One Date

One of the greatest sin against unity, is to celebrate Easter on different dates.  The Resurrection is at the centre of the Christian faith, without it there is no Christianity, however, almost every year the Eastern and Western churches celebrate Easter on different dates.  Some years Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches celebrate as much as five weeks apart from their Orthodox brothers and sisters while other years it may fall on the same date.

“will I, brother, one more season go through the pain I have been going through year after year? or will you give Me rest this time? am I going to drink one more season the Cup of your division? or will you rest My Body and unify, for My sake, the Feast of Easter?”

In unifying the date of Easter, you will alleviate My pain, brother, and you will rejoice in Me and I in you; and I will have the sight of many restored; (October 14, 1991)

“tell those who work for unity to look up at the skies; see how far they are from the earth? this is how far their hearts are from one another; this is how far they are apart;  when will they all pass a decree by unanimous vote to celebrate the feast of Easter all in one date?” (December 21, 1992)

More messages about unifying the dates of Easter: click here

Reconciliation

The Lord gave Vassula an interior vision of the three iron bars symbolizing the three major Christian bodies, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants, calling their heads to meet by bending. But to meet they have to bend. And bending means reconciliation.

“I need reconciliation primarily, and a true metanoia, from all the Churches;” (May 18, 2013)

The Lord is very displeased when we differentiate ourselves from one another and by not accepting one another. By not reconciling it only proves to the rest of the world that Love is missing within us and that we do not want to bend in humility to obtain the fruit of unity.

Everyone must bend in humility and love. The people of each church should be willing to die to their ego and to their rigidity and then through this act of humility and obedience to the truth, Christ’s presence will be shining in them.

“bend! bend to be able to reconcile and unite, humble yourselves to unite;” (June 21, 1988)

so long as you do not reconcile in humility with each other and love one another as I love you, your separation will remain; (March 27, 1992)

Reconciliation and unity also extends beyond just church…
The Lord calls out for unity and reconciliation between family and friends because everything that is division is NOT from God

As Christians, we also need to respect the freedom of people and avoid the use of unethical means to gain conversions. Interreligious meetings should be genuine with the aim to promote understanding and respect for each other’s religious traditions and refrain from denigrating them. With this, we also gain reconciliation and peace.

All religions have an important role to play in maintaining peace and reconciliation. For the fruit of reconciliation brings peace, love and acceptance of one another.

“all those who have not reconciled with Me, come, come and Reconcile and have My own Peace;” (December 3, 1988)

One Altar

Unifying the dates of Easter is only the first step to answer our Lord’s Call.  The center of our full union, East and West, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, is when we can break bread together and share the Eucharist, the life of the Church.

“unite! assemble! invoke My Name together! consecrate My Body and My Blood together!” (October 14, 1991)

“unity is not to differentiate yourselves under My Holy Name, unity is to share Holy Communion and believe in My real Presence in the Holy Eucharist; unity, My child, is to give to each other your riches;”  (April 13, 1991)

“behold, what joy I will have when around One Altar you will gather and around this same Altar you will praise Me; acknowledging your mistakes, repenting for your rebellion and remembering My Love for you and loving one another as I love you;” (April 19, 1988)

There are many people all around the world trying to live the Messages of True Life in God and practice unity the way Our Lord is calling us to.  Two ways this is being accomplished is through True Life in God Ecumenical pilgrimages and prayer groups.

Prayer Groups

Although there are countless benefits for Readers to gather and pray together, the primary mission and purpose of a True Life in God Ecumenical Prayer group is to pray for unity and for unifying the dates of Easter since this is the great desire of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be the first fruits of unity by assembling and praying together in one heart and one voice. 

Many requests are made given to Vassula to pray for Christian unity:

“come now let us join in prayer; a prayer to the Father for Unity” (May 20, 1987)

“so pray, My beloved ones, pray for this Unity which I, the Lord, am in full preparation on it” (June 19, 1989)

“I am inviting you all today to pray for Unity; to unite you must love, to unite you must be humble and obedient” (Our Holy Mother’s Message of January 8, 1991 for the prayer group, for January 19, 1991)

It is God Himself who calls for prayer meetings for unity, as He said in a Message addressed to Belgium on October 20, 1991, where prayers from the heart, united to the Heart of Jesus, is the foundation to rebuild His Church:

“I have called them, assembling them here today to pray together; I desire My children united; I desire My entire Church to be united; those that persist in remaining separated have already separated My Heart from theirs; realise the gravity of your division, the urgency of My Call and the importance of My request; I need your heart to unite you, and rebuild My Church, united into one, inside your heart; all I ask is love, to break the barriers of your division; pray, you who have offered Me your heart and unite your heart with My Sacred Heart for the unity of My Churches;” (October 20, 1991)

The prayer meeting guidelines  were designed to share the rich prayer life from different Christian traditions, including the Holy Rosary: “I desire you to pray the Rosary” (January 25, 1988)

Pilgrimages

Every two years we, the readers and prayer groups of True Life in God from around the world, organize Ecumenical Pilgrimages in holy places, often with Biblical origins such as the Holy Land, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Jordan.  We also made a historical pilgrimage to Russia because the Lord talks so much about Russia and her role in Unity.

During these pilgrimages, we have people from all over the world – more than 60 countries, representing typically more than 16 Christian denominations including several religious and clergy, such as Cardinals, Metropolitans, Archbishops, Bishops, Archimandrites, Priests and religious.

These Ecumenical pilgrimages offer us the opportunity to practice unity in a very unique way.  We refer to the experience as a “dialogue of life.”  We, from different Churches and without making distinctions, eat together, walk together, visit Holy places together, pray together, celebrate together.  By doing so, we get to KNOW one another and we present our “riches” and traditions to one another.

We LIVE unity because we gather together with reconciliation and unity in our hearts. We are living unity.

An interesting Message of the Lord invites us to experience something rather unusual: “let Me offer you a retreat and a pilgrimage in My Body … come, you will have your rest in My Body” (January 28, 1997). His Heart, His Mouth, His Feet, His Hands, His Ears, and His Eyes allow us to become another Christ in receiving True Life from Him. A language that is certainly symbolic, but contains in itself the promise of concrete graces for our lives, not only personal but also ecclesial. The Lord reminds us: “I come to tell you that My Body is My Church” (March 8, 1987). And that “uniting My Church will be the Glory of My Body” (June 10, 1987).It is therefore also in the Church, which is the Body of Christ, that this pilgrimage takes place. The pilgrimages organized by the readers of True Life in God are just the perfect opportunity to glorify His Body, to allow his Body to heal from the wounds of our division: “gather together, beloved ones; reinforce My Church; unite, beloved ones, come together again, be one” (December 12, 1987)