As we approach the Easter season, we are reminded once again of the deep meaning this time of year carries, both spiritually and personally. Easter is a celebration rooted in hope, rebirth, and the promise of new beginnings and therefore invites us to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what matters most…
A Time to Cherish Family and Community
For many of us, Easter naturally becomes a moment to gather with family and friends by sharing meals, enjoying the lighter spring days, and organising Easter Egg Hunts for the children. These simple traditions remind us how precious our relationships are. They help us build memories, strengthen bonds, and appreciate the love that surrounds us.
In these connections, with family, community and Heavenly Parent may we find nourishment and renewal.
Honouring Jesus and His Course
At the heart of Easter is the remembrance of Jesus’ incredible life and sacrifice. His devotion, his unwavering love for humanity, and the path he walked continue to inspire all who seek a life of faith and goodness. This season offers a chance to offer renewed gratitude for Jesus’ mission and the hope he brought to the world.
Some members may have engaged in Lent or other conditions leading up to Easter. Whether through prayer, fasting, or personal reflection, these sincere efforts help us realign ourselves with Heavenly Parents’s heart and open the way for deeper renewal. Also in current circumstances and difficulties it may help us to find resolve to see where we can help each other or bring hope.
Remembering Our Origins and True Father’s Experience
Easter can also be a moment for us to reflect on the spiritual origins of our movement, particularly True Father’s profound encounter with Jesus as a young man. That meeting, on the mountain shaped not only True Father’s life but also the unfolding of God’s providence in our time. As we honour Easter, we also honour this lineage of faith and the foundation it provides for our spiritual lives.
A Chance for Renewal and Fresh Dedication
Spring is a season of rebirth where nature awakens, light returns, and new life blossoms. Easter mirrors this beautifully, offering each of us a chance to begin again. Whether we are seeking clarity, healing, peace, or a new sense of purpose, this season invites us to make fresh decisions and set renewed intentions in our faith and daily life.
We hope that everyone is able to have a wonderful Easter celebration whether at home or with the community services taking place and that families can enjoy the Easter break with their children off of school.
Please read this article from the EUME website to help remember True Father’s experience with meeting Jesus-
This article and more can be found on the Unification News website here.
A truly life-changing encounter with Jesus
On Wednesday 17th April 1935, as Easter was about to begin, on Myodu hill in Chongju, not far from home, Sun Myung Moon had a deep spiritual encounter with Jesus, who explained how 2,000 years ago he had been unable to complete the mission for which he came to earth. In Sun Myung Moon‘s own words:
“When I was 15, I had an extraordinary experience. It was an Easter morning, and I was in deep prayer. I cried as I prayed. Then Jesus appeared. He revealed many things to me and explained that God‘s heart was full of sorrow and pain because of us humans.
Jesus asked me to take on a special mission so that God‘s will could be completed here on earth. It is difficult to explain to you about this experience. In short, the spirit world suddenly opened before me, and I was able to communicate freely with holy and wise men in the spirit world. In the quiet hills of northern Korea, I spoke directly to Jesus many times. The revelations I received then constitute the very core of the Unification Principles.”
Jesus asked him to take upon himself the responsibility of completing the mission which Jesus himself had started 2,000 years earlier, but which, because of his premature death, he had not been able to complete. Sun Myung Moon thought at first that he could not promise such a thing, but Jesus urged him repeatedly, stressing that the young Korean was specially chosen by God and that there was no one else who could take on such a mission. Therefore, the 15 year old boy in the end said yes. But he hardly knew what he was getting himself into.
Here is how Sun Myung Moon describes his encounter with Jesus in his autobiography,
“It was the night before Easter the year I turned fifteen. That day also, as usual, I climbed up the Myodu hill behind our village and stayed up all night praying. As the tears flowed, I begged God for answers to my questions, ‘Why had He created a world full of so much sorrow and despair? Why did an all-knowing and all-powerful God leave this world to itself when it is in such sorrow and pain? What should I do for my poor fatherland?’
As the tears flowed, I asked this again and again.
I was up praying all night without sleeping at all. At dawn that Easter morning, Jesus manifested himself before me. Like a gust of wind, Jesus appeared and said, ‘Because of the sufferings of humankind, God has a broken heart. That is why he asks you to take on a special mission in God‘s work on earth.’
That day I saw the sorrowful face of Jesus clearly and heard his voice distinctly. Seeing Jesus manifest made my body tremble violently, like an aspen leaf. Then and there I was seized with an awe so great that I thought I was going to die, and at the same time carried away by emotions so strong that I thought I was going to explode. Right in front of me, Jesus clearly explained to me what I had to do. In an incredible way, he told me that I should save a humanity that was suffering and in pain, and bring joy to God.”
– From Sun Myung Moon‘s autobiography, chapter 2, section 1, translated from the Korean original.
“Encounter with Jesus” – text written based on Sun Myung Moon‘s own words. In his teachings, Father Moon has devoted a lot of space to Jesus. In the Unification Principles, 3 entire chapters go into great detail about Jesus, his life, words and mission.
