472. A Vision that Is Lost in a Rapture of Love.

 472. A Vision that Is Lost in a Rapture of Love. 1 Jesus says: « You will put here the vision of 15th August 1944: Jesus cures the boy born blind from Sidon.» -------------------- 15th August 1946. 2 As they often do while walking, perhaps to alleviate the monotony of their continuous travelling with this distraction, the apostles speak to one another recapitulating and commenting on the latest events, questioning now and again the Master, Who in general speaks very little, just not to be unkind, making such effort only when it is the case of teaching the crowds or His apostles, or correcting wrong ideas, or comforting unhappy people. Jesus was the « Word », but He certainly was not a « chatterbox »! As patient and kind as nobody else, He never appeared to be bored when He had to repeat a concept once, twice, ten times, a hundred times to make it enter the heads 472. A Vision that Is Lost in a Rapture of Love. 233 hardened by pharisaical and rabbinical precepts, neglecting His own tiredness, at times so exhausting as to be painful, in order to relieve the moral or physical suffering of a person. But it is clear that He prefers to be silent, keeping aloof in quiet meditation which may last for many hours, if He is not distracted by someone questioning Him. He generally walks ahead of His apostles, with His head slightly bent, raising it now and again to look at the sky, the country, people, animals. I said to look. But that is wrong. I must say: to love. Because it is a smile, God's smile that from His eyes pours forth to caress the world and creatures: a love-smile. Because it is love that shines forth, spreads, blesses and purifies the light of His eyes, which are so bright, most bright, when He comes out of intense concentration. 3 What are His concentrations like? I think − and I am sure that I am not mistaken, because it is enough to watch His countenance to see what they are − I think that they are much more than our ecstasies in which a human creature already lives in Heaven. They are the « sensible reunion of God with God ». Divinity is always present and united to the Christ, Who is God like the Father. On the Earth as in Heaven the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, They love each other and by loving each other They generate the Third Person. The power of the Father is the generation of the Son and the act of generating and being generated creates the Fire, that is, the Spirit of the Spirit of God. The Power turns to the Wisdom Whom It generated and Who turns to the Power in the joy of being One for the Other and of knowing each other for what They are. And since all good reciprocal knowledge creates love − even our imperfect knowledge does − there is the Holy Spirit... There is the One Who, if it were possible to add perfection to divine perfections, ought to be called the Perfection of Perfection. The Holy Spirit! The simple thought of Him fills one with light, joy, peace... In the ecstasies of the Christ, when the incomprehensible mystery of the Unity and Trinity of God was renewed in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, what complete perfect, bright, sanctifying, joyful, peaceful production of love must have been engendered and must have spread like heat from a blazing furnace, like incense from a burning thurible, to kiss with the kiss of God the things created by the Father, made by means of the Son-Word, made for the Love, for the only Love, because all the operations of God are Love? And that is the look of the Man-God when as Man and as God He raises His eyes, which have contemplated in Himself the Father, Himself and the Love, to look at the Universe, admiring the creative power of God, as Man; rejoicing, as God, at being able to save it in the royal creatures of such creation: men. 4 Oh! no one can, no one will ever be able, neither poet, nor artist, nor painter, to make visible to the crowds that look of Jesus, when He comes off the embrace, from the sensible reunion with the Divinity, always united to the Man hypostatically, but not always so deeply sensible to the Man, Who was the Redeemer and Who thus, to His many sorrows, to His many annihilations had to add this one, this very deep grief, of no longer being always able to be in the Father, in the great vortex of the Love, as He was in Heaven: almighty... free... joyful. Wonderful is the power of His look in regard to miracles, most kind is the expression of His eyes as man, very sad the light of sorrow in the hours of grief... But they are still human, although perfect in expression. This look of God, Who has contemplated and loved Himself in the Triniform Unity is beyond comparison, there is no adjective for it... And the soul prostrates itself before Him, worshipping, having become a mere « nonentity » in the knowledge of God, but blessed in contemplating His infinite love. 5 The torrents of delight are flowing into my soul... I am blessed! All grief, every memory is made void under the waves of the love of Jesus God... and these waves raise me to Heaven, to Heaven, to You!... Thanks, my adorable Love!... Thanks!... Now I still serve You... The creature has become a woman again, she is once again the mouthpiece after being for an instant a « seraph ». She is once again a woman, a martyr, perhaps another torment is already behind my back... But the light You gave me is shining in my spirit, the blissful light of contemplating You; neither flood of tears nor cruel tortures will be able to put it out. Thank You, my Blessed One! You alone love me! I now understand Paul as never before! « Who will be able to separate us from the love of Christ?... We triumph through these trials by the power of Him Who loved us... I am certain that neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, no virtue, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord ». It is the victorious jubilant paean blaring from the groups of the winners, of the lovers, of those saved by love, because this is holiness: salvation received because one has been loved and has loved. It is already blaring! And the spirit, even here, a prisoner on the Earth, hears it and sings its joy, its trust, its certainty... And light, even more light comes, and the luminous 472. A Vision that Is Lost in a Rapture of Love. 234 words of the Apostle brighten even more, even more... « ... the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord ». Indeed, now I understand the words of Azariah, last winter: « Jesus is the compendium of the love of the Three ». Indeed! All Love is in Him. We men can find this love of God without waiting to go back to God, without awaiting Heaven, by loving Jesus. Yes! Springs of living water, sources of light, sources of love open for those who believe, because those who believe go to Jesus, because those who believe, believe that Jesus is in the Eucharist with His Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity, as He was on the Earth, as He is in Heaven, with His Heart, with His Heart! And in Jesus' Heart there is the love of God. And when a man receives the Most Holy Body of Jesus, he receives in himself the Heart of Jesus. Thus he has in himself not only Jesus, but he has the Love of God, that is, he has God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, because the Love of God is the Most Holy Trinity that is one thing only: Love. The Love that divides into three flames to make us trebly happy. Happy to have a Father, a Brother a Friend. Happy to have who provides, who teaches, who loves. Happy to have God! 6 Oh! I can no longer bear this!... Lord, Your gift is too great! Who obtains it for me from Heaven? Is it You, Most Blessed Mother, contemplated in Your splendour of Queen of Heaven, where You have been bodily received? Is it you, lover of Christ, kind John of Bethsaida, my friend? Is it you, amiable Patriarch protector of those who are persecuted, solicitous supplier of consolation, most venerable Joseph? Is it you, my great little sister, Therese of the Child Jesus, who obtain for me what I have been asking for these twenty-one years: that the waves of the Love may overflow into my soul? Oh! if it is you, complete the work. Obtain for me to die not in one of these assaults of love. I am a little soul, too, and I do not wish extraordinary things. But to die after one of these assaults of love, when I have become again a « little, very little soul », made even smaller by the knowledge of what is the Infinite Love, after one of these assaults, because after, it is as if one were baptised again by love and no shadows of stains are left in us. Love bums... Or is it you, Azariah, my good friend, who have obtained this hour of blessedness for me, because of all the tears you collected from my eyes and you took to Heaven? If it is you, may you be blessed for that! But I do not ask you, Therese, Joseph, John and the Blessed Virgin to let me have that ecstasy again, to fill me with joy and fire. But I ask and implore you to let other hearts have it, particularly those known to you, those hearts that torture mine and displease God, Whom they cannot perceive or obey. If those hearts have one instant only of those assaults of love, they will be converted to the Love, to the true Love. They will love. With their whole selves. Above all with their intellects that will reject the barriers of rationalism, of human science, which deny and hamper simple good faith and set limits to the power of God. And with their hearts in which the crusts of selfishness, of envy, of hatred will melt like wax near a fire... Do that, my dearest ones. I accept to never place my lips again on the refreshing chalice of love, I accept to drink for ever, until my return to God, the bitter chalice of all renunciations, but let them go back to the bright path, let them be sanctified in all their actions to deserve the sight of Jesus-God, as I was granted to enjoy it today. To deserve it here, to possess it for ever in Heaven, as I, hoping in my Lord, confide to possess it as well... -------------------- The same day at 12 o'clock. 7 I read it again. I am thinking of the theologians who will read these pages. Perhaps they will find errors in my description of the ecstasies and of Jesus' concentration. Let them remember that I am a poor ignorant woman, that I know nothing about theology or theological terms, and that I strive to say what I see as best I can and with the sentences that my poor mind can construct... -------------------- 16th August 1946 8 I say to Jesus: « Lord, yesterday You carried me away and everything was lost in You. The vision...». He smiles with sweet divine joy and He replies caressing me: « You sang instead of narrating. You sang. The whole of Paradise sang the glories of My Mother yesterday, and you sang with Paradise and at a certain moment Paradise listened to your “a solo”. Do you know when? When you asked not to have the enjoyment, but that “they” should be invaded by love to be saved. Loving Heaven listened to you, because to renounce beatitude so that others may have Life is granted only to those who are on the Earth but are already citizens of Heaven. Owing to your singing the Saints remembered when they were the singers on the Earth. The Angels listened looking at your Azariah 472. A Vision that Is Lost in a Rapture of Love. 235 with brotherly satisfaction. Mary smiled offering your song to the Love. And the Love, oh! My Mary! and the Love kissed you... and still kisses you. Be happy. You have understood the Love. I am in you and, as you have understood, God One and Trine is in Me. Go along the roads of supernatural joy today, instead of the roads in Palestine towards Jesus' grief... Mary, are you not happy to be in the same condition as I was in my last year? That is also a gift, and a light to understand Me. Without a personal proportional experience, a human being could not understand what was My long Passion. But today, as yesterday, go along the paths of heavenly joy. God is with you. Be in peace.» 9 And thus the conversations of the apostles on the episode of Giscala, on the miracle of the blind boy, on Ptolemais to which they are directing their steps, on the road with steps cut in the rock which they climbed to arrive at the last village on the border between Syro-Phoenicia and Galilee − and it must be the one I saw when they went to Alexandroscene − on Gamaliel and so forth, are now over. Or rather, they are left, for what I heard of them, in my heart. I only say that I wanted to say this. That the apostles, who in the early days, when they were less spiritually perfected, used to disturb the Master for a trifle, now that they are more spiritually developed, respect His isolation and they prefer to speak among themselves, remaining a few steps behind Him. Only when they need some information, or His opinion, or they are urged by their love for the Master, do they approach Him.

471. Cure of the Boy Born Blind from Sidon.

 471. Cure of the Boy Born Blind from Sidon. 15th August 1944. 1 I see Jesus come out of a synagogue surrounded by His apostles and by a crowd of people. I realise that it is a synagogue, because through the wide open door I can see the same furniture that I saw in the synagogue of Nazareth, in one of the visions preparing for Passover. The synagogue is in the main square of the village. A bare square, surrounded only by houses, with a basin in the centre nourished by a fountain pouring lovely clear water from only one jet of stone carved like a bent tile. The basin is used to water quadrupeds and many doves which fly about from house to house; the fountain to fill the jugs of women, beautiful copper amphorae, some of which are hammered, some smooth, all shining in the sun. Because it is sunny and warm. The earth of the square is dry and yellowish, as when it is parched by strong sunshine. There is not even one tree in the square. But branches of figtrees and vineshoots hang out over the little walls of orchards along the four roads which depart from the square. It must be the end of summer and the end of a day, because ripe bunches of grapes are hanging from the pergolas, and sunbeams are not perpendicular but oblique as at sunset. In the square some people are waiting for Jesus. But I do not see any miracle among them. Jesus passes, He bends over them, He blesses and comforts them, but does not cure them, at least for the time being. There are also women with children and men of all ages. They appear to be known to the Master, Who greets them calling them by their names and they crowd round Him with familiarity. Jesus caresses the children bending lovingly over them. 2 In a corner of the square is a woman with a little boy or girl (they are all dressed alike with light coloured little tunics). She does not seem to come from here. I would say that she is of higher social standing than the others. Her dress is more elaborate, with braids and folds; it is not the plain tunic of ordinary women with only a cordon to adorn and shape it. This woman, instead, is wearing an elaborate dress, which, although not a masterpiece like the garments of Mary Magdalene, is very graceful. She has a light veil on her head, much 471. Cure of the Boy Born Blind from Sidon. 230 lighter than the other women's veils, which are made of thin linen fabric, whereas hers is almost muslin, so light it is. It is gracefully pinned at the middle of her head, displaying her well combed brown hair, with locks plaited in a simple fashion, but with more skilled care than those of the other women, whose tresses are in a knot on the napes of their necks or form a circle round their heads. On her shoulders she has a real mantle, that is, a cloth which I do not know whether it is sewn or woven in a round shape, with around the neck a braid ending in a silver clasp. The cloth of the mantle falls in beautiful wide folds down to her ankles. The woman is holding by the hand the little boy or girl I mentioned previously. A lovely boy about seven years old. He is also strong, but not in the least lively. He is standing very quietly beside his mother, his hand in hers, with his head lowered, without taking an interest in what is happening. The woman is watching but she dare not approach the group which has gathered round Jesus. She seems undecided, as while she is urged by her desire to go, she is afraid of moving forward. She then decides to take a middle course: to attract Jesus' attention. She sees Him take in His arms a beautiful big rosy smiling baby whom a mother has offered Him and whom He dandles pressing him to His heart while speaking to a little old man. She bends over her little boy and says something to him. The boy raises his head. I now see a sad little face, with closed eyes. He is blind. « Have mercy on me, Jesus!» he says. The infantile little voice cleaves the still air of the square and arrives as far as the group with its lament. 3 Jesus turns round and sees him. He moves at once with loving care. He does not even hand back to its mother the child He is holding in His arms. Tall and most handsome as He is, He goes towards the blind boy, who after crying, has lowered his head again, in vain urged by his mother to repeat the cry. Jesus is now before the woman. He looks at her. She also looks at Him; then she timidly lowers her eyes. Jesus helps her. He has handed the child He had in His arms to the woman who gave it to Him. « Woman, is this son yours?» « Yes, Master, he is my first-born.» Jesus caresses his bent head. Jesus does not seem to have noticed the blindness of the little one. But I think that He does so deliberately to let the mother make her request. « So the Most High has' blessed your house with numerous children and giving you first the son sacred to the Lord.» « I have only one son; this one and three girls. And I will not have any more...» She sobs. « Why are you weeping, woman?» « Because my son is blind, Master!» « And you would like him to be able to see. Can you believe?» « I do believe, Master. I was told that You have opened eyes which were closed. But my boy was born with dried eyes. Look at him, Jesus. There is nothing under his eyelids...» Jesus raises towards Himself the little face prematurely serious and looks closer lifting the eyelids with His thumbs. There are empty spaces under them. He resumes speaking holding with His hand the little face raised towards Himself. « Why have you come, then, woman?» « Because... I know that it is more difficult for my boy... but if it is true that You are the Expected One, You can do it. Your Father created the worlds... Could You not make two eyes for my child?» « Do you believe that I come from the Father, the Most High Lord?» « I believe it and I believe that You can do everything.» 4 Jesus looks at her as if He wished to evaluate how much faith there is in her and how pure is her faith. He smiles. He then says: « Child, come to Me » and He takes him by the hand to a little wall, about half a metre high, built on the road against a house, a kind of parapet to protect it from the road, which has a bend just there. When the boy is steady on the wall, Jesus becomes grave and imposing. The crowds press round Him, the boy and the anxious mother. I see Jesus from one side, in profile. He is all enveloped in His very dark blue mantle, which He wears over a tunic a little lighter in shade. His face is inspired. He looks taller and even sturdier, as is usual when the power of miracles emanates from Him. But this time He seems more imposing. He lays His hands open on the boy's 471. Cure of the Boy Born Blind from Sidon. 231 head, and places His thumbs against the hollow eyesockets. He raises His head praying fervently, but without moving His lips: He is certainly conversing with His Father. He then says: « See! I want it! And praise the Lord!» and to the woman: « Let your faith be rewarded. Here is your son who will be your honour and your peace. Show him to your husband. He will love you once again and your house will be blessed with further happy days.» 5 The woman, who has uttered a shrill cry of joy when, the divine thumbs being removed, from the empty eye-sockets two deep blue wonderful eyes, like those of the Master, look at her full o f wonder and happiness, under the fringe of dark hair, cries once again, and although she still presses her son against her heart, she kneels at Jesus' feet saying: « Are You aware also of that? Ah! You really are the Son of God.» And she kisses His mantle and sandals and then stands up transfigured with joy and says: « Listen, everybody. I have come from the distant land of Sidon. I came because another mother spoke to me of the Rabbi of Nazareth. My husband, a Jewish merchant, has stores in that town to trade with Rome. He is rich and faithful to the Law, but he has no longer loved me since I, after giving him an unhappy boy, gave birth to three girls and then I became barren. He left the house and although I had not been repudiated, I was living in the same situation as if I had been divorced, and I was already aware that he wanted to get rid of me to have from another woman an heir capable of carrying on his trade and enjoying his wealth. Before coming here I went to my husband and I said to him: “Wait, sir, wait until I come back. If I come back and my son is still blind, you may repudiate me. Otherwise do not break my heart and do not deny your children a father”. And he swore to me: “By the glory of the Lord, woman, I swear to you that if you bring back my son cured − I do not know how you will be able to do that as your womb was not able to give him eyes − I will come back to you as in the days of our first love”. The Master did not know of my grief as a wife, and yet He comforted me also in that respect. Glory be to God and to You, Master and King.» The woman is on her knees once again and is weeping for joy. « Go. Tell Daniel, your husband, that He Who created the worlds, has given two bright stars as eyes to the little one sacred to the Lord. Because God is faithful to His promises and has sworn that he who believes in Him will see all kinds of wonders. Let him now be faithful to his oath and let him not commit a sin of adultery. Tell Daniel that. Go. Be happy. I bless you and this child and with you I bless all those who are dear to you.» The crowd is a chorus of praises and congratulations and Jesus goes into a nearby house to rest. The vision ends thus. And I can assure you that I was deeply moved by it. -------------------- 6 Jesus says: « God always surpasses the requests of His children, when they have faith in Him, and gives them even more. Believe it and let everybody believe it. To the woman who came to Me from Sidon with two swords piercing the secrets of her heart and who dared to tell Me the name of only one of them, I gave also a second miracle, because it is more grievous to reveal certain intimate misfortunes than to say: “I am not well”. In the eyes of the world it may have seemed and may still seem much easier to establish reconciliation between husband and wife separated by a reason which has been satisfactorily overcome, than to give two eyes to someone born without them. But it is not so. It is most simple for the Lord and Creator to make two eyes, just as simple as to give the breath of life back to a corpse. The Master of Life and of Death, the Master of everything there is in Creation does certainly not lack the breath of life to be instilled into dead bodies or two drops of humour for a dried eye. If He wants, He can. Because it depends exclusively on His power. But when it is a matter of reconciliation between men, the “will” of men is required together with the desire of God. God only rarely does violence to human freedom. As a rule He lets you act as you wish. That woman, who lived in a country of idolaters and, like her husband remained faithful to the God of her fathers, already deserves benignity from God. And she deserved a double miracle, because she carried her faith beyond the limit of human measure and overcame the doubts and the denials of most Jewish believers, which is proved by what she said to her husband: “Wait until I come back”., as she was certain of going back with her son cured. She deserved also the difficult miracle of opening the eyes of her husband's spirit, as those eyes had become blind to love and to her grief, as they laid on her a blame, which is not a blame. 7 I would also like wives in particular, to meditate on the respectful humility of their sister. “I went to my husband and I said to him: 'Wait, sir'”. She was in the right 471. Cure of the Boy Born Blind from Sidon. 232 because to blame a mother for a birth defect is foolish and cruel. Her heart was already rent by the sight of her unhappy child. She is doubly in the right because she was neglected by her husband since she became barren, and she was aware of his intention to divorce her, and yet she remained his “wife”.: that is, the faithful companion, submissive to her companion, as prescribed by God and taught by the Scriptures. She did not harbour thoughts of rebellion or thirst for revenge or intention to find another man in order not to be the “lonely woman”. “If I do not come back with my son cured, you can repudiate me. Otherwise do not break my heart and do not deny your children a father”. Do you not seem to be hearing Sarah and ancient Hebrew women speak thus? How different, o wives, is your present language! And how different, too, is what you get from God and from your husbands. And families are ruined more and more. 8 As usual, in working the miracle, I had to give it a sign to make it more incisive. I had to persuade a world enclosed in the barriers of an age-old way of thinking, led by a sect hostile to Me. Hence the necessity for making My supernatural power shine clearly. But the teaching of the vision does not consist in that. It consists in the faith, humility, faithfulness to one's consort, in the right path undertaken, o wives and mothers, who have found thorns where you expected to have roses, to see new flowery branches grow on the thorns which prick you. Turn to your Lord God Who created marriage so that man and woman might not be alone and might love each other, forming one only indissoluble body, since they were joined together, and Who gave you the Sacrament so that His blessing might descend upon your marriage, and through My merits you may have what you need in your new life of consorts and procreators. And in order to be able to turn to Him with confident faces and souls, be honest, good, respectful, faithful, true companions of your husbands, not just guests in their houses, or worse still, strangers which chance has gathered under one roof, like two who meet by chance in a hotel of pilgrims. That happens too often nowadays. Does man make a mistake? He is wrong. But that does not justify the behaviour of too many wives. And you are even less justified when you do not render good for good and love for love to a kind companion. I will not even take into consideration the too common case of your carnal unfaithfulness which makes you like prostitutes with the aggravating circumstance that you are hypocritically vicious, and you pollute the family altar around which are the angelical souls of your innocent children. But I refer to your moral unfaithfulness to the pact of love sworn before My altar. Well: I said: “He who looks at a woman with lustful desire commits adultery in his heart”.; I said: “He who dismisses his wife with a libel of divorce, exposes her to adultery”. But now that too many wives are strangers to their husbands, I say: “Those who do not love their companions with their souls, minds and bodies, incite them to adultery, and if I ask such husbands why they committed adultery, I will also ask their wives the same question, because although they do not perform it, they cause it”. It is necessary to understand the Law of God in its full extent and depth and it is necessary to live it in full truthfulness. Remain with My peace, the above does not apply to you, and keep your heart fixed in Mine.»

470. A Judgement of Jesus

 470. A Judgement of Jesus. 12th August 1946. 1 « I am not at all happy to stay here with this man who has joined us...» grumbles Peter who is with Jesus in a thick orchard. It must be the afternoon of the Sabbath, because the sun is still high, whereas it was already twilight when they arrived at the village. « We shall depart after the prayers. It is Sabbath. We were not allowed to walk and this rest has done us good. We shall not stop any more until the next Sabbath.» « But You have not rested very much. All those sick people!...» « So many are now praising the Lord. To spare you so much road, I would have stopped here for two days to give the people whom I cured time to take the news beyond the borders, but you did not agree.» « No! I would like to be already far away. And... do not trust people too much, Master. You talk and talk! But do You know that every word of Yours becomes poison against You on certain lips? Why did they send him to us?» « You know why.» « Yes, but why did he stay?» « He is not the first one to remain with us after approaching Me.» Peter shakes his head, he is not convinced. And he grumbles: « A spy!... A spy!...» « Do not judge, Simon. You might repent of your present judgement one day...» « I am not judging. I am afraid. For You. And that is love. And the Most High cannot punish me because I love You.» « I am not saying that you would repent of that, but of having a bad opinion of a brother of yours.» « He is the brother of those who hate You. So he is not my brother.» From a human point of view his logic is correct, but Jesus remarks: « He is a disciple of Gamaliel and Gamaliel is not against Me.» « But he is not with You either.» « He who is not against Me is with Me, even if he does not appear to be so. You cannot expect Gamaliel, the greatest doctor at present in Israel, a well of rabbinical knowledge, a real mine in which is all the... essence of rabbinical science, to disown everything at once to accept... Me. Simon, it is difficult even for all of you to accept Me, forsaking all your past...» « But we have accepted You!» « No. Do you know what it means to accept Me? It means not only to love Me and follow Me. That is very much the merit of the Man I am and Who is an attraction for you. To accept Me is to accept My doctrine, which is identical to the ancient one in the divine Law, but which is completely different from that law, from that heap of human laws which have been piling up in the course of ages forming a code and a formulary which has nothing divine. You, all the humble people in Israel and also some important very just people, complain of and criticise the formalistic subtleties of scribes and Pharisees, their intolerance and hardness... but you are not immune yourselves. It is not your fault. In the course of ages, you Hebrews have slowly absorbed the... the human exhalations of those who have adulterated the pure superhuman Law of God. You know. When a man continues to live for years in a way which is different from that of his native country, because he is in a foreign country and his children and the children of his children live there, it happens that his offspring end up by becoming like the people of the place where they are. They become so acclimatised that they lose even their national physical appearance, in addition to moral habits, and unfortunately, also the religion of their ancestors... 2 But here are the others. Let us go to the synagogue.» « Are You going to speak?» « No. I am a simple believer. I spoke this morning through miracles...» « Provided that it is not going to be detrimental...» Peter is really dissatisfied and worried, but he follows the Master Who has joined the other apostles and meets on the road with the man from Giscala and other people, probably from the village. 470. A Judgement of Jesus. 226 In the synagogue the minister, out of deference to Jesus, addresses Him asking: « Will You explain the Law, Rabbi?» But Jesus refuses and like a simple believer follows all the ceremonies, kissing like the others the parchment presented to Him by the assistant (I call him thus because I do not know what name to give the assistant of the synagogue minister) and listening to the explanation of the passage chosen by the minister. However, although He does not speak, His aspect is already a sermon owing to the way He prays... Many look at Him. Gamaliel's disciple does not lose sight of Him for one moment. And the apostles keep good watch on the disciple, suspicious as they are. Jesus does not even turn round when some people speak in low voices at the entrance of the synagogue distracting many believers. But the rite comes to an end and the people go out into the square of the synagogue. Although Jesus was closer to the back than to the front of the synagogue, He is one of the last to come out and He goes towards the house to get His sack and depart. Many people of the town follow Him and among them is Gamaliel's disciple, who at a certain moment is called by three men leaning against the wall of a house. He speaks to them and then elbows his way with them towards Jesus. « Master, these men wish to speak to You » he says attracting the attention of Jesus Who was speaking to Peter and His cousin Judas. « Scribes! I told You!» exclaims Peter already upset. 3 Jesus bows to the three men who greet Him and He asks: « What do you want?» The oldest man says: « As You did not come, we came. And that no one may think that we have infringed the Sabbath, we inform everybody that we covered the road in three different periods of time. The first until the last light of sunset lasted. The second, of six stadia, while moonlight illuminated the paths. The third ended just now and it did not exceed the legal measure. We say that for your souls and ours, but for our minds we apply to Your wisdom. Are You aware of what happened in the town of Giscala?» « I came from Capernaum. I do not know anything.» « Listen. A man who had been away from home for a long time on business, learned, when he came back, that during his absence his wife had been unfaithful to him, to the extent of giving birth to a child, who could not be of her husband, as he had been away for fourteen months. The man killed his wife secretly. But he was denounced by a man who had been informed by the maidservant and was killed, according to the law of Israel. The lover, who according to the Law should be stoned, has taken shelter at Kedesh and he will certainly try to go to other places. The illegitimate child, whom the husband wanted to kill as well, was not handed to him by the woman who suckled him and she went to Kedesh to excite the pity of the true father and convince him to take care of his son, because her husband is opposed to keeping the illegitimate child in his house. But the man rejected her and his son stating that the latter would be a hindrance to him in his flights. What is Your opinion on the matter?» « I do not think that it can be judged any more. All judgement, whether right or wrong, has already been given.» « Which judgement, according to You, is just and which is unjust. There is disagreement among us concerning the punishment of the murderer.» 4 Jesus stares at them, one after the other. He then says: « I will speak. But first answer My questions, whatever their weight may be. And be sincere. Did the man who murdered his wife belong to this town?» « No. He settled here when he married the woman who is from here.» « Did the adulterer come from here?» « Yes, he did.» « How did the man find out that his wife had been unfaithful to him? Was their sin known in public?» « Not really, and we do not know how the man was able to find out. The woman had been away for months saying that, as she did not want to be all alone, she was going to Ptolemais to stay with some relatives, and she came back saying that she had brought with her the little son of a relative of hers who had died.» « When she was in Giscala was her behaviour impudent?» « No. In fact we were all surprised to hear that Marcus had an affair with her.» « My relative is not a sinner. He is accused but he is innocent » says one of the three men who had never spoken so far. 470. A Judgement of Jesus. 227 « Was he a relative of yours? Who are you?» asks Jesus. « The first of the Elders of Giscala. That is why I wanted the life of the murderer, because he not only killed, but he killed an innocent » and he looks sullenly at the third man, who is about forty years old and who replies: « The Law says that the murderer is to be killed.» « You wanted the lives of the woman and of the adulterer.» « That is the Law.» « Had there been no other reason, no one would have spoken.» The dispute becomes animated and the two antagonists almost forget about Jesus. But the one who was the first to speak, the oldest man, imposes silence saying impartially: « It is not possible to deny that a homicide has been committed, neither can one deny that there has been a fault. The woman confessed it to her husband. But let the Master speak.» « I say: how did the husband find out? You have not answered My question.» The man defending the woman says: « Because someone spoke as soon as the husband came back.» « In that case I say that his soul was not pure » says Jesus lowering His eyelids to veil His eyes so that they may not accuse. But the forty year old man who wanted the death of the woman and of the adulterer exclaims: « I did not hunger for her.» « Ah! it is clear now! It was you who spoke! I suspected that, but now you have betrayed yourself! Assassin!» « And you are an accomplice of the adulterer. If you had not warned him, he would not have escaped us. But he is your relative! That is how justice is done in Israel! That is why you are defending also the memory of the woman: to defend your relative. If she were the only one involved, you would not worry about her.» « And what about you, who hurled the man against the woman to take vengeance for her refusals?» « And what about you, the only witness against the man, and you paid a maidservant in that house to be helped by her? One witness only is not a valid one. That's the Law.» A terrible uproar! 5 Jesus and the old man try to calm the two men who represent two opposed interests and trends and who reveal an incurable hatred of two families. They succeed with some difficulty and Jesus now speaks calmly and solemnly, after defending Himself from the accusation of one of the two opponents, who said: « You Who protect prostitutes...» « I not only say that consummated adultery is a crime against God and one's neighbour, but I say: also he who craves lustfully for the wife of another man commits adultery in his heart and commits a sin. It would be dreadful if every man who has craved for the wife of another man should be put to death! Lapidators would need to have stones in their hands all the time. But if the sin often remains unpunished on the Earth, it will be expiated in the next life, because the Most High said: “You shall not commit adultery and you shall not covet your neighbour's wife”., and God's word is to be obeyed. But I also say: “Woe betide him who is the cause of scandal and him who informs against his neighbour”. In this case everybody is guilty. The husband: was it really necessary for him to leave his wife for such a long time? Did he always treat her with the love that conquers the heart of a companion? Did he examine himself to ascertain whether the woman had not been offended by him before he was offended by her? The law of retaliation says: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. But if it says so to exact amends, are these to be given by one only? I am not defending the adulteress. But I say: “How many times could she have accused her husband of that sin?” » The people whisper: « It is true! It is true!» and also the old man from Giscala and Gamaliel's disciple agree. Jesus goes on: « ... I say: why did he, who caused such a tragedy out of revenge, not fear God? Would he have liked all that to happen in his family? I say: the man who ran away and who after enjoying himself and causing ruin now disowns also the innocent child, does he think that by fleeing he will escape the eternal Avenger? That is what I say. I also say: the Law exacted the lapidation of adulterers and the killing of murderers. But the day will come when the Law, necessary to control the violence and lust of men not fortified by the Grace of the Lord, will be modified, and if the commandments: “You shall not kill and you shall not commit adultery” remain, the sanctions against such sins will be referred to a higher justice than that of hatred and blood. A justice, compared 470. A Judgement of Jesus. 228 with which, the surviving ever false undeserving justice of human judges, all of whom are adulterers, and perhaps several times adulterers, if not even killers, will be less than nothing. I am speaking of the justice of God Who will ask men also the reason for lustful desires which are the causes of revenge, delations, murders, and above all will ask them why they deny guilty people time to redeem themselves and why they compel innocent people to bear the burden of other people's faults. They are all guilty in this case. Everybody. Also the judges urged by opposing reasons of personal revenge. One only is innocent. And My pity is for him. I cannot go back. But which of you will be charitable to the baby and to Me Who am suffering for him?» Jesus looks at the crowd with eyes expressing sad prayer. Many say: « What do You want? Remember: he is illegitimate.» « There is a woman in Capernaum whose name is Sarah. She comes from Aphek. She is one of My disciples. Take the child to her and say: “Jesus of Nazareth entrusts him to you”. When the Messiah, Whom you are expecting, establishes His Kingdom and issues His laws, which do not cancel the Word of Sinai but they complete it through charity, illegitimate children will no longer be motherless, because I shall be the Father of those who have no father and I will say to My believers: “Love them for My sake”. And other things will be changed, because violence will be replaced by love. 6 Perhaps you were expecting Me to deny the Law when you questioned Me. And that is why you were looking for Me. Say to yourselves and to those who sent you that I came to perfect the Law, not to deny it. Say to yourselves and to the others that He Who preaches the Kingdom of God cannot certainly teach what in the Kingdom of God would be horror and consequently could not be accepted there. Say to yourselves and to the others that you must remember Deuteronomy: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your country, from your brothers. Listen to him. This is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb and you said: 'Do not let me hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor look any longer on this great fire and I may not die'. And the Lord said to me: 'They have spoken well and I will raise up a prophet like yourself for them from their own brothers and I will put My words into his mouth and he shall tell them all I command him. And if anyone does not listen to the words that he speaks in My name, I will avenge Myself on him'”. God sent His Word to you that He might speak without killing you with His voice. God had already said so much to man and it was more than man deserved to hear from God. So much was said by means of the Law of Sinai and through the Prophets. But so much was still to be said and God kept it for His prophet of the time of Grace, for the One Promised to His people, in Him is the Word of God and through Him forgiveness will be accomplished. Founder of the Kingdom of God, He will codify the Law with new precepts of love, because the time of love has come. And He will not ask the Most High for vengeance on those who do not listen, but He will only beg that the fire of God may melt the hearts of stone and the Word of God may penetrate them and found in them the Kingdom which is the Kingdom of the spirit, just as its King is a spiritual King. To whoever loves the Son of man, the Son of man will give the Way, Truth, Life to go to God, to know Him and to live the eternal Life. Sources of light will be opened in whoever accepts My word, so that they may know the concealed meaning of the words of the Law and they may see that prohibitions are not threats but invitations of God, Who wants men to be happy, not damned, to be blessed, not cursed. 7 Once again you have made use of a question already resolved, but not as holiness would have resolved it, but as an inquisitive instrument to catch Me in sin. But I know that I am not sinning. And I am not afraid to speak My mind, which is: for making profit the aim of his life, the murderer has paid first with disgrace and then with death. The woman has paid for her sin with her death and this will surprise you but it is the truth − her confession to convince her husband to have pity for the innocent child, has diminished in the eyes of God the weight of her sin. The others: you and you, and he who fled with no pity even for his own child, are more guilty than the first two. Are you grumbling? You have not paid with your lives, neither have you the extenuating circumstances of the husband of the adulteress or those of the woman for being neglected and for her confession. You have all committed a sin, all of you with the exception of the wet-nurse of the innocent child: the sin of rejecting the innocent like a shameful evil. You were able to kill the homicide. You would have been able to kill also the adulterers. You have been able to do and would have been able to do what is severe justice. But not one has been or is able to stretch out his arms and have pity for the innocent child. But you are not fully responsible. You do not know... You never know exactly what you do and what ought to be done. And that is your excuse. When this disciple of Gamaliel came to Me, he said: “Come. They want to consult You with regard to a fact the consequences of which are still 470. A Judgement of Jesus. 229 lasting”. The consequences are the innocent child. Well, now that you are aware of My opinion, are you going to change your judgement where it is still changeable? 8 I said to this man: “I do not judge. I forgive”. Gamaliel said: “Only Jesus of Nazareth would judge with justice in this case”. I, as I told this man, would have advised everybody, I say everybody, not to strike until the matter had been carefully examined and passions had subsided. Many things could have been changed without infringing the Law. The matter is over now. And may God forgive those who repented or will repent. I have nothing else to say. Or rather, I have still one thing: may God forgive you once again for tempting the Son of man.» « Not I, Master! Not I! I... I love Gamaliel as a disciple should love his master: more than a father. More, because a rabbi perfects the intellect, which is greater than the body. And... I cannot leave my rabbi to follow You. But to greet You, I can find no other words but those of Judith's canticle. They rise from the depth of my heart because I found justice and wisdom in all Your words. “Adonai, Lord, You are great and magnificent in Your power. No one can conquer You. No one can resist Your voice. Those who fear You will be great in Your eyes in everything!”.. I will go to Capernaum to see the woman You mentioned... Pray for me that my stone may melt and may be pierced by the Word which establishes the Kingdom of God in us... Now I have understood. We are mistaken. And we disciples are the less guilty...» « What are you saying, you fool?» interrupts violently the Elder of Giscala addressing Gamaliel's disciple. « What am I saying? I am saying that my master is right. And that he who tempts Him to establish a temporal kingdom is a demon, because He is a true Prophet of the Most High and Wisdom speaks through His lips. Tell me, Master, what must I do?» « Meditate.» « But...» « Meditate. You are an unripe fruit. And you need to be engrafted, too. I will pray for you.» He then tells the apostles to follow Him and when they have picked up their bags, He sets out with them leaving all comments behind.

469. Jesus Speaks to Barnabas of the Law of Love.

 469. Jesus Speaks to Barnabas of the Law of Love. 10th August 1946. 1 It is pleasant to rest on the small tableland. But it is wise to descend to the valley while it is daylight, because it would be dark very early under the thick trees covering the mountain. Jesus is the first to get up and He goes to freshen up His face, hands and feet in the tiny stream running from the little spring. He then calls His apostles, who are sleeping on the grass, and invites them to get ready to depart. And while they imitate Him, one after the other, washing themselves in the cool brook and filling their flasks at the fine stream flowing from the rock, He goes to the edge of the little meadow waiting for them near two age-old trees delimiting its eastern side, and He looks at the distant horizon. Philip is the first to join Him, and looking in the same direction as his Master, he says to Him: « This sight is beautiful! You are admiring it… » « Yes, but I was not looking only at its beauty.» « At what, then? Were You perhaps thinking of the time when Israel will be great, of those places beyond Lebanon and Orontes, which in the course of centuries vexed us and are still distressing us, because the heart of the power which oppresses us through its Ambassador resides there? The prophecies concerning them made by several prophets are terrible indeed: “I will break Assyria in my country, I will crush him on my mountains… This is the hand stretched out against all the nations… And who will be able to hold it back?… Damascus is going to cease to be a city, she will become a heap of ruins… Such will be the lot of our plunderers”. Isaiah speaks thus! And Jeremiah says: “I will light a fire inside the walls of Damascus, it shall devour the palaces of Benhadad”. And that will happen when the King of Israel, the Promised One, takes His sceptre, and God has forgiven His people by sending the King Messiah to them… Oh! Ezekiel says so: “Mountains of Israel, grow branches and bear fruit 469. Jesus Speaks to Barnabas of the Law of Love. 221 for my people Israel, who will soon return… I will lead my people back to you, and they will have you for their own domain… I shall never again let you hear the insults of the nations… And the psalms sing with Ethan the Ezrahite: “I have found my servant David and anointed him with my holy oil. My hand will assist him… His enemy will not be able to do anything against him… His fortunes shall rise in my name… He will stretch his hand over the sea and his right hand over rivers… And I will make him the first-born, the sovereign among the kings of the Earth”. And Solomon sings: “He will endure like sun and moon… His empire shall stretch from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the Earth… All the kings of the Earth will do him homage, all nations will become his servants… You, Messiah, because all the signs of the spirit and of the flesh are in You, all the signs given by the prophets. Alleluia to You, Son of David, King Messiah, holy King!» « Alleluia!» shout in chorus the others who have joined Jesus and Philip and have heard the latter's words. And alleluia echoes through gorges and hills… 2 Jesus looks at them very sadly… And He replies: « But do you not remember what David says of the Christ, and what Isaiah says of Him… You are taking the sweet honey and the inebriating wine of the prophets… but you are not considering that in order to be the King of kings the Son of man will have to drink bile and vinegar and dress Himself with the purple of His own Blood… But it is not your fault if you do not understand… Your error in understanding is love. I would like a different love in you. But for the time being you cannot… Ages of sin are against men preventing them from seeing the Light. But the Light will demolish the walls and will enter you… Let us go.» They go back to the mule-path which they had left to go up to the remote plateau and they descend quickly towards the valley. The apostles speak to one another in low voices… Then Philip runs ahead, joining the Master and asks: « Have I displeased You, Lord. I did not want to… Are You angry with me?» « No, Philip, I am not. But I would like you at least to understand.» « You were looking there with such keen desire… » « Because I was thinking of how many places have not yet had Me… And will not have Me… because My time flies… How short is the time of man! And how slow man is in acting!… How much the spirit feels such limitations of the Earth! … But… Father, may Your will be done!» « But You have covered all the regions of the old tribes, my Master. You have sanctified them at least once, so one can say that You gathered in Your hands the twelve tribes… » « That is true. But, afterwards, you will do what time did not let Me do.» « Since You can stop rivers and calm seas, could You not slow down time?» « I could. But the Father in Heaven, the Son on the Earth, the Love in Heaven and on the Earth, are eager to accomplish Forgiveness… » and Jesus becomes engrossed in deep meditation which Philip respects leaving Him alone and joining his companions to whom he relates his conversation. 3 … The valley is now close at hand and a road can already be seen, a real main road, which from the south proceeds westwards, bending just at the foot of the mountain and running along its base. It then runs straight towards a fine village lying in the green near a little river, the bed of which is covered with stones, with a few resisting reeds here and there, particularly in the middle, where a little stream, just a tiny stream, persists in flowing towards the sea. They all gather together before taking the main road, and they have only walked a few metres when two men come towards them waving their hands to greet them. « Two disciples of rabbis, and one is a Levite. What do they want?» the apostles ask one another and they are not at all happy to meet them. I do not know how they can infer that the two are disciples and that one is a Levite. I do not yet understand the meaning of tassels and fringes and other secrets of Israelite garments. When Jesus is about two metres away from the two men, and when no misunderstanding is possible as the road is now clear of wayfarers hurrying towards the village on foot or on horseback, He returns their repeated greetings and stops waiting. « Peace to You, Rabbi » says the Levite who previously had just made low bows. « Peace to you. And to you » says Jesus, addressing the other one. 469. Jesus Speaks to Barnabas of the Law of Love. 222 « Are You the Rabbi named Jesus?» « I am.» « A woman came into town before the sixth hour and she said that she had spoken on the road to a rabbi greater than Gamaliel, because besides being wise He is good. The news reached us and our masters put off our departure for Jerusalem and sent us all out to look for You: two of us on each road going down from Giscala to the roads in the plain. In their names and through us they say to You: “Come into town, because we want to consult You”.» « Why?» « That You may declare Your opinion on an event which took place in Giscala and of which the consequences are still lasting.» « And have you not got the great doctors in Israel to give you their opinions? Why apply to the unknown Rabbi?» « If You are He, Whom the rabbis say, You are not unknown. Are You not Jesus of Nazareth?» « I am.» « Your wisdom is known to the rabbis.» « And their bitter hatred for Me is known to Me.» « Not in all of them, Master. The greatest and just one does not hate You.» « I know. But he does not love Me either. He studies Me. But is rabbi Gamaliel in Giscala?» « No. He already left to be at Sephoris before the Sabbath. He left immediately after the sentence.» « So why are you looking for Me? I have to keep the Sabbath as well and I can just reach that place in time. Do not keep Me any longer.» « Are You afraid, Master?» « I am not afraid because I know that so far no power has been given to My enemies. But I leave the joy of judging to wise people.» « What do You mean?» « That I do not judge. I forgive.» « You can judge better than anybody else. Gamaliel said so. He said: “Only Jesus of Nazareth would judge with justice in this case”.» « All right. But you have already judged. And the matter can no longer be mended. My opinion would have been to calm passions before striking. If there was a fault the guilty man might have repented and redeemed himself. If there was no fault, there would have been no punishment, which according to some people is, in the eyes of God, the same as willful murder.» « Master! But how do You know? The woman swore that You spoke with her only of her matters… and… You know… So are You really a prophet?» « I am Who I am. Goodbye. Peace to you. The sun is descending to the west » and He turns round and goes towards the village. « You have done the right thing, Master! They were certainly lying in wait for You!» The apostles are solid for the Master. 4 But their praises and reasons are cut short by the two previous men who reach them entreating Jesus to go up to Giscala. « No. Sunset would overtake Me on the way. Tell those who sent you that I comply with the Law, I always do, when its observance is not prejudicial to the Commandment which is greater than the Sabbatic one- that of love.» « Master, Master, we implore You. This is just a case of love and justice. Come with us, Master.» « I cannot. Neither can you go back up in time.» « We have permission to do it in this case.» « What? They reproached Me if I cured a sick man and absolved him on a Sabbath, and you are allowed to infringe the Sabbath for an idle discussion? Are there perhaps two measures in Israel? Go! Go and let Me go.» « Master, You are a prophet and so You know. I believe it and this man believes it. Why are You rejecting us?» 469. Jesus Speaks to Barnabas of the Law of Love. 223 « Because!… » Jesus stares at them and stops. His severe eyes, which pierce and penetrate beyond the veils of the body to read their hearts, scrutinise domineeringly the two men in front of Him. And then His eyes, so unsustainable in severity, so mild in love, change assuming such a loving and merciful expression that if previously a heart trembled with fear because of their powerful look, now it trembles with emotion in the presence of the bright love of the Christ. « Because!» He repeats… « Not I, but men reject the Son of man, and He must distrust His brothers. But to those whose hearts are without malice I say: “Come” and I also say: “Love Me” to those who hate Me… » « So, Master… » « So I am going to the village for the Sabbath.» « At least wait for us.» « I am leaving at sunset of the Sabbath. I cannot wait.» The two men look at each other, they consult each other remaining behind; then the one whose face is more open and who has spoken almost all the time, runs back. « Master, I am staying with You until after the Sabbath.» Peter, who is beside Jesus, plucks His tunic compelling Him to turn to his side and whispers: « No. A spy.» Judas Thaddeus who is behind his Cousin, says in a soft voice: « Don't trust him.» Nathanael, who had gone ahead with Simon and Philip, turns round and looks sternly meaning: « No.» Even the two most trustful ones, Andrew and John, shake their heads from behind the pestering fellow. But Jesus does not pay attention to their suspicious fears and He replies briefly: « Stay » and the others must resign themselves. The man is now happy and feels more at home. He also feels that he must tell his name, who he is, why he is in Palestine although he was born in the Diaspora, that he was consecrated to God from his birth, because he was « the consolation of his parents » who, grateful to the Lord for having him, entrusted him to relatives in Jerusalem, that he might be of the Temple. It was there, while serving the House of God, that he met Gamaliel and became his diligent and loved disciple. « They named me Joseph because like the ancient one, I relieved my mother of the grief of being barren. But my mother always said “my consolation” when she fed me, so I became Barnabas for everybody. Also the great Rabbi calls me thus because he finds solace in his best disciples.» « Ensure that God also may say that of you, and above all that He may call you so » says Jesus. 5 They enter the village. « Are you familiar with this place?» asks Jesus. « No, I have never been here. It is the first time that I come here, to Naphtali. The rabbi brought me here with other people, because I am all alone, I have no relatives… » « Is God your Friend?» « I hope so. I try to serve Him as best I can.» « Then you are not alone. A sinner is alone.» « I may sin, too.» « As you are the disciple of a great rabbi, you are certainly aware of the conditions whereby an action becomes a sin.» « Everything, Lord is sin. Man sins continuously, because the precepts are more numerous than the moments in a day. And consideration and circumstances do not always help us to avoid sin.» « It is true that circumstances above all often lead us to sin. But have you a clear conception of the main attribute of God?» « Justice.» « No.» « Power.» « Neither.» « … Severity.» « Less than ever.» « And yet it was so on Sinai and even later… » « The Most High was then seen amidst lightning which encircled the face of the Father and Creator with awful haloes. You really do not know the true face of 469. Jesus Speaks to Barnabas of the Law of Love. 224 God. If you knew Him and His spirit, you would know that the main attribute of God is Love, and merciful Love.» « I know that the Most High has loved us. We are the chosen people. But it is tremendous to serve Him!» « If you know that God is Love, how can you say that He is tremendous?» « Because by sinning we lose His love.» « I have already asked you whether you know the conditions whereby an action becomes a sin.» « When it is not an action of the six hundred and thirteen precepts, or of the traditions, decisions, customs, blessings and prayers, besides the ten commandments of the Law, or it does not comply with the teaching of the scribes, then it is a sin.» « Even if man does not do it with full knowledge and perfect consent of will?» « Yes, even so. Because who can say: “I do not sin”.? Who can hope to have peace in Abraham after death?» « Are the spirits of men perfect?» « No, because Adam sinned and we have that fault in us. It makes us weak. Man has lost the Grace of the Lord, the only strength to support us… » « And does the Lord know that?» « He knows everything.» 6 « So, do you think that He has no mercy taking into account what makes man weak? Do you think that He exacts from the smitten descendants what He could exact from the first Adam? That is where lies the difference which you do not take into consideration. God is justice, I agree. He is Power, I agree. He may also be Severity with the unrepentant sinner who perseveres in his sin. But when He sees that one of His children − all men are children on the Earth which is one hour of eternity for the spirit, that becomes adult at its spiritual examination of eternal majority at the moment of the particular judgement − when He sees that one of His children errs because he is absent-minded, or slow in distinguishing, or not very well educated, or because he is very weak in one or more things, do you think that the Most Holy Father may judge him with inflexible severity? You said it yourself, that man lost Grace, the strength to react against Temptation and incentives. And God knows that. And one must not be afraid of God and shun Him as Adam did after his sin. But man ought to remember that He is Love. His face shines upon men, not to reduce them to ashes, but to comfort them as the sun comforts with its beams. Love, not severity radiates from God: sunbeams, not flashes of lightning. In any case… What did Love impose of His own will? A burden which cannot be carried? A code of numberless chapters easy to be forgotten? No. Just ten commandments, to bridle like a colt the animal man, who without bridle goes to rack and ruin. But when man is saved, when Grace is given back to him, when the Kingdom of God is established, that is, the Kingdom of love, the children of God and subjects of the King will be given one only commandment which will comprise everything: “Love your God with your whole self and your neighbour like yourself”. Because, believe, o man, that God-Love can but alleviate the yoke and make it pleasant and love will make it pleasing to serve God, when He is no longer feared but loved. Only loved, loved for Himself and loved in our brothers. How simple the last Law will be! As God is, Who is perfect in His simplicity. Listen: love God with your whole self, love your neighbour as yourself. Meditate. Are the burdensome six hundred and thirteen precepts and all the prayers and blessings not already included in these two sentences, divested of useless cavils, which are not religion but slavery towards God? If you love God you will certainly honour Him every hour of the day. If you love your neighbour, you will not do anything which may grieve him. You will not lie, steal, kill or injure, you will not commit adultery. Is it not so?» « It is… Just Master, I would like to stay with You. But Gamaliel has already lost to You his best disciples… I… » « It is not yet the hour for you to come to Me. When it comes, your very master will tell you, because he is a just man.» « He is, is he not? Do You say so?» « I say so because it is the truth. I am not one who knocks people down to rise above those who have been knocked down. I recognise everybody's rights… But they are calling us… They must have found lodgings for us. Let us go… »

468. Jesus Speaks of Matrimony to a Mother-in-law.

 468. Jesus Speaks of Matrimony to a Mother-in-law. 7th August 1946. 1 The fertile woody mountains where Giscala is situated afford refreshment of greenery, breezes, water and views which are varied and beautiful according to the different directions of the road. To the north is a series of wooded summits covered with the most varied green shades. I would say that the Earth seems to rise towards the blue vault of heaven, offering it, in grateful homage for the waters and sunbeams granted by it, all the vegetable beauties of nature. To north-east the eye stops fascinated contemplating the jewel of the Great Hermon which changes its colour according to time and light and raises its highest peak like a gigantic obelisk of diamond, of opal, of very pale sapphire, or of very delicate ruby, or of lightly hardened steel − according to whether the sun kisses it or leaves it and the ruffled clouds blown by winds cause play of light on its perpetual snow − then the eye descends along the emerald slopes of the tablelands, along ridges, gorges and peaks, which are at the base of the royal giant. Then turning farther eastwards one sees the green expanse of the plateaux of Gaulanitis and Hauran bordered at their eastern ends by mountains vanishing in distant haze, and delimited on the western side by the different shade of green which lies along the Jordan and marks its valley. And closer at hand, are two lakes, as splendid as two sapphires: the lake of Merom within the low circle of a well watered plain, and the lake of Tiberias, as graceful as a delicate pastel amid the hills surrounding it, different in shape and shades, with its shores perennially full of flowers: an eastern dream with groups of palm-trees waving their tops in the breeze from nearby mountains, the poetry of our lakes most beautiful for the calm of their waters and the cultivations of their shores. And then to the south, mount Tabor with its typical summit, and the little Hermon, completely green, watching over the plain of Esdraelon, the vast extent of which is revealed by the long horizon uninterrupted by mountain chains, and farther down, to the south, the high powerful mountains of Samaria stretching beyond man's sight towards Judaea. The only one which is not visible is the western side, where mount Carmel must be and the plain stretching to the north, towards Ptolemais, both hidden by a mountain chain higher than this one, so that they cannot be seen. It is one of the most beautiful sights in Palestine. 468. Jesus Speaks of Matrimony to a Mother-in-law. 218 2 Jesus is proceeding following the road among the mountains, at times all alone, at times joined by this or that apostle. He stops once to caress a shepherd's children who are playing near the flock and He accepts the milk that the shepherd, who has recognised Him as the Rabbi described by other people who had seen Jesus, wants to give Him saying: « For You and for Your friends.» He stops again to listen to an old woman who, not knowing who He is, tells Him her family troubles caused by a daughter-in-law who is shrewish and disrespectful. Although He pities the old woman, Jesus exhorts her to be patient and to convince her daughter-in-law to be kind through her own kindness: « You must be a mother to her, even if she is not your daughter. Be sincere: if instead of being your daughter-in-law she were your daughter, would her faults appear to you so grave?» The old woman ponders... and she then confesses: « No... But a daughter is always a daughter...» « And if one of your daughters should tell you that in the house of her husband her mother-in-law ill- treated her, what would you say?» « That she is bad. Because she ought to teach the customs of the house − as every house has its own − kindly, particularly if the wife is young. I would say that she should remember when she was a newly- wed bride herself, and how pleased she was to be loved by her mother-in-law, if she had been lucky to have a good one, and how she had suffered, if she had had a bad one. And that she should not make her daughter-in-law suffer what she had not suffered, or not make her suffer because she knows what it is to suffer. Oh! I would defend my daughter!» « How old is your daughter-in-law?» « She is eighteen years, Rabbi. She has been married to Jacob three years.» « She is very young. Is she faithful to her husband?» « Oh! yes. She is a stay-at-home and she is full of love for him and for little Levi and for the little girl, whose name is Anne, like mine. She was born at Passover... She is so beautiful!...» « Who wanted her to be named Anne?» « Mary did! Levi was the name of the father-in-law and Jacob called his first son after him, and when Mary had the girl she said: “We will give her the name of your mother”.» « And do you not think that that is love and respect?» The old woman is pensive... Jesus insists: « She is honest, she is fond of her home, she is a loving wife and mother, she is anxious to make you happy... She could have given her daughter the name of her own mother, instead she called her after you... she honours your house with her behaviour...» « Oh! That is true! She is not like that wretch of Jezebel.» « Well, then! Why do you complain and lay information against her? Do you not think that you are using two measures in judging your daughter-in-law in a different manner than you would judge a daughter of yours?...» « The trouble is... is... that she has deprived me of the love of my son. Before he was all for me, now he loves her more than he loves me...» The real reason of prejudices of mothers-in-law overflows at last from the old woman's heart together with tears from her eyes. « Does your son leave you wanting anything? Has he neglected you since he got married?...» « No. I cannot say that. But, in brief, he belongs to his wife now...» and she weeps moaning more loudly. 3 Jesus smiles a quiet pitiful smile for the jealous old woman. But, being as kind as ever, He does not reproach her. He feels pity for the suffering mother and tries to cure her. He lays His hand on her shoulder as if He wanted to guide her, because she is blinded by tears, perhaps to make her feel, through His contact, so much love that she may be comforted and cured, and He says to her: « Mother, and is it not right that it is so? Your husband did so with you, and his mother did not lose him, as you say and think, but she felt that he belonged less to her because your husband divided his love between his mother and you. And your husband's father, in his turn, stopped belonging completely to his mother, to love the mother of his children. And so on from generation to generation, going back in time to Eve: the first mother who saw her children divide with 468. Jesus Speaks of Matrimony to a Mother-in-law. 219 their wives the love which they previously had exclusively for their parents. But does Genesis not say: “This at last is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh... This is why a man will leave his father and mother and will join himself to his wife and they will become one body”. You may object: “It was the word of a man”. Yes, but of what man? He was in the state of innocence and grace. He thus reflected without any shadow the Wisdom which had created him and he was aware of its truth. Through Grace and his innocence he possessed also the other gifts of God in full measure. As his senses were subdued to his reason, his mind was not obscured by the fumes of concupiscence. And because science was proportionate to his state, he spoke words of truth. So he was a prophet. Because you know that prophet means a person who speaks in the name of another person. And as true prophets always speak of matters concerning the spirit and the future, even if relating apparently to the present time and the body − because in the sins of the flesh and in the facts of the present time are the seeds of future punishments, or facts of the future have roots in ancient events: for instance the coming of the Saviour originates from Adam's sin, and the punishments of Israel, foretold by the prophets, were brought about by the behaviour of Israel − so He Who urges their lips to speak things of the spirit can but be the Eternal Spirit Who sees everything in an eternal present. And the Eternal Spirit speaks through saints, because he cannot dwell in sinners. Adam was a saint, because justice was complete in him and every virtue was present in him, because God had instilled the fullness of His gifts into His creature. Man has to work hard now, to attain justice and possess virtues, because the incentives of evil are in him. But such incentives were not in Adam, on the contrary Grace made him little inferior to God his Creator. So his lips spoke words of grace. And this is a truthful word: “A man will leave his father and mother for a woman and he will join himself to his wife and they will become one body”. And it is so absolutely true, that the Most Good Lord in order to comfort mothers and fathers included the fourth Commandment in the Law: “Honour your father and your mother”. A Commandment that does not end with the marriage of man, but lasts beyond marriage. Previously good people instinctively honoured their relatives also after they left them to set up a new family. Since Moses it is an obligation of Law. And the purpose of it is to mitigate the grief of parents who were too often forgotten by their children after they got married. But the Law has not cancelled the prophetic words of Adam: “Man will leave his father and mother for his wife”. They were just words and they are still valid. They reflected the thought of God. And the thought of God is immutable because it is perfect. 4 So, mother, you must accept without selfishness the love of your son for his wife. And you will be holy as well. On the other hand, every sacrifice is compensated on the Earth. Is it not pleasant for you to kiss your grandchildren, the children of your son? And will the evening of your life not be peaceful and your last sleep placid with the delicate love of a daughter near you, to take the place of those daughters who are no longer in your house?...» « How do You know that my daughters, who are all older than my son, are married and live far away? ... Are You a prophet, too? You are a Rabbi. I can tell by the tassels of Your mantle and even if You did not have them, Your word reveals it. Because You speak like a great doctor. Are You perhaps a friend of Gamaliel? He was here just the day before yesterday. Now I do not know... And there were many rabbis with him, and many of his favourite disciples. Perhaps You have arrived late.» « I know Gamaliel. But I am not going to him. I am not even going into Giscala...» « But who are You? You are certainly a rabbi. And You speak even better than Gamaliel...» « Then... do what I told you. And you will have peace. Goodbye, mother. I am going on My way. You are certainly going to town.» « Yes Mother!... The other rabbis are not so humble with a poor woman She Who bore You is certainly holier than Judith, if She gave You such a kind heart for every creature.» « She is holy, indeed.» « Tell me Her name » « Mary.» « And Yours?» « Jesus.» « Jesus!...» The little old woman is bewildered with astonishment. The news has paralysed her and riveted her where she heard it. « Goodbye, woman. Peace be with you » and Jesus goes away quickly, He almost runs away before she may recover from the shock. 468. Jesus Speaks of Matrimony to a Mother-in-law. 220 And the apostles follow Him with vigorous strides, amid much fluttering of garments, in vain chased by the shouts of the woman who implores: « Stop! Rabbi Jesus! Stop! I want to tell You something...» They slow down when the thick of the wooded mountains conceal them again and they can no longer see the road which takes one to Giscala and from which their mule-track branches off. 5 « How well You spoke to the woman » says Bartholomew. « The lesson of a doctor! A pity that she was alone...» remarks James of Alphaeus. « I want to remember those words...» exclaims Peter. « The woman understood, or almost, after Your Name Now she will talk of You in town...» says Thomas. « Provided she does not tease the wasps hurling them after us!» murmurs Judas of Kerioth. « Oh! we are far away now!... And one does not leave traces in these woods, so we shall not be troubled » says Andrew optimistically. « Even if we were!... I restored peace in a family » Jesus replies to everybody. « How peculiar they are! Mothers-in-law are all alike!» says Peter. « No. We have met some good ones. Do you remember the mother-in-law of Jerusa of Doco? And the mother-in-law of Dorcas from Caesarea Philippi?» « Of course, James... There are some good ones...» agrees Peter; but he certainly thinks that his mother-in-law is a torture. « Let us stop and eat. Then we will have a rest, so that we may arrive at the village in the valley before night » orders Jesus. And they stop in a green dell, like the inside of a huge emerald green shell encrusted in the mountain and open to receive pilgrims in its peace. Light is mild, despite the time of the day, as tall mighty trees form a rustling vault over the meadow. And the temperature is mild because of the breeze blowing from the mountains. A little spring pours a silvery stream between two dark rocks and murmurs in a low voice disappearing among the thick herbs, in a tiny bed which it has dug, about a palm wide and all covered with the stalks growing on the banks, and waving in the light breeze; it then descends, in a tiny waterfall, on a rock below. The horizon, as seen between two large tree trunks, looks hazy and distant, towards the mountains of Lebanon, and is wonderful.

467. Farewell to the Few Believers in Korazim

 467. Farewell to the Few Believers in Korazim. 6th August 1946. 1 It is not yet dawn when Jesus meets the eleven apostles and in the middle of them the little carpenter Joseph, who darts off like an arrow as soon as he sees Jesus, Whose knees he clasps with the simplicity of one who is still a child. Jesus bends to kiss his forehead and then, holding him by the hand, He goes towards Peter and the others. « Peace be with you. I was not expecting to meet you here.» « The boy woke when it was still dark and he wanted to come lest he might be late » explains Peter. « His mother will be here soon with the other children. She wants to greet You » adds Judas of Alphaeus. « Also the woman who was a cripple is coming, and Isaac's daughter, Elias' mother and others who were cured by You. They gave us hospitality...» « And the others?» « Lord...» « Korazim perseveres in its harsh spirit. I understand. It does not matter. The good seed has been sown and it will germinate one day... thanks to these...» and He looks at the boy. « Will he be a disciple and will he convert people?» « He is a disciple, are you not, Joseph?» « Yes. But I am not good at speaking, and as far as I know, they do not listen to me.» « It does not matter. You will speak through your goodness.» Jesus presses the child's little face in His long hands and bending lightly over his raised face He speaks to him. « I am going away, Joseph. Be good and be a good worker. Forgive those who do not love you. Be grateful to those who help you. Always bear this in mind: that God is present in those who assist you and thus accept all assistance respectfully, without pretending, without saying: “I will idle about as there is someone who takes care of me”., without spoiling the assistance you received. Work, because work is holy and you, a boy, are the only man in your family. Remember that by assisting your mother you honour her. Remember that to set a good example to your little brothers and to watch over the honour of your sisters is a duty. Wish for what is just and work to have it, but do not envy the rich and do not wish to be wealthy to have a grand time. Remember that your Master taught you not only the word of God, but also love for work, humility and forgiveness. Be always good, Joseph, and one day we shall be together again.» « But are You not coming back any more? Where are You going, Lord?» « I am going where the will of the Father Who is in Heaven wants Me to go. His will must always be stronger than ours, and dearer to us than ours, because it is always a perfect will. You also, during your lifetime, are not to put your will 467. Farewell to the Few Believers in Korazim. 217 before that of God. All the obedient people will meet in Heaven and it will be a great feast then. Give Me a kiss, child.» A kiss! The boy gives Him many kisses shedding many tears, 2 and his mother finds him thus, clinging to Jesus' neck, when she arrives with the crowd of her children and very few people, seven in all, from Korazim. « Why are you weeping, son?» asks the woman after greeting the Master. « Because every farewell is sorrowful. But even if we are separated we shall always be united if your hearts continue to love Me. You know how to love Me and in what your love for Me consists. In doing what I taught you, because he who does what someone has taught him, shows that he holds in high esteem that person, and esteem is always love. So do what I taught you with My words and examples, and do what My disciples will teach you in My name. Do not weep. Time is short and we shall soon be reunited and in a better manner. And do not weep out of selfishness. Think of how many people are still waiting for Me, of how many will die without seeing Me, of how many will have to love Me without ever knowing Me. You have had Me here several times and faith and hope are made easier for you by our mutual love. They instead will have to have a great faith, a blind faith, in order to be able to say: “He is really the Son of God, the Saviour, and His word is truthful”. A great faith to be able to have the great hope of eternal life and immediate possession of God after a life of justice. They will have to love Him Whom they never met, Whom they never heard, Whom they never saw work miracles. And yet, only if they love thus, they will have eternal Life. You ought to bless the Lord Who has privileged you by granting you to know Me. Go now. Be faithful to the Law of Sinai and to My new commandment to love everybody like brothers, because there is God in love. Love also those who hate you, because God was the first to set the example of loving men who, through their sins, show hatred to God. Always forgive as God forgave men by sending His Word Redeemer to cancel the Sin, the cause of grudge and separation. Goodbye. May My peace be with you. Let your hearts remember My deeds, to fortify them against the words of those who will try to convince you that I am not your Saviour. And keep My blessing for your strength in the trials of future life.» Jesus stretches out His hands repeating the Mosaic blessing on the little herd prostrated at His feet. He then turns round and goes away.

466. Judas Iscariot Fills Jesus with Joy.

 466. Judas Iscariot Fills Jesus with Joy. 23rd September 1944. 1 Jesus says: « In the meantime I tell you that, if you are going to do a regular work, the episode of Wednesday 20th September is to be placed a year before My death [404], because it happened at harvest time in My 32nd year of age. The necessity to comfort and instruct you, My beloved, and others, has compelled Me to follow a special order when giving visions and relevant dictations. But in due course I will show you how to distribute the episodes of the three years of My public life. The order of the Gospels is good, but not perfect as a chronological order. A diligent observer notices that. He who could have given the exact order of events, having been with Me from the beginning of the Evangelization to My Ascension, did not do so, because John, a true son of the Light, devoted himself to and worried about making the Light shine brightly through its appearance of a Body in the eyes of the heretics, who contested the truth of the Divinity enclosed in a human body. John's sublime Gospel achieved its supernatural purpose, but the chronology of My public life has not been improved by it. The other three evangelists show resemblances to one another with regard to events, but they alter their order with regard to time, because only one of the three was present at almost all My public life: Matthew, and he wrote it only fifteen years later, whilst the others wrote theirs even later, after hearing the story from My Mother, from Peter, from other apostles and disciples. I want to give you a guide to collect together the events of the three years, year by year. And now see and write. The episode follows that of Wednesday (20th September).» 2 I see Jesus walking slowly up and down a little country path in bright moonlight. The moon is full and shines with her smiling face in a very clear sky. By her position in the sky − she is beginning to set − I infer that it must be past midnight. Jesus is certainly thinking and praying, although I do not hear any word. But He does not lose sight of what is around Him. He stops once and smiles listening to the loud song of a nightingale in love: the bird sings a melody with arpeggios and trills and a solo, notes which are held so well, so loud and for so long that it seems impossible that they come forth from that little bunch of feathers. In order not to disturb it with the shuffling of His sandals on the little stones of the path and with the rustling of His tunic on the grass, Jesus stops with folded arms and smiles raising His face. He even half-closes His eyes to concentrate better on hearing it, and when the nightingale comes to the end with a high note which rises and rises by thirds (I am not sure whether I remember correctly) and finishes with a very high note held as long as its breath allows, He expresses His approval and applauds silently nodding two or three times with a happy smile. Now, instead, He bends over a tuft of honeysuckle in bloom, which exhales a strong scent from its numerous calyces like yawning serpents' mouths, in which the tongues of yellowish pistils tremble and a golden mark shines on the lower petal. The flowers look whiter, almost silvery, in the moonlight. Jesus admires and smells them and caresses them with His hand. He retraces His steps. The place must be slightly high because in the moonlight one can see to the south something that shines like a wet piece of glass illuminated by the moon, certainly a tiny part of a lake, because it is neither a river nor the sea, as it is surrounded by hills on the side opposite to the one where Jesus is standing. Jesus looks at the placid calm waters sparkling in the peaceful summer night. He then turns round, from south to west, and looks at a village, standing out in its whiteness, about two kilometres away, probably less. It is quite a large village. He stops looking at it and shakes His head following a thought which distresses Him deeply. He then resumes walking slowly and praying. Finally He sits on a large stone at the foot of a very tall tree, and assumes His usual posture, with His elbows 'resting on His knees, His forearms stretched out and His hands joined in prayer. 3 He remains thus for some time and would remain longer if a man, like a shadow, did not come towards Him from the thicket calling Him: « Master?» Jesus turns round, because the person is coming from behind Him, and He says: « Judas? What do you want?» « Where are You, Master?» « At the foot of the walnut-tree. Come here.» And Jesus stands up and goes onto the path, in the moonlight, so that Judas may see Him. « Have you come, Judas, to keep your Master company for a little while?» They are now close to each other and Jesus lovingly lays an arm on His disciple's shoulder. « Or am I needed at Korazim?» « No, Master. There is no need for You. I wanted to come to You.» « Come then. There is room for both of us on this stone.» They sit down close to each other and remain silent. Judas does not speak, he looks at Jesus. He is struggling. Jesus wants to help him. He looks at him kindly, but keenly. « What a beautiful night, Judas! Look how everything is pure! I do not think that the first night which smiled at the Earth and at Adam's sleep in the earthly Paradise was purer. Smell how scented are these flowers. Smell them. But do not pick them. They are so beautiful and pure! I also have refrained from picking them because to pluck them is to profane them. It is always wrong to do violence, to plants as to animals, to animals as to men. Why deprive them of their lives? Life is so beautiful when it is spent well!... And those flowers spend their lives well because they are sweet smelling, they cheer up people with their beautiful appearance and scents, they give honey to bees and butterflies and they transfer to the latter the gold of their pistils to place tiny drops of topaz on their pearly wings, and are used to make beds in nests... If you had been here a little while ago, you would have heard a nightingale sing so sweetly its joy of living and praising the Lord. Dear little birds! What an example they are for men! They are satisfied with little and only with what is legal and holy. A tiny grain and a little worm as given to them by the Father Creator; and if there is none, they do not become angry or irritated, but they deceive the hunger of their bodies with the ardor of their hearts, which makes them sing the praises of the Lord and the joy of hope. They are happy to be tired after flying from dawn to sunset to build a nest for themselves, a tepid, soft, safe nest, not out of selfishness, but out of love for their offspring. And they sing urged by the joy of loving each other honestly: the nightingale for its mate and both for their little ones. Animals are always happy because they have no remorse or reproach in their hearts. We make them unhappy, because man is bad, disrespectful, overbearing, cruel. And he is not happy to be so with his like. His wickedness overflows on inferiors. And the more he feels remorse, the more his conscience spurs him and the more pitiless he is towards other people. I am sure, for instance, that that horseman who today was spurring his horse so cruelly, although it was wet with perspiration and tired, and he lashed it to the point of leaving swollen marks on the hair of its neck and sides, and even on its nostrils so tender, and on its dark eyelashes, which closed painfully on its eyes so resigned and mild, I am sure that his soul was not in peace. He was either going to commit a crime against Honesty, or he was coming from one.» Jesus becomes silent and pensive. 4 Judas is silent and pensive, too. He then says: « How beautiful it is, Master, to hear You speak thus! Everything becomes clear to the eyes, to the mind, to the heart... and everything becomes easy. Also to say: “I want to be good!” Also to say to You... also to say to You: “Master, my soul is upset as well! Do not be disgusted at me, Master, since You love so much those who are pure!”» « Oh, Judas! I disgusted? My dear friend, My dear son, what is upsetting you?» « Keep me with You, Master. Hold me tight... I have sworn to be good after You spoke to me so kindly. I have sworn to become the Judas of the first days, when I followed and loved You as a groom loves his bride and I yearned for nothing but You, as I found every satisfaction in You. That is how I loved You, Jesus...» « I know... and that is why I loved you... But I still love you, My dear hurt friend...» « How do You know that I am hurt? And do You know by what?...» There is silence. Jesus looks at Judas so kindly... Tears seem to make His eyes wider and kinder, tempering their brightness: the eyes of an innocent defenseless child who gives himself completely in love. Judas drops at His feet with his face on Jesus' knees and clasping His sides with his arms he moans: « Keep me with You, Master... keep me... My flesh is howling like a demon... and if I give in, then all evil befalls me... I know that you are aware of it, but You wait for me to tell You... But it is hard, Master, to say: “I have sinned.” » « I know, My friend. That is why one ought to act correctly. So that later one may not have to lower oneself saying: “I have sinned”. But, Judas, that is also a very good medicine. The fact that one has to make an effort to confess one's sin restrains one from committing it; and if it has been committed the pain in accusing oneself is already redeeming repentance. And if one suffers not so much out of pride or for fear of punishment, but because one realises that by sinning one has caused sorrow, then I tell you that the sin is cancelled. It is love that saves.» « I love You, Master. But I am so weak... Oh! You cannot love me! You are  pure and You love the pure... You cannot love me because I am... I am... 5 Oh! Jesus, relieve me of the hunger of sensuality! Do You know what a demon it is?» « I know. I did not listen to it, but I know what its voices sound like.» « See? See? You are so much disgusted by it that by simply mentioning it You look very upset... Oh! You cannot forgive me!» « Judas. And do you not remember Mary? Or Matthew? Or the publican who became a leper? Or that woman, the Roman prostitute, for whom I prophesied a place in Heaven, because being forgiven by Me she will have the strength to live holily?» « Master Master... Oh! How sick at heart I am!... This evening I ran away from Korazim because if I had remained, I would have been lost. You know it is like one who drinks and is taken ill... The doctor forbids him to drink wine and any intoxicating drink and he recovers and is healthy as long as he does not taste such liquors... But if he gives in, once only, and he tastes them again he is thirsty... thirsty for such liquids... he no longer resists and drinks and drinks and is taken ill again for ever... mad... possessed by his demon by that demon of his Oh! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!... Don't tell the others... Don't tell them... I blush with shame before them all...» « But not before Me.» Judas misunderstands. « That is true! I ought to blush more before You than anybody else, because You are perfect...» « No, son. I did not mean that. Your grief, your distress, your dejection must not confound you. I said that you may blush before everybody, but not before Me. A son is not afraid or ashamed of a good father neither is an invalid of a clever doctor. And confession is to be made to both without any fear, as one loves and forgives, and the other understands and cures. I love and understand you. So I forgive and cure you. But tell Me, Judas. What is it that puts you into the hands of your demon? Is it I? Your brothers? Corrupt women? No. It is your will. I now forgive you and cure you... With what joy you have filled Me, My Judas! I was already rejoicing at this clear, scented night, which sweet songs made delightful, and I was praising the Lord for it. But the joy which you are now giving Me exceeds this clear moonlight, these scents, this peace, these songs. Can you hear it? The nightingale seems to join Me in telling you that it is glad of your good will, as the little singing bird is so willing to do that for which it was created. And likewise, this early morning breeze, which blows over flowers awaking them and letting dewy diamonds drop into the hollow calyces, so that butterflies and sunbeams may find them very soon, the former to refresh themselves, the latter to have their great brightness reflected by the tiny mirrors. Look: the moon is setting. Dawn is being announced by that cock crowing far away. The darkness and phantasm of the night are vanishing. See how quickly and pleasantly time has passed, whereas, if you had not come to Me, you would have spent it in disgust and remorse? You ought to come to Me every time you are afraid of yourself. One's own ego!!! A great friend, a great tempter, a great enemy and a great judge, Judas! And see? While it is a sincere loyal friend if you have been good, it can be an insincere friend if you are not good, and after being your accomplice, it rises to the office of implacable judge and tortures you with its reproaches... It is cruel in reproaching... Not I! Well, let us go. The night is over...» « Master, I did not let You rest... and today You have to speak so much...» « I have rested in the joy which you gave Me. There is no better rest for Me than to say: “Today I have saved one who was perishing”. Come... Let us go down to Korazim! Oh! if this town only knew how to imitate you, Judas!» « Master... what will You tell my companions?» « Nothing, if they do not ask Me... If they ask Me, I will say that we spoke of God's mercy... It is such a true and boundless subject that a very long life is not sufficient to treat it. Let us go...» And they go down, both tall, differently handsome but equally young, One beside the other, and they disappear behind a group of trees... -------------------- 6 Jesus says: « It is an episode of mercy like those of the Magdalene. But if you make a book, it will be better if you put the periods in orderly succession rather than the categories, simply stating at the beginning or end of each episode to which category it belongs. 7 Why do I elucidate Judas' figure? Many may wonder why. 466. Judas Iscariot Fills Jesus with Joy. 216 I reply. Judas' figure has been distorted too much in the course of time. And lately it has been completely perverted. Some schools have sung his praises as if he had been the second and indispensable author of Redemption. Many also think that he succumbed to a sudden fierce assault of the Tempter. No. Every fall has premisses in time. The graver the fall, the more it is prepared. Antecedent factors explain the fact. One does not collapse or rise all of a sudden, either in Good or in Evil. There are long insidious factors in descents, and patient holy ones in ascents. Judas' unfortunate drama can teach you so well how to save yourselves and how to become acquainted with the method of God and His mercy in saving and forgiving those who descend towards the Abyss. One does not arrive at the satanic delirium in which you saw Judas struggle after the Crime, unless one is completely corrupted by Hellish habits, which one has taken up voluptuously for years. When one commits a crime driven by a sudden event, which deranges one's mind, one suffers but is capable of expiation, because some parts of the heart are still free from infernal poison. To the world denying Satan, because it has him so much in itself that it no longer notices him, it has absorbed him and has become part of his ego, I prove that Satan exists. He is eternal and immutable in the method employed to make you his victims. That is enough now. Remain with My peace.»