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The Experience of a Spanish Spiritual Advisor

 

"The righteous will flourish like the palm tree; They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God; They will still bear fruit in old age, They will stay fresh and green, proclaiming “the Lord is righteous. He is my rock, and there is no wickedness in him" (Ps 92:13-16).

I want to start with this quote from Psalm 92, a testimony to my membership in the Vida Ascendente Spain movement, because I think it reflects very well what the movement brings to its members.

My name is Juan Luis Gómez de la Torre, I am the spiritual director of the Minor Seminary of Toledo and I belong to Vida Ascendente for eleven years, and since October 2016 as a diocesan Counselor.

Belonging to the movement, I consider it a grace of God, since He put me there to serve these people who, for the most part, are very old, giving and offering my life. But not only do I give, but I give very little compared to what I receive from them at every meeting and every meeting we have. I receive members of V.A. enthusiasm, fidelity, perseverance and every day I learn from them much more.

It is true that they are old, but with the great desire to continue to grow in faith, to continue to feed on the only one who can soothe our hunger and thirst: Jesus Christ. For the believer, in this life, never reaches that state of fullness to which we are all called and that is why we continue to grow until we meet face to face the One whom we have followed and loved throughout our lives.

It is from there that one understands what Vida Ascendente is and how much this movement is necessary in the parishes so that these people, at their age and with their limitations, can continue to grow and mature in the faith and doing it in a group, is always much better than doing it alone.

I encourage priests who do not have Vida Ascendente in their parish to know him, and if they already know him, to form a group to help these people continue to grow and deepen their faith so that, as the Psalm says, they proclaim that the Lord is righteous.

 

Juan Luis Gomez de la Torre

Spiritual  Advisor of Vida Ascendente in Toledo

Excerpt from “Tres Pilares” magazine, August- September- October 2021 edition