Skip to content

Notes for this theme

Virtues and human characteristics of Jesus Christ

Page 3 of 38

Reading comfort

Aa

GRM 36

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Maria saw a very poor house in Egypt. She sees the Child Jesus playing on the ground, at the age of two, two and a half at the most. Mary works at her loom while watching the child. At one point, she hands him his sandals, gives him a kiss, then puts away her loom. She returns, gives the Child her hand, and they leave the house for the street. Finally, she stops at a well. Joseph arrives in the meantime and quickens his pace when he sees his wife and Son. Joseph bends down to give the Child a piece of fruit, and there's a gentle, affectionate embrace between Jesus and his putative father. Joseph rises, taking Jesus in his right arm, and the three of them return to the house. Maria sees them preparing supper and eating together very simply, after praying.

Jesus then gives a dictation, insisting on the humility, resignation and perfect harmony of the Holy Family. Joseph and Mary are the guardians of the Holy Family, but they derive no material benefit from it. They live in poverty, in exile, in a world where people are suspicious of each other because they are strangers. Yet there is peace, serenity and harmony.

In this house, "there are no nervous, touchy people, closed faces or mutual reproaches, and even less reproaches towards God who does not shower them with material well-being." In this house," says Jesus, "we pray, we are frugal, we love work. Humility reigns in the Holy Family, and the supernatural, moral and material order is respected. We respect God (supernatural order), we respect Joseph as father and head of the family (moral order), we thank God for the goods we possess, even if they are poor (material order).

Jesus concludes by inviting us to meditate on this vision.

GRM 37.7

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Many think that I did not suffer as a human being when the holy glance of the guardian of our home was extinguished by death. If I was God, and as such I was aware of the happy destiny of Joseph, and consequently I was not sorry for his death, because after a short time in Limbo, I was going to open Heaven to him, as a Man I cried bitterly in the house now empty and deprived of his presence. I cried over My dead friend, and should I not have cried over My holy friend, on whose chest I had slept when I was a little boy, and from whom I had received so much love in so many years?

Detail

Jesus said:

GRM 38.7

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus is a creature without any physical or moral faults. He will grow, therefore, upright and strong, both in His body and in His spirit.

Detail

Saint Joseph said of his Son:

Keywords

GRM 39.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I see Jesus with His Mother going into the dining room (let us call it so), in Nazareth.

Jesus is a handsome young boy, twelve years old, tall, well built, strong but not fat. He looks older than His years, because of His complexion. He is already tall, in fact He reaches up to the shoulders of His Mother. His face is the rosy round face of a child and later, in His youth and then in His manhood, it will get thinner and thinner and it will become colourless, the colour of some very delicate alabasters with a hue of yellowish pink.

Also His eyes are still the eyes of a child. They are large, wide open when looking, with a sparkle of joy lost in the seriousness of His glance. Later they will not be so wide open… His eyelashes will cover half of them to conceal the excessive wickedness which is in the world, from the Pure and Holy One. Only when working miracles they will be open and bright, even brighter than now… to cast out demons and death, to heal diseases and sins. And they will no longer have that sparkle of happiness mingled with seriousness… death and sin will be more and more present and close, and with them the knowledge, also the human knowledge of the uselessness of His sacrifice, because of the unwillingness and aversion of man. Only in the rarest moments of joy, when He is with faithful believers and particularly with pure people, mostly children, will His holy mild kind eyes shine again with happiness.

But now He is at home with His Mother, in front of Him there is Saint Joseph who is smiling lovingly, and there are His little cousins who admire Him, and His aunt Mary of Alphaeus who is patting Him… He is happy. My Jesus needs love to be happy.

GRM 40

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

The Holy Family arrives at the Temple in Jerusalem. After praying, Joseph and Jesus go to a room where Jesus is examined by doctors of the Law. Joseph introduces them to his Son, then the men address the Child. He declares his name and asserts that he knows how to read symbols and the true meaning of Scripture. Listening to him, the doctors recommend that Joseph entrust him to Hilled or Gamaliel.

Christ is made to read part of the Decalogue. He must continue by heart, and each time he pronounces the Lord's name, he bows. He asserts that if we bow to kings of the earth who are but dust, we must bow even more to the King of Kings, on whom every creature depends.

He was then asked about the Sabbath law and the sanctification of feasts. Does the hen who lays an egg or the ewe who gives birth on that day commit a sin? No, because the beast obeys the Creator's laws and commits no sin. If man makes her work on the Sabbath, it's her master who bears her sin.

The doctors are impressed. They ask a final question by having him read a passage from the second book of Chronicles. This passage, which took place a few centuries earlier, speaks of the scribe Saphan. He reads a book by the priest Elchias before the king and tears his clothes afterwards because the people no longer follow the Lord's prescriptions and his anger is great. Is there a symbol in this text? Jesus replies that it is rare for there not to be, and says that we must not circumscribe in time what is eternal. The Word declares that Israel no longer has the wisdom that comes from God, despite the six hundred and thirteen precepts, for they know them, but no longer put them into practice.

The doctors declare that the child is perfect and of age. The celebration comes to an end, and Joseph and Jesus return to Mary.

GRM 41

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus is alone in Jerusalem. Maria saw him looking in a particular direction, but the vision was short-lived. It resumed later and the mystic discovered the interior of the Temple. There are doctors of the Law there, including Gamaliel, Hillel and Chammaï, who are discussing David's prophecy and the Messiah. The first two argue that the Savior is already on Earth, while the other claims that Iseaël's slavery has only increased and that "the peace that should have been brought by him whom the prophets call 'the Prince of Peace' is far from reigning over the world". Jesus intervenes and declares that Gamaliel is right. He is asked what they are basing this on, and for a while the characters talk about the Nativity and the massacre of the Innocents. Then Hillel asks where the boy's wisdom comes from, and they want to examine him properly. He is given a scroll, and then comes the theme of the Forerunner. Jesus asserts that he is already on earth and that he will shortly precede Christ. Moreover, the Son of Joseph prophesies about the Kingdom of God and the Kingship of Christ, which is entirely spiritual. He even asserts that God's Sanctuary will no longer be torn down and destroyed, and Hillel understands his words by quoting another passage from the Book of Haggai.

Gamaliel then speaks to him of the Peace spoken of by the prophet, and Jesus responds with the words of the Gloria: "Peace to men of good will". However, Israel does not have this good will, so it will not have Peace and will reject its Messiah. Finally, Jesus returns once more to the Forerunner, following a remark by Shammai, asserting that he will shortly precede Christ. He ends by saying that if everyone were just like Hillel, salvation would come to Israel. Hillel offers to stay with him, but the Child says he must remain in solitude. And so the vision ends.

Maria then explains how she knew who Hillel and Gamaliel were (thanks to the voice of her inner counselor). Finally, Jesus gives a dictation on the recovery of Jesus and Mary in the Temple, and the grief of Mary and Joseph. He returns to the famous question, "My son, why have you done this to us?"

GRM 41.3-5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Gamaliel, surrounded by a compact group of disciples, is speaking of the coming of the Messiah, and founding his observations on Daniel’s prophecy, he states that the Messiah must have already been born, because the seventy prophesied weeks, from the time the decree of the reconstruction of the Temple was issued, expired some ten years before. Shammai opposes him stating that, if it is true that the Temple has been rebuilt, it is also true that the slavery of Israel has increased and the peace, which He Whom the prophets called «Prince of Peace» was to bring, is quite far from being in the world and in particular is far from Jerusalem. The town is in fact oppressed by an enemy who is so bold as to exert his domination inside the enclosure of the Temple, dominated by the Antonia Tower, full of Roman legionaries, ready to put down with their swords any riot that may break out for the independence of the country.

The dispute, full of captious objections, is dragged on endlessly. All the doctors show off their learning, not so much to beat their opponents as to display themselves to the admiration of the listeners. Their aims are quite obvious.

41.4 From the close group of the believers the clear voice of a boy is heard: «Gamaliel is right.»

There is a stir in the crowd and in the group of doctors. They look for the interrupter. But it is not necessary to search for him, because he does not hide. He makes his way through the crowd and goes near the group of the «rabbis». I recognise my Jesus adolescent. He is sure of Himself and open-hearted, His eyes are sparkling with intelligence. (...)

«On what do You base Your certainty?» asks Hillel.

(I will now put the names in front of the replies for the sake of brevity and clarity.)

Jesus: «On the prophecy which cannot be wrong about the time and the signs which took place at the time it came true. It is true that Caesar dominates us, but the world and Palestine were in such peace when the seventy weeks expired, that it was possible for Caesar to order the census in his dominions. Had there been wars in the Empire and riots in Palestine, he would not have been able to do so. Just as that time was completed, so the other period of sixty-two weeks plus one from the completion of the Temple is also being completed, so that the Messiah may be anointed and the remainder of the prophecy may come true for the people who did not want Him. Can you doubt that? Do you not remember the star that was seen by the Wise Men from the East, which stopped over the sky in Bethlehem of Judah and that the prophecies and the visions, from Jacob onwards, indicate that place as the one destined as the birthplace of the Messiah, son of the son of Jacob’s son, through David who was from Bethlehem? Do you not remember Balaam? ‘A Star will be born of Jacob’. The Wise Men from the East, whose purity and faith opened their eyes and ears, saw the Star and understood its Name: ‘Messiah’, and they came to worship the Light that had descended into the world.»

41.5 Shammai, glaring at Him: «Do you mean that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem-Ephrathah at the time of the Star?»

Jesus: «I do.»

Shammai: «Then he no longer exists. Don’t you know, Child, that Herod had all the born of woman, from one day up to the age of two years, slaughtered in Bethlehem and surrondings? You, Who are so wise in the Scriptures, must also know this: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah… it is Rachel weeping for her children’. The valleys and the hills in Bethlehem, which gathered the tears of the dying Rachel, were left full of tears, and the mothers have wept again on their slaughtered children. Amongst them, there certainly was the Mother of the Messiah.»

Jesus: «You are wrong, old man. The weeping of Rachel turned into a hosanna, because there, where she gave birth to ‘the son of her sorrow’, the new Rachel has given the world the Benjamin of the Heavenly Father, the Son of His right hand, Him Who is destined to gather the people of God under His sceptre and free it from the most dreadful slavery.»

Shammai: «How can that be, if He was killed?»

Jesus: «Have you not read about Elijah? He was carried off by the chariot of fire. And could the Lord God not have saved his Emmanuel so that He might be the Messiah of his people? He, Who parted the sea in front of Moses, that Israel might walk on dry ground towards its land, could He not have sent His angels to save His Son, His Christ, from the ferocity of man? I solemnly tell you: the Christ is alive and is amongst you, and when His hour comes, He will show Himself in His power.» Jesus, in saying these words, which I have underlined, has a sharp sound in His voice which fills the air. His eyes are brighter than ever, and with the gesture of command and promise He stretches out His right arm and hand and lowers them as if He were swearing. He is a boy, but is as solemn as a man.

Annotation

Daniel 9, 21-27: I was still speaking in prayer when Gabriel - the being I had seen at the beginning of the vision - came swiftly to me at the hour of the evening offering. He instructed me, saying: "Daniel, I have come out now to open your understanding. From the very beginning of your supplication, a word has arisen, and I have come to announce it to you, for you are loved by God. Understand the word and seek to understand the apparition.

Seventy weeks have been set aside for your people and your holy city, to put an end to perversity and put an end to sin, to atone for guilt and bring about eternal justice, to fulfill vision and prophecy, and to consecrate the Holy of Holies. Know and understand! From the moment the order to rebuild Jerusalem was given until the coming of a messiah, a leader, there will be seven weeks. For sixty-two weeks, the squares and walls will be rebuilt, but it will be in the distress of the times. And after the sixty-two weeks, a messiah will be removed. The people of a future leader will destroy the city and the Holy Place. Then, in a flood, its end will come. Until the end of the war, the devastations decided upon will take place.

For a week, this ruler will strengthen the covenant with a multitude; for half the week, he will cause the sacrifice and offering to cease, and on one wing of the Temple there will be the Abomination of Desolation, until the decided extermination grounds the author of this desolation."

GRM 41.9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

41.9 Shammai and his followers: «This Nazarene is Satan!»

Hillel and his followers: «No. This child is a Prophet of God. Stay with me, Child. My old age will transfuse what I know into Your knowledge and You will be Master of the people of God.»

Jesus: «I solemnly tell you that if there were many like you, salvation would come to Israel. But My hour has not come. Voices from Heaven speak to Me and in solitude I must gather them until My hour comes. Then with My lips and My blood I will speak to Jerusalem, and the destiny of Prophets stoned and killed by her, will also be My destiny. But above My life there is the Lord God, to Whom I submit Myself as a faithful servant, to make of Myself a stool for His glory, waiting that He will make the world a stool at the feet of Christ. Wait for Me in My hour. These stones shall hear My voice again and vibrate hearing My last word. Blessed are those who in that voice will have heard God and believed in Him because of it. To them Christ will give that kingdom which your selfishness imagines to be a human one, whereas it is a heavenly one and therefore I say: ‘Here is Your servant, Lord, Who has come do to Your will. Let it be consummated, because I am eager to fulfil it’.»

Detail

Jesus answers the doctors in the Temple.