Skip to content

Notes for this theme

The Catholic Church

Page 43 of 274

Reading comfort

Aa

GRM 46.8

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Adore me. I will give You the earth. Alexander, Cyrus, Caesar, all the great rulers, past or present, will be like the leaders of miserable caravans as compared with You, as You shall have the kingdoms of the world under Your sceptre. And with the kingdoms, all the wealth, all the beautiful things on earth, women, horses, armies and temples. You will be able to raise Your Sign everywhere when You are the King of kings and the Lord of the world. You will then be obeyed and respected both by the people and by the priesthood. All classes will honour and serve You, because You will be the Powerful One, the Only One, the Lord.

Adore me for one moment only! Appease this thirst of mine for being worshipped! It ruined me, but it is still left in me, and I am parched by it. The flames of hell are like a fresh morning breeze as compared to this fierce ardour burning inside me. It is my hell, this thirst. One moment, one moment only, Christ. You are so good! One moment of joy for the eternally Tortured One! Let me feel, what it is like to be god, and I will be a devoted, obedient servant for all Your life and all Your enterprises. One instant, one instant only, and I will no longer torture You!»

And Satan falls on his knees, imploring.

46.9

Jesus, instead, stands up. He has lost weight because of the long days of fast, and He now looks taller. His face is terribly severe and strong. His eyes are two burning sapphires. His voice is like thunder: it reverberates in the cave of the huge stone, and spreads over the stony, desolate plain when He cries: «Go away, Satan. It is written: “You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone”.»

Satan, with a cry of fearful torture and indescribable hatred, springs to his feet, a dreadful sight in his furious, smoky figure. And he disappears with a last cursing yell.

Detail

In the desert, Satan tempts Christ. After telling him about the woman and offering to satisfy his hunger, he tells him about the Temple, but Jesus tells him not to tempt the Lord God. So Satan offers to worship him.

GRM 46.10

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

46.10 Jesus is tired, and sits down, leaning back with His head resting on the stone. He looks exhausted. He is perspiring. But angels come to blow gently with their wings in the closeness of the cave, thus purifying and refreshing the air. Jesus opens His eyes, and smiles. I do not see Him eat. I would say that He is nourished by the aroma of Paradise and is reinvigorated by it.

The sun has set in the west. He takes His empty haversack and in the company of the angels who, flying above His head emit a mild light while it is getting dark very rapidly, He starts walking eastwards, or rather north-eastwards. He has resumed His usual expression, His step is steady. The only remaining sign of His long fast is a more ascetic look on His pale, thin face and in His eyes, enraptured in a joy which does not belong to this world.

Detail

Christ has just been tempted by Satan in the desert, and Satan has just left with a cry of curse.

GRM 46.12-15

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

46.12 As you have seen kindness is always Satan’s disguise when he presents himself. He looks like an ordinary person. If souls are careful, and above all, if they are in spiritual contact with God, they perceive the warning that makes them cautious and prepares them to fight the devil’s snares. But if souls are distracted, separated from God by an overwhelming sensuality, and are not assisted by prayer, which joins them to God and pours strength into the hearts of men, then they seldom perceive the snares hidden under the innocent appearance and they fall into the trap. It is then very difficult for them to free themselves.

46.13 The two most common means adopted by Satan to conquer souls are sensuality and gluttony. He always starts from material things. Once he has dismantled and subdued the material side, he attacks the spiritual part.

First the morals: thoughts with their pride and greed; then the spirit, obliterating not only its love — which no longer exists when man replaces divine love with other human loves — but also the fear of God. Then man surrenders his body and soul to Satan, only for the sake of enjoying what he wants, and enjoying it more and more.

46.14 You saw how I behaved. Silence and prayer. Silence. Because if Satan performs his work of a seducer and comes close to us, we must put up with the situation without any foolish impatience or cowardly fears. We must react with resolution to his presence, and with prayer to his allurements.

It is useless to debate with Satan. He would win, because he is strong in his dialectics. Only God can beat him. And so you must have recourse to God, that He may speak for you, through you. You must show Satan that Name and that Sign, not so much written on paper or engraved on wood, but written and engraved in your hearts. My Name, My Sign. You should answer back to Satan, using the word of God, only when he insinuates that he is like God. He cannot bear that.

46.15 Then after the struggle, there comes victory and the angels serve and defend the winner from Satan’s hatred. They restore him with celestial dews, with the Grace that they pour with full hands into the heart of the faithful son, with a blessing that caresses his soul.

One must be determined to defeat Satan, and have faith in God, and in His help. Faith in the power of prayer, and in the Lord’s bounty. Then Satan can do no harm.

Go in peace. This evening I will gladden you with the remainder.»

GRM 46.13

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The two most common means adopted by Satan to conquer souls are sensuality and gluttony. He always starts from material things. Once he has dismantled and subdued the material side, he attacks the spiritual part.

First the morals: thoughts with their pride and greed; then the spirit, obliterating not only its love — which no longer exists when man replaces divine love with other human loves — but also the fear of God. Then man surrenders his body and soul to Satan, only for the sake of enjoying what he wants, and enjoying it more and more.

GRM 46.14

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

It is useless to debate with Satan. He would win, because he is strong in his dialectics. Only God can beat him. And so you must have recourse to God, that He may speak for you, through you. You must show Satan that Name and that Sign, not so much written on paper or engraved on wood, but written and engraved in your hearts. My Name, My Sign. You should answer back to Satan, using the word of God, only when he insinuates that he is like God. He cannot bear that.

GRM 46.15

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

After the struggle, there comes victory and the angels serve and defend the winner from Satan’s hatred. They restore him with celestial dews, with the Grace that they pour with full hands into the heart of the faithful son, with a blessing that caresses his soul.

One must be determined to defeat Satan, and have faith in God, and in His help.

Detail

Jesus talks about temptation.

GRM 47

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus walks near the ford of the Jordan. A group passes by, and among them are John and James of Zebedee. It is John who notices the Master and naturally goes towards Him, while his brother follows behind. He greets him, calling him the Lamb of God. Jesus asks him whom he is looking for, and the Beloved replies that he is looking for the Master. He knows this because John the Baptist told him so, and he calls him Lamb because that's what he heard the Forerunner call him. John the Baptist is now imprisoned, and they no longer have their guide. However, John shows up, and he introduces James. He asks where Jesus lives, and Jesus points out that whoever follows him will have to abandon everything: "home, parents, way of thinking, even life." He's not a rich man, and you have to be spiritually reborn in God to follow him. The two men nevertheless want to follow him, and Jesus accepts their request.

Christ then gives two dictations. The first deals with purity and virginity, including consecrated virginity. He explains that "there are many ways of being a virgin", and returns to those who make a vow to the Lord. If souls make a vow, but give in to sensuality (even that of thought), they are only half virgins.

The Master then returns to his own temptation in the desert and the sensuality the Devil proposed. Then he dwells on the pure, who see God. Finally, he focuses on John, the Pure One among the disciples, who was his first disciple.

GRM 47.1-3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

47.1 I see Jesus walking along the green strip of vegetation that borders the Jordan. He has gone back to the same place where He was baptised. He is near the ford that apparently was well known and commonly used to cross to the other bank towards Perea. But the place, which was so crowded before, is now deserted. There are only a few travellers going on foot, or riding donkeys or horses.

Jesus does not seem to be aware of them. He proceeds along His way, northwards, absorbed in His thoughts. When He reaches the ford, He meets a group of men of different ages, who are discussing animatedly, and then they part, some southwards, some northwards.

Amongst those going northwards, I see John and James.

47.2 John is the first to see Jesus, and he points Him out to his brother and companions. They talk a little amongst themselves, and then John starts walking quickly to reach Jesus. James follows him, walking a little slower. The others do not show any interest. They walk slowly while discussing.

When John is near Jesus, about two or three metres behind Him, he shouts: «Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world!»

Jesus turns around and looks at him. There are now only a few steps between them. They look at each other: Jesus with His serious, scrutinising look, John with his pure eyes smiling in his beautiful, youthful face, that looks like the face of a girl. He is about twenty years old, and on his rosy cheeks there is only the sign of a blond down, like a golden veil.

«Whom are you looking for?» asks Jesus.

«For You, Master.»

«How do you know I am a Master?»

«The Baptist told me.»

«Well then, why do you call Me Lamb?»

«Because I heard him call You so one day, when You were passing by, just over a month ago.»

«What do you want from Me?»

«I want You to tell us words of eternal life and to comfort us.»

«But who are you?»

«I am John of Zebedee, and this is James, my brother. We are from Galilee, and we are fishermen. But we are also disciples of John. He spoke words of life to us and we listened to him, because we want to follow God and deserve His forgiveness doing penance and thus prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah. You are the Messiah. John said so, because he saw the sign of the Dove descending on You. He said to us: “Here is the Lamb of God”. I say to you: Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, give us peace, because we no longer have anyone who may guide us, and our souls are upset.»

«Where is John?»

«Herod has taken him. He is in prison, at Machaerus. The most faithful amongst his disciples have tried to free him. But it is not possible. We are coming from there.

47.3 Let us come with You, Master. Show us where You live.»

«Come. But do you know what you are asking for? He who follows Me will have to leave everything: his home, his relatives, his way of thinking, also his life. I will make you My disciples and My friends, if you wish so. But I have neither wealth nor protection. I am poor, and I shall be even poorer, to the extent of not having a place where I may rest My head and I will be persecuted by My enemies, even more than a lost sheep is pursued by wolves. My doctrine is even more rigid than John’s, because it forbids also resentment. And My doctrine is concerned not so much with external matters, as it is with the soul. You must be re-born if you want to be My disciples. Are you willing to do that?»

«Yes, Master. Only You have words that can give us light. They descend upon us, and where there was darkness and desolation because we had no guide, they shed light and sunshine.»

«Come, then. Let us go. I will teach you on our way.»

Detail

In 47.2, John's physical description.

Annotation

John 1:35-39:

Still the next day, John was there with two of his disciples. Looking at Jesus coming and going, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God! The two disciples heard what he said, and followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw that they were following him, and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They replied, "Rabbi - which means Master - where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour (about four o'clock in the afternoon).

GRM 47.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

»

«But who are you?»

«I am John of Zebedee, and this is James, my brother. We are from Galilee, and we are fishermen. But we are also disciples of John. He spoke words of life to us and we listened to him, because we want to follow God and deserve His forgiveness doing penance and thus prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah. You are the Messiah. John said so, because he saw the sign of the Dove descending on You. He said to us: “Here is the Lamb of God”. I say to you: Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, give us peace, because we no longer have anyone who may guide us, and our souls are upset.»

«Where is John?»

«Herod has taken him. He is in prison, at Machaerus. The most faithful amongst his disciples have tried to free him. But it is not possible. We are coming from there.

GRM 47.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«I am John of Zebedee, and this is James, my brother. We are from Galilee, and we are fishermen. But we are also disciples of John. He spoke words of life to us and we listened to him, because we want to follow God and deserve His forgiveness doing penance and thus prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah. You are the Messiah. John said so, because he saw the sign of the Dove descending on You. He said to us: “Here is the Lamb of God”. I say to you: Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, give us peace (...) »

Detail

John of Zebedee spoke to Jesus and said: