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Notes for this theme

Places in The Gospel as it was revealed to me

Page 11 of 51

Reading comfort

Aa

GRM 50.1-2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

50.1 Later on (at 9:30) I had to describe this.

John knocks at the door of the house where Jesus is a guest. A woman comes to the door and when she sees who it is, she calls Jesus.

They greet each other with a sign of peace. Then Jesus says: «You have come early, John.»

«I have come to tell You that Peter asks You to pass by Bethsaida. He has spoken to many people about You… We did not go out fishing last night. We prayed as well as we could, and we gave up the profit… because the Sabbath was not yet over. And this morning, we went through the streets speaking about You. There are many people who would like to hear You… Will You come, Master?»

«I will, although I must go to Nazareth before going to Jerusalem.»

«Peter will take You from Bethsaida to Tiberias in his boat. It will be even quicker for You.»

«Let us go, then.»

Jesus takes His mantle and haversack. But John relieves Him of the latter. And they set out, after saying goodbye to the landlady.

50.2 The vision shows them coming out of the village and starting their journey to Bethsaida. But I do not hear what they are saying, in fact the vision is interrupted and it is resumed only when they are entering Bethsaida. I realise that it is that town because I see Peter, Andrew and James, with their wives, awaiting Jesus at the entrance to the village.

«Peace be with you. Here I am.»

«We thank You, Master, also on behalf of those who are waiting for You. It is not the Sabbath today, but will You speak Your words to those waiting to hear You?»

«Yes, Peter, I will. In your house.»

Peter is overjoyed: «Come, then. This is my wife and this is John’s mother and these are their friends. But there are other people waiting for You: relations and friends of ours.»

«Tell them that I will speak to them this evening, before I leave.»

I forgot to mention that they left Capernaum at sunset and arrived at Bethsaida the following morning.

GRM 50.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

50.2 The vision shows them coming out of the village and starting their journey to Bethsaida. But I do not hear what they are saying, in fact the vision is interrupted and it is resumed only when they are entering Bethsaida. I realise that it is that town because I see Peter, Andrew and James, with their wives, awaiting Jesus at the entrance to the village.

«Peace be with you. Here I am.»

«We thank You, Master, also on behalf of those who are waiting for You. It is not the Sabbath today, but will You speak Your words to those waiting to hear You?»

«Yes, Peter, I will. In your house.»

Peter is overjoyed: «Come, then. This is my wife and this is John’s mother and these are their friends. But there are other people waiting for You: relations and friends of ours.»

«Tell them that I will speak to them this evening, before I leave.»

I forgot to mention that they left Capernaum at sunset and arrived at Bethsaida the following morning.

«Master… please: stay one night at my house. The road to Jerusalem is a long one, even if I will shorten it for You, taking You to Tiberias by boat. My house is poor, but honest and friendly. Stay with us tonight.»

Jesus looks at Peter and at all the rest who are waiting. He looks at them inquisitively. He then smiles and says: «Yes; I will stay.»

It is a great joy for Peter.

People look out from their doors and exchange knowing glances with one another. A man calls James by his name and speaks to him in a low voice, pointing to Jesus. James nods in assent and the man goes and speaks to other people standing at a crossroads.

They go into Peter’s house. There is a large smoky kitchen. In a corner there are nets, ropes, fishing baskets. In the middle there is a long, low fireplace, but there is no fire.

Through two opposite doors one can see the street on one side, and the kitchen garden with a fig-tree and vines on the other side. Beyond the street the rippling on the sky-blue lake can be seen, and beyond the kitchen garden there is the dark, low wall of another house.

«I offer You what I have, Master, and as best as I know how to…»

«You could not offer any more or any better, because you are making your offering with love.»

They give Jesus some water to refresh Himself and then some bread and olives. Jesus takes a few mouthfuls only to please them, then He thanks them and eats no more.

Some children look in inquisitively from the kitchen garden and the street. I do not know whether they are Peter’s children. I only know that he frowns at the intruders to keep them out. Jesus smiles and says: «Leave them alone.»

«Master, do You want to rest? My room is here and Andrew’s is over there. Take Your choice. We will not make any noise while You are resting.»

«Have you got a terrace?»

«Yes, and the vine, although it is still almost bare, gives a little shade.»

«Then take Me up there. I prefer to rest there. I will think and pray.»

«As You wish. Come.»

A little staircase rises from the kitchen garden up to the roof, which is a terrace surrounded by a low wall. Even there, there are nets and ropes. But how much bright light, and what a beautiful view of the blue lake!

Jesus sits on a stool, leaning His back against the little wall. Peter bustles with a sail that he spreads over and on the side of the vine to make a shield against the sun. There is a breeze and silence. Jesus is visibly happy.

«I am going, Master.»

«Go. Go with John and tell people that I will be speaking here at sunset.»

Jesus remains alone and prays for a long time. With the exception of two pairs of doves that come and go from their nests, and the twittering of sparrows, there is no noise or living being near Jesus praying. The hours pass peacefully and quietly.

GRM 51

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus is at Peter's house, with Simon of Jonah, James, John and Porphyria. Andrew arrives, indicating that Jude is there for him, and his cousin enters the house. Mary invites her Son to the wedding feast at Cana, and their relatives also want him to attend. Jesus agrees to his Mother's request, but then guesses that something is wrong with Jude. He questions him and Jude half-heartedly declares that Jesus must be careful, because of the powerful castes who might be disturbed by his teaching. He mentions the Baptist, but we also sense that he is paying lip service. Moreover, Jesus guesses that it was their kinsmen who told him to say this, which Jude confirms. But Jesus asserts that above the earth, there is Heaven and God's interests. As for his Mother, only she could remind him of his duties as a Son, but she does not. She renounced her creatureliness from the very beginning, and Jesus recalls her life in the Temple, praising her detachment and self-giving to God. The Lord also predicts that there will come a day when all will abandon Him, but not Her, and it is thanks to Mary that the apostles will return to Jesus. He wants us to understand how powerful Mary is on God's heart.

As a result, Jude asks to accompany her to the wedding feast at Cana. He gives him a garment designed by the All-Holy One, which Jesus will put on in Jerusalem, at the Temple.

GRM 52

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Maria sees the wedding house at Cana and notices Mary's arrival on the scene. She helps prepare the premises for the feast. Eventually, the bride arrives, and there's a change in the vision: the mystic sees Jesus, heading for Cana. He leaves to please his Mother and arrives at the house. He greets the bride and groom and the guests, and sits down with John and Jude of Alphaeus. He and Mary eat and speak little. Then the Virgin realizes that they have run out of wine, and everything happens as in the Gospel. Jesus performs his first miracle, then, when attention turns to him, he tells everyone to thank Mary.

We are then given two dictations. One focuses on the famous phrase: "Mother, what is there now between you and me?" and the other on the fact that it is Mary who obtains Christ's first miracle. The Lord asks us to thank her for all the graces she obtains for us. As for the famous "henceforth", Jesus explains that before, he was all Mary's, but now he is all the Father's, as God's Servant. The ties between Mother and Son are broken to become even higher, and after his mission, the Savior will once again be all things to his Mother.

GRM 52.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I see a house. A typical middle east house: a long, low, white house, with few windows and doors, with a terraced roof, surrounded by a little wall, about one metre high, with a shady vine pergola, which reaches up to the sunny terrace and stretches its branches over more than half of its surface. An outside staircase climbs up along the front, reaching up to a door which is situated half way up the facade. At ground level there are a few low doors, not more than two on each side of the house, and they open into low dark rooms. The house is built in the middle of what looks like a kind of threshing-floor, but is actually more a grassy open space than a threshing-floor, with a well in the middle. There are some fig and apple-trees. The house faces the road, but it is not set right on the roadside. It is a little way off the road and a path along the grass links it to the road, which looks like a main road.

It seems to be on the outskirts of Cana: a house owned by farmers who live in the middle of their holding. The country stretches calm and green far beyond the house. The sun is shining in a completely blue sky. At first I do not see anything else. There is no one near the house.

GRM 52.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

If I am correct, the rooms on the ground floor are the ones where they actually live, where they have their storeroom, wine cellar, whereas the hall upstairs is used on special occasions, such as feast days, or for tasks that require a lot of space, such as drying and pressing foodstuffs. For special celebrations the hall is cleared of every object and then decorated, as it is today, with green branches, mats and tables prepared with rich dishes. In the centre there is a richly laid table with amphorae and plates full of fruit. Along the right-hand side wall, compared to where I am, there is another table already prepared, but not so sumptuously. On the left-hand side, there is a kind of long dresser with plates of cheese and other foodstuffs, which look like cakes covered with honey and sweetmeats. On the floor, near the same wall, there are more amphorae and six large vases, shaped more or less like copper pitchers. I would call them jars.

GRM 53

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus, James, John, Andrew, Peter, Philip and Bartholomew go to the Temple. But it's a real fair, where the Temple merchants are usurers of the poorest. An old couple is bullied by a shopkeeper, and Jesus tells them that their behavior is not right: the shopkeeper must give them a better lamb. The man doesn't listen, and Jesus, faced with all the commotion in the Temple, becomes terrible. He builds a whip and overturns the tables and the money on them. The priests arrive and ask him who he is and why he is doing this. Jesus replies that he is the One who can, and that if the true Temple is destroyed, he will raise it up. He promises that they will know him and where he comes from. The Master then gives a speech in the Temple, recalling words from Deuteronomy. He reminds us that we must be fair to the poor, and that priests must have purity and charity as their wealth, not purely material wealth. God the Father is their inheritance. Finally, he invites everyone to follow him, for the hour of grace has come.

GRM 53.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

53.1 I see Jesus entering the enclosure of the Temple with Peter, Andrew, John, James, Philip and Bartholomew. There is a very large crowd both inside and outside the enclosure. Pilgrims are arriving in flocks from every part of the town.

From the top of the hill on which the Temple is built, one can see the narrow twisted streets of the town, swarming with people. It seems as though a mobile, multi-coloured ribbon has been laid between the white houses. The town looks like a rare toy indeed, a toy made of gaily-coloured ribbons between two white threads, all converging onto the point where the domes of the House of the Lord are shining.

Inside it is… a real market. The concentration of a holy place has been destroyed. Some run, some call, some bargain for lambs, shouting and cursing because of the extortionate prices, some drive the poor bleating animals into their enclosures (rough partitions made of ropes and pegs, at the entrance of which stand the merchants or owners, awaiting buyers). Blows with cudgels, bleatings, curses, shouts, insults to the boys who are not quick in gathering together or selecting the animals, abuses to the purchasers who haggle over prices or who go away, more serious insults to those who wisely brought their own lambs.

Near the benches of the money-changers there is more bawling. It is obvious that either always, or at Passover time, the Temple operated as a… stock exchange or black market. There was no fixed rate of exchange. There must have been a legal rate, but the money-changers imposed a different one, making whatever profit they fancied for exchanging the money. And I can assure you they were not joking in their usury transactions!… The poorer the people were and the farther they came from, the more they were fleeced: old people more than young people, those coming from beyond Palestine more than the old folk.

Some poor old men looked over and over again at the money they had saved in a whole year, I wonder with how much hard work, they took it out and put it back into their purses dozens and dozens of times, going from one money-changer to another and at times ending up by going back to the first one, who took avenge for their original desertion by increasing the premium for the exchange. And the big coins passed from the hands of the sighing owners into the clutches of the usurers and were changed into smaller coins. Then a further tragedy would take place with vendors over the choice and payment of their lambs, and the poor old men, particularly if they were half blind, were fobbed off with the most wretched little lambs.

GRM 54

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus is at the olive grove in Gethsemane. The master of the house - Jonah - tells Christ that three men are waiting for him, including one who is presumably sick and a leper. Jesus goes to the latter first: it's Simon the Zealot, asking for healing. The Savior grants his wish, and the future apostle is completely healed. Then he turns his attention to the two newcomers: Judas of Keroth and Thomas. The former ardently wants to follow the Savior, to share in his glory "according to Heaven". But Jesus asks him to think it over and refuses to take him on straight away. He thinks he's being impulsive, but doesn't believe in his constancy. Jesus asks him to discern and tells him that he will be in the Temple for Pentecost. Thomas, for his part, wants to follow him too, but is frightened by the words spoken to Judas. Jesus reassures him, saying that presumption is ruin, but that fear coupled with humility can be a help. After the disciple has left, Jesus explains to John and the others why he has made a difference between the two disciples. Thomas is in this sense more perfect, because he wants to follow him out of love, not because of a desire for human glory. All the disciples present then affirm that they love Jesus, and when they ask if they are perfect, Jesus explains that God alone is perfect, but that they will become so if they persist in their will to love.

After speaking of his nature as the Word of God, and his perfection as the God-Man, Jesus describes himself as the Son of Man. He then answers Peter's question about Jude's absence, and answers Andrew's question about why he performed a miracle in Cana and not in his homeland. The Lord also speaks of his Mother.

Finally, Christ welcomes Dydymus, who has retraced his steps, and thus welcomes Thomas among his disciples.

GRM 54.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus also goes towards the house where He is a guest. It is not the house of the last Supper, which is in town, although not far from its walls. This house, instead, is a real country house, amongst thick olive-trees. From the rustic open space in front of the house one can see the olive-trees down the terraces of the hill, right down to a little torrent, with very little water, which flows away along the valley formed by two hills: on the top of one there is the Temple, on the other hill there are only olive-trees. Jesus is at the first slopes of the latter hill, which rises smoothly, completely covered with peaceful trees.