Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 174.20 · Volume 3
My children, My sermon is drawing to its end, as the day is nearing its end while the sun is setting in the west. I want you to remember the words of this meeting on the mountain. Engrave them in your hearts. Read them over and over again and very often. Let them be your everlasting guidance.
GRM 175
Chapter title: The leper healed at the foot of the Mountain. The generosity of the scribe John.
Date of vision: Wednesday, May 30, 1945
Calendar: Friday, February 18, 28 (5 Adar)
Location (map):Horns of Hattin
Cycle: Sermon on the Mount
Summary: A leper approaches the crowd and Jesus as they descend the mountain. The crowd is terrified, but Jesus calms them and the sick man begs Christ for mercy. He heals him, and as the poor man possesses nothing, the crowd offers him some of their possessions from afar: sandals, a cloak... The miraculous man then goes to present himself to the priest, and Jesus asks him not to tell the priest that it is He who has healed him.
The Sabbath begins and the apostles are worried because they have nothing to give the crowd to eat. But Jesus is calm and confident, and assures them that the Father will not fail to help his Messiah. Indeed, the scribe John comes to see the Master and tells him that he left the day before to prepare bread for the crowd. The Lord accepts his gift and John withdraws without telling him who he is. Someone in the crowd gives it to him later. Once the conversation with the people is over, Jesus takes the Twelve aside and reproaches them for their lack of faith. He then goes off to pray to the Father, thanking him for his kindness.
Chapter contents: 175.1: Healing of a leper lost among the flowers. 175.2 : The crowd showers the leper with charity. 175.3: As evening falls, the remaining crowd has run out of food. 175.4 : The scribe John offers to feed the crowd by himself. 175.5 : Jesus reproaches the apostles for their unbelief and retires to pray.
Previous edition: Volume 3, chapter 35
GRM 175.4 · Volume 3
Master… You gave me such bread today… You really are the Bread of the spirit!
GRM 176
Chapter title: During Sabbath break, the Last Sermon on the Mount: loving God's will.
Date of vision: Friday, June 1, 1945
Calendar: Saturday, February 19, 28
Location (map): Plain of Gennesaret (near the Horns of Hattin)
Cycle: Sermon on the Mount
Summary: Jesus has gone to pray and is joined by his apostles. When they question him, the Master tells them that his strength is nourished by prayer, and that he has prayed for John and the Precursor's disciples. His friends want to console him, for Jesus is distressed, and he asks them to love him, above all to love God's will. Thomas points out that if everything comes from her, the errors themselves will come from her, and Jesus replies that this is not the case. But they go to meet John, the scribe, who is feeding the crowd, and then, at his request, he speaks to those present.
After declaring that it is right to keep the Sabbath holy, Jesus points out that all of Creation can be a place of prayer. Then he returns to Thomas's remark and declares that a father cannot want his child to err and be guilty. If the father is just and shows the good to be followed and the evil to be avoided, he is not responsible if his children do not listen to him and are guilty of wrongdoing. So it is with God, who advises but does not force. And those who know God's will but act contrary to it are not doing what the Father desires.
Jesus then returns to the Kingdom of God, stating that not everyone will enter. Not everyone who says "Lord! Lord!" who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and to follow this up, Christ speaks of the end of the world. He will then be a Judge, who will gather together the sheep steeped in truth, those who have mixed truth and error, and those who have wilfully willed error. And when they say to him, "But Lord, have we not prophesied and acted in your name?", he will reply that they have dared to return to his name to make themselves appear holy, but that they will in fact have been satanic. His true servants are not like that, but bring God to souls and do the Father's will, being humble, gentle, peaceful and orderly. He will therefore send away these servants of iniquity.
His discourse ends, with John the scribe at his side, and the cycle on the mountain is thus complete.
Chapter contents: 176.1: Jesus prayed all night for his disciples ... and for himself. 176.2: Children flutter around him. Scribe John arrives with his food. 176.3 : Creation is also a place of prayer where we can praise God. 176.4 : It is not those who say to me, "Lord! Lord!" who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who do my Father's will. 176.5 : There will come a day when I will be Judge. 176.6 : The cycle of the Sermon on the Mount is complete.
Previous edition: Tome 3, chapter 36
GRM 177
Chapter title: The healing of the Centurion's servant.
Date of vision: Saturday, June 2, 1945.
Calendar: Sunday, February 20, 28 (7 Adar I 3788).
Location (map): Capernaum
Cycle: Apostolate in Galilee
Summary: Jesus arrives in Capernaum and meets the Roman centurion. The Roman asks Jesus to heal him, but he has so much faith that he believes Jesus can heal him from a distance. The notables of Capernaum ask the Master to accede to his request, and Jesus reiterates his proposal to go to his house. The centurion confessed that if he said just one word, his servant would be healed. Everything happened just as he had wished: Jesus performed the miracle, and declared to the Jews that all nations would come to him, as Isaiah had prophesied. Better still, the pagans will surpass Israel. Jesus then leaves for his home in Capernaum.
Chapter contents: 177.1: The Roman centurion approaches Jesus, whom he has heard preach. 177.2 : He asks for the healing of a servant. 177.3 : The local notables appreciate this Roman. Jesus heals the servant from a distance. 177.4: Speech: the nations will flock. 177.5 : The centurion is asked to verify the healing.
Former edition: Volume 3, chapter 37
GRM 178
Chapter title: Three men who want to follow Jesus.
Date of vision: Sunday, June 3, 1945
Calendar: Monday, February 21, 28 (8 Adar I 3788) according to maria-valtorta.org or Wednesday, March 1, 28 according to Valtorta.fr
Locations (map):Capernaum
Cycle: Apostolate in Galilee
Summary: Jesus makes his way with difficulty to the shore of Lake Tiberias, as the crowds hold him back. But Christ belongs to everyone, and many must have him. So he promises he'll be back. By the time he reaches Peter's boat, three men accost him. The first, having been won over by the Lord's words, promises to follow him. He asks what route he intends to take, and is not satisfied with Jesus' first answer - that he is taking the road to Heaven. When he asks in which houses he will stop, Jesus replies that the Son of Man has no place to lay his head, and the man understands that his home is everywhere. The Master then reminds us that we must be sacrificial, obedient, charitable to all, and heal the wounds of our brothers, without distancing ourselves from them because they are in the mud. His interlocutor asks him to try to follow his way, and Jesus actually encourages him to try.
The second man is challenged by the Savior. Christ urges him to follow, but Elijah has lost his father, and Jesus tells him to "let the dead bury their dead". He teaches that the mutilation of affections can serve to give wings to God's servant. As the man ponders, he has a little child pray aloud, and the youngster makes up his mind. Jesus supports him in his effort.
Finally, a third asks him to follow him after saying goodbye to his parents. But there's still too much humanity in him. He has to uproot the roots that are still too deep in the human, and if he can't, he has to pull them out. For to be a disciple, one must be totally free in spirit, and God is demanding. So you have to know how to carry your cross and put your hand to the plough without looking back. Jesus invites this person to work on himself before following him. Then the Master climbs into Peter's boat.
Chapter contents: 178.1: Jesus walks with difficulty through the crowd to the shore. 178.2: A scribe who hesitates to follow Jesus replies: Foxes have their dens, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 178.3: A young man makes up his mind, leaving the dead to bury the dead. 178.4 : A third man will come later: No one who has put his hand to the plough can look back at what he has left.
Previous edition: Tome 3, chapter 38
GRM 179
Chapter title: The parable of the sower. At Chorazeïn with Elijah, the new disciple.
Date of vision: Monday, June 4, 1945
Calendar: Monday, February 21, 28 (8 Adar I 3788) according to maria-valtorta.org or Wednesday, March 1, 28 according to Valtorta.fr
Locations (map):Bethsaida, then Chorazeïn. Jesus then returns to Bethsaida, to Peter's house.
Cycle: Apostolate in Galilee
Summary: Jesus gives a little dictation to explain why the city no longer appears to be on the shores of the lake, but inland. This is explained by the twenty centuries of alluvial deposits brought down by the river and the scree that came down from the Bethsaida hills. Then the vision begins, and Maria sees Jesus and the Twelve land in Bethsaida. They go to her house in Bethsaida, which is not her mother-in-law's in Capernaum. Porphyria is also there.
Peter is very happy, but very grumpy, because they're asking for the Master, and the apostle would like to have him all to himself. He finally confesses that he feels he has retained nothing of Jesus' teachings. When he hears him, he understands everything, but afterwards he remembers nothing, and thinks with terror of the moment when Christ will leave them. The other apostles back him up. Jesus then testifies that every word once planted a seed. A little later, he even evokes the future Pentecost and the eternal Spirit. In the meantime, he asks the apostolic group to take advantage of their private moment to question him, so that he can explain his Word to them. He then takes his leave, bowing to Porphyria to go and speak to those waiting for him.
Jesus then returns briefly to the three men who approached him, in EMV 178, saying that the one whose heart was truly prepared was the one who lost his father. Heroism explains strong spiritual preparation: the most prepared, whatever their caste or culture, come to the Savior with absolute readiness and faith; the least prepared observe Christ as something out of the ordinary; still others denigrate him with various accusations. The chosen people should welcome the Messiah, since they have been prepared by the prophets and see the Redeemer's miracles. But unfortunately, they fight against Him, and in the end it's the pagans who welcome Him. Because the Israelites are saturated with their own wisdom, and don't know how to welcome Christ's wisdom, by accepting what is necessary. The others have no anchor, but rather burdens of error and sin, which they willingly abandon. To explain the different fruits of the same labor, Jesus gives the Gospel parable of the sower.
Jesus then walks away with Peter. He then talks to Elijah of Capernaum, the man who did not bury his father. The latter tells of his mother weeping for her husband, and Jesus decides to go to Chorazeïn, where his new disciple's family is staying. On the way, they see Isaac the Adult, who preached Jesus to Elijah, and the Lord thanks him for his apostolate. He then urges Elijah's brothers to make peace with their younger brother, and their mother helps the Lord to do so. Then they all leave, and the young man follows his Savior.
Chapter contents: 179.1: Jesus comments on the situation in Bethsaida at the time. 179.2: Arrival at Peter's house: he regrets not having Jesus to himself. 179.3: He complains that he listens happily to what Jesus says, but retains nothing. 179.4: Riding in a boat, Jesus comments to the crowd on the varied welcome given to those who wanted to follow him. 179.5: The parable of the sower: the grain that fell on good soil. 179.6: The grain that fell on other kinds of soil. 179.7: Jesus walks towards the bereaved family of the new disciple, in Chorazeïn. 179.8: Jesus thanks Isaac of Chorazeïn, who informs Elijah that his mother has understood his departure. 179.9: Jesus prays at the tomb of Elijah's father. He justifies Elijah's conduct in returning with him to Bethsaida.
Old edition: Tome 3, chapter 39
GRM 179.1 · Volume 3
Jesus says to me showing me the course of the Jordan, or rather, the mouth of the Jordan where it flows into Lake Tiberias, that is where the town of Bethsaida lies on the right bank of the river, with respect to those facing north: «The town nowadays no longer appears to be on the shore of the lake, but a little inland. And that puzzles scholars. The explanation is to be found in the earth that filled this part of the lake, as it was deposited there throughout twenty centuries by the river, by alluvia and landslides from the hills of Bethsaida. The town was then just at the mouth of the river and in fact the smaller boats, particularly in seasons rich in water, used to sail upstream, almost as far as Korazim; the river, however, was always used as a harbour and shelter for the boats of Bethsaida when the lake was very rough. I am not saying this for you, to whom it is of no interest, but for difficult doctors. And now go on.»
GRM 179.3 · Volume 3
Peter then confesses his great grief: «The trouble is that I am a blockhead and my mind wanders easily. When You speak in a square, on a mountain, amongst a large crowd, I understand everything, but I do not know why, I remember nothing. I told also my companions and they say that I am right. Other people, I mean the people who listen to You, understand You and remember what You say. How often have we heard someone say: “I have no longer done that because You told us”, or: “I came because once I heard You say so and so I was impressed by it”. We instead… hum! it’s like a water course which passes by and does not stop. The river bank no longer has the water that has passed by. It is true that other water comes, a great deal of it, but it passes by, it passes by… And I am terrified at the thought that, if what You say will come true, the moment will come when You will no longer be there to play the part of the river and… and I… What will I give to those who are thirsty if I cannot save even one drop of the great lot You give me?»
Also the others support Peter’s moaning, complaining that they are left with nothing of what they hear, whilst they would like to remember everything to reply to those who ask them questions.
Jesus smiles and replies: «I do not think so. People are very satisfied with you as well…»
«Certainly… of course! For all we do! Make room for You, by elbowing our way through the crowds, carrying sick people, collecting alms and saying: “Yes, that is the Master!”. Wonderful, isn’t it?»
«Do not defame yourself too much, Simon.»
«I am not defaming myself. I know myself.»
«That is the most difficult wisdom. But I wish to relieve you of your great fear. When I speak and you cannot understand and remember everything, ask Me without any fear of boring or discouraging Me. We always have some hours of privacy, when you can open your hearts to Me. I give so much to so many. And what would I not give you whom I love so much that God could not love you more? You spoke of waves that pass by and nothing is left on the bank. The day will come when you will realise that every wave has deposited a seed and that a plant has grown from every seed. You will find in front of you flowers and plants for all occasions and you will be amazed at yourself saying: “What has the Lord done to me?” because you will then be redeemed from the slavery of sin and your present virtues will have reached a great height of perfection.»
«You say so, my Lord, and I rest upon Your word.»
GRM 180
Chapter title: Discussion in Peter's kitchen in Bethsaida. Explanation of the parable of the sower. News of John the Baptist's second capture.
Date of vision: Thursday, June 7, 1945
Calendar: Monday, February 21, 28 (8 Adar I 3788) according to maria-valtorta.org or Wednesday, March 1, 28 according to Valtorta.fr
Locations (map):Bethsaida
Cycle: Apostolate in Galilee
Summary: The apostolic group has just had a hearty meal at Peter's house. Porphyria, who must have been preparing it all day, is tired but happy. The apostles discuss among themselves the pride of certain individuals, and Peter predicts that they will treacherously attack the Truth. Thomas wonders if they'll have the strength to resist, and Peter says he wouldn't have it on his own, but trusts in the Lord. Matthew and James of Alphaeus believe that the trial will be proportionate to their strength, and that God will increase theirs according to the battle to be waged. Simon the Zealot then gives his testimony, declaring that it was during his illness that he came to know God. Before that, his faith was nothing but formalism. When he was crushed, he knew how to demolish his ego and encounter the "immanent God above our earthly beings".
Judas rebounds from his statement, for it seems to him that Simon is speaking heresy. The Iscariot argues that we know God through the Law and the prophets, but Israel is more a son of the laws than a Son of the Law, according to Jude. Simon, for his part, explains that we need to have an image of God, with the essential qualities we attribute to the Most High. And the more the soul advances, the more it achieves an exact knowledge of God. Peter supports this, asserting that we then know not only his terrible majesty, but also his very gentle fatherhood. He concludes that we must imitate God as much as possible and be holy like the Father, which offends Judas, who sees it as pride.
Jesus then intervenes and repeats the phrase: "Be perfect as your Father is perfect". Porphyria is pleased with the compliment, and Peter asks for an explanation of the parable of the sower. Christ then prefaces by explaining that much is given to the apostles, for they must understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Twelve give everything to God, so God gives everything to them too. As for the others, the Lord speaks to them in parables, so that they may hear and understand the Word according to their willingness to adhere to God. For few of those who hear God adhere to Him: Israel's heart is closed. As for the prophets, they too returned to darkness after God had given them the light to understand the prophecies. But Jesus reiterates his promise that, even if Peter is unable to retain his word, the eternal Spirit will later enlighten him and his successors, "if they live by God as their only bread".
Now comes the explanation of the parable. There are honest men of good will, prepared "by their own work and that of an apostle". Their fields are fertile and the word of God prospers. Then there are the thorny fields: carelessness "has let penetrate the tangles of personal interests that choke the good seed. They have let themselves go and are no longer watched. There are still fields full of stones. They are "sons of laws", meaning they cultivate all human laws. They create a shell for divine law. The root is no longer nourished and cannot penetrate deep into the earth. They are enthusiastic when they hear the Word, but then they replace it with their human doctrines. It would take heroism to remove these stones. Finally, there are the virgin fields of all weeks are those of the selfish men of the world. "Comfort is their law, enjoyment their goal. Not to tire, to slumber, to laugh, to eat... The spirit of the world is king in them."
Jesus asks if they've understood, and soon after that, John arrives at Peter's house, in tears. Jesus immediately asks where his Mother is - for she was accompanying Zebedee's son - and John assures him that she is well, but he paradoxically tells him of John the Baptist's arrest. He has been betrayed by one of his disciples and caught by Herod. It's a thunderclap for the apostolic troupe, and John is afraid the same thing might happen to the Master. For the time being, Jesus calms him down, and although he controls himself, he suffers. So he goes off to pray, while the apostles are inflamed with anger and sadness. They now fear all things for the Lord and keep watch.
Chapter contents: 180.1: The apostles talk about the coming persecutions and God's support. 180.2: The Zealot talks about his conversion to God. 180.3: Discussion of the notion of an immanent God between the Zealot and Judas. 180.4: Jesus congratulates Peter and Simon the Zealot. 180.5: Why do you speak in parables? 180.6: Explanation of the parable of the sower. 180.7: John emerges dismayed to announce the capture of the Baptist by one of his disciples. 180.8: John fears the same will happen to Jesus. 180.9: The circumstances of the arrest. 180.10: Jesus goes out alone. The fearful apostles keep watch.
Previous edition: Tome 3, chapter 40