Testimonies from religious

21 July 2000 12:24

Two testimonies are forwarded here. They are from Fr. Gerhard in Germany and Brother James in Mexico.

I had been working for almost 15 years as a Missionary in Africa. There my spiritual life was getting more and more absorbed and choked by an overload of physical work I had to do. My priestly vocation had lost all its joy and meaning.

After coming back to Europe I tried to take roots again in my community and in a new assignment. But it was very difficult to feel at home since so much had changed in church and society. The friars in my community watched me with cold reservation. I was feeling rejected and homeless in the midst of all that wealth in Germany. My soul was absolutely empty and dry.

I searched for spiritual food but everything I took into my hands left me in utter boredom.

Today I consider it a great grace that one day my old mother handed two books to me, Volume 1 and 2 of Vassula’s « True life in God » for reading. I started and could not stop any more since. It appeared to me as if St. John had come out of his cave in Patmos in order to write messages from Jesus for our times.

Three years have passed since. I have read all 8 Volumes meanwhile not only once but several times. I consider these messages to be truly God’s word for our times and the most important readings for this world, especially for the clergy. My sacerdotal vocation has come back into full life and a new joy has filled my heart never dreamed of. Now I have become a fervent missionary in my country for the Pope, for unification of the churches and for the new Pentecost which is soon coming unto us. Praise be to God!

Fr. Gerhard

My daily conversion is being assisted by Jesus’s messages given us through Vassula. These messages are not the only means Jesus is using but they do play a major role in guiding my life toward Him.

I entered the monastery as a lay brother in 1960 at the age of 18 and was therefore very susceptible to the turmoil which occurred during the 60’s and 70’s. My monastery has a seminary and therefore I was exposed to much of what went on in the Church during those years. My response was to involve myself in my work and ignore many of the ideas which I did not understand. As a result of this I gradually became psychologically isolated form many of those with whom I lived. From my perspective of today I can see that I clung to the faith of my fathers and simply trusted that someday it would make sense. I also see that Jesus protected me from many of the worst elements of this demise of truth in the Church.

In 1987 Jesus and Mary arranged for me to live and work with the monks of Dormition Abbey (now Hagha Sion) in Jerusalem for a four month period. During this time I came to understand that everything in the Bible was true and that it is we who do not know how to read what the authors wrote. This was the beginning of my ‘re-conversion’ which I now understand as a daily process of turning toward God.

In 1992 I was introduced to the writings of Maria Valtorta. As I read them, Jesus spoke to my heart and I became acquainted with His manner of speaking. In 1993 I was given Volume I of Vassula’s books and in it I found the same voice speaking. I have now read and meditated on Volumes 1-7.

In October of 1995 I was in Medjugorje when the notification was published and heard Fr. Pavich give his first sermon on this event. Not having any other guidance but his and remembering that ‘obedience is better than sacrifice’ I reluctantly destroyed my books of Vassula¹s writings thinking that perhaps I had made a mistake. The urge to read the writings of Vassula did not ‘die’ with the books. The message that God loves each and every one of us and is trying to prepare us for what is to come did not go away, nor did the hunger to abandon myself to Him.

Some two years ago Jesus answered my urgent call to be removed from a very difficult situation I found myself in and he brought me to our priory here in Mexico. Not knowing Spanish when I arrived and discovering that I could not learn Spanish because I am significantly deaf has been a source of great grace in that I have grown in my trust of God. (I now have hearing aids and am learning Spanish as a child learns to speak, by listening to those whom he lives with.)

Some time ago, after getting our e-mail I was led to look for True Life in God on the internet. When I looked on my own I did not find anything but when I let the Spirit guide me I found the TLIG site and have joyfully again come in contact with the writings of Vassula and Jesus speaking to me through her. This is a source of great growth in my daily conversion process as I learn to live each moment in the presence of the Holy.

Brother James