Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/6076

6076 Blessing of the Illness.... cross bearer for the soul....

October 12, 1954: Book 65

This is what My word teaches you, that you should follow Me.... Avoiding the path of following Jesus will not lead to perfection, for then you will take a path which does not correspond to My will and therefore cannot lead to the aim either.... To follow Jesus means to take up the cross imposed on you in the same love, with the same gentleness and patience. He truly walked the path of the cross, and no human being took away the suffering He had to bear for His fellow human beings. But through these sufferings He took the great burden of debt from people and atoned for it.... He suffered for others.... And so you humans should also bear the cross for your soul.... which would have to suffer immeasurably in the kingdom of the beyond if you had not proven yourselves to be cross-bearers on earth by following Jesus.... The human being should create a spiritual garment for his soul which is suitable for receiving light one day.... And thus the soul's coverings, which still signify impenetrable resistance to the rays of light, must be melted away, as it were. For the human being himself should also do something about it and not rely solely on the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ as long as he is given the opportunity on earth to improve his state of soul with the help of divine grace.... At the same time you should dissolve the covering itself, not only free the soul from it.... you should again bear the guilt of the unredeemed spiritual that imprisons your soul.... you should likewise help this spiritual to develop further upwards.... you should suffer patiently for the spiritual being which is still far below you, which chose you to come out of its bondage. For all physical ailments and afflictions are manifestations of this wretched spiritual substance which you can and should help again by taking the path of following Jesus, by patiently taking up the cross and likewise compensating for a debt for this spiritual substance which is far below you, so that its path of ascent will become easier, so that it will already be free of a debt before the ascent development of this spiritual substance also begins.... Jesus has called you to follow Him.... But He has also redeemed you from sin and its consequences.... How do you want to find harmony between the two? He wants to free you from your guilt, but He still demands that you carry the cross.... Just as His love was for you, that is, for His fellow human beings, your love should also be for the one who needs your help, so that he will also reach the state where redemption through Jesus Christ can be accomplished in him.... You, too, should contribute to the redemption of the unfree, and it is your responsibility to take care of the spiritual substance which surrounds your soul as a cover, which has to be dissolved in order to grant entrance to the rays of light which signify life for the soul. The dissolution of these coverings is a work of mercy in which you must participate yourselves, which is why you were given Jesus' command: 'Take up your cross and follow Me...."

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers