Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/0719

0719 "The kingdom of heaven needs violence...."

December 23, 1938: Book 15

Only he who uses force will enter the kingdom of heaven.... And so let it be said to you that two kinds of feelings are still fighting within you for supremacy; the desire for the world silences the inner voice at times, and you distance yourself from the lord through this desire. But on the other hand, your soul does not allow separation in the awareness of its belonging to God and soon seeks to lead you back again. If you then find it difficult to establish the connection with the divine saviour, this should always be a warning sign for you, for then you will have to use force in order to return to the spiritual sphere, whereas otherwise this is your soul's actual abode. And thus the deviation onto the path of worldly pleasures is always a danger for the soul, which suffers unspeakably from the separation from the heavenly father and fears a flattening of your feelings. Therefore, people who cannot renounce the world and its pleasures can never stand in knowledge, for these will always destroy all incipient illumination and the light cannot flare up and spread a bright glow where the splendour of the world overrides this light of the soul.... Man cannot seriously concern himself with that which is the sole portion of the soul if his greater concern is for the well-being and enjoyment of the body. All worldly pleasures should only offer man the opportunity to test and strengthen his resistance, but if the body's desire is given in, the earthly child must be offered an even greater test of resistance. Consider this very well when the world lures you and wants to make you incapable of your spiritual experience. Again and again such temptations must come to you so that you do not become careless and indifferent to the detriment of your soul. Every worldly joy, no matter how small, is a loss in the spiritual realm, for to the same extent as you pay homage to the former you fall under the spell of matter, which again blocks your path to the pure spiritual, for one cannot exist alongside the other, one is always achieved at the expense of the other, and therefore always choose the right.... choose the joys of the soul, the spiritual connection with the lord, and leave the stale earthly enjoyment, which cannot bring your soul the slightest advantage. For both the one and the other will become stronger in themselves through the fulfilment of desire.... He who strives for worldly pleasures will desire them to an ever greater extent, and he who strives spiritually will likewise have an ever greater desire for them through satiation. Therefore make no concessions, but fight against the desire in you, which can never be of use to you but can be extremely harmful to the soul. The joy of the soul is considerably greater than the joys of the world can ever be for man. And overcoming oneself results in the most beautiful success.... radiant light in which the soul bathes itself and which spreads a bright glow on the dark path of earthly life....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers