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Sarah of Bethany

Reading comfort

GRM 172.9-11

The Gospel as revealed to me

Translation in progress

Keywords

GRM 173.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The Sermon of the Mount continues.
The crowd is growing larger and larger as the days go by. There are men, women, old people, children, rich and poor alike. The couple, Stephen and Hermas, is always present, although not yet associated with the old disciples led by Isaac. And there is also the new couple formed yesterday: the old man and the woman. They are at the very front, near their Comforter and they look much more cheerful than yesterday. The old man, to make up for the many months or years during which he was neglected by his daughter, has laid his wrinkled hand on the knees of the woman and she is caressing it out of the inborn instinct of a morally sound woman to be maternal.
Jesus passes near them to climb up to His rustic pulpit, and while passing He caresses the head of the old man who looks at Him as if he already saw Him as God.

Keywords

GRM 173.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Master, You lie with Your own words!»
The sudden resentful remark comes from the centre of the crowd. They all turn around in the direction of the voice. There is some confusion.
Peter says: «I told You! Eh! When there is one of those over there… everything goes wrong!» Many people in the crowd hiss and grumble against the reviler.
Jesus is the only one who remains calm. He has folded His arms and is standing, tall as He is, on His rock, with the sun in front of Him, in His dark blue tunic.
The reviler, heedless of the reaction of the crowd, goes on: «You are a bad Master because You teach what You do not do and…»
«Be quiet! Go away! Shame!» shout the crowd. And again: «Go back to your Scribes! The Master is quite enough for us! Let the hypocrites go with the hypocrites! You false masters! Usurers!…» and they continue but Jesus thunders out: «Silence! Let him speak» and the crowds no longer shout but they whisper their insults glaring at him at the same time.
«Yes. You teach what You do not do. You told us that we should give alms without being seen, and yesterday in the presence of a whole crowd You said to two poor people: “Stay and I will appease your hunger”.»
«I said: “Let the two poor people stay here. They will be the blessed guests who will give flavour to our bread”. Nothing else. I did not say I wanted to satisfy their hunger. Which poor man has not at least some bread? It was My joy to extend our good friendship to them.»
«Of course! You are cunning and You can play the part of the lamb!…»
The old man stands up, turns around and raising his walking stick he shouts: «Infernal tongue who are accusing the Holy One, do you think that you know everything and that you can accuse Him of what you know? As you do not know who God is and who He is Whom you are insulting, so you do not know His deeds. Only the angels and my overjoyed heart know. Listen, men, listen everybody and see whether Jesus is the liar and the proud man as this traitor to the Temple is saying. He…»
«Be quiet, Ishmael! Be quiet for My sake! If I made you happy, please make Me happy by being silent» Jesus begs him.
«I obey You, Holy Son. But let me say only this: the blessing of an old faithful Israelite is on Him Who assisted me in the name of God and God put that blessing on my lips for me and for Sarah, my new daughter. But there will be no blessing on your head. I will not curse you. I will not foul, with a curse, my mouth which must say to God: “Receive me”. I did not do it to her who disowned me, and I have already received a divine reward for it. But there is One who will take the place of the Innocent you are accusing and of Ishmael, the friend of God, Who assists Him.»
A chorus of shouts closes the speech of the old man who sits down again, while a man sneaks away, followed by insults. The crowds then shout to Jesus: «Go on, go on, Holy Master! We will listen only to You. Listen to us, not to those cursed birds of evil omen! They are jealous, because we love You more than we love them! But You are holy, they are wicked. Go on, speak to us. You can see that we have no other wish but to hear You. Our homes, our business? They are nothing, we left them to hear You.»
«I will speak to you. But do not be upset by what happened. Pray for those poor people. Forgive them as I do. Because if you forgive men their faults, your Father Who is in Heaven will forgive you your sins as well. But if you bear men a grudge and do not forgive them, neither will your Father forgive you your shortcomings. And everybody needs to be forgiven.

Detail

Jesus is preaching. He is interrupted.

Annotation

Pierre grumbles: "I told you so! Hey, when there's one of those... nothing goes right!" He had in fact warned Jesus of the presence of this character in 173.1.

Jesus brings up this interruption the next day (in EMV 174).

"Be quiet, Ishmael! Be quiet for my sake" (...)

"This blessing God has put on my lips for me and for Sarah, my new daughter. "This is how we learn the names of the two unfortunates, Ishmael and Sarah, taken in the day before. See previous chapter.

Keywords

GRM 198.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Are you going to adopt him?» asks Lazarus.
«No. I cannot.»
«Well, I will take him.»
Peter sees his hopes vanish and he utters a really deep groan: «Lord! Everything to him?»
Jesus smiles: «Lazarus, you have already done so much and I am grateful to you. But I cannot entrust this child to you. He is “Our” boy. He belongs to all of us. He is the joy of the apostles and of the Master. Besides, he would be brought up in luxury here. I want to make him a present of My royal mantle: “honest poverty”. The poverty that the Son of man wanted for Himself, to be able to go near the greatest miseries without mortifying anybody. You have had a gift from Me also recently…»
«Ah! Yes! The old patriarch and his daughter. The woman is very active, the old man very good.»
«Where are they now? I mean: in which place?»
«They are here, in Bethany. Do You think I was going to send away the blessing You had sent me? The woman weaves linen. Light skilful hands are required for that job. Since the old man insists on working, I put him at the beehives. Yesterday he had a long golden beard, didn’t he, sister? The bees swarmed and clung to his long beard and he was speaking to them as if they were daughters. He is happy.»
«I am sure he is! May you be blessed!» says Jesus.
«Thank You, Master.»

Annotation

The old patriarch and his daughter. The woman is very active, and the old man is good. Ishmael and Sarah from the Sermon on the Mount. See EMV 172.9 and EMV 173.5.

Keywords

GRM 206.1.7 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus is speaking in the presence of Johanan’s peasants, of Isaac and many disciples, of the women amongst whom there is the Blessed Virgin Mary and Martha, and of many people from Bethany. All the apostles are present. The boy, sitting in front of Jesus, does not miss one word. I think Jesus has just begun to speak because people are still arriving…
Jesus says: «… it is because of this sensation of fear that I realise is so sharp in you, that today I wish to tell you a sweet parable. Sweet for the men of goodwill, bitter for the others. But the latter can remove the bitterness. Let them become men of goodwill, and the reproach, provoked in their consciences by the parable, will no longer exist. (...)
[Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins.]
My dear disciples, I do not want you to be afraid of God, on the contrary I want you to have faith in His goodness. Both you who will remain here, and you who will be going away, must consider that, if you do what the wise virgins did, you will be invited not only to escort the Bridegroom, but like the virgin Esther, who became queen[3] in the place of Vashti, you will be chosen and elected to be brides, as the Bridegroom “found more approval and favour with you than with anybody else”. I bless you, who are about to go away. Take My words with you for yourselves and for your companions. May the peace of the Lord always be with you.»
Jesus goes near the peasants to say goodbye to them once more, but John of Endor whispers to him: «Master, Judas is here now…»
«It does not matter. Take them to the wagon and do as I told you.»
The people at the meeting slowly go away. Many talk to Lazarus… And Lazarus turns towards Jesus, Who after leaving the peasants was going towards him, and says: «Master, before leaving us, speak to us again… It is the desire of the hearts of the people of Bethany.»
«Night is falling. But it is placid and serene. If you wish to gather on the cut hay, I will be speaking to you before leaving this friendly town. Or we can meet tomorrow, at dawn. Because the hour of farewell has come.»
«Later! This evening!» they all shout.
«As you wish. Go now. I will speak to you half way through the first watch»…

Annotation

If you act like wise virgins, you will not only be called to escort the Bridegroom, but, like the young Esther, who became queen instead of Vashti, you will be chosen and elected as brides. Vashti - Vashti, "the beloved" in Persian. First wife of Ahasuerus (= Xerxes, 486-465), king of Persia, who repudiated her for refusing to attend a feast (Esther 2, 1-18). Esther is also mentioned in EMV 136.2 and EMV 414.1.

Keywords

GRM 206.8-9.14-17 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

… and in fact, untiring, Jesus sets out towards the middle of a recently cut meadow, on which the withering hay forms a sweet smelling soft rug, while the sun sets and also its glow disappears and crickets begin their early uncertain solitary chirping. He is followed by the apostles, the Maries, Martha and Lazarus and their household, Isaac and his disciples, and I would say by all the people of Bethany. Among the servants there is the old man and the woman, the two who on the Mount of Beatitudes found comfort for the rest of their days.
Jesus stops to bless the patriarch, who kisses His hand weeping, and caresses the boy walking beside Jesus and says to him: «“You are happy that you can follow Him all the time! Be good, be careful, son. You are very lucky! Very lucky, indeed! A crown is hanging over your head… You are blessed!»
When they are all settled, Jesus begins to speak.
[Jesus tells the parable of the king who holds a wedding feast for his son.]
Get up and let us go and rest. I bless you, citizens of Bethany. I bless you all and I give you My peace. And I particularly bless you, Lazarus, My friend, and you, Martha. I bless My oId and new disciples, whom I will be sending into the world to invite people to the wedding of the King. Kneel down, that I may bless you all. Peter, say the prayer I taught you, and say it here, standing beside Me, because that is how it is to be said by those who are destined by God for that task.»
They all kneel down on the hay, only Jesus and Peter remain standing. Jesus, tall as he is, is most handsome in His linen robe, and Peter, in his dark brown tunic, deeply moved, says the prayer, almost trembling, in a voice which although not beautiful is manly, going very slow for fear he might make a mistake: «Our Father…» The sobs of men and women can be heard…
Marjiam, kneeling just in front of Mary Who is holding his hands joined, is looking at Jesus with an angelical smile and says in a low voice: «Look, Mother, how lovely He is! And how lovely also my father is! I seem to be in Heaven… Will my mother be here, watching?»
And Mary, in a whisper ending in a kiss, replies: «Yes, My dear. She is here. And she is learning the prayer.»
«And what about me? Will I learn it?»
«She will whisper it to your soul while you sleep, and I will repeat it to you during the day.»
The boy bends back his little dark-haired head, resting it on Mary’s breast, and remains thus while Jesus blesses with the solemn Mosaic blessing.
Then they all get up and go to their homes: only Lazarus follows Jesus, entering Simon’s house with Him, to remain a little longer together. All the others come in as well. The Iscariot places himself in a semi-dark corner and looks mortified. He dare not go near Jesus with the others…
206.15
Lazarus congratulates Jesus. He says: «Oh! I am sorry to see You go away. But I am happier than I would have been, had I seen You go away the day before yesterday!»
«Why, Lazarus?»
«Because You looked so tired and sad… You did not speak, and You hardly ever smiled… Yesterday and today You have become once again my kind holy Master, and that makes me so happy…»
«I was so even if I was quiet…»
«You were. But You are serenity and word. That is what we want from You. We drink our strength at those sources. And now those sources seemed to be dried up. Our thirst was painful… You see that also the Gentiles are amazed, and they have come looking for them…»
The Iscariot, whom John of Zebedee had approached, dares to speak: «Of course, they also inquired of me… Because I was very often at the Antonia, hoping to see You.»
«You knew where I was» replies Jesus briefly.
«I did. But I was hoping You would not disappoint those who were expecting You. Also the Romans were disappointed. I do not know why You behaved like that…»
«And you are asking Me? Are you not aware of the humours of the Sanhedrin, of the Pharisees, and of others as well, with regards to Me?»
«What? Were You afraid?»
«I was disgusted.
206.16
Last year, when I was alone — all by Myself against the whole world, which did not even know whether I was a prophet — I bore evidence that I was not afraid. And you were a conquest of that audacity of Mine. I spoke openly against a whole world of howlers; I caused the voice of God to be heard by a people who had forgotten it; I cleansed the House of God of the material filth in it, without any hope of purifying it of the more serious moral filth nesting in it, because I am not unaware of the future of men. But I had to do My duty, because of My zeal for the House of the Eternal Lord, which had been converted into a place where swindlers, usurers and thieves bawled, and I did it to arouse from their torpor those whom centuries of priests’ carelessness had caused to fall into spiritual lethargy. It was a cry to gather My people and take them to God… This year I have come back… And I saw that the Temple is still the same… it is even worse. It is no longer a den of thieves, but a place of conspiracy, it will later become the centre of Crime, then a brothel and finally it will be destroyed by a power greater than Samson’s, crushing a caste unworthy of being called holy. It is useless to speak in that place, where, I would remind you, I was forbidden to speak. Faithless people, whose poisoned leaders dare to forbid the Word of God to speak in His House! I was forbidden. I was silent for the sake of the least ones. It is not yet time to kill Me. Too many people are in need of Me, and My apostles are not yet strong enough to take on their arms My off-spring: the World. Do not weep, Mother, forgive, good Mother, Your Son’s need to tell those, who wish to or may deceive themselves, the truth that I know… I will be silent… But woe to those who cause God to be silent!… Mother, Marjiam, do not weep!… Please. Let no one weep.»
But in actual fact they are all weeping more or less bitterly.
Judas, as white as death in his striped red and yellow robe, dares still to speak, in a moaning ridiculous voice: «Believe me, Master, that I am amazed and grieved… I do not know what You mean… I know nothing… It is true that I have not seen anyone of the Temple. I have broken off contacts with everybody… But if You say so it must be true…»
«Judas!… You have not seen Sadoc either?»
Judas bends his head grumbling: «He is a friend. I met him as such, not as one of the Temple…»
206.17
Jesus does not reply to him. He turns to Isaac and John of Endor, to whom He gives more advice concerning their work.
Meanwhile the women comfort Mary Who is weeping and the boy who is weeping seeing Mary weep.
Also Lazarus and the apostles are sad. But Jesus comes towards them. He is smiling kindly once again, and while embracing His Mother and caressing the child, He says: «And now I will say goodbye to you who are staying. Because we are leaving tomorrow at dawn. Goodbye, Lazarus. Goodbye, Maximinus. Joseph, I thank you for your kindness to My Mother and the women disciples, while waiting for Me. Thank you for everything. Lazarus, bless Martha once again in My name. I will come back soon. Come, Mother, to rest. And you, too, Mary and Salome, if you wish to come.»
«Of course we are coming!» say the two Maries.
«Well… to bed. Peace to everybody. God be with you.» He makes a gesture of blessing and goes out holding the boy by the hand embracing His Mother…
The stay in Bethany is over.

Annotation

Among the servants are the old man and the woman, the two who, on the Mount of Beatitudes, found comfort even for their daily lives. Ishmael and Sarah of Bethany.