Message of St. Paul the Apostle of 30 August 2012

23 February 2013

“After my conversion, I spent a long time reflecting and preparing for the mission of which God continually spoke to me.[1] Jesus called me to be an Apostle even though I had not been with Him from the beginning; on the contrary, as you know, initially, I was a persecutor of the Christians.

At the time of my conversion, the Christians, and especially the Apostles of the Lord, were filled with so much grace that it is hard for you to imagine. The Apostles truly manifested the power of God. Their experiences were not limited to a few visions or miracles. Extraordinary experiences were normal for them, not because they were “superhumans” but because at Pentecost the Church had received an extraordinary impulse, which was essential to accomplish her mission. It was the task of the Apostles to pave the way for the people by offering themselves to God and manifesting the extraordinary power of grace, which was the life of the Church. The mystical life was the foundation of every experience of God.

Today the Church no longer has such a power, yet she is called to the same mission as then. Why has this taken place? Because the people of God and today’s Apostles rather believe in the power of reason than in the power of faith, even though reason and faith are not in conflict with each other, quite the opposite. People fear miracles and look at them with suspicion, not knowing how to classify them according to human logic and the typical rationality of your time. That was different for us; therefore, the Apostles of the Lord accepted my experiences, and Peter gave me his right hand as a sign of esteem and trust, recognising in me the call and the work of the Lord.[2] There were never any disagreements between us, although our mentality and education were very different.

Jesus spoke to His Apostles while He stayed among them, and He spoke to my spirit after my conversion. There were no differences between us; we were equally prepared; each one knew what to do and what to say to the people. Peter and I, as well as the other Apostles, spoke about the new creation.[3] It was certainly not the fruit of our imagination, as some of you might think. Jesus had spoken about this subject, promising to take humanity to a new dimension. He had spoken about the recapitulation of all things in Him as the culmination of the action of the Church and the necessary prelude to the new creation.

For this reason, He had introduced us to the existing realities in the whole universe because the message of Salvation, entrusted particularly to the Church, was meant to reach the universe. Only in this way, would it be possible to recapitulate in Him all things in Heaven and on Earth. You call me the “Apostle of the Gentiles”, who I truly was. The Gentiles you refer to, however, were not only the pagan peoples of the Earth but also all humans created by God and living all over the cosmos. I knew the immensity, size and depth of the work of God because my spirit travelled the realities of the universe. The Lord allowed me to make extraordinary experiences, to visit unknown planets and to meet different humanities of the universe.

St. Peter told you how things developed in the early Church and how the aspect concerning the humanities of other planets was gradually put aside. The mission of the Church was directed towards the peoples of the Earth. That was my deepest sorrow and that of the other Apostles. Nevertheless, Jesus had promised us that the favourable time for the mission of the Church in the universe would come.

These are the new times for the Church of the Earth! This is the new opportunity granted to the people of God on Earth to push aside all doubts and fears and recuperate dynamic faith, which will allow them to cross the barriers of the Earth and climb over the walls of rationality. This is the last call to those who represent the Church of the Earth in order to open the doors for the entire humanity of the universe and to be Mother of all peoples, as she often declares but, unfortunately, only by words.

The Church of the Earth is called to respond, accepting to be open to the realities in the universe and the evangelisation of other humanities besides that of the Earth. The Lord is waiting for a response from each faithful person and from those who represent the Church. I tell you that it is useless to pretend not to know as many signs of the presence of life in the universe have been given. In the face of the signs given from Heaven, those who represent the Church cannot behave like non-believers or like scientists and researchers whose approach to certain phenomena aims at giving rational explanations that almost always lead to the rejection of the phenomenon. Whoever proclaims himself “shepherd”, must be a man of faith.

The man of faith is not a naïve man who accepts everything with closed eyes; the man of faith can discern. His discernment, however, never comes from fear of what is rationally inexplicable. On the contrary, it arises from the unconditional openness to the action of God to whom nothing is impossible. The man of faith acts with caution, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This has nothing to do with human fear, which is the result of compromise and human ambition.

For this reason, those who have genuine faith possess discernment that is guided by the Holy Spirit and never fails because the Spirit confirms their actions. How? Through the communion of the faithful. When I prayed together with the faithful of the first communities, extraordinary gifts were normal because the action of the Holy Spirit was intensive; everyone witnessed the direct intervention of God to build the early Church. My task as Apostle did not consist in telling the people whether the gift had come from God or not, nor to approve or prevent the exercise of the gift. My task was to pray and offer myself for each faithful and for the whole community.

Today as then, the task of each apostle and shepherd is to help every man and woman to become free in God; however, not free in the human sense but in the divine sense as all of you are called to enter the freedom of the children of God. That was my task before God: to announce the message of the Gospel, to help the people of goodwill to recognise themselves in that message, to be righteous before the truth, capable of offering themselves to God and living in communion with their brothers and sisters.

The offering of one’s life to God, integrity and communion are the foundation upon which the identity of each person and each community is built. These are the fundamental aspects of sincere faith and true freedom. When a person or a community full of faith and freedom manifests an extraordinary gift, it can only produce good fruit, and true communion will prevent evil from infiltrating. Whoever lives a righteous life before God will not be deceived, nor will he ever deceive anyone, because the Spirit, the giver of all gifts, will confirm his work through others who live the same integrity of faith and communion. This is what took place in the communities where I preached. When a person stood up and manifested a gift, all those who were present recognised it as coming from God. The recognition was immediate and certain; it brought peace and nurtured faith, hope and love. Through that gift, other gifts were awakened in other people, and thus the gifts of the Spirit were harmonious, completed and confirmed each other. In this way, the Church grew and strengthened.

The Church was not founded by us Apostles but by the extraordinary action of the Holy Spirit who worked directly through the people. The Church is the people of God who walk with their Shepherd, Jesus Christ, towards the Father, guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Church is founded on the people and by the people who live in union with the Most Holy Trinity, manifesting Its life.

We Apostles participated in the action of the Spirit with our prayer, the offering of our life and our preaching, accompanying all people in their spiritual development. We were the fathers of faith because we helped the people grow; we were fathers, not chiefs. As real fathers, we did not want to impose our authority, but we used it to support the path of all faithful and the whole community so that each one could reach maturity of faith, the ability to relate to God and discern between good and evil, live in communion with all and interact with everyone in communion. I assure you that it is impossible to tell lies before a community that lives righteously before God. Thus, the first communities were places where holiness grew and the gifts of God multiplied.

Do you think that we Apostles preached a lot and convinced people with our words? No, we preached little and prayed a lot, unlike what happens today. The Church is filled with sermons, speeches and words, but she is poor in prayer. Personal and community prayer is the breath of both the individuals and the people of God because it keeps the relationship with God alive, which in turn allows the Holy Spirit to act within each one and in all.

Every man has a spirit, but I tell you that every community should have a spirit as well. The spirit should spring from the life that flows in every soul and, through sincere communion, emanate from the community with extraordinary power, creating unified intentions. When the spirit of a community is humbly and sincerely open to God, its members are “one heart and one soul”. Then, the manifold action of God manifests itself and brings forth gifts and missions within every individual and the entire community. The Spirit of God acts upon the spirit of the individual and the spirit of the community. This occurred in the first communities immediately after Pentecost.

Now, I will ask you a question: can the Church, people of God, now be considered a community with a humble, sincere and open spirit, where the gifts of God are manifested in fullness and every man and woman reach the maturity of faith, genuine discernment and certainty about their mission? I will leave the answer to you, but I would like to highlight a few more aspects to help you understand.

Pentecost represented the starting point of the mission of the Church. The Holy Spirit came down to confirm the decision of the Apostles and the first disciples to follow Jesus’ life and teachings and to be ready for the mission He had entrusted to them. From then on, the first communities were filled with gifts, lived in prayer and were immersed in God. Jesus acted through His people in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Church was growing.

The Church became bigger and welcomed men and women of all origins and cultures. Unfortunately, many were not driven by a desire to follow Jesus but to belong to an “organisation” of people who performed great miracles. No wonder many ambitious people wanted to get their hands on the “power” that came from God to use it for personal purposes. The spirit of Judas, the betrayer, awoke within many and began to work in the emerging Church. The devil had found a way to continue the work he had begun with Judas Iscariot arousing other “Judases” to overturn the face of the Church. How many Judases have there been over the centuries? Many, too many!

A different spirit had infiltrated the Christian community, which began to work within the individuals and the community. Soon, a lot of discord and dispute arose; the lack of peace and communion created a vacuum within the early Church. The voices of the Apostles and disciples rose in vain. I found myself, too, in the middle of a terrible battle of opposite spirits. I watched how the integrity of faith and the unity of intent, which had been the power of the first communities, was vanishing day by day. From simple groups of love and prayer, the Christian communities gradually turned into rigid and hierarchical organisations, which were more and more attracted by earthly power. The Kingdom of God was no longer perceived as a dimension of the spirit but as a Kingdom of the Earth made of possessions, codes and privileges, which would rule forever; it was the same idea as that of Judas Iscariot.

Finally, the Church managed to become a friend of the powerful. What was the price of this friendship? The price was high, for God withdrew the incredible power He had bestowed on the early communities to keep that power from falling into the wrong hands. From then on, many gifts have ceased to work within the Church. Throughout the history of the Church, God continued to raise men and women filled with a power similar to that of the early days to show all people that the power belongs to Him and not to the people or the Church.

The Church is the depositary of the gifts of grace but only in the measure she responds to grace, beginning a serious path in the footsteps of Christ and giving up selfish aspirations. Those who follow their selfishness are idolaters, even if they call themselves Christians and claim to belong to the Church, for they do not place God in the centre but themselves. No idolater can receive the gifts of God, nor can any community, whose members are idolaters and hypocrites, receive them.[4] This is how the spirit of evil acts: it destroys what it cannot possess. This also occurs within the people of God when the spirit of evil hides among them. For this reason, the true people of God, filled with divine gifts, have almost always been rejected and persecuted because they have never accepted compromises and never bowed to the will of the powerful. This has often happened in the name of the Church. Which Church? The one that welcomes with gratitude the gifts of God, the prophets and the righteous for what they are and is able to recognise them? Or, is it the Church that wants to possess the gifts of God in order to exploit them at will and, when she cannot do so, stones the prophets and kills those who are sent to her because she cannot recognise the time she is visited and even refuses to know it?[5]

Luckily, even today, the Church is full of holiness; the holiness of the simple, the humble and those who only want to love and serve God without ambition or compromise. To them, I will say this: lift your head because the Lord will intervene to separate forever the lambs from the goats and to gather the flock of His poor. He will intervene to clean the face of the Church to render it suitable to accomplish His mission. This is the favourable time to decide to belong to the faithful people!

The Kingdom of God, the true one, will expand throughout the universe. God will make use of His faithful people, His Church, to let His message of Salvation reach all peoples in the universe. He will complete His work through the part of the faithful Church to which He will return the original power, adding new graces for these times. Therefore, hasten to respond so that you may become part of this Church.

Be aware that these are extraordinary times; these are the times of the cosmic Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is descending to confirm every man and woman and all peoples of the universe who have decided to belong to God through Jesus Christ. It is the task of the Church of the Earth to gather the immense flock of God spread in the universe in order to reunite it in Christ and form one immense people. That is the mission of the Church, which should have started from the beginning.

There are many peoples in the universe, men and women, who are ready to serve God. We Apostles met many of them when we were on Earth. I can say that those brothers and sisters visited me, helped me and prayed for me. They are still waiting for the response of the Church of the Earth to support her in her mission. If there is no response or the response is weak, God will entrust the faithful humanities with the task of carrying out the universal mission that the Church on Earth has failed to accomplish. Those who respond will be united with the faithful humanities; they will be welcomed and will collaborate in the mission willed by God.

That will be the Church of God, One in the whole universe. She will pave the way for the glorious return of Christ; she will welcome Him and will be with Him in the new creation. Mary Most Holy, the Mother of God and all peoples, the Angels, the Saints and the extraordinary instruments of God of these times pray for you so that you may be strong and determined. We Apostles especially watch over you in these times.

I bless you in the name of the Apostles of the Lord, and this blessing may strengthen and protect you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

[1] See Gal 1, 11-23

[2] See Gal 2, 9

[3] See 2 Pet 3, 1-10

[4] See Rom 8, 9

[5] See Lk 19, 41-44