Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/7544

7544 Following Jesus Christ....

March 10, 1960: Book 79

You are always urged to follow Christ, and again and again Jesus' suffering and death on the cross is therefore placed before your eyes so that you yourselves take the path to the cross and thus also walk the path of discipleship, as soon as you have recognized His act of salvation as a work of mercy which no human being accomplished on earth before or after Jesus. And if you acknowledge Jesus Christ as God's son and redeemer of the world, then you will also carry your sins under His cross and ask Him to shed His blood for you too.... You will ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and be willing to walk the path of following Jesus, i.e., to love and suffer on earth. You can only redeem yourselves through love and suffering if you bear your suffering in view of Jesus Christ, for He alone makes you able to do so, otherwise you will collapse under the cross which is imposed on you during your earthly life. With Jesus Christ, however, the cross will become easy for you, for He will help you to carry it.... Yet you don't know what blessing your soul will receive if it takes up its cross and follows Jesus, you don't know how much faster it will mature if it humbly bears the suffering it is burdened with and yet looks up to the cross of the saviour and redeemer Who died for it in order to make it possible for it to be released from its guilt. And it will find forgiveness, for Jesus Christ has redeemed all people from sin and death who want to become free from their adversary, from the enemy of their souls. You should walk the path of following Jesus.... This also includes a measure of suffering which you must be willing to endure and which Jesus' love has burdened you with, so that you will always come closer to Him, so that you will call upon Him when it seems too difficult for you.... But you should try to bear it because then you will follow Him, Who preceded you on the path to the cross. Through His path to the cross He opened the way to eternal beatitude, and if you now follow Him on this path you will also reach the gates through which you can enter the kingdom of light. But the path of following Jesus will always mean a path of suffering which will only become passable for you through love, because love is strength and then you will also endure the cross which is burdened upon you. It was the infinite love of the man Jesus which gave Him the strength to walk the path of the cross to the end, and love will also be the source of strength for you which makes the path of suffering easier for you, which lets you become overcomers. But without love and suffering your soul will not be able to mature, without love and suffering it will stay away from the path to the cross.... Therefore, take up your cross without grumbling and carry it until the end, and it will become increasingly easier for you, for the divine cross-bearer Jesus Christ walks beside you and He will lighten your burden, He will support and strengthen you because you are willing to follow Him....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers