Argentina— “Rev. Sun Myung Moon 9th Anniversary Special Session” was the title of the meeting dedicated to remembering the founder of UPF on the anniversary of his passage to the spiritual plane (Seonghwa). It was held on September 20, 2021 on the Zoom platform, with 22 participants. An initiative developed by UPF-Argentina for this date, but which has been replicated every Monday for several months starting in 2020 under the slogan “Honoring a legacy of Peace,” it is a space where a reading of his teachings is shared, reflections and testimonies of good practices are exchanged and it closes with a praise or prayer for some person, need or intention.
Recording: https://youtu.be/Vg9eS998B4M
“Throughout their history, the Korean people have worshiped God as the highest ancestor. They called that unique being and progenitor of all people ‘The One,’ that is, God, and they serve him as the Lord, the Creator of night and day. This is why all creation starts from the numbers one and two. Because the Korean people have served God as their ancestor, mutual and interdependent prosperity and universally shared values are alive in their spirit and tradition, and have continued to this day,” was an excerpt from the Messages of Peace (Pyeong Hwa Gyeong) read by Rosetta Conti, president of the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) of Argentina. This is a quote from a speech given by the co-founder of UPF, Dr. Hak Ja Han, at the WFWP Convention on March 4, 2012, in Daejeon, South Korea.
For this occasion, videos of testimonies of the life and work of the founder of UPF by international personalities were shown: Fatmir Sejdiu, President of the Republic of Kosovo 2006-2010; Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria 2010-2015; and Cho Myung Cheol, Member of the 19th National Assembly of Korea; along with reflections by Ambassadors for Peace Inderveer Kaur, representative of the Argentine Sikh Dharma Community and Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD) Argentina; Julio Nardini, representative of International Association of Academicians for Peace (IAAP) Argentina; and Carlos Varga, Director of UPF-Argentina, President of FFWPU-Argentina.
The moderator was Miguel Werner, President of UPF-Argentina, who at the beginning recalled: “We are in the Jewish festival of Sukkot, or Feast of the Tabernacles, which recalls the vicissitudes of the people of Israel during the passage in the desert and the precariousness of dwelling in a tent after leaving slavery in Egypt.” A prayer at the end was made by Ambassador for Peace Rosa Di Lorenzo, President of the Pope Francis Commission “Culture of Meeting, Work and Family,” and a member of the Legislative Personal Association of the Congress of the Argentine Nation.
Two music videos were also screened on the occasion: “Te Stone of Love,” a song and performance by Yndabor del Valle, Carlos Varga and Jesica Varga; and “I Have to be Faithful to You,” lyrics and music by Antonio Tangreti, sung by Marco Castellón and Aylin Rodríguez.
It was the 21st Session of the 2021 Cycle “Honoring a Legacy of Peace” of readings, reflections and prayers, with different topics every Monday since May 2021. The previous ones were: “The common good” (20th Session, May 13, September 2021), “The gratitude and value of each moment” (19th, 9/6/2021), “Forgiveness” (18th, 8/30/2021), “Reconciliation experiences” (17th, 8/23/2021), “The Path of a Patriot” (16th, 8/16/2021), “Back to Nature II: Practical Applications” (15th, 8/9/2021), “Back to Nature” (14th, 8/2/2021), “Death as a new birth” (13th, 7/26/2021), “The value and principle of friendship” (12th, 7/19/2021), “Dialogue and Alliance” (11th, 7/12/2021), “Hometown/Original Homeland” (10th, 7/5/2021), “The Education of Children” (9th, 6/28/2021), “Consciousness” (8th, 6/21/2021), “The three stages of life” (7th, 6/14/2021), “The original world” (6th, 6/7/2021), “The path to prosperity” (5th, 5/31/2021), “Kindness” (4th, 5/24/2021), “The most precious goods” (3rd, 5/17/2021), “The ideal world and unity” (2nd, 5/10/2021) and “Reunion and purpose” (1st, 5/3/2021).
The objectives of the meetings, which bring together between 15 and 20 participants every Monday, are: “Learn from the messages and experiences of the founders and the reflections and experiences of the participants. Participate in listening and empathy, in this time where we need to strengthen our spirituality and our bonds and unity. Foster a fraternal spirit in an environment of interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Encourage greater commitments for the common good, in the perspective of Service, Family and Peace.”
It is a Zoom session of approximately one hour, which begins with a welcome from the moderator and a brief explanation of the meeting’s modality, continues with the chosen reading and reflections and experiences of the participants, and closes with a prayer or praise. The reading is taken from the book Pyeong Hwa Gyeong (Messages of Peace), which is comprised of 178 public messages from the founders of UPF addressed to representatives of all fields: religious, academic, political, business, media, etc.
After the “Rev. Sun Myung Moon 9th Anniversary Special Session” of the 2021 Cycle “Honoring a Legacy of Peace” (Session 21 of September 20, 2021), the meetings continued: “Experiences of overcoming (conflict, resentment, etc.)” (22nd, 9/27/2021), “Intergenerational Links and Peace” (23rd, 10/4/2021), “Intergenerational Links and Peace II” (24th, 10/11/2021), “Mother’s love” (25th, 10/18/2021), “The value and purpose of art” (26th, 10/25/2021), “Our ancestors and our eternal life” (27th, 11/1/2021), “Reciprocity and egocentrism” (28th, 11/8/2021), “The family as a school of universal love” (29th, 11/15/2021), “Route of Peace” (30th, 11/22/2021), “Where does peace begin?” (31st, 11/29/2021), “Meaning and value of sacrifice” (32nd, 12/6/2021) and the closing was with the theme “Our hope” (33rd, 12/13/2021).