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Theresena's Testimony
I was brought up in the Catholic faith. My father took me to Church every
Sunday from the about age 5 or maybe younger. The Sisters taught me in
Catholic schools, where prayer, especially the Rosary, was done regularly
during the day.
My father died the same year I finished school.
Without that strong support system, plus peer-pressure, I slowly began to
fall away, to the point where my Mass attendance went to zero and
prayer to God virtually disappeared. It is truly amazing how we human
beings imagine we can live without God. It is also amazing how in that
state, darkness looks like light and light looks like darkness.
This went on for over 10 years. Then, I started going to Mass on Sundays,
but I had no idea what brought about that decision.
One morning, during Mass, while sitting in the center aisle of the Church,
I heard the sound of a mighty wind go past my ear. It was a voice, but
very muffled. I knew it was the voice of God but didn't know what
God was saying and to be very honest, really didn't want to know. I was
enjoying my life and didn't want God to ask me to change.
The following Sunday, I sat in the same place and during Mass, again heard
the sound of a mighty wind going past my ear but didn't know what God was
saying. The third Sunday, the same thing happened. I knew it was God
speaking to me and was glad I didn't know what God was saying.
The next Sunday, I decided to sit over on the side in order not to hear
His voice, since God seemed to be speaking in the center aisle of the
Church. It was during the Liturgy of the Word whilst the Scripture passage
was being read when suddenly, I saw the Word lifted literally up out
of the book, passed over the heads of all the people sitting in front of
me and it entered into my heart. Then, from inside my heart, a very
gentle, very loving voice said: "Come back to me. Stop wasting
time. Change your life and come back to me."
This is just what I didn't want to hear so I pretended not to hear.
However, as the Mass went on, the thought came to me that when someone
speaks to you, it is manners to reply, even if the answer is
"no" and since God had gone through a lot of trouble to speak to
me, I should at least tell God how I felt.
I went home and said: "God, I heard you calling me back to you
today and that is a good thing but to tell you the truth, God, I really
don't want to come back. In any case, I might fall again, so it is better
to stay the way I am." Then these words came to my mind, they had to
be from the Holy Spirit, they certainly did not come from me. I said:
"God, if you can show me a way that I can come back to you and be
strong and not fall again, then I will come back to you." I figured
there was no such way, God would forget about me and that was the end of
that.
The following day, I heard the Lord say: " I want you to get up
every morning half an hour earlier than you are accustomed, say the
Rosary, read my Word, meditate on it and pray."
Somehow, I obeyed and began searching for a Rosary in the house, it had
been so long. The next morning I got up earlier, said the Rosary, read
from the Scriptures, meditated on it and said a short prayer. By about the
fourth day, I noticed a drastic change had taken place within me. It was
as if I was looking at someone else. I hated the way my life was going,
and just wanted to change my life and get back to God.
I realized there was strength in this prayer. At the end of two weeks, on
the feast of The Divine Mercy, I went to the Sacrament of Reconciliation
and went back to God. What a joy this was!
I thought God would take my fun away but instead discovered He is so
lovely, so wonderful. It is good to have Him in your life.
After a while, I discovered there were Prayer Meetings in the Church and
began to attend. One day, while at choir practice, a friend called Chris
told me he had once prayed for his mother when she was ill and she was
healed. I had a headache and asked him to pray for me. We went across to
the presbytery and Fr. Sampson joined us. They placed their hands on my
head and prayed. I found myself being enveloped in the love of God. It
filled me and spread out around me. It was so sweet, so blissful. I
could taste it, really feel it, and actually see it. In the past, I had
read all the love novels that came my way and had been in and out of love
but there I was experiencing God's love in a real and tangible way, real
love from the One who is Love itself. It was an awesome experience.
While this was taking place, one of them began to prophecy. I didn't know
anything about prophecy at that time but the words seemed important
and seemed to be coming from God. The Lord was saying: "My
child I love you.You are more precious to me than any precious gem. All
you have done I have forgotten, I have forgiven all your sins. Give me
your heart. Surrender your heart to me and you will never regret it."
Because the experience of His love was so powerful, I couldn't
wait to be alone to respond to His love. That night, I gave my heart
to the Lord and told him over and over again how much I loved him.
I know I was speaking to Him in English, but heard myself speaking in
another language which I had never learnt and that had me bewildered. I
found out later from going to prayer meetings that this was the gift of
tongues that the Lord had given me. God is so ready and willing to
give us His Holy Spirit and to shower His gifts upon us, sometimes even
before we could ask.
My lovely friend, God wants you to experience His love and friendship too.
Be not afraid. I have not regretted one moment since I gave my heart to
Him. He loves you and is concerned about your welfare. Give your heart to
Him, He won't disappoint you. He will not take away your joy, your fun. In
fact, He will give you joy and freedom. He promises you: "He
whom the Son sets free is free indeed!" Be free!
In Christ,
Theresena Veira
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
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