Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 81.2
«Joseph [one of the shepherds] told us that You came to the Baptist. But we were not there on that day. Perhaps he had sent us somewhere. We served him, in spiritual matters, when he asked us, with so much love, and we listened to him with love, although he was so severe, because he was not You — the Word — but he always spoke words of God.
Matthias, Simeon, and John, shepherds from Bethlehem, say to Jesus:
GRM 81.3
«When you see the Baptist — You will see him again, and you will serve him again until the predetermined hour — tell him that he is not the last in Christ’s heart. Not so much because of the blood, as on account of his holiness, he is loved as much as John. And remember that. If the saint in his humbleness proclaims himself “last”, the Word of God proclaims him equal to the disciple who is dear to Me. Tell him that I love this disciple because he has the same name and because I find in him the signs of the Baptist, who prepares the souls for Christ.»
«We will tell him… But shall we see him again?»
«Yes, you will.»
Jesus' Omniscience. Jesus speaks to the disciples of John the Baptist, who is currently imprisoned by Herod Antipas.
GRM 82.1
Jesus arrives from a side street and looks around. He does not see anybody yet. He waits patiently, leaning against the trunk of a tree, and finds the opportunity of speaking to the boys about charity, that starts with God and from the Creator descends to all creatures.
«Do not be cruel. Why do you want to annoy the birds of the air? They have their nests up there, and their little ones. They do not harm anyone. They give us their chirping and cleanliness, because they eat the rubbish left by men and the insects that are harmful to crops and fruit. Why wound them, or kill them, depriving the little ones of their fathers and mothers, or the latter of their little ones? Would you be glad if a wicked man came to your house and destroyed it, or killed your parents, or took you away from them? No, you would not be happy. Well, then, why do to these innocent creatures what you would not like done to yourselves? How will you refrain one day from doing harm to men if, children as you are now, you harden your hearts and hurt defenceless, kind little creatures such as these birds? Do you not know that the Law says: “Love your neighbour as yourself”? He who does not love his neighbour does not even love God. And he who does not love God, how can he go to His House and pray to Him? God might say to him, and he does say it in Heaven: “Go away. I do not know you. You, My son? No, you are not. You do not love your brothers, you do not respect in them the Father Who created them, so you are not a brother and a son, but an illegitimate child: a stepson to God, a stepbrother to your brothers”. See how the Eternal Lord loves? In the cold months, He makes His little birds find the barns full of hay, so that they may nest there. In the hot months, He protects them from the sun with the foliage of trees. In winter the corn in the fields is just covered with earth and it is easy for them to find the seed and nourish themselves. In summer they quench their thirst with the juice of fruits, and they build solid, warm nests with hay and the wool left on brambles by sheep. And He is the Lord. You, little men, created by Him like the little birds, and therefore their brothers in creation, why do you want to differ from Him and think that you can be cruel to these little animals? Be merciful with everybody, not depriving anyone of what is due to one: both amongst men and animals, your servants, your friends and God…»
«Master?» calls Simon «Judas is coming.»
«… and God will be merciful with you, and will give you everything you need, as He does with these innocent creatures. Go and take the peace of God with you.»
GRM 83.5
Translation in progress
GRM 83.7
Translation in progress
GRM 83.7
Translation in progress
GRM 84.3
GRM 84.5
Translation in progress
GRM 84.6
Translation in progress
GRM 85.1