SOME BASIC QUESTIONS
ON NAJU
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 Semper
(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 Labouré 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..
Question #6: What are
the reasons for the intense opposition and persecution against Naju by
many of the clergy and lay people in Korea
Answer:
When we read the Catholic Church history in Korea, we can see that the
faith was very strong from the beginning despite severe persecution.
Early Korean Catholics' devotion to the Blessed Mother was also very
deep. Impressed by this, Pope Gregory XVI declared The Immaculate
Conception of Mary as the Patroness of the Church in Korea in 1846.
Also significantly, Korea was liberated from the Japanese colonial rule on
August 15, 1945, the Solemnity of the Blessed Mother's Assumption. The
Holy See has repeatedly praised the strong faith and the abundance of
priestly and religious vocations in Korea.
Then, problems began in the mid-1960s when the Second Vatican Council
ended. Many of the young priests in Korea misinterpreted the teachings of
the Council and began taking many progressive measures at the expense of
the traditional Catholic teachings and devotions. Especially, those
priests who were trained in Germany came back infected with the heretical
ideas of Fathers Hans Küng, Karl Rahner, and the like and played a leading
role in liberalizing the Catholic life in Korea. These priests also
played key roles in producing the negative declaration on Naju signed by
Archbishop Victorinus Youn on January 1, 1998. In Korea, priests and lay
people do not genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament or during the Mass.
Actually, kneelers in all of the Catholic churches in Korea were removed
in the late 1960s. Many of the statues of Our Lord, Our Lady, and the
Saints were either removed or replaced with more modernistic ones. Also
in Korea, Communion in the hand is the rule rather than an option. As a
result, the majority of the Catholics in Korea including some clergy do
not believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
Many of the priests openly declare that the Catholic Church is only one of
the many ways of salvation prepared by God. Under the pretext of
promoting unity with the Protestants, they seem willing to compromise even
the key Catholic doctrines. The traditional emphasis on catechetical
education and purity of Church teachings has given way to a new atmosphere
where both truths and errors are equally respected. Frequently, the faith
is being simplified as a matter of personal choice and individual
inspiration. The liberal priests in Korea openly question Our Lord's
divinity and resurrection and the Church being the Mystical Body of
Christ, and also refuse to call Our Lady by the title of "the Mother of
God". They reject all miracles as superstitions or effects of some
preternatural powers. They also seem leaning toward evolutionism and are
advocating many reforms that go against the Catholic teachings and
tradition such as abolition of priestly celibacy, institution of female
priesthood, more independence of local churches from Rome, etc. These
priests are in key positions of power in the Church in Korea, demanding
absolute and blind obedience from the faithful while openly defying the
Catholic Tradition and Magisterium. There still are many priests in Korea
loyal to the authentic Church teachings, but most keep silent for fear of
being accused of damaging unity and blocking progress.
It seems certain that the messages and signs in Naju are timely warnings
from Heaven for us to realize the seriousness of the crisis, encouragement
for us to correct the problems, and promise to help us. Two thousand
years ago, the Jewish religious leaders were proud of their strict
observance of the Mosaic laws and being masters of the divine matters, but
failed to recognize God the Son when He was standing before their eyes.
They could not overcome their anger and hatred and crucified Him.
If the events in Naju were not opposed but welcomed by those who take the
Catholic Faith lightly and are eager to make compromises to please others
in the world, we would feel very uneasy. Together with the Lord, Who was
persecuted, we are patiently going through the current persecution
including many false accusations and unjust restrictions. Because we are
certain that Our Lord and Our Lady will be triumphant, we are filled with
joy and hope. Also, regardless of the persecution, we cannot stop or slow
down our efforts to make truths and facts known. If we give up or lose
heart because of the persecution, we may find it difficult to face the
Lord and the Blessed Mother on the last day.
Benedict
Sang M. Lee
Mary's Touch By Mail
Gresham, Oregon, U. S. A.
September 8, 2005
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