The Words of the Jenkins Family after 2008
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The Words of the Jenkins Family after 2008 |
On December 22, 2003, seven years ago today, a very special ceremony was held in Independence Park in Jerusalem. In front of thousands of people of all faiths, Jewish representatives brought forth a crown for Jesus and embraced him and welcomed him home to his original family. Christians honored their Muslim brothers and sisters by presenting a robe in memory of Muhammad. Muslims honored their Jewish brothers and sisters by presenting a Menorah. All joined in asking God to receive their repentance for not having truly loved and accepted one another throughout history. At the same time a special moment was given in which Jesus could be honored as the King of Kings and it was proclaimed "Welcome Home, Jesus."
That ceremony took place under the guidance of Father and Mother Moon, during the second of what would ultimately be 40 journeys in what we now call the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI). Earlier in 2003 they had asked members of the American Clergy Leadership Conference to undertake a journey to the Holy Land to address the root causes of the strife in the Middle East and in particular between leaders of the Abrahamic faiths. ACLC clergy were inspired by this vision of love and reconciliation and sought to show the love and full acceptance of one another, the founders of the Abrahamic faiths and the traditions they represented. It is an ongoing effort in which faith leaders, youth, service and NGO leaders, members of parliament, men and women of God from all over the world have come to the Holy Land to promote understanding, interfaith service and dialogue and to compliment the local and global diplomatic efforts for peace.
Father Moon proclaimed that he will continue this effort "until the guns fall silent" and he has been unchanging in his commitment to bring unity among the Abrahamic Faiths. Again and again we have seen that the sincere effort by the key political leaders cannot bring peace without the internal reconciliation that must be achieved through faith leaders engaging in genuine interfaith dialogue and joint actions together to better one another's communities. Since the coronation of Jesus in 2003 one remarkable change has come in the Holy Land: thanks to Father Moon's efforts, the nations involved and the United Nations are coming to see that interfaith participation is essential to solving the division and history of pain and suffering. Seven years ago the interfaith dimension was not even considered to be a necessary component of peacemaking.
The crowning of Jesus seven years ago was done with prayer and a deep sense of historical meaning which has set the stage for a continuously growing effort for interfaith dialogue in the Middle East. This has produced additional options that complement and even go beyond the diplomatic efforts for peace of various governments. The interfaith effort touches people heart to heart for it is through the faith leaders that peace can reach into every community and family with a sense of God's healing presence.
On December 22, 2003 we felt an overwhelming feeling of relief and joy as the ceremony was completed. There was a sense of realization that for 2000 years Jesus' own family has not formally welcomed him, but this ceremony changed that and the grief of Jesus was dissolved. All the historic internal conditions that blocked the path to peace were removed on that day. God is now free to bless all the Abrahamic faiths together as His Family. As Father Moon later said, "On December 22, 2003, many Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy took each other by the hand, sang the praises of peace, and performed a ceremony to crown Jesus as the King of Kings. It was a miracle performed in Jerusalem's Independence Park before a crowd of some 20,000 people. This was a day when Jesus' grief was resolved and the victory of True Parents could be declared to all of heaven and earth." (January 27, 2004)
As part of this ongoing effort, in August of 2010 Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, the world-wide leader of the Unification Church and the Chairman of Universal Peace Federation, was asked by Father Moon to give a special message in Jerusalem. It was the third and final event of giving this historic proclamation in Korea (the third Israel), America (the Second Israel) and the 1st Israel in Jerusalem. Together with representative international leaders Rev. Hyung Jin Moon visited key leaders of the Muslim, Christian, Druze and Jewish faiths and sincerely honored them for continuing this dialogue and bonding between the family of Abraham since the crowning of Jesus. The relationships that began with the crowning of Jesus have all gotten deeper and are stronger than ever.
At a banquet in Jerusalem Rev. Hyung Jin Moon succeeded in bringing the faith and civic leaders gathered there into harmony as he proclaimed "The Substantiation of God's True Love and Word through the Realization of True Parents." True Parents are now calling for all of us to become the substantiation of the "word" by becoming God's holy temples ourselves in substance through the blessing of marriage and by forming families that are God's substantial dwelling place. On the foundation of those families communities and nations can be healed and reconciled. Revelation 21:1-4 is being fulfilled, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
Father Moon is boldly proclaiming that this next two years will see miraculous change as the crucible of war will no longer be and option for the resolution of conflict but faith and love will light the way. He calls for an "Abel UN" to bring the values of faith to the United Nations to realize lasting peace. He is also proclaiming that women will become central in leading this providence. It is in this context we can see his wisdom as he asked his Harvard educated daughter to lead the American movement guide ACLC and other key organizations. Recently she has called upon ACLC to continue tearing down the walls of denomination, religion and ethnicity and now focus on one more, addressing the imbalance between men and women by supporting the rise of women clergy as equal partners in the path to peace.
The crowning of Jesus was a turning point in the path towards peace and it will continue to be seen more and more as the true beginning of an era in which the faiths of the world will become united in harmony and peace before God.