TLIG Retreat Mexico 12-16 December 2014
MEXICO
My name is Maria Stavrou, and before reading the messages of True Life in God at the age of 26, I was away from God and the sacraments of the church. I was always searching for God, but I was going through the wrong paths. I received the messages after having a similar discussion about this quest with a friend. From the first words that I read from our Lord, everything changed! I felt something unique and all the more I was reading, I was feeling contrition and repentance, but also a strong love. I had found what I was looking for all my life! The grace of God filled the void within me, gave meaning to my life and I felt that I am not alone – God was always there, with me, to love me and guide me. For the past 3 years I have been living in Rhodes and it’s a blessing to be in the prayer group there. My joy was unbelievable when I was given the grace and the honor from God to accompany Vassula on the retreat to Mexico! This was a miracle! Since the beginning of my conversion, when I had heard about the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadeloupe and about a miraculous healing of a friend, I had a big secret desire to visit Our Lady in Mexico. But it remained an impossible dream. Nobody knew about my longing to visit Her and I had hidden it deep in my heart. But the Lord who knows every secret desire of the heart, made my dream come true through Vassula and her proposal to me to accompany her there! Glory to His Holy Name!
From the 12th to the 16th of December, 2014, a successful TLIG retreat took place in Mexico City – famous for the appearance of the Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in 1531. At every TLIG retreat the participation is high, so also it was at this retreat, 300 people. The 30 countries represented were: Argentina, Latvia, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Mexico, Greece, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, United Kingdom, Bolivia, South Africa, Armenia, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. So many different people from so many countries, gathered at the other side of the earth to hear the Word of God and share their love for Him in a place blessed by the presence of Our Lady! I was so impressed that I knew I would need many days to take in, with all its extent, the blessing God gave there. Praise and Glory to our wonderful God!
The TLIG group of Mexico worked untiringly for the successful outcome of the retreat with love and sacrifice; never losing their patience, never grumbling over the task given to them, for this is the spirit of TLIG; this is what Jesus teaches us in His Messages. With this spirit of love they made a successful retreat. It reminded me of the saying in Scriptures: “Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. (1 Co 13: 4-7).
Vassula was one of the speakers at the retreat. After a very tiring journey with many unexpected mishaps, we arrived in Mexico City right after the opening and the welcome from the group. The program of the retreat included speeches from Vassula and priests both Catholic and Orthodox, prayers and hymns to Our Lady and to Christ. Also, every night there was a Eucharistic adoration. By the grace of God, a live broadcast of all speeches in 50 countries via TLIG radio (www.tligradio.org) brought the listeners, who could not attend the retreat, right into the hall. I am sure that many were blessed in hearing those speeches.
13/12/2014
The program began with hymns to Mary through the Rosary, where each decade was recited in different languages. At the end of every decade, we sang a hymn. The atmosphere was glorious and one could almost feel our Lady’s presence tangible!
 |
Vassula began her opening speech by calling the retreat a family gathering, explaining that when one joins such a retreat, he/she becomes committed to the Call of Conversion. She reminded us that God knows us for what we really are. He knows our wretchedness, our weaknesses, our guilt and how we fall and sin. He tells us, «come to Me as you are, do not wait to become saints to come to Me, come to me as you are…» (12.9.1990) and in His Grace, He can transform our soul.
She continued by saying that we are all called to expand God’s Kingdom in this dark world. We are all called to make God’s Love known, to tell the world that Christ has truly risen, to be witnesses of God’s intimate love in this End of Times where wars, terrorism, loss of faith, apostasy, are demolishing God’s creation. This generation, the Lord says, is provoking God’s Justice.
She said that during every retreat our Lord sends us sanctifying graces. Vassula completed her speech by mentioning the words of the Lord: «Hence even the utmost wretched will have a Divine Visitation, for My Return is imminent. I will visit those who are not even familiar with My Divine Works. In their nothingness they have acquired nothing and have no knowledge of Me, nor have they ever known that I AM WHO I AM is their Master and God…» (24.4.2000)
Vassula’s speech won the interest not only of adult attendees but of the children as well! They were sitting in the front row, wearing headphones for the translation of the speech, listening to every word with undivided attention! I think this says it all about this testimony of love which Vassula gave!
Then Fr. Honorio Santana spoke on the subject of, “Our Lady and Her presence in the redemptive plan.” He began by saying that when talking about Mary, it is never enough. Nonetheless, it is most important for us to know about her virtues because when following the virtues of Mary, we become like Jesus. In Her, the Holy Spirit performed His greatest work: the God-Man. In Her obedience to the Will of God, she didn’t reserve any of Her will, and that is the strength of Mary. She gave the Lord the opportunity to come down to earth. We know that redemption was carried out because the Lord, our God, in Person came down to this earth and He wanted to come through Mary.
He spoke about the current state of the world, the great apostasy and general lack of faith. For the eternal truths, which at other times in the past were not put into question, today have their credibility affected and rejected as something useless. We wanted to create a world without God. He continued saying that this explains the numerous appearances of the Virgin Mary and images that are crying. Why is Mary crying and sheds tears of blood? Because when a mother sees her children in danger, she’s anxious and struggles to protect them. This is exactly what is happening now.
He also spoke of the presence of Jesus in the Holy Communion and that if we do not believe that Jesus is present in it, we offend Him when we receive Him, and there is therefore, no fruit of holiness when we receive Him. We have to believe in Him, just like Mary did.
He said to ask God for unity because division wounds the Heart of Jesus. “Father, may all be one, as You and I are One.” This is the most fervent desire of God. And we will all be united if we are around Mary for the new coming of the Holy Spirit.
How loudly echoed in my heart were these words about Our Lady! Her obedience to the Will of God is enviable. This virtue from God is necessary in our times, in order to follow Him and to one day be with Him, as around us there is a world that by all means is trying to pull us away from Him!
The next speaker was Fr. John Abberton. The theme was “The Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, a sign of reconciliation”. He started by saying that the most important words about our Lady are the words of Jesus in the messages. That’s why he asked that we read the messages and especially the one of March 20th, 1996: “My beloved, come and learn: who has exalted Me most? I will tell you who exalted Me most: the New Eve has; yes! the Woman adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, with the twelve stars on Her Head for a crown; for I who made heaven and all that is in it, and earth and all it bears and the sea and all it holds have placed Her above all these things; the Queen of heaven is always in the presence of the Most High’s throne; no less than the height of heaven over earth is the greatness of Her Name; Her Name, wrapped in a robe of light; let the whole world bend their knee to Her who bears the Sacred Name: Mother of God;”
He continued saying that Our Lady came to a place that had been stained by the blood of human sacrifice, violence and war. He described the turbulent historical events in Mexico in the period before and during the appearance of the Virgin Mary on Tepeyac in 1531, conflicts between Spaniards and Indians which led many of the native population in slavery. When the vision became known and the image of the Virgin imprinted on the tilma of Juan Diego was seen, it became clear to many that Our Lady had indentified with the ‘Mestizos’, children of Indian and Spanish parents. Mary’s complexion is symbolic of the birth of a new race and She is called ‘La Morenita’ (the brunette), the Mother of Mexico.
Fr. Abberton shared something that made everyone applaud full of joy. He said: “I heard someone at Medjugorje asking about where Mary is. I don’t know how true this is, but this is what I was told, “Our Lady said, ‘In Medjugorje I come, I visit, in Mexico I live.’”
He concluded saying that Mary sees everything and She calls us all once again to be reconciled with God and with each other. She calls us to put down the weapons of destruction and to seek goodness and peace.
It was the first time I had heard with such detail the history and symbolism of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And I was not the only one; later on during dinner, a lady who had studied at the school of Our Lady of Guadalupe, surprisingly said that even she did not know so many details about the miraculous presence of the Tilma with the Our Lady. Praise God; we’ve learned so much, so as to understand even more the importance of this apparition!
Next was the con-celebration of the Holy Mass by seven priests. With great respect and reverence, all participants in the retreat prepared for Holy Communion with Christ.
Mass was followed by hymns and praises. Francisco played the guitar, sang and inspired the attendees who were filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. The atmosphere was festive!
————————————————————-
Many of the attendees wanted to take pictures with Vassula and have their books signed. Vassula, however, prefers that people focus their attention on Christ and His words, not on her. She told them that she would sign their books and icons the next day, when they’d have more free time.
————————————————————-
“The apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and the 3rd secret;” This was the theme of the next speaker, Fr. Rolf Schönenberger, who would enable us to understand the critical state of this world. He started by saying how he consecrated himself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, writing this proclamation with his blood when he was 11 years old, and how 20 years later Our Lady sent him to Russia, to a place he never wanted to go to, as he didn’t like the cold, the snow and communism and didn’t have any love for the people there. However, within a short amount of time, Our Lady gave him a big love for those people. Even his friends were against him going there as a priest. He continued by talking about Our Lady of Fatima and how She had asked for the whole world to pray for the conversion of Russia. If they didn’t convert, Russia would have spread communism around the entire globe.
Yet until now, the consecration and prayer for conversion has not been done as Our Lady asked. That’s why the situation is so difficult and heavy now between Russia-Ukraine.
Of course, in the messages of TLIG, Jesus speaks of what can happen if there is a lack of prayer or in turn, if we are prayerful.
God can change everything; it depends on every one of us; how we pray, how we offer sacrifices, how we lead our lives so these things will not happen. Do we help our priests, our bishops, to do all they can do? Our Lady, in Quito, Ecuador, in 1634, said, ‘In the end of the nineteenth century, the beginning and the second part of the twentieth century there will be a very big apostasy in the Church. The sacrament of marriage will be attacked and profaned; the freemasons then will have all the power in the Church and they will make laws, incredible laws with the aim to destroy the Sacrament of marriage; so people will live in sin. They will have children while not married. The Christian spirit will fall rapidly and the light of the faith will weaken. It will be a complete loss of all moral values. The priests will leave priesthood and there will be not enough religious vocations. There will be no more innocence in children, nor in women and the clergy will lose faith. But then, Our Lord will send a prelate through whom the faith in the priests will be restored.’
He continued talking about Pope Francis; he knows exactly what happened in Fatima and he has the courage to do things that others don’t have. He referred to the meeting of the Pope with Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul as the wish of the Catholic Church to be united completely with the Orthodox Church; he seeks unity and has it in his mind – something he stressed by tapping his forehead when asked by a friend of True Life in God to unify the dates of Easter.
He continued saying that there are many things to talk about in reference to the 3rd secret, but no one is sure what will happen: