«Benjamin, did you like My story? Yes? Go Where is your mother?»
James of Alphaeus replies: «She went out at the end of the parable and ran along that road.»
«She may have gone to the seaside to see whether her husband is coming» says Thomas.
«No. She has gone to her old mother’s, to get the children. Mummy takes them there so that she can work» says the little boy, who is leaning familiarly on Jesus’ knees.
«And she keeps you here, my little man? You must be a handsome evil-doer if she keeps you here all by yourself!» remarks Bartholomew.
«I am the eldest, and I help her…»
«You help her to gain Paradise, poor woman! How old are you?» asks Peter.
«In three years’ time I will be a son of the Law» replies the urchin proudly.
«Can you read?» asks Thaddeus.
«Yes… but very slowly… because the teacher throws me out almost every day…»
«What did I say!» exclaims Bartholomew.
«But I behave like that because the teacher is old and ugly and says the same things all the time and makes you fall asleep! If he were like Him (and he points to Jesus) I would pay attention. Do You hit those who sleep or play?»
«I do not hit anybody. But I say to My pupils: “Pay attention for your own good and for My sake”» replies Jesus.
«Yes, that’s all right! Out of love, not out of fear.»
«But if you are good, the teacher will love you.»
«Do You love only those who are good? You just said that You were patient with this man here, who was not good…» The child’s logic is cogent.
«I am good with everybody. But when one becomes good, I love that one very much and I am very good, too.»
The boy is pensive… he then looks up and asks Matthew: «And what did you do to become good?»
«I loved Him.»
184.7
The boy becomes pensive again and then looking at the Twelve asks Jesus: «Are they all good?»
«Of course they are.»
«Are you sure? I sometimes behave as a good boy, but that is when… I am thinking of some big mischief.»
They all burst into laughter. Also the little fellow, who is in a confessing humour, laughs. Also Jesus laughs pressing him to His heart and kissing him.
The boy, who is now friendly with everybody, wants to play and says: «I will now tell You who is good» and he begins his selection. He looks at them all and goes straight to John and Andrew who are nearby and says: «You and you. Come here.» He then chooses the two Jameses and places them with the other two. He then takes Thaddeus. He is quite pensive in front of the Zealot and Bartholomew and says: «You are old, but good» and he joins them to the others. He examines Peter, who undergoes the examination, jokingly frowning at him, and finds him to be good. Also Matthew and Philip pass the test. He says to Thomas: «You laugh too much. I am in earnest. Don’t you know that my teacher says that he who always laughs fails in the test?» After all, Thomas too passes his examination, but with low marks. The boy then goes back to Jesus.
«Hey, you urchin! I am here, too! I am not a tree. I am young and handsome. Why don’t you examine me?» says the Iscariot.
«Because I don’t like you. My mother says that when you don’t like something, you must not touch it. You just leave it on the table, so that other people, who may like it, can take it. And she also says that if you are offered something you do not like, you must not say: “I do not like it”. But you say: “Thank you, but I am not hungry”. And I do not hunger for you.»
«Why not? Look, if you say that I am good, I will give you this coin.»
«What am I going to do with it? What can I buy with a lie? Mummy says that money which is the fruit of deceit, becomes straw. Once at my grandmother’s, I got them to give me a didrachma by telling a lie because I wanted to buy some honey-cakes, and during the night it turned into straw. I put it in that hole over there, under the door, to take it the following morning, but I found a handful of straw in its place.»
«But how can you see that I am not good? What is wrong with me? Am I lame? Am I ugly looking?»
«No. But you frighten me.»
«Why?» asks the Iscariot going near him.
«I don’t know. Leave me alone. Don’t touch me or I will scratch you.»
«What a hedgehog! You are silly.» Judas gives a forced laugh.
«I am not silly. You are bad» and the boy takes shelter in the lap of Jesus, Who caresses him without speaking.
The apostles make fun of the situation which is not very pleasant to the Iscariot.