In 1990, I was with the visionary Julia Kim of Naju, South Korea when she visited Washington, D.C. She had been speaking about the threat of war with North and South Korea. She asked me to take her to see the White House and the U.S. Capitol. While driving on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House (you could do that then) she was bleeding from the head as if she had the crown of thorns. She said she often suffered the wounds of Christ in reparation for the sins of abortion. Looking over my shoulder in my back seat, I’m not sure she saw too much of the White House. In 1994 while speaking at a conference, I was with her again in Oahu, Hawaii when she had another of her many Eucharistic Miracles. It was witnessed by dozens of people. The supernatural phenomena around Julia was substantial as was the continued message of Our Lady asking Korea for the amendment of life.
For nearly her whole life in the unique and lonely life as a visionary, leading clergy in South Korea have been often cruel, and generally marginalized her. She has always mentioned the threat of war between the north and south. Seoul alone has an estimated 25 million people, and thousands of North Korean conventional guns are dug in within striking range of Seoul. As the threat of war looms with Guam and South Korea, Kim Jong-un, the 33-year-old mercurial lunatic leader of North Korea is holding much of the world hostage. There are no good endings if war breaks out. Even if it does not escalate in the very near future, it may at some point because North Korea is hell bent on seeing the destruction of the United States.
After the ranking clergy of South Korea continually tried to ignore the warnings heaven was telling Julia 
Kim to spare another Korean war, they now have had an about face. With the threat of war so serious, the U.S. has three aircraft carriers off the Korean Peninsula due to Kim Jong-un saying he would strike Guam on August 15, 2017. There was a reason for that day of national pride. On August 15, 1945, North Korea declared independence from the Japanese Imperial Army. The North Korean army, reserves, and para-military have an estimated 7.7 million personnel. A week prior to August 15th, (Feast of the Assumption), the South Korean Cardinal and bishops along with Guam clergy appealed to the Blessed Mother for her intercession as had been done at Lepanto, the Siege of Vienna, and other places in history. When all appears lost with few remaining options, man goes to the Mother. Why does it take a crisis to listen when for the most part leading clergy dismiss her role until a crisis looms?
So why are the laity and clergy alike apprehensive to shout from the rooftops the messages deemed authentic? We’ll look at just several reasons.
- Lack of faith: Faith is reduced to political discourse. In actuality, many people and clergy doubt the true presence, the role of the Blessed Mother, Scripture, Tradition, and generally not only lack faith for many reasons, but doubt God in general. They give the appearance of belief saying answers are in politics, philosophy, and social justice, but are not willing to amend their lives according to the gospel message of obedience. Jesus said, “John the Baptist was the greatest man ever born of women.” The Baptist had only one message — Repent.
- Denial of the supernatural: When Jesus turned the water into wine, it was recognized by all at the wedding feast as an actual event, not an allegorical story. It was an historical and supernatural fact. It was the same with the man’s restoration of sight with spittle from dirt to mud. In a world that searches to find answers in reason and solely of the intellect, there is more to the Holy Spirit than reason alone. When St. Thomas Aquinas encountered the living God, he never wrote again. He said, “All I have written is mere straw.” This supernatural manifestation could not be explained rationally by Aquinas, thus he never tried to explain God again in print. Similarly, it was the same with Edith Stein. After searching for God in philosophy, she started reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. Reading throughout the night she said in the morning, “That is the truth.” She encountered a personal God that penetrated the soul, not just the intellect.
- Fear: The Blessed Mother “Reveals the hearts of men (Luke 2:35). When one gives their heart over to the Blessed Mother you become exposed without your finery. It is another degree of sanctity and abandonment to the Divine Will giving oneself over to her wishes as she is the Mother of the Son, the Daughter of the Father, and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. St. Louis De Montfort said the apostles of the end days would be Marian devotees. There are signs of this in our midst.
- Marginalization: People have a fear of being marginalized if they get close to Marian themes. It is not the way of being thought of as a serious intellect. The Blessed Mother will be spoken of in respectful ways many times, but if she speaks people object to it. It is not uncommon that many seminarians and religious today have been touched at Medjugorje. Yet, when they enter seminary, they often speak in hushed tones and feel somewhat embarrassed by it when asked by those less knowledgeable on the subject. However, it is many times the single greatest grace that propelled them into religious life.
What do we have to lose if the world is in a place of diabolical disorientation when nothing but good can come from submitting to Our Lady’s requests? Why not pay attention to what Our Lady says when there is nothing to lose and everything to gain for our welfare, our family, and our way of living?
Jesus, I Trust in You
