Those who truly wish to do something for TLIG know how hard it is now even to talk about it due to the pressure and obstacles from all parts. In the Message the Lord talks about His Spring, the Spring of Yahweh. As the Lord explains, the Spring of Yahweh “will be when the whole of My creation will be shining with a brilliant light;” (Feb. 25, 1998)
We know that in the natural world spring comes after winter. What is true in the natural world is also true in the spiritual realm. And the Lord does speak about ‘winter’ in the Messages, “in Our Divine Canticle are many sayings of Our Triune sweetness, with amorous teachings so that many trees would prosper and grow; but as for the barren trees, I shall come, with a host of angels and uproot them in winter and so will be twice dead;” (June 22, 1998)
Winter is characterized by cold temperature, biting wind, heavy snowfall, frozen ice and long dark night. When it snows people have nowhere to go. And when the nature is all covered with snow, everywhere the panorama looks the same, monotonous, still, and makes life difficult. This is how winter is, and it reflects pretty much the situation which TLIG is in. Yet, no matter how undesirable and unbearable winter is, it is necessary because cold temperature, snow and ice are the best elements to eliminate the insects and parasites living in the trees and in the soil without harming the nature. And after the harmful insects and parasites hiding in the plants and in the fields disappear then the plants and trees can flourish when spring time comes. Winter purifies, reinvigorate and fertilizes the garden soil and the fields far better than any other unnatural means.
As the Lord continues in the above-mentioned message, “in the baptism of the Purification you will be reformed into your first image; in this Purification everyone will aspire for a closer union of love with Me, and in ardour your hearts will search for the Truth, the Way and the Life;” So the Spring of Yahweh is meant not only for His Church but also for the whole mankind. It is transformation of the whole being of everyone. It is a spiritual revolution, a revolution of love: “I will bring your heart in a spiritual revolution of love such as your era has never seen…” (June 15, 1995)
No wonder why God must first thoroughly purify those who are called to work for His Vineyard by allowing them to undergo a harsh spiritual winter: persecution, opposition, trials, marginalization, calumny, rejection, indifference etc. All this just because we are trying to evangelize with love for Love and promote unity of the Christians by words and deeds showing the right standard of a diluted Christian faith which gives rise to division, immorality and all sorts of passions. Suffering purifies our souls. It is the price for our spiritual transformation. Sacrificial Love is what makes suffering bearable and meaningful. Those who read this article should know that the word “love” appears in the Messages more than a thousand times.
The Spring of Yahweh will come because the Lord will keep His promise. So we should ask God to show us how to make good use of our spiritual winter for His Glory, for example, studying the Messages which contain countless teachings on the Eucharist and on Unity, modeling our lives according to the teachings therein, so that when the Spring of Yahweh comes we will be spiritually, morally and doctrinally well rooted in the Holy Trinity, ready to be used by the Lord for a noble mission wherever He wants. The Church badly needs renewal from all points of view, and so too does the world. The end result of the renewal will be the Spring of Yahweh for which the Lord is now patiently preparing us through a seemingly endless winter in darkness. Let us not reject this spiritual winter but bravely accept it instead, in obedience to God, for winter is the only forerunner of spring and at the same time a time of preparation for it.
P. Cristóbal
