Message of St. Paul the Apostle of 30 August 2012

(excerpt of above mentioned message; the whole message is available in “Messages – 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”.

[1] See Gal 1, 11-23

[2] See Gal 2, 9

[3] See 2 Pet 3, 1-10