Discovery of the work
Family member (grandfather) recommended it.
Impact on love for the Gospel
I'm a cradle Catholic but had never taken religion seriously, and I left the faith entirely for about 15 years before I began reading The Poem. His love, mercy, and justice — and perhaps just as much, His understanding and fairness — eventually broke through my fog. I began to understand that He wasn’t asking anything impossible, mysterious, or even that strenuous. He simply wanted me to try, and to keep trying. The Poem was the only spiritual book I read over the four years it took for Him to lead this hard-headed mule out of Egypt. Eventually, I could no longer say no to Him, and I returned to the Faith.
Concrete impact on faith life
Even after coming back to practicing the Faith and making a general confession, I felt I was still carrying my past sins in a bag created by my own inability to forgive myself. One night, I was reading Volume 1, 132, “Jesus at the Clear Water – Closing,” and came across the words: “Forget the past, smile at the future.” At that moment, I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking those words directly to me. I turned off the lights, and while weeping in the dark, the Holy Spirit instantly filled and surrounded me with joy, love, forgiveness, and healing. This intense experience slowly faded over the next few minutes, and I’ve been climbing my mountain ever since. That was 25 years ago. I’ve read the entire work multiple times, and with every reading, more wisdom is revealed than before. The Poem of the Man-God is from God. No one can read it with an open heart and deny that. “By their fruits you shall know them.”
What would you say to someone who hesitates to discover this work?
Listen to Padre Pio, Pope Pius XII, and many others — read it!