Friday, October 23, 2015

3. Spiritual infancy with repentance

Spiritual infancy with repentance


3rd Epistle

My beloved child,
You keep telling me how much you would like to follow the path of spiritual infancy in order to reach God’s embrace, but you are afraid that you may not be able to manage it because you commit many mistakes and sins.
Do you know anyone who doesn’t make any mistakes or sin? I truly say to you, there is no man living on earth even for one day that doesn’t commit a mistake, because man’s mind is continuously being tempted by evil and sin. Although our Lord is well aware of this He encourages us to: "Be holy because I am holy" (1 Peter 1: 16)
So, could He encourage us to do something if He knew that this would not be feasible? No. He encourages us to do something that is feasible and a great victory over Satan. 

So you, who believe in the words of our well-beloved God, I want to help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to learn the correct way through which you will reach the path of spiritual infancy as a young eagle reaches the high peaks of holiness.
We will run along this path together like little children but with the awareness of grown-ups. Our Lord wants us to be little children in our hearts, but grown-ups in wisdom and prudence of mind.
Besides, as grown-ups we have gained experience by either doing good works or making various mistakes and sins. For this reason, our merciful Lord gave us a great gift with which we can purify our souls from the filth of sin whenever Satan will deviously make us fall into a mistake. This gift is repentance.
Repentance is the key that opens the door to God's blessing and the blessing of God is necessary to get close to Him. Without His grace none of us is anything and without it we cannot achieve anything.
Even when a soul is walking the path of infancy it will not be able to avoid falling into a mistake, because Satan will always be waiting somewhere. This mistake will not be committed as an infant of God but as a grown-up.
So in order to return the soul to the more desirable spiritual infancy, it has to pass through the purgatory of repentance, so that like a baby it will face God again. It is essential for man to learn to control himself, to feel his sinfulness, to apologize to God and then like a baby to hope for his God the Father’s help.
Don’t be upset if, despite your best efforts, you fall into various mistakes. Do you know how many times a baby falls and gets up again until it learns to walk properly? Your mistakes don’t make you less a child of God and don’t reduce the infinite love that your sweet heavenly God Father has for you, in any way.
Every time you will struggle and endeavor and try to rise up with repentance from your various falls, you will make Him glad and He will be very proud of you as your Father.
Once a very little child who had not yet learned to walk properly, wanted to climb a ladder to reach his mum. Whenever he tried he failed but he didn’t give up and he continued his efforts. His mother watched him with obvious anxiety to see what he would do in the end. He didn’t stop trying.
In one instant, however, tired and disappointed by his constant failures, he fell down on the ground and cried. Then his mother, after she went down the ladder with much concern, she took him into her arms, covered him with precious caresses and kisses and then both of them went up the ladder together.
Remember, my beloved child that God does exactly the same thing to us every time we confess our weakness as children and we want to get up from our mistakes and falls. The true repentance of heart, our tears and our pleas from our crying, don’t make our affectionate Father indifferent.
That’s why repentance is the spiritual elevator which lifts us up from the fall of sin and brings us into His divine embrace.
On the path of spiritual infancy repentance is the precious jewel which beautifies the childish soul. For a child is not difficult to say sorry for a mistake he commits, on the contrary, a grown-up uses a thousand excuses to avoid apologizing.
So, the difference is between the humiliation of little child and the selfishness of the grown-up. A grown-up scarcely wants to admit that he made a mistake because he doesn’t want to show others that he was wrong, while a child isn’t concerned about showing his weakness.
When you will see that your soul easily learned to apologize, then, I am telling you the truth, you have made the first correct steps on the path of spiritual infancy. If you see, however, that it's hard for you to apologize every time you make a mistake, then be sure that you haven’t even started walking the blessed path of spiritual infancy.
Humility is the paddle which is steering the boat of our soul into the harbour of serenity, while selfishness is the rope which is keeping the boat tied up in the bonds of anxiety and stress. The choice is up to everyone.
Repentance is the blessed fruit of humiliation; therefore it quickly brings many blessings of God into our soul, while spiritual hardness, obstinacy and stubbornness are the fruit of devilish selfishness, which deprives us of these blessings.
From the depth of my heart I wish you to continue walking the path of spiritual infancy, despite all the mistakes you will commit, using the blessing of your spiritual father and the valuable virtue of repentance to help you. This will help you to walk even quicker and more easily this path which will bring you safely into the arms of God. Soon I will return to speak with you about another serious matter of the soul, which is the thoughts of the mind. Until then my prayers will accompany you to love our sweet God with all your heart.

Printfriendly