7th Pocket Volume: The Secret of Salvation

This beautiful work by the Guelpa brothers fills me with joy because in the writing there is a guide towards true happiness, which is the Heart of Christ. A well-structured book with a simple and explanatory language that reminds one of Jesus' parables, composed to induce reflection and meditation.

It is an invitation to walk a spiritual path without the interferences of daily life in order to arrive, through silence, quiet, and peace, at Jesus. Through this reading one perceives how Jesus is eager to communicate Himself to His creatures, a desire so ardent that our finite mind can comprehend. Yet, by stripping ourselves of external things, we can feel Him, hear Him, and let ourselves be loved by Him.

Here I found the "how" and the "way" to approach God.

I read how important forgiveness is to reach Jesus, since a heart full of resentments cannot reach God, because God is love.

Another obstacle is negative feelings and bad memories.

I also understood how important the practice of confession is and the humility that allows us to give and receive forgiveness.

Without forgiveness, one lingers in anger with pride that overwhelms us; conversely, if we welcome love and understand our brother, we can not only encounter Jesus but enter into communion with Him.

Yes, it is He who can kindle my heart with love, it is He who is near me and desires me to speak to Him, to tell Him my worries, to abandon myself to His love with faith and trust. I am important to Jesus.

With a clear, simple, and profoundly wise language, the Guelpa brothers describe the steps to follow to approach Jesus. The most important are renouncing sin and putting God in the first place: these are the essential conditions to enter into communion with God.

One must love Christ to the point of losing oneself in Him to live in Him, to let oneself be loved and allow Him to act within us. If we strive in the fight against sin, God helps us.

God desires that we live in His Heart, because there is our origin, our home. We were born from His generous Heart by the effect of His love, and He placed us in this world so that we may discover the path of love that brings us back to His Heart, which is our homeland, our Heaven.

The Guelpa brothers invite us to open the Gospel to receive an answer. Here is what I found opening the Gospel of Saint Mark:

"He called the crowd together with His disciples and said to them: If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it... What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"
(Mark 8, 34-36)

These lines confirm that the Guelpa brothers, filled with the Holy Spirit, have captured in this new volume the feeling of God, and show us what the path of love is, which is the secret of our salvation.