Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/3422

3422 Suffering - means of grace....

January 30, 1945: Book 44

People do not recognize the gracious end time as such, for they do not know about the blessing of suffering, they do not know that suffering is also a grace through which the soul can still be saved, which is distant from God and eternally cannot reach the aim if it does not reduce its distance from God through loving activity. And loving activity can be the result of great suffering.... God gives people the opportunity to practice love, for suffering takes on the form that the fellow human being is stimulated to be active in love as soon as he is not completely hardened. What a person would not do of his own accord in a time of orderly circumstances, he can nevertheless do out of inner impulse in the face of overwhelming need.... He can take care of his fellow human being and helpfully assist him, the flame of neighbourly love can be kindled in him, and then his soul will have gained the greatest advantage from the earthly adversity. God is constantly intent on leading the souls to greater maturity or to put them into a state where their soul's cover is detached so that they can at least enter the kingdom of the beyond in a state of recognition before the end of days or join the small congregation of their own accord which perseveres until the end in faith in Jesus Christ, the divine redeemer....

If man reaches this aim through suffering, then suffering is the last salvation for him, it is a grace that is still granted to him shortly before the end. For without suffering he remains in a state of remoteness from God because love is not active in him. The means God uses to help people's souls must be particularly sharp shortly before the end if they are not to remain without effect. And people in their spiritual blindness only see the sharpness of those means but not their blessing. But once they have been put into a bright state through the working of love, once they have joined the flock of Christ's fighters, then they look back with gratitude on the days of their physical hardship, they recognize the purpose and the blessing of the sufferings and also God's love, which is always mindful of the maturing of imperfect souls. The time until the end is no longer long, but people are so far behind in their spiritual development that they need a significantly longer time to catch up with it..... Consequently, they have to go through a school in which they can mature faster if they pass every test of life, if they make use of every opportunity. They have to pass a purification fire, the wrapping of their souls has to be melted through suffering and love, then it is possible that they will still perfect themselves in this short time so that in the end they will belong to those who argue for Jesus Christ. And then eternal bliss is assured for them. And the sooner a person of his own free will practices the love to which his fellow human being's suffering should impel him, the easier the latter will seem to be bearable to him, for if the actual purpose is achieved through suffering, thus the sooner the person has made use of grace, the sooner this can also be taken away from him. The blessings of the last days will only be truly recognized in the spiritual kingdom, for the human being as such does not have an overview on earth, he does not recognize the great spiritual adversity, he does not know the danger he is in if he fails and what a tremendous concept it is to have to live through another period of development. This realization will only be granted to him in the spiritual kingdom, and then he will be grateful for every help he received in the form of suffering on earth.... Only then will he realize the measure of grace God has granted people on earth and that without suffering it was never possible to reach the aim. But as long as he lives on earth he is offered the opportunity for the higher development of his soul, and for as long as he lives he also has graces at his disposal. And suffering is one of the greatest blessings, after all, it is the most effective means to educate the human being into loving activity. And therefore God uses this means before the end has come in order to still win souls for His kingdom, in order to help them so that they will not be eternally lost....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers