VASSULA'S MISSION IN ASIA - January 1998

PART 3

Soon, all these hardships were forgotten as we finally reached India. This vast land of people and religions, of varieties and cultures; a land with nearly two thousand languages with a population of 900 million of which about 3% are Christians. A land richly blessed by the Lord with a remarkable beauty of nature and warm climate. A country where in different parts people seem to live together in harmony and peace, because of their tolerance and respect for their differences. It so pleased the Most high to allow His servant to step on India's soil in the city of Madras, breaking the barrier of Satan. This was the place, where once St. Thomas preached the Good News and where today his remains are still venerated in a Catholic Basilica. Being fully aware now that Satan must be fuming, Vassula was careful to time the taxi taking us into town to the hotel, so as to make sure, when we return to the airport the following morning, that we arrive in time for our plane.

Satan did not give up, because, although we left the hotel well ahead of time, the hotel had provided us with a taxi which had no brakes! Accordingly, we drove in heavy traffic with cows on the road to the airport to catch our plane to Cochin. The taxi driver drove like a snail. Every vehicle was passing us... a little bit more and the cows themselves would have passed us by! Time was running short and we urged the taxi man to hurry. He did not, instead he was blowing the horn constantly to give us the impression that he was speeding. Nevertheless, we did arrive on time to catch our plane to Cochin, a city in the southern province of Kerala with a tropical, hot and very humid climate.

Kerala rejoices in a vast Christian population and is known for their involvement in the charismatic renewal since the early 70's. Vassula and her companions received a warm welcome by the organising committee headed by Mr. John Thomas Kottukappally who drove us in two hours time to Palai, our final destination and residence for three days. Hardly had we arrived, without much rest, when Vassula was expected to address a crowd of five thousand at St. Alfons College where many priests, countless nuns and leaders of different charismatic groups eagerly listened to the inspired presentation of Vassula. My companion and I started to realise the demands of such a mission and how Vassula has hardly any time to breathe.

Wednesday, January 21st:

Still enjoying the "ban being lifted", Vassula's first morning in Palai began by addressing about 30 family members of the Syrian Catholic organisers. She stressed the importance to fully decide for God, thus enabling us by his grace to discern His will and to fulfil it for His glory. Vassula also shared with them the early dawn of TLIG, when her guardian angel began to prepare her to meet God. How one purification followed another, one evil attack after the other, being tested like Jesus in the desert before his public ministry and of how by becoming God's servant for a special mission, one will go through many hardships as Satan always tries to destroy God's work before it has time to grow and threaten him. He attacks the chosen souls who are about to serve the most high.

The next program about an hours drive away took place in Kottoyam. A crowd of about 5000 was addressed in the People of Lourdes Parish Hall. The hall was packed and more people followed the program outdoors via loudspeakers. Again in the peak of the heat around 35C and as in all of the previous meetings, many Priests and Nuns of different orders with the laity listened with rapt attention to the message of God's love hymn from the mouth of it's carrier, who glowed radiantly being enveloped in a visible divine veil, according to certain witnesses, resounding the exact words that God had given to her. In the brief introductory speech by Fr. "X" the audience was reminded that God appointed in the Church the Prophets to be second in rank after the Apostles (1Cor.1:28), and that the gift of prophecy had always been in the history of God's salvation plan.

Vassula explained why God is manifesting himself so powerfully in our days; "it is not just to say hello, but because things in this world are very grave. When God speaks to us today it is not to draw us into sensation, but to make us realise the urgency of our conversion; the gravity of the condition of our soul and the importance of changing our lives and live holy". Vassula said that God wishes us to practice all the virtues, especially love, since the whole law is summarised in one single command - "Love". No one can claim that he loves God when he hates his neighbour, since, "the least we do to our neighbour we do to Christ". She spoke of the importance of reconciling with our family members, friends and neighbours for in doing so we reconcile with Christ. She stressed how important it is to repent from our hearts, confessing our sins and feeling true contrition for them, for the fruit of repentance is love.

Many people testified to having seen Christ's face in place of Vassula's and were surprised to look into the holy countenance of our loving Saviour. Vassula concluded this inspired talk, as in all the other meetings, by raising her cross which contains a relic from the true cross on which Jesus was crucified, praying a prayer for healing and deliverance, invoking the Holy Spirit to bestow his gifts on the assembly and finally blessed them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This time during her talk, Vassula inspired by the Holy Spirit spoke especially of prayer groups which are sometimes in conflict with each other, through competing. They should she said, prove their holiness by reconciling and uniting. Afterwards we were told by the Priest, this apparently was the case in that area and later on we heard, some reconciliation's were being made.

Right after this meeting, about seven journalists from local newspapers had already gathered in the same building for a press conference. Their interest was focused on the end of times. Vassula, clearly said that it was not the end of the world and explained in detail the coming events associated with these end times. The period of mercy that we are living in now will suddenly come to an end and everyone living on the earth will experience a general purification, where we will see our sins with the eyes of God and be filled with remorse. Many who never confessed their sins and lived a Godless life, might not survive this event which will be like a small judgement. This cleansing fire will uproot all evil from the face of the earth. Vassula mentioned the prophecies of Akita in Japan, which are similar to the True Life in God Prophecies, in respect to what our Lady foretold of a chastisement by fire that will take place in our lifetime. Then the Holy Spirit will renew the earth by overflowing it through a Second Pentecost: the Hope of our times.

As soon as the press conference was over, the rector of the St. Thomas Pontifical Seminary, who was present in the meeting, wished that Vassula, that same evening, after her press conference would address his seminarians, Priests and theologians for 1/2 hour. So Vassula had a completely unscheduled on the spot meeting at St. Thomas's Pontifical Seminary in Kottayam. She addressed 450 seminarians, 40 Priests and the faculty, who, received in twenty minutes, a perfectly summarised presentation of the contents of the messages coming from the Sacred Heart. This unexpected invitation, extended by the Rector of the seminary came obviously from Heaven. Had it been announced beforehand, Satan would have tried to send his adepts to forbid it. The Rector expressed his great joy at being privileged to have God's chosen messenger visit their house and hearing about the importance of the Holy Spirit, especially in the year dedicated to the Holy Spirit. These are the surprising ways of our Lord. With the Rector's consent the seminarians are now free to read and buy the True life in God message books, which were available after the meeting due to the efforts of the local organisers who carried them in heaps into the premises!

There was great joy in the hearts of the people of Kerala, especially the Priests, when Vassula accepted the proposal to hold three more meetings at the end of her Indian program, extending her stay for two more days. Certainly an inspiration from Jesus who expressed His love for this vast nation in a message given to Vassula on January 22, with these words: "...since you are so precious in My sight, India, I have sent to you too, my seeds (Jesus means the True Life in God messages) so that you sow them in your ground and the harvest will be rich and plentiful were you to set your heart to work the soil; ...and your earth will respond to the grain; then everyone will know of My love and will respond to My call...".

A few days later in Vassula's mission to Goa, Jesus blessed India another time with a message: "...be united to Me, and be rooted in Me, then no one and nothing in this world will come between you and Me; My great return is imminent and I have come all the way to you with My heart in My Hand, take it, India and place My Heart in your heart...come and consecrate yourselves and your families to Me and to the Immaculate Heart of your Mother; I Jesus, intend to remain in your country and sanctify it, for this, I ask you all to consecrate your country to Our Two Hearts "

On Thursday January 22, a rough two hours drive on bumpy and curvy roads took us to Muringoor, where Vassula spoke to about 7000 people at the Divine Retreat Center. People from all over India gather in this place to attend charismatic retreats. As in all her Kerala meetings so also this time, Rev Dr. Kurian Mattam, Principal of St. Thomas College in Palai, who invited Vassula to his province, translated magnificently and thus God's message was able to more readily reach the hearts of the large crowd. Vassula's speech varied from meeting to meeting according to the needs of the listeners. This alone proves the guidance and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who knows every heart and teaches accordingly. At the Divine Retreat Center she called strongly to unity. Unity in family, between friends and prayer groups; unity in the Church; that there should be no competition and differentiation in Jesus' name.

She taught them about the prayer of the heart, which is a conversation between the soul and God and that prayer is unveiling God. True Life in God teaches us the unceasing prayer. This is, to have God always in our minds; she told them to meditate and use the words "we" and "us", for God is always present. He likes to share every single moment with us, even if it seems we are doing things of little importance. When done with love, our small duties become great in his eyes. Vassula said that in order to reach this meditative way of life, one has to become intimate with God, for this we need to approach him and open ourselves to him so that He may reveal himself to us. In this way we get to know him and learn to love Him. Once we are enwrapped in God, we will desire God alone, thirst for him all day long; God will become our bounce, our joy, our smile, our Holy Companion and our everything. This is the prayer without ceasing. In the same way we will be observing the greatest commandment of all: to love God with all our mind and heart, with all our soul and entire being which will open the way to love our neighbour as God wishes us to love them.

Vassula stressed the fact that what she is able to give the audience in a 90 minute presentation is just like a drop in the ocean, therefore it is very important to read the messages if one wishes to grow spiritually and know God, for they are anointed and they save. She said: "if you truly believe it is God who speaks, wouldn't you be interested to know what He has to say in our days? If we truly say we love God and believe in him, wouldn't we desire to read all that he gives to us out of his boundless mercy?" Vassula concluded the meeting with a general benediction of Yahweh's blessing to his people: "May Yahweh bless you and keep you, may Yahweh let his face shine on you and be gracious to you, may Yahweh show his face and bring you peace". Thus ended the first part of Vassula's visit to Kerala.

January 23rd,1998

Early in the morning began another journey to yet another airport, boarding yet another plane to a new destination, Goa, so that Jesus' Love Hymn could reach other parts of this vast nation. After 20 kilometers of our two hour drive to Cochin airport Vassula's car was flagged down on the road by family members of the driver. They too wished to receive a blessing from his chosen one. In no time she was surrounded by people and blessed pictures of Jesus and our Lady were given to them. As in every authentic mission for Christ's glory, hardships and suffering is part of the 'daily bread'; "This will contribute to your encouragement and your salvation"; St. Paul writes (2 Cor.1:6) in telling us of the hardships he underwent in Asia. So too Vassula's mission had its portion of these, manifesting in even the smallest events. She was held for over 20 minutes at the check-in counter at Cochin, due to confusion and technical problems with computers, whereas her companions received their boarding pass in no time.

In Goa we were kindly received by the True Life in God committee, who immediately rushed Vassula from the airport to the first scheduled program. There was a press conference attended by 4 journalists from local newspapers and writers from different magazines. The welcome in Goa had a bitter taste, due to the evil one who was in full action using man's passions and weaknesses to destroy Christ's message and thus prevent many souls from being converted. An anonymous person who publicised himself as a "well wisher" from Austria, had heard of Vassula's journey to India and sent the notification of October '95 which was then published in a local newspaper with the attempt to prevent people from attending Vassula's meetings. Alarmed clergy responded by warning people not to attend. But again, this did not disrupt Priests, Nuns and laity from coming. The organisers faced the first tempests that arose. The opposition in fact, made the organisers even more fervent and united and many new positive articles were immediately published in various newspapers. In spite of all the problems, India and the Philippines are a model of perfect organisation. They did not allow themselves to be shaken but instead became even more determined doing everything to make Jesus' messages known. Once more we experienced God's powerful hand.

The Following morning January 24, at 11:30 am a TV recording was planned at the Headquarters of the National Indian Television station, in Panaji,Goa, by Prof. Agnel Crasto, Director of the Institute of Personality Development. This 30 minute recording was broadcast three days later in a nation where many different creeds would be able to hear of the intervention by God through his prophet. Again after a brief summary of the beginning of True Life in God, the main focus was on unity and how to bring lasting peace to this world. Not only in the Church but amongst all peoples, nations, creeds and races. Vassula led by the spirit, gave a very inspired explanation of how to bring this about. In our modern rationalistic era, people tend to believe that all can be done by them, by their own strength, becoming little gods. Therefore they tend to believe that God in his Trinitarian Holiness is no more needed. This sin leads to self-destruction and that is why our world is filled with disasters, wars, disunity, famine and spiritual drought. The world thus is destroying itself. For as our Lady said in a message: "...all that comes from the earth returns to the earth and it is not God who brings disasters and destruction, but evil draws evil..."

Vassula continued that we have to realise, man cannot do anything without God. Without him we are not able to lift our little finger. Therefore it is essential to give glory to God and to acknowledge God as the All Powerful and surrender to our loving Father by offering him daily our will, so that he may transform us into what he wishes us to be. We need to die to ourselves, our ambitions, partialities, principles and lethargy and start living a life of prayer and allow God to be in charge. Only in this way will the world change, by our abandonment to Divine will. God with his Holy Spirit will change the face of the earth. Thus lasting Peace and Unity will be born in this torn world.

At 6 p.m. the prayer meeting was held at the Kala Academy (Art Academy) in Panaji, Goa. The open air stadium made it possible to address many people of all faiths. We were joyfully surprised when, in spite of certain attacks, nearly 5000 people came to this special evening. They listened to an awe-inspiring presentation of how to live a True Life in God. Everything truly was perfect for the Holy Spirit, who moved and guided Vassula word for word, manifested Himself so powerfully during the entire meeting, enveloping the audience in His Divine Light, leaving everyone rapt in their attentiveness. Due to the perfect order in the organisation and a marvellous Choir singing praises to God, this meeting, was outstanding in perfection. One could feel with every word Vassula uttered, a Heavenly Peace enwrapped in God's Wisdom, flowing like sweet honey out on the entire stadium, leaving the people very touched. People wept for joy as some witnessed again, Christ appeared in Vassula's place, as she shared the early dawn of True Life in God.

Moreover, she revealed the true God known as our loving and tender Father, who is slow to anger, but quick in forgiving and forgetting, who comes in our days as a beggar begging for love. Striking was her continuous reminder in every meeting about the days of mercy which are running short and that God will soon appear as a Judge; that the time for turning to God is urgent and we need to live as though it is our last day on earth, always ready to meet God with a pure heart. And that the forthcoming purification is a grace to all humanity, even though it will be like a small judgement for those who are not ready to face God. This awe inspiring talk was preceded by Fr. "X"'s brief introductory speech which shed light on the published notification, clarifying it with the most recent statements of Cardinal Ratzinger, published in the Portuguese Magazine "Annunciai a Boa Nova" in November 1997. This clarification made people who were misled, rejoice and they were grateful to be informed of the latest news and thus put at peace.

At the end of this meeting, everyone's attention had reached its peak when, during a minute of silence, Vassula, still standing and facing the crowd, suddenly announced that she had just received a locution from Jesus, saying the following: "Tell them, what enchants My Soul are their prayers coming from their heart". After the meeting, a Hindu organisation called "Brahma Kumaris" which was present with seven monks at the talk, presented Vassula with a book as a friendly gesture. Both the Hindu and Moslem listeners expressed their contentment of having been able to listen to this impressive talk. As in every other meeting, a large number of priests and nuns were present and one Marian Priest, Fr. Anastasio Gomes, O.C.D., a former Professor of Theology at Alwaye, expressed openly to the gathering his deep appreciation for Vassula's visit in their town. He attended every other meeting in Goa with great interest and each time he supported True Life in God by speaking after Vassula. Different Goan newspapers wrote very positive articles regarding Vassula's mission in their region as her meetings continued the following days to various places in Goa.

On January 25 the meeting was scheduled for Margao, about an hour and a half drive south of our residence. The meeting was unique in this trip because it was in a large public park in the middle of the city. This made it possible for many non-Christians to gather as well, and as the evening continued, quite a few people had also gathered around the fence outside the park. It brought to mind the words of Isaiah: "I am coming to gather the people of all the nations. When they come together, they will see what my power can do ..." (Is 66:18). Perhaps 2,500 had come to hear. As elsewhere in Goa, news of the old notification of 1995 had reached here as well. Fr. "X" therefore used the Bombay Examiner article as a key aspect of his introduction as well as the remarks by Bishop Terra from the internet. In fact, Cardinal Ratzinger's comment ("You may continue to promote her writings") had never been sufficiently widely reported in the press, and the Cardinal's words to those Bishops supporting Vassula ("Continue as you have been doing until now") are quite encouraging, but almost universally unknown to the the clergy and hierarchy, not to mention the laity.

Like most in the Goa area, the people of Margao know little of Vassula's personal history, so Fr. "X" explained that in the beginning he was in no way convinced. In fact his harsh treatment of Vassula had made Jesus weep. Although Fr. "X" has therefore known her from the beginning, Jesus had explained that he was there to "learn." In fact, it was always the Holy Spirit who was her Spiritual Director and not Fr. "X". Fr. "X" also pointed out how the messages to Vassula are a continuation and further development of the devotion to the Sacred Heart which is based on the Scriptures but only clearly revealed through the great mystics like St. Gertrude and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.

During Vassula's talk, she also emphasized the early history of her conversion and spoke of the amazingly paternal voice of God the Father when he first spoke to her and asked her to recite the Our Father; in fact, at to no time did she feel that she was before the severe Judge that people often imagine. In fact, God's voice awakened in her the memory that it was always God who had been her real Father, and immediately she experienced God as the Father who had always been near her. God desires everyone to get to know him while they are still here on earth. As Vassula said, there are people who speak all their life about God, but they do not know God in the intimate union that He is asking from each one of us in the messages.

Throughout her stay in India, Vassula frequently returned to the theme that God is very much wounded by our ingratitude. In fact, we often take His blessings for granted. Our health, our food, our clothes, the roof over our head, are all blessings that come from Him. We should end each day praising God for all this. Vassula stressed often during the stay in India that God could take away everything from us as he did from Job and leave us naked in the street. In a country like India, one has only to look around to realize how fragile our well-being is and how easily we can plunge from prosperity to poverty. However, Vassula reminded the listeners that her messages do not speak of the end of the world. They speak of the end of a season or epoch which has been a very bad and violent one; they are, in short, words of hope and clarify ideas we find in the prophet Daniel and in the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse.

During her stay in India, Vassula often stressed the theme of reconciliation, not just of the divided Churches, but at every level, even in the family. In God's message to India, Jesus says, "what I need is love, reconciliation and a spirit of forgiveness. Yes, I want them to prove their love for Me ...." Vassula explained that God doesn't want to see rivals in our heart, and the biggest rival is our own will. We have to give our will to God. The meeting ended with a healing prayer and the blessing with the relic of the true cross. Afterwards, a brief testimony was given by a local priest, Fr. Mazarello, the former rector of the seminary at Rachol. His words of support and praise made a deep impression on all. He said: "We thank God the Almighty for the gift of Vassula sent to this vast country -- India, to encourage the faithful and strengthen them by sharing her spiritual gift. As a priest, I am really very happy to be here and listen to the testimony of this prophet."

January 26 is a holiday (Republic Day) in India, so no meeting was scheduled. Vassula did however have a long meeting with those who had been involved in organizing the meeting in Goa. Vassula stressed the importance of actually reading regularly the messages. She gave a kind of parable to help the groups of that area understand how to do the work of the Lord. She said that we should think of God as someone who runs his organization with the handicapped. ("Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather God chose ... the weak of the world to shame the strong ... so that no human being might boast before God" (1 Cor 1: 26-29). We, like Vassula, were not chosen for this work of spreading the messages because of our merits. God chooses the wretched. Thus if one handicapped person is blind, another cannot say, "Why didn't you see?" If the other one is deaf, the first cannot say, "Why didn't you listen?" In other words, we have to truly be aware that we ourselves are far from perfect, and therefore we cannot expect other people to be perfect either.

In these local TLIG meetings there is no leader. The Holy Spirit is the leader, though obviously someone must be responsible for taking care of some of the details of having a meeting. Vassula says that there is no need for using the format suggested in a rigid way, but in any event, the spontaneous prayers should be rather brief and should not become short talks or long petitions. Everyone should have a chance to make a brief prayer if they like. As Jesus once said "Recollect yourselves and pray slower, looking at Me - I am Present. Let your prayers reach Me" (Dec. 16, 1988). An hour and a quarter is plenty of time for these meetings which can be monthly or weekly or even daily. Towards the end of the gathering, a local priest who had attended spoke of how Vassula's messages had made us "fall in love" with Jesus, and he assured her of his unconditional support. The meeting closed with a personal blessing by Vassula of each participant with the relic of the true cross. Later that same day, Vassula received another message for India. In it, Jesus asked that the nation be consecrated to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

January 27 was the last meeting in the Goa area, this time the meeting was scheduled for a place named Vasco da Gama about an hour's drive from our residence. The meeting was held in a large open area. The organizers had sold about 2,500 tickets, but many more had been admitted or were standing near the low wall outside. Many were non-Christians. In fact, in India, there are many non-Christians who are very open to Christianity but are held back because of social pressures from making full commitment. Before we actually reached our destination, we stopped at an ancient Portuguese Church which is among the oldest in the area and is more than 400 years old. A meeting had been arranged with Fr. Saturnino Dias.

Father greeted us very cordially and explained why there was a certain concern in the local clergy about the current explosion of charisms, apparitions and prophesies. In fact, there had been some bad experiences with false prophets in the past. Father listened attentively to the latest news from Cardinal Ratzinger, and Vassula explained that there are many false prophets these days, since Satan raises up his own, or else people delude themselves into believing that they have charisms which they do not really have. In fact, Vassula said that in the case he described, she would have been stricter than he was. The meeting was cordial and could have continued, but we had to rush off to the meeting..

At the meeting, Fr. "X" again stressed the remarks of the Cardinal, as interpreted by Bishop Terra, that the notification of 1995 was a "manoeuver" of his secretary. In other words, just as there are parish politics and diocesan politics, there is even Vatican politics. Manoeuver, in fact, is a political word and has nothing to do with theology or a theological judgment on Vassula' writings. As Jesus once said to Vassula "Was I a politician?" Fr. "X" also made use of the cover story on the Catholic Bombay Examiner in its favorable presentation of Vassula and her writings. In her talk, Vassula emphasized a number of themes, and in particular she stressed that True Life in God is a message of hope. She compared the Second Pentecost to tide which inevitable rises and washes over all. It is a gradual process, but one that cannot be stopped.

Vassula had heard that some of the local sects were opposing devotion to Our Lady, so she emphasized in a special way the role of Our Blessed Mother, quoting from Jesus himself in the messages, where he urges us to "honor the Woman adorned with the sun." At the same time, Jesus reproves those who "sneer" at Marian devotion. She gave the example of some sincere Protestants who had asked her about Marian devotion at one of her meetings. Just as she started to answer their question, some other people passed by and asked her to remember them in her prayers. Vassula saw the hand of God in this, for He had given her the perfect answer. If she could be asked for prayers, why can't we ask the Mother of God to intercede on our behalf? In her talk, Vassula stressed the theme of the Apostasy as described in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The Antichrist manifests itself in the Church today in the spirit of rebellion. This rebellion is even against the Pope!

At the end of our meeting, Fr. Anastasio Gomes, a discalced Carmelite, and former seminary professor in spirituality, stood up to give his testimony. He spoke of how he had been trained in theology, and he went on to say that he found only the truth in Vassula's writings. (We found out later that this priest had been attacked from the pulpit of another parish because of his support for TLIG.)

On our way back from the meeting, we briefly had a snack, as it was already quite late, and met some of the organizers. Vassula remarked that the organization had been outstanding in Goa. Perhaps for this reason, they are too many for all be named in this report. About thirty people had come to the airport on the day of our arrival. In fact there are a number of TLIG prayer groups in India, and especially in Goa. They had prepared by prayer, fasting, and visits to the Blessed Sacrament to insure the success of the mission. They had also taken care of many details such as music and even the decor of the venues.

January 28 was our last day in Goa. On the way to the airport we stopped to visit a group of cloistered Carmelite sisters who had invited us to visit their convent at Chicolim. Vassula gave them some copies of the Indian version in English. The sisters were really beside themselves with joy and enthusiasm, rather like children on Christmas morning. Vassula explained that True Life in God seems to be readily welcomed by Carmelites because it has the same intimacy as the spirituality of St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Theresa of Lisieux.

Our plane for Bombay was delayed, and so our journey to the next meeting was quite rushed. We were met at the airport by Ms. Elaine Murray and Sister M. Johanna Brandstetter. They rushed us to the convent where we left our luggage before going on to the train station. Traffic in Bombay is quite congested, so Sister felt that the train offered the best hope of reaching our destination on time. Another car was waiting there to take us to St. Augustine's High School at Manikpur.

Among the themes stressed by Vassula there was that of the Holy Spirit who can be compared to the water in which fish live. We like fish must live in the holy Spirit. Where there is this "water" we thrive, but without "water" we die: "The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal and coming from the throne of God ..." (Rev. 22:1). "There will be as many different kinds of fish are there are in the Mediterranean Sea" (Ez 47:10). Vassula also stressed a teaching of Our Holy Mother that when we injure any other person in any way, we are really doing it to Christ. She also stressed that TLIG is not a doom and gloom message; rather it is a message of hope, which brings to mind the Gospel passage: "When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near" (Lk 21:28). The Holy Spirit was described as the "life" of the Church and the "heart" of the Church as well.

After the meeting, we had been invited to see the Rt. Rev. Bishop Thomas Dabre who had given Sister encouragement in arranging this visit to Bombay. We stopped to see him at his home. He greeted Vassula most warmly and thanked her for "sanctifying" his house with her presence. At the end, when we asked for a blessing, he prayed over us and expressed his sincere esteem for the mission entrusted to Vassula.