Sun and moon,
and all of you bright stars,
    come and offer praise.
⁴ Highest heavens,
and the water
above the highest heavens,^[a]
    come and offer praise.

⁵ Let all things praise
    the name of the Lord,
    because they were created
    at his command.
⁶ He made them to last forever,
    and nothing can change
    what he has done.^[b]

Oh, Father! We Welcome You

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 9, 1959

When Jesus was walking through the thirty-odd years of his life course, as he was being chased around from this village to that, he said, “Foxes have holes, and birds in the air have their nests, but the son of man does not have a place where he can rest his head.” (Matthew 8:20) The people of that time did not know that the words of Jesus, who clung to the lonesome heart and felt the torment, were words which represented the culmination of 4,000 years of the heavenly principles.

The Israelites did not know that Jesus was the embodiment of the life of re-creation and eternal life for which God hoped. They did not know that he was someone who was to realize the will for which humanity had hoped for 4,000 years.

Who is going to clear up and cross over this hill that could not be crossed over because of the lack of recognition toward Jesus? Even if you today are a pitiful group who is being chased around and have no place to rely upon, I hope that you will become the heirs who inherit the will of Jesus.

Now the time has come when we must appear before the people with the attitude that we are walking through the historical course of Jesus with a lamenting heart. Only when we can appear before the people and the world with this heart can we prevent the history of betrayal by Israel, the history of betrayal by Judaism, and all that the blood relations of Jesus blocked. Only then can we prevent the betrayal of the apostles and disciples. In other words, we have to be able to resolve all of this within ourselves.

Jesus distributed bread among many people on an empty hill near Bethsaida 2,000 years ago. Why did the people who ate the bread all perish? Why did the people who heard the words betray Jesus? Why did the disciples who followed Jesus through all the hardships of three years betray him? The reason they betrayed him was that they thought his words were only for the sake of that day. They thought the bread he gave out was only to fill the stomach for that moment. They did not know that the words Jesus gave should have been conveyed to the ends of the earth through them. They did not know that the bread Jesus gave out should be shared with the humanity of the world.

Because the words and the bread that Jesus gave were his substantial embodiments, his intention was for them to give out his mind and body to the neighbors, the people, the nation and the whole of humanity. They were doomed, because they did not know this.

Now when you stand before the Lord or before the Father, you will feel the request, “Oh, my beloved son! I am giving you these words, so cherish them and become God’s beloved son!” Some of you will also feel, “Oh, my beloved sons and daughters! Become the substantial temple in which the Father can dwell during your lifetime!” Accordingly, you must feel that only the Father is the origin of your life. Only the Father is the origin of your love.

Do not despair because you do not have any friends, family or companion. If you have become someone who, as the substantial body of the Father, is immersed inside the heart of the Father’s love and life and who lives according to the will of the heavenly principles, please do not despair, because the words of the Father are with you. Even if we suffer many ordeals as we are driven about today, we must persevere. This is because we endure our hardships for the sake of the people and for the world.

Now if there are those who, feeling the torment of heaven and earth, pray and overcome the hardships that pierce into their bones, then they will become the friends of Jesus, friends of the people, and friends of the world. In this way they will become the masters of this world.

The problem is whether we stand inside God or outside God. God wishes to fulfill His hopes through our hearts. Therefore, everything in our lives, every place that we reside, all the injustice we suffer must be done for the sake of the Father. Even if our love is cut off, even if we are deprived of material things and friends, if we have the relationship that is for the sake of the Father, then we will not have any worry. More than the love of the earth, the life of the earth, and the people of the earth, if we have the faith of the Father, the life of the Father, and the love and hope of the Father, then no desire of ours will go unfulfilled. If all that belongs to the Father is with us, we can become substantial sons who can represent the many lives on this earth.