Repentance

by Vassula
Egypt, October 21th - 31th 2002

Those who have been reading the messages of TLIG must have noticed perhaps that there are some words which highlight the entire message: for instance the words: love, reconciliation, unity, Holy Spirit, unceasing prayer, the Word of God, Wisdom and the word repentance. Today I would like to draw your attention on the word "repentance" and try to analyse its true meaning. But before going into this allow me to say a few words on the unceasing prayer because after all it is through repentance that one enters into the unceasing prayer. We know how God is asking us all to turn our life into an unceasing prayer.

The unceasing prayer is when we allow God to live perpetually in us and we in Him. The unceasing prayer is when our spirit is completely absorbed in God, becoming sensitive of God’s presence. In these moments we do not need anymore words to express ourselves to God because all our being becomes a vivid flame. Enflamed with love for God. In these moments of this silent prayer, our spirit forgets the world and is ravished in this silence, enjoying every moment of having been captured by God.

Our life then should be revolving only around God and around Divine Love, because love unites the soul with God, and the more powerful the love becomes the more profoundly the soul penetrates in the depths of God and into the life of Wisdom. Suddenly, everything will start becoming clear to the soul because Wisdom will be her daily Companion and to her great astonishment she will start seeing the things that eye cannot see and will start hearing the things that no ear could hear. The soul then will be so intertwined with the Creator and drawn in such a perfect union of divine Love with God, that her spirit becomes one with the Divine. She possesses God as much as God possesses her.

A soul cannot live without God, but it takes its life from God. Without God our table is empty. This is why it is so important to give space to the Holy Spirit so that he fills us with His Light. But the Holy Spirit cannot come upon a soul that is in debt to sin nor can He make His way in a crafty soul either. Therefore, repentance is necessary to purify the soul. Repentance, God says, is the gate that leads souls into the path of contemplation, and from darkness into light. Repentance is an act of humility and the humbler one gets to be, the easier the Holy Spirit finds His way in the soul. Therefore, repentance should become a permanent state in our life so as to enable us to come to the permanent state of contemplation and union with God which is the unceasing prayer as I described before.

Without tears our heart will remain hard as a rock and will never be able to gain spiritual humility. The one who is un-disposed to accept repentance will never be united to the Holy Sprit and will never come to know God and understand Him.

Everybody who desires salvation will feel the need to repent and God will listen to his repentance. The greater the repentant is sincere, the greater God’s friendship. Repentance is not a one-time action. As we are asked to turn our life into an unceasing prayer, so it is with repentance. We are asked from God that our life turns into an unceasing repentance. God says that each word that is uttered to Him in truthfulness draws His friendship closer, for His friendship ensues in proportion to the repentance given to Him. The fruits gathered after repentance is love and dispassion. "Small sins or big sins, all are sins in My Eyes," God had said once. And in another message He adds: "Sin is similar to a poison inside you and the longer it remains inside you, the sicker you become drawing you closer to death. The more you do not purge it out of your system all the more you risk to die. You may be freed and healed from the poison of sin if you humble yourself and realize that the only remedy to purge your sins is through repentance."

Tell Me: who of you would risk his life had he discovered he had swallowed poison and remained inert and do nothing about it? To be cured of this deadly potion you will have to lower your head and admit you are a sinner, offering Me your repentance, then all the bitterness of the poison will be purged out including the serpent itself which you had been nurturing inside your entrails all through your life; and, being set free, I will replace those evils by My sweetness... yes, once those evils out, you will recover, and once recovered you will not be an alien to My Law. Willingly you will turn your back to the world because in front of you, you will see My Glory and My Splendour; the sight of My radiant Presence will be shining within and without you."

Today God is giving us abundant opportunities to return to Him through the graces He is pouring on us in our so miserable and pathetic times. Through the grace that is offered to us, God will bring us to a true life in Him... We have learnt that we must make peace with God that leads us to make peace with neighbour as well. So long as we do not make peace with God we will be still walking alone on hot coals and not with God, we will be continuously transgressing the Law of Love that God has given us and we will continue living as rebels who are estranged from God. So let us be in a permanent state of prayer and repentance, repeating those words in our heart: "Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner..."