Sunsets Into Sunrises
Bishop Martin - The Progress of a Soul in the Beyond
- Chapter 68 -
BOREM'S ENLIGHTENING WORDS ABOUT THE WAY TO BEATITUDE.
In the house, one of the Minorites, who already, on a previous occasion, had spoken quite sensibly, comes to meet them, and asks Bishop Martin: "Dear friend and brother, what was there outside that made you rush out like that? We have all been extremely worried, thinking you might have been called to account for us and that something bad might have befallen you. Do tell us - what happened?"
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(Bishop Martin, smiling): "Dear friends and brothers, do not worry about me. Look here, the Lord has sent me this dear friend and brother for yours and my own sake, to help me guide all of you onto the right path. This is the sole reason why I was called outside.
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All of you should listen to this friend of the Lord, and follow his advice at all times; then your lot, and maybe mine too, will soon improve quite considerably. For I, too, am still far from being a blessed spirit, but only on the way towards attainment of complete beatitude through the grace of the Lord.
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Keep striving for this grace, all of you, and it may come to pass that we all may enter upon the path to the realm of Divine Light together."
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(The Minorite): "Yes, brother, we promise you and your friend to adhere strictly to all the instructions you give us, in order to attain at least a little of the Lord's grace."
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(Borem): "Yes, dear brothers and sisters, keep to this promise from the bottom of your hearts. Love Jesus Christ, the Crucified, above all else, for He is our one most loving and holy Father. Keep seeking only Him and His love and do not attach your hearts to anything but Him, and you will find yourselves, much sooner than you expected, in the house of His eternal love. But you have to banish from your hearts any material, worldly appendages; otherwise, it would not be possible for you to enter the eternal dwelling of the Most Holy Father. Now, listen carefully to what I am going to tell you.
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In the world, all of you had two different, but fundamentally false, concepts of God, heaven, and the soul's state and life after physical death. Here, you have already been able to convince yourselves that your earthly belief has not confirmed itself in anything at all. You did not find a purgatory, nor a hell, nor a heaven with winged angels. And, just the same as you did not find all this, you will never find any of the other things you believed in as Roman Catholics.
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Thus, the prayer aids of your churches and priests, in whom you trusted so implicitly, are of no value whatsoever. Here, no one can come to the Lord through mediated mercy, as the Lord is of the greatest mercy anyhow, and to want to induce the most merciful and loving Father to have mercy, would amount to great and wicked folly.
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Therefore, to get to God, the Lord of everlasting, unending splendor, everyone here must do his own work. Behold, I am now a great angel of the Lord, and He never calls me other than: 'My brother, how very much I love you!' If I interceded for you for an eternity, it would not make any difference, as everyone must act out of his own love according to his strength, or he could never attain to true spiritual freedom. God is, of course, omnipotent, but His omnipotence does not make anybody free; on the contrary, we must be freed from it through our free will and our love of God. Otherwise, we would be but machines and automatons of God's omnipotence.
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This is the reason why God, in His infinite wisdom, has designed ways by which we can attain to this divine freedom. These ways are so far unknown to you, but I shall acquaint you with them. Therefore, be careful to stay on these ways of your own free will and you will reach the destination of every spirit created by God.
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From now on, you will be allowed every imaginable freedom. You will obtain whatever you wish for. However, this will not be real freedom, but only a test, which must be understood but not misused.
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Thousands of Eves will proffer you the apple of temptation, but for love of the Lord you may not touch it.
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You will be defamed and scoffed at, but must never get angry or think of retaliation.
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You will be persecuted, robbed, and even ill-treated, but your sole defense may be love, although you will have plenty of means of revenge at your disposal.
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Always keep in mind the Lord and His Gospel and you will lay a strong, unshakeable foundation for your eternal, celestial dwelling.
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What I am telling you is eternal truth out of God, the Lord of all existence and life. Whoever will not comply with the Word of God in himself actively, cannot enter His Kingdom.
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Every one must pass through the narrow gate of humility and leave all things to the Lord. We must retain nothing but love and deepest humility. Nothing may offend us. We must never think or say that we are entitled to something. Only to love and humility are we entitled; everything else is the Lord's.
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As the Lord has humiliated Himself to the lowest possible level, so must we if we want to go where He is.
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If someone hits you in the face, do not resist but hold out your other cheek for the sake of peace and harmony between you. If someone wants your cloak, let him have your coat as well. If someone compels you to walk with him for an hour, make it two hours, to demonstrate the full measure of your love. Bless your enemy and pray for those who curse you. Do not ever requite evil with evil, but do good to those who hate you - and you will be true children of God.
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However, as long as you still seek your right anywhere but in the Word of God; as long as you carry a thorn caused by an insult in your hearts; as long as you feel that you have been wronged in one way or another - you are still children of hell, and the Lord's grace is not within you.
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God's children must be capable of bearing and suffering absolutely everything! Their strength must lie solely in their love of God and of their brothers, whether they be good or evil.
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As soon as they are firm in this, then they are absolutely free and capable of being admitted into the Kingdom of God.
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I am aware of the fact that all of you were priests and nuns of the Roman church, which is the least enlightened of all churches. I also know that some of you are secretly still proud of it. But I warn you all not to think back of what you were and did on earth. If you think of the good you did, the Lord will remember all the evil and will judge you according to your works. For, whoever is judged by the Lord, attains death - not life - as judgment is the soul's death in the eternal bondage of its spirit.
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When the Lord says: 'When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants,' - how much more you, who have never lived the Gospel, neither concerning yourselves nor your brothers, must confess this.
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This I have spoken to you in the name of the Lord, passing it on to you faithfully as received from the Lord, without adding or taking away a single word. It is now up to you to act accordingly and from now on you will have no excuse that you had never heard of it if, due to obstinate non-observance of the Lord's will, you fall into judgment.
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But for those of good will, those who only fall because of their innate weakness, I and this brother are here to help them back on their feet again.
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So, you see that first of all, to begin with your good will is essential, and only then the action.
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Therefore, make sure that you have the honest will to do the right thing, and the Lord will not be too particular about the actual work, as the good will can already be considered the work of the spirit.
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However, woe betide those of you who are secretly of a cunning and evil will just outwardly pretending to be of good will! I tell you in the name of the Lord's might, which is at this moment blowing through me like a hurricane through a forest, such a one would be instantly driven to hell and thrust into the pit of eternal perdition - like a stone that falls from the sky into the depths of the sea - from where he would not be recovered, but would remain lying in the slime of the bottomless pit of judgment!
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Now you know what you have to do to enter the Kingdom of the Lord as His true children. Do accordingly, and you shall live!
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I and your first friend here will be behind you, even if not always visible, to support those who might stumble because of their weakness. But if someone should fall due to his wickedness, he shall not be helped, except that he might be paid off in the same coin. Do not ask about the place where you will be subjected to these tests. They will take place here and there, when least expected, so as not to interfere with your freedom. The Lord be with you and with us! Amen!"
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(Bishop Martin): "Brother, it is obvious that you have spoken this on the Lord's authority, and every word is absolutely true. Your words have moved me deeply since they have raised some points closely concerning me."
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(Borem): "So it will not hurt you to heed them! I would not like you as yet to face the fair Mercurian on your own! Do you understand me, brother?"
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(Bishop Martin): "Of course, you are quite right! You know, I am still a bit of a beast, but I hope this will soon change!"