Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/0671

0671 Worthlessness and transience of earthly possessions....

November 16, 1938: Book 14

The greatest problem in this present time is the seizing of earthly possessions. It is truly growing in a frightening way and infinitely long times will pass by until the consequences of such projects are cancelled out again.... Intervening in public life is only possible to a limited extent, for countless followers of mammon might take advantage of this again by unlawfully trying to acquire what God's mercy wants to take away from the human being for the sake of his soul's salvation. For earthly goods must exist in order to test the human being's strength and to divert their will and craving from it, for only the voluntary rejection of such enticing stimuli can cause the soul's separation from matter. If therefore the arm of God reached out to all owners, taking or destroying their possessions by force, then this spiritual level would never ever be reached through a deliberate voluntary rejection, and for that reason all temptations for the soul need to remain in the world, to enable the human being to rise above himself and to detach himself from the longing for whatever the world has to offer. If, therefore, people strive for money and goods in such frightful way that they only consider this but never their soul's salvation, then a time like this also poses a terrible danger for the human race, and only the Lord can counter this danger by making people aware of the transience of all earthly possessions through natural disasters, ailments or other events which reduce all possessions and more or less disintegrate them completely, without having been touched by any other hand, so that the incentive for sin will diminish and people can easily recognise the Originator of their supposed damage.

It certainly makes sense to think about it when the intervention of a higher Power is so very distinctly perceptible. That which the human being believes himself to own with absolute certainty and which he anxiously wants to protect from the world and his fellow human beings has to be shaken time and again. For this need for sole ownership is detestable before God.... Anyone who willingly shares his worldly goods with his neighbour if he owns only little.... anyone who uses his surplus to support the poor, his goods fulfil their true purpose and will be protected for the person, yes indeed, even be increased.... And a person need never fear to experience great hardship if he always makes an effort to alleviate the hardship of the poor.... For the measure you give will be the measure you receive.... Someone who always thinks of himself and his good living standard first has to be prepared, for the Lord will make His presence felt and take hold of him where he is most sensitive.... by losing his worldly goods and putting his supposedly good living standard into question, and only then will the soul have to prove itself by finding its way out of the physical hardship and doing everything on its part to live a pleasing life before the Lord and to strive for spiritual possessions. Money and possessions certainly signify power on earth but not in eternity.... Everything will be null and void there, the souls of those who regarded power and wealth as their God will exist in a very lowly state, while those who were disinclined to worldly goods and recognised their worthlessness will be placed into an elevated position....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna