal,
covenantal relationship, a relationship of total love and trust, between God and
us as the Father and His sons and the King and His subjects. It is not merely a natural human effort
toward personal improvement and purification without reference to the personal,
supernatural God Who is infinitely good and has sent His Son for our
salvation. There also is a growing
tendency among the Korean Catholics to regard the Protestant churches as being
equal to the Catholic Church. To them,
unity between Catholics and Protestants seems to be a supreme goal, or a grand
pretext, that can justify even doctrinal alterations. In fact, the theologian who wrote Archbishop
Yoon's declaration published an article afterwards (March 1998), in which he
said that the Eucharistic phenomena through Julia Kim were rejected for the sake
of unity with Protestants. It is
doubtful that there is matching enthusiasm on the Protestant side in Korea for
unity with Catholics. Will they or
anyone have much respect for those who are willing to abandon their principles
and beliefs?
Unfortunately, many such compromises and betrayals
have already been made during the past several decades in Korea (and
elsewhere). For example, a large
majority of the Catholics do not seem to have a true faith in the Holy
Eucharist; the Marian devotion is often pushed aside for fear of ridicule by the
Protestants or other Catholics; beautiful statues have been removed or replaced
by more abstract, modernistic ones; loyalty and obedience to the Pope are often
viewed as old-fashioned; and those things that the Holy Father has denounced in
a definitive way such as female priesthood and abolition of celibacy for priests
are openly discussed and advocated. The
progressive theologians in Korea even deny that the Church was established by
Christ and is the Mystical Body of Christ (They say that the Church is a
community of people who follow the Holy Spirit).
They equivocate the full divinity of Christ
while highlighting His humanity, even calling Him a mortal being who needed
enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. They
not only reject the miracles in Naju but also ignore those recorded in the
Scripture as educational fictions. Under
their influence, the Church in Korea even began to allow the ritual of ancestor
worship which is an old tradition in Korea but is not in harmony with the
Catholic Faith and is an insult to many of the Korean martyrs who were killed
because of their refusal to practice it.
The Holy See has repeatedly emphasized that communicants must be free to
choose the method of receiving Communion, either on tongue or in hand, but the
Church in Korea has been disobedient to the Holy See's guidance by making
communion in hand virtually mandatory.
Under the pretext that genuflection does not conform to the culture in
Korea, the traditional Catholic practice of genuflecting before the Blessed
Sacrament has been done away with.
Even
the priests in Mass only bow after Eucharistic consecration. The true fact, however, is that kneeling is
not only not nonconforming with the Korean culture, a complete kneeling with
both knees plus a total prostration on the floor is a common practice even today
to express a deep respect to the king, elderly relatives, teachers, and so
on. The Eucharist is Christ Himself, Who
is God the Son become incarnate, the Creator, and the King of Heaven and earth.
Even the traditional Korean way of prostrating would be insufficient to give
enough homage and adoration to Our Lord.
Bowing only, which people in the Orient do even between equals, and not
bending one's legs before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament may be due to a lack
of the true faith in the Incarnate God really present in the Eucharist. Also, many of the precious lives of the
Saints have long since disappeared from the Catholic bookstores. To the modernists, the Saints are not
particularly inspiring examples.
The underlying cause of all these problems in
Korea seems to be twofold: disloyalty to
the traditional, authentic Catholic Faith, our Heritage of the Faith, and
disloyalty to the Holy Father, the rock upon which Christ built His Church. When one refuses to follow the signposts
given by the Lord and stay on the rock chosen by the Lord, disorder will
necessarily follow.
Now, we are being given a golden opportunity to
resolve the problems in the Church, not only in Korea but elsewhere, and to make
a rapid progress in evangelizing the world, especially Asia. This opportunity is the Blessed Mother's
loving presence being manifested especially in Naju. The Blessed Mother is the only one among
humans who has followed God's Will so perfectly and so filled with love and
humility. She can drive out all the
evils from our minds and hearts and fill them with her love for God and
obedience to His Will. After all, God's
Will alone is good and needs to be done; we can only participate in His Goodness
by doing His Will. By accepting the love
and help of the Blessed Mother, who is the shortcut to the Lord, and passing
this on to our neighbors, we will be faithful sons and daughters of hers and
will be repaying a tiniest portion of God's boundless love for us. And the world will avoid a crisis. This spiritual war will continue until the
Blessed Mother's complete victory over the devil. The silent majority in the Church who have
been longing to see restoration of the true Catholic Faith and devotions must
now stand up and help the Blessed Mother with their prayers and sacrifices.
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The Eucharistic miracles
through Julia are becoming known in Italy ?May 31, 2001
A report by Judy Navarrete, Los Angeles,
California
I am pleased to report on an
experience I had while on vacation in Italy this May with a few
pilgrims.
Part of our itinerary was to
visit San Giovanni Rotondo and St. Michael's Cave. A church has been built above St. Michael's Cave, and,
within the church, there is a small exhibit room. At this time there was an exhibit of all the
approved Eucharistic miracles which have occurred in the Church over the
centuries. My joy and surprise was to
see the Eucharistic miracle which occurred to Julia when she was visiting the
Vatican. There was a short explanation
in Italian next to the pictures, and the tour guide explained what was
stated. The miracle initially had not
been made public by the Vatican but now it approved that the miracle be
shown. The pictures showed that the Pope
had witnessed the Eucharistic miracle and had given Julia his
blessing.
This was not all. On the TV in all of Italy a series on
different miracles was going to be shown every Saturday. The first of the series was the Eucharistic
miracles of Naju. A one-hour TV show was
aired on Saturday, May 19, throughout Italy.
According to our tour guide this would not be aired if the Vatican had
not given the approval since the Pope would be part of the documentary with the
miracle at the Vatican of October 31, 1995.
Unfortunately our group was not in Italy on May
19, and was not able to see the documentary.
According to a friend of ours who came from Germany, a priest from the
Vatican was interviewed in the TV show.
This is what they heard him say: “We in the Church are very discreet, cautious and thorough on such
matters. In the case of Naju, the
Holy Father himself has become a witness, and Julia, who has been receiving the messages and pains,
has been leading a simple and
humble life.?
I believe in Our Lord and Our Lady's presence in
Naju as well as the different miracles which have occurred to Julia. Time and time again I come across persons who
tell me, Naju has not been approved.?
This does not diminish my belief but I realize how little faith
people have in God's beautiful love for them, which is indeed sad. Here again in all of Italy people would
witness the Eucharistic miracles of Naju via TV. I know many were touched and hope and pray
that more will come to believe in the true presence of Our Lord in the
Eucharist.
Our Lady has asked us to be witnesses and to stand
firm beside her as she will triumph.
This TV presentation in Italy to me is a confirmation that her triumph is
taking place. She just needs our support
and prayers.
Our Lord and Our Lady have asked us many times to
urgently spread the messages and for us to open our hearts widely and believe in
His Real Presence. I truly hope those
who have heard about Naju and have become lukewarm will return to being true
apostles of Our Lord and continue to spread their messages of
love.
We all need to be obedient, but to whom? The Holy Father is God's representative to
all Catholics here on earth and “we,?bishops, priests, and lay people need to
be obedient to him first and foremost.
The Vatican has approved the exhibit and was aware of the documentary on
TV. I am not the only witness to this,
either. We all need a great deal of
prayers because the devil is really trying to divide us as a
church.
For the next few days we prepare ourselves for the
Feast of the Holy Spirit, the Pentecost.
Let's pray that He come into all those cold, hard hearts that refuse to
believe in Our Lady and Our Lord's Presence in Naju.
Judy Navarrete Los Angeles, California May
31, 2001
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