Page 8 - True Life in God Anniversary Magazine

T R U E L I F E I N G O D
8
Archbishop
Aris Shirvanian,
Armenian Orthodox
Church, Patriarchate of
Jerusalem
Archbishop
Seraphim, His
Eminence, the
Archbishop of
Johannesburg
and Pretoria
Excerpt from the church newsletter of
the Archbishop of Johannesburg and
Pretoria.
Vassula had a typical society life-
style with the usual everyday
problems until, one day, in a strange
and mysterious way, she heard a
sweet and unknown voice that was
actually a call to a mission - to testify
to God’s presence among us.
At first, she was mystified and had
no idea what to do.
God, however, helped
her understand her
mission and with
obedience and
humility and a lot of
prayer, Vassula started
to record the messages
she received interiorly
from God. At the same
time, she changed and
started to live her life
in a different way. Loving God and
praying to God became her life.
Thus began her mission to bring
people closer to God. In fact, if one
studies with great care the messages
that Vassula receives, they will realize
that the messages emphasize the
basic teachings of the Holy Bible and
the Tradition of the Holy Fathers of
our Church. All the messages refer to
a spiritual preparation for repentance,
to a call to live a holy, mystical,
ecclesiastical and eschatological life,
to alleviate the suffering of our fellow
human beings, especially defenseless
children, and in particular those
that are killed before they are born
through the fatal sin of abortion.
Another important indication in the
messages is the need to support the
unification of the Mystical Body of
Christ, in other words the unity of the
Churches and, in addition, the visible
strengthening of the spiritual bonds
between theChurches beginningwith
all Christians celebrating together on
the same date the Resurrection of
Christ.
If one reads Vassula’s messages
with care from a theological and
ecclesiastical point of view and,
specifically, having in mind the
Orthodox dogma, it is hard to find
erroneous belief. (…)
The propaganda war against Vassula
is so strong that whoever, with good
intentions, wishes to approach her
without prejudice and wishing calmly
to read the messages will immediately
also be accused of heresy. Lord and
Virgin Mary, what a curse to fall into
the hands of fanatic religious people,
the contemporary fanatic Pharisees
and Secretaries.
In the end, at both a local and
international level, through an
appointed committee, our Church will
have to consider Vassula’s messages
with integrity and through discussion
in order to formulate a responsible
opinion and put a stop to this
“contradictory phenomenon”. When
many members of our Church and
other Christians benefit spiritually,
while other lay people and clergy
fight Vassula and tell lies about her, if
the messages are from God, they are
actually fighting God.
In November 2008, His Eminence
introduced Vassula before a speech she
made in Johannesburg:
“The people who bring us closer
to God, those who support the
institution of the family, those who
keep us away from gambling, from
drugs, from wars, those who promote
peace in the world are welcome in our
society, these are the prophets.”
Archimandrite
Eugene Pappas,
North American
Archdiocese
Once in a
long while
an extraordinary event occurs that
people mark in their minds and hearts
and date subsequent events from this
marker. Such is the experience of an
open heart reading “True Life In God”
whose messages - I am convinced -
are of Divinely inspired origin and are
granted to us prophetically (Acts 2:17),
through Mrs. Vassula Ryden.
I will not belabor the point that these
writings are scripturally intact and
correct. Nor will I dwell on the fact that
those who approach these messages
with skepticism will remain skeptics.
Nor will I try to explain why God has
chosen Vassula to convey to us His
word, once more. No “new” Good
News are being announced, yet, God’s
children hear the voice of their Father
and know that it is He who speaks.
He speaks to remind us of His eternal
truths and to explain those things
of His Word that have been ignored
or miscalculated. The effects of His
messageand the impact ofHiswords to
His children are extraordinary. They are
transforming. They are rejuvenating.
This is what I want to talk about -albeit
briefly- in this note.
I want to let everyone who reads this
to know of a remarkable event. It is my
experience that those that read and
follow the messages of True Life In God
behave as if they have been reborn into
Christ! They have put on Christ as if to
be enveloped by Him. They embrace
their faith with a fire that is akin to
that of the early neophyte Christians!
They are even more attracted to their
Church and follow Church Traditions
and Sacramental Life with a rare
devotion! From what I have observed,
they live a life that is a true life in God!
What else could I as a pastor want from
my flock of God? If these messages
make them better Christians; if as a
result of their reading of True Life InGod
they flock back into the Church and its
Sacraments; if they not only totally
themessages
emphasize the
basic teachings of
theHolyBible and
theTraditionof the
Holy Fathers of our
Church
(Excerpt from an interview)
... to have Unity as our mission is the
most important message. This is the
message which Christ gave to His
Apostles while He was still on earth,
saying that you should be one flock
with one Shepherd.
Do you think that Vassula may be the echo of Christ’s wishes? In my opinion, the
answer is yes. I have absolutely no doubt. I have heard her messages referring
to this theme (unity) and I have read some of her books which also speak of love
and unity and her messages are in accordance with the message of the Gospels.