Notes for this theme

The Decalogue and the Old Testament Commandments

Page 29 of 36

Reading comfort

GRM 176.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Tell us, and if there is anything we can do to relieve Your grief, we will do it» says His cousin Judas.
Peter speaks to Bartholomew and Philip, but I do not understand what they say.
Jesus replies: «Be good, endeavour to be good and faithful. That is the only relief. There is no other one, Peter. Have you understood? Forget your suspicion. Love Me and love one another, do not allow those who hate Me to seduce you, above all love the will of God.»

Keywords

GRM 176.3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«God’s will has held us in this place because had we gone any further, after the distance we had walked, we would have infringed the precepts and caused scandal. And may that never happen until the New Pact is written. It is right to sanctify feast days and praise the Lord in places of prayer. But the whole creation can be a place of prayer if man can make it thus through his elevation to the Father. Noah’s Ark adrift on the water was a place of prayer and likewise the belly of Jonah’s whale. Places of prayer were the house of the Pharaoh when Joseph lived in it, and the tent of Holofernes for the chaste Judith. And was not the corrupt place where the prophet Daniel lived as a slave, so sacred to the Lord, because of the holiness of His servant who so sanctified the place as to deserve the high prophecies[1] of Christ and of the Antichrist, which are a key to present and future times? All the more reason this place is holy as with its hues and scents, with its pure air and rich crops, with its dewy pearls it speaks to us of God, the Father and Creator and says: “I believe. And you ought to believe because we bear witness to God”. Let it therefore be our synagogue for this Sabbath and let us read the eternal pages on corollas and ears, with the sun as our lamp.
I mentioned Daniel. I said to you: “Let this place be our synagogue”. That reminds us of the joyful “bless the Lord” of the three holy young men in the flames of the furnace: Heavens and waters, dew and frost, ice and snow, fire and colours, light and darkness, lightning and clouds, mountains and hills, all germinated things, birds, fish and animals, praise and bless the Lord with humble holy-hearted men. We can pray and deserve Heaven everywhere. We deserve it when we do the Father’s will.

Detail

It's dawn, the morning of the Sabbath (EMV 176.1). Jesus goes to the sleepers who are awakening, and to the crowd that has followed him, because he wishes to sanctify "this holy day with the word of God" (EMV 176.2).

Annotation

Having come so far, to go any further would have been to violate the precepts and scandalize. Out of respect for the precept limiting Sabbatical journeys, which finds its foundation in Exodus 16:29.

Noah's ark adrift on the waves was a place of prayer, as was Jonah's whale belly. Cf. Genesis 7:7 and Jonah 2:2.

Gen 7.7: "Noah entered the ark with his sons, his wife and his sons' wives to escape the waters of the flood."

Jon 2, 2 : And from the bowels of the fish Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God.

So did the house of Pharaoh when Joseph lived there, and so did the tent of Holofernes for the chaste Judith. Cf Genesis 39:2 and 41:40 as well as Judith 12:5 and Judith 13:4-5.

Gen 39:2 : Yahweh was with Joseph, who made all things prosper; he lived in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

Gen 41, 40: And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have made you ruler over all the land of Egypt. "

Jdt 12, 5 : On entering, she asked to be allowed to go out at night and before daylight to pray and call upon the Lord.

Jdt 13, 4-5 : Holoferne was lying on his bed in a drunken stupor. Judith had told her maid to stand outside the room and keep watch.

And was it not truly sacred to the Lord, the corrupt place where the prophet Daniel lived as a slave, sacred by the holiness of his servant who sanctified the place to the point of meriting the lofty prophecies of Christ and Antichrist, keys to the present and the last times? Daniel 1, 21 | Daniel 7, 2-14 | Daniel 9, 24-27 | Daniel 12, 5-12.

Dan 1:21: Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Dan 7, 2-14 : Daniel spoke and said: "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were melting on the great sea, and four great beasts came up from the sea, different from each other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. And I beheld, until his wings were plucked, and he was lifted up from the earth, and set upon his feet like a man, and a man's heart was given unto him. And behold another beast, a second, like a bear; it drew up one of its sides, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth, and they said to it, "Arise, eat much flesh! After this I looked, and behold another beast like a leopard; it had on its back four wings of a bird, and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I looked in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible, fearful and extraordinarily strong; it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke, and the rest it trampled underfoot; it was different from all the beasts that had gone before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold another horn, small, arose in the midst of them, and three of the first horns were torn off by it; and behold this horn had eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth that spoke great things.

I watched, until thrones were placed, and an old man sat down. His garment was white as snow, and the hair on his head was like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire; the wheels, blazing fire. A river of fire flowed out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and a myriad of myriads stood before him. The Judge sat down, and books were opened. I watched then, because of the noise of the great words that the horn uttered; I watched, until the moment when the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and delivered to the flame of fire. To the rest of the beasts, too, their dominion had been taken away, and the duration of their lives had been fixed until a time and a moment.

I looked into the visions of the night, and behold, there came on the clouds as it were a Son of Man; and he came up to the old man, and they brought him near before him. And he was given dominion, glory and reign, and all peoples, nations and languages served him. His dominion is an eternal dominion that will not pass away, and his reign will never be destroyed.

Dn 9, 24-27 : Seventy weeks have been determined upon your people and upon your holy city to shut up prevarication, to seal up sins and to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophet and to anoint the Holy of Holies. Know therefore and understand: from the going forth of a word commanding Jerusalem to be rebuilt until an anointed one, a leader, there are seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; she will be rebuilt, places and pregnant, in the distress of times. And after sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off, and no one for him. And the people of a ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end will be in the flood, and to the end there will be war, which is decreed touching the devastation. He will make a firm covenant with a great number for a week; and in the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and on the wing of abominations will come a destroyer, and that until destruction and what has been decreed are poured out on the devastated.

Dan 12:5-12: I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two other men were standing, one on one bank of the river, the other on the other bank of the river. 6One of them spoke to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river: "How long will the end of these wondrous things be? "And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters; he raised his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and he swore by him who lives forever that it would be in a time, times and half a time, and that, when they had finished breaking the strength of the holy people, then all these things would be fulfilled. And I heard, but did not understand, and said, "My lord, what will be the end of these things? "He said, 'Go, Daniel, for the words are tightened and sealed until the time of the end. There will be many who will be purified, made white and tested; and the wicked will do evil, and no wicked will understand; but the intelligent will understand. From the time when the perpetual sacrifice is interrupted, and the abomination of the destroyer is set up, there will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits and comes to a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!"

I named you Daniel. I said to you, "Let this place be our synagogue. "He reminds us of the joyful "Bless" of the three holy children amid the flames of the furnace: cf. Daniel 3, 52-90.

Dn 3, 52-90 : Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers, worthy to be praised, glorified and exalted forever. Blessed is your holy and glorious name, worthy of supreme praise and exaltation forever. Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, worthy of supreme praise and glory forever. Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, worthy of supreme praise and exaltation forever. Blessed are you, whose gaze penetrates the abyss, and who sit upon the Cherubim, worthy of supreme praise and exaltation forever. Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, worthy of praise and glory forever.

Bless all the Lord, works of the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Waters and all that is above the heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Powers of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise him and exalt him forever.

Sun and moon, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Stars of heaven, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Rain and dew, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Winds unleashed by God, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever.

Fire and heat, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Cold and heat, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Dew and frost, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Frost and frost, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Ice and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever.

Nights and days, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Light and darkness, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Lightning and dark clouds, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Earth, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever!

Mountains and hills, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Plants that grow on the earth, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Fountains, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Seas and rivers, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever.

Monsters and everything that moves in the waters, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Birds of the air, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Wild beasts and flocks, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Children of men, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Israel, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever!

Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Spirits and souls of the righteous, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Saints and humble of heart, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever. Ananias, Azarias and Misael, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever.

For he has brought us out of Sheol, and delivered us from the power of death; he has rescued us from the midst of the furnace of burning flame, and drawn us out of the midst of the fire. Celebrate the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. All you godly men, bless the Lord, the God of gods; praise and celebrate him, for his mercy endures forever.

Keywords

GRM 176.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

At daybreak they pointed out to Me that if everything is controlled by the will of God, also the errors of men are wanted by that will. That is an error and a widespread one. Can a father ever wish his son to be blameworthy? No, he cannot. And yet we see that in some families some sons become blameworthy, although they have a just father who points out to them the good to be done and the evil to be avoided. And no righteous person will accuse a father of urging his sons to do evil things.
God is the Father, men are the sons. God points out the good and says: “Behold, I put you in this situation for your own good”. Also when the Evil One and the men who serve him bring misfortunes to men, God says: “Behold, this is how you must behave in this painful hour; by doing so, this misfortune will serve for an eternal good”. He advises you, but does not force you. So if a man, knowing what the will of God is, prefers to do the very opposite, can we say that this very opposite is the will of God? We cannot.
Love God’s will. Love it more than your own and follow it against the enticements and power of the world, of the flesh, of the demon. Also those things have a will. But I solemnly tell you that he who submits to such wills is most unhappy.

Keywords

GRM 178.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«This is what is required here: sacrifice, obedience, charity for everybody, a mind adaptive for everything and with everybody. Because compliance is alluring. Because he who wishes to cure must bend over all sores. Afterwards there will be the purity of Heaven. But here we are in mud and we have to pull out of the mud, on which we walk, the victims already submerged in it. We cannot lift our clothes and move to one side because the mud is deeper there. Purity must be within us. We must be filled with it so that nothing else can enter. Can you do all that?»

Keywords

GRM 178.3.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus begins to walk again and His attention is drawn by two eyes staring at Him, the eyes of a tall strong young man who has stopped to let the train of followers pass, as he seems to be going in a different direction. Jesus says to him: «Follow Me.»
The young man starts, changes colour, blinks as if he were dazzled by light, then opens his mouth to speak but cannot find an immediate reply. At last he says: «I will follow You. But my father died at Korazim and I must bury him. Let me do that and then I will come.»
«Follow Me. Leave the dead to bury their dead. You have already been attracted by Life. On the other hand, you aspired that. Do not weep over the gap Life opened around you to make you a disciple. The maiming of affection is the root of the wings which are born of a man who has become a servant of the Truth. Leave corruption to its own fate. Rise towards the Kingdon of the incorrupt. You will also find the incorruptible pearl of your father there. God calls and passes by. Tomorrow you would no longer find your heart of today or God’s invitation. Come. Go and announce the Kingdom of God.»
The man is leaning against a low wall with his arms hanging by his sides: he is holding two bags, full of perfumes and bandages, his head is lowered in thought, wavering between two loves: for God and for his father.
Jesus waits and looks at him, he then gets hold of a little child clasps him to His heart saying: «Say with Me: “I bless You, o Father, and I invoke Your light for those who weep in the haze of life. I bless You, o Father, and I invoke Your strength for those who are like a child in need of support. I bless You, o Father, and I invoke Your love that it may cause men to forget everything which is not Yourself, as they can find all good in You, both here and in Heaven, although they cannot believe it”.» And the child, an innocent boy about four years old, repeats in his thin voice the holy words with his hands held in prayer by the right hand of Jesus, Who holds them by their plump, wrists as if they were two flower stems.
The man makes up his mind. He hands the two bundles to a companion and comes towards Jesus, Who puts down the child after blessing him, and embraces the young man, proceeding thus with him, to comfort him and support him in his effort.
(...) They reach the shore. Jesus goes on board Peter’s boat and whispers a few words to him. I see Jesus smile while Peter makes a gesture expressing amazement. But He does not say anything. Also the man who did not go to bury his father in order to follow Jesus, gets into the boat.

Annotation

Gospel of Matthew 8, 21-22

Mt 8:21-22: Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first." Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

Gospel of Luke 9, 57-62

Lk 9, 57-62: Along the way, a man said to Jesus, "I'll follow you wherever you go." Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another, "Follow me." The man replied, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first." But Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their dead. You, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Keywords

GRM 178.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Another man questions Him: «I would like to come with You, too. But before following You I would like to take leave of my relatives, Will You allow me?»
Jesus stares at him and replies: «There are too many roots in your human being. Uproot them and if you cannot, cut them off. One must come to God’s service with spiritual freedom. He who gives himself, must have no ties.»
«Flesh and blood are always flesh and blood. I will slowly reach the freedom You refer to…»
«No, you would never reach it. God is as exacting as He is infinitely generous in rewarding. If you wish to be a disciple you must embrace your cross and follow Me. Otherwise one remains a simple believer. The way of the servant of God is not strewn with petals of roses. And it is absolute in its demands. No one who has put his hand to the plough to furrow the fields of hearts and spread there the seed of God’s doctrine, can look back to see what he left, what he lost and what he could have had if he had followed another common way. He who does that is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Work upon yourself. Make a man of yourself and then come. Not now.»

Annotation

Only Luke 9:61-62 reports this encounter. The evangelist succinctly evokes the allegory of the ploughman who doesn't look back! Jesus recalls his advice several times(EMV 276.6 | EMV 302.1 and EMV 551.6).

Gospel of Luke 9, 61-62

Lk 9, 61-62 : Yet another said to him, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my household." Jesus replied, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God."

Keywords

GRM 180.3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Our senses need a term to catch an idea. Each of us, I am referring to us believers, believes, by the virtue of faith, in the Most High Lord and Creator, Eternal God, Who is in Heaven. But every being needs more than such bare, pure, incorporeal faith, which is fit and sufficient for the angels who see and love God spiritually, as they share with Him a spiritual nature and can see God. We have to create a “picture” of God for ourselves, which picture is made with the essential features that we ascribe to God, to give a name to His infinite absolute perfection. The more a soul concentrates, the more it succeeds in achieving an exact knowledge of God. That is what I say: the immanent God. I am not a philosopher. Perhaps I have applied the word wrongly. In short, I think that the immanent God is to feel, to perceive God in our spirits, to feel and perceive Him no longer as an abstract idea, but as a real presence, bestowing strength and a new peace upon us.»
«All right. But, to sum up, how did you feel Him? What is the difference between feeling by faith and feeling by immanence?» asks the Iscariot somewhat ironically.
«God is safety, boy. When you perceive Him, as Simon says, by means of that word, which I do not understand literally, but I understand its spirit — and believe me, the trouble is that we understand only literally and we do not understand the spirit of God’s words — it means that you are able to grasp the idea of the terrible majesty, but also of the most sweet paternity of God. It means that, should all the world judge and condemn you unjustly, you would feel that One only, He, the Eternal One, Who is your Father, does not judge you, but absolves and comforts you. It means that if all the world should hate you, you would feel over you a love greater than any this world can offer. It means that if you were isolated in jail or in a desert you would always hear One speak to you and say: “Be holy, that you may be like your Father”. It means that for the true love for this Father and God, Whom at last you perceive as such, you accept, work, take and leave without any human consideration, as you are concerned only to return love for love and to copy God as much as possible in your actions» says Peter.
«You are proud! To copy God! You are not entitled to» declares the Iscariot.
«It is not pride. Love leads to obedience. To copy God seems to me a form of obedience because God said that He made us in His own image and likeness» replies Peter.
«He made us. We must not go higher up.»
«You are a poor wretch, my boy, if that is what you think! You are forgetting that we fell and that God wants to take us back to what we were.»
180.4
Jesus begins to speak: «Even more, Peter, Judas and you all. Even more than that. Adam’s perfection was still susceptible of improvement through love, which would have made him a more precise image of his Creator. Adam without the stain of sin would have been a most shining mirror of God. That is why I say: “Be perfect as your Father Who is in Heaven is perfect”. Like your Father. Therefore like God. Peter is quite right. And so is Simon. I ask you to remember their words and apply them to your souls.»

Detail

Simon the Zealot expresses one of his reflections on God. Love, pride, obedience and the case for redemption are discussed at the end of the note.

Keywords

GRM 180.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Now listen to the spirit of the parable.
We have four kinds of fields: the fertile ones, the thorny ones, the stony ones and the ones full of paths. We also have four types of spirits.
There are the honest spirits, the spirits of goodwill, prepared by their own will and by the work of an apostle, of a “true” apostle; because there are apostles who have the name but not the spirit of an apostle and they are more lethal for the will in formation, than birds, thorns and stones, They upset in such a way, through their intolerance, their haste, their reproaches and their threats, as to drive people away from God forever. There are others who, on the contrary, through an excess of benignity, utterly out of place, cause the seed to rot in too soft a soil. Because of their lack of vigour, they kill the vigour of the souls they cure. But let us consider true apostles, that is, the shining mirrors of God. They are paternal, merciful, patient, and at the same time they are strong, as their Lord is strong. Now: the souls prepared by them and by their own will can be compared to the fertile fields, free from stones and brambles, from couch-grass and darnel, in which the word of God thrives and every word, that is every seed, bears a bundle of ears, yielding in some places one hundred, in others sixty per cent. Are there any like that among those who follow Me? There certainly are. And they will be holy. They come from all castes and countries. And there are Gentiles among them and they will yield one hundred per cent because of their goodwill, only because of that, or because of their goodwill and that of an apostle or disciple who prepares them for Me.

Detail

Jesus explains the parable of the sower.

Keywords

GRM 182.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Do you know the Law well enough and its ten commandments? And you, too, boy? In that case you know enough. If you faithfully practise what God commanded, you will be holy.

Keywords

GRM 182.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Love one another and love this boy. Each of you must feel as if he were somehow the father of the orphan. The presence of a child amongst you should influence every action of yours through the holy restraint of respect for a child. And let your company make up for what death deprived him of. We must love our neighbour. This boy is the neighbour entrusted to you by God in a special manner. Teach him to be good, a faithful believer, honest and free from vices. He is worth much more than one of these sheep. Now, if you take care of the sheep because they belong to their owner, who would punish you if you should let them perish, how much more care you must take of this soul which God entrusts to you for Himself and for his dead father. His situation as an orphan is a sad one indeed. Do not make it more painful by taking advantage of him and vexing him because he is only a youngster. Remember that God sees the deeds and tears of every man and takes everything into account, in order to reward or punish.
And you, My boy, remember that you are never alone. God sees you and so does the spirit of your father. When something upsets you and induces you to do wrong, say: “No, I do not want to be an orphan forever and ever”. You would be, if you damned your soul by sinning.

Detail

Jesus speaks to some shepherds who are looking after a young orphan.