Joseph Herrin (08-02-08)
Not too long ago I had the blessing to begin corresponding with a sister in Christ by the name of Patricia Savas (Gus). I learned that she had spent ten years as a Catholic nun (I believe in the 1960’s and 1970’s). Many years after this experience (1993), after having come to a living relationship with the Messiah, she wrote a book chronicling her experiences. I was interested in reading an insider’s view of life as a Catholic nun, and was graciously sent a copy.
Once I began reading the book I was unable to put it down. The book contains great human drama. The desire to be loved and accepted by man and by God is powerfully described. There is much human misery and tragedy in the book, yet in the end God reveals Himself to Patricia, and life is transformed from that day forward. The empty promises of religion give way to the fulfillment of life in relationship to the Son of God.
Some time back the thought had come to me to write a book on Catholicism, and I had even asked the people on my mailing list to pray for God’s guidance in this regard. I did a good deal of study on the matter, and was impressed with the human element of it all. I did not want to write a treatise of sterile facts, for as I looked further into the Catholic Church and its members, I found that there were many who were in great sincerity seeking to be found pleasing to God. There were many young women who had devoted their lives to a religious life, and having read a number of brief testimonies I began to feel a burden for those who were trapped in the allure of religious activity, but who were falling short of the divine life and relationship that alone can lead from darkness to light, and from bondage to sin and dead works into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
I never felt a release to write the book on Catholicism that I had envisioned, as the Lord led me to focus on other matters, but the burden on my heart for those trapped in the deadness of religious ritual continued upon my heart. I found it very timely when I received the book from Patricia, and I immediately connected with the Patricia’s struggles. I was both amazed and appalled at the sacrifice and emotional trauma experienced by those who enter into religious life, and I felt a burden as I read to see the story come to a happy ending. After ten years as a nun which left Patricia as a burnt out shell, she left the religious life and provides a narration of the way in which God made Himself known to her. I found myself wiping tears from my face as I read of Patricia’s encounter with the living God, and all of the sorrow and heartache of former years became bearable to consider in light of the glorious revelation of Yahshua to His child.
This present world is filled with suffering and heartache, yet the pain and sorrow of life makes the mercy and love of God seem all the more precious when it breaks forth into our view. Pat (Gus) has given me permission to post her book on the Heart4God website, and it is now available. I think that any of God’s sons and daughters who have a heart of compassion and an appreciation of the magnificent love of God, will find themselves encouraged and deeply moved in reading this book. You can find it posted at the following link: http://www.heart4god.ws/id672.htm
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
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