Posted on 12/25/2010 10:42:20 AM PST by firerosemom
Dearest lay apostles, please remember the intentions of the Lord with regard to the Church in China at this time. We are sending this letter out to all, confident that you will send it along to anyone you feel will benefit from reading it, most specifically anyone you know in China.
Love and Christmas prayers from Anne, a lay apostle
December 24th, 2010
My dear brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church in China,
How blessed you are to be chosen by Christ to preach His Gospel of salvation. Truly, the all-powerful God favors you with the commission He has handed to you. Dear brothers and sisters, remember that you do not own the Gospel message that is being transmitted through you. You are simply vehicles for its delivery to God’s children. As such, you must be reverent about how you protect and defend this message, separating it out from worldly messages.
It is clear that God is sending enormous conversion graces into the Catholic Church in China. The good work being done by the whole Church in China is a sight to behold. Many have been blessed to personally witness this growth and truly the Holy Spirit is very serious about building His Kingdom there.
The Holy Spirit, as the architect of the Catholic Church in China, will always construct a pure edifice. He is doing this through men and women, priests and religious, bishops and Cardinals. His desire is to extend the one true Church. If the people chosen to do this job, with all of the graces they have at their disposal, do not pay heed to the Holy Father and those whom He has commissioned to represent him, then we will have yet another faux church, a sham, an imposter of the true Church. The Chinese people do not need misrepresentation. As God’s children, they are entitled to truthful representation, even if that comes at a cost. Indeed, it would be unusual if the burgeoning of the Church in any specific region did not carry a cost.
Be alert. God’s enemy, Satan, does not want consolation and truth for God’s children in China. God’s enemy is the destroyer of truth and God’s enemy will always target unity. Please, dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, act with seriousness and prudence. Protect what has been transmitted to you. Act with steadfast decision. The Spirit is with you and will protect you by giving you clear instruction, but this instruction will only be understood in abject humility, in fearless study of one’s own temptations. Remember that as children of God, we are called first to be holy. When a leader is distracted from his own holiness work, he is liable to mislead.
Better that God has a humble and small Church that is faithful, than a blazing edifice that holds nothing. Ask yourself, ‘What are we building? What is God asking us to construct for Him?’ To abandon the rightful leadership of the Church is to insure that the Church in China will go astray. There can be no other outcome.
What does it mean to be a patriotic Chinese person? Well, I believe that it means that one possesses a desire for that which is good for all Chinese people. Therefore, as Catholic leaders, it would seem completely consistent with one’s patriotic sentiments to possess a zealous desire for a Catholic Church that is linked securely to Jesus Christ, the Church’s head and heart, through His Vicar on earth.
We are called to represent Jesus to the people in our spiritual care. The government does its own work to represent itself and the government will always seek to further its own goals. So be it. May God protect our brothers and sisters in government, bless them and guide them. But we, working in unity with the government whenever possible, must accept our separation from all worldly institutions. It has always been this way and the apostles in China are no different from the first apostles. The call to preach the Gospel is the same now as it was then.
Be assured, men and women of God in China, the entire Catholic Church is on your side and is praying for an outcome that includes peace and unity. We rejoice with you in the wonderful achievements of the Chinese people in recent years. While no single man can completely understand the struggles of another, we pray constantly for your courage and clarity. God’s Kingdom is coming. This is certain. And God desires that His Kingdom come in China, through your commitment to His one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.
The lay apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King are praying steadily for all of our brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church in China at this time.
With the greatest admiration from your sister in Christ,
Anne, a lay apostle
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