Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 188.6 · Volume 3
I will reply to you with eternal words, because they are words of the Book, and the Book will exist as long as man exists. Believed or mocked at, employed to defend the truth or scorned at, it will always exist.
About the Bible.
GRM 188.6 · Volume 3
What more do you wish to know than the Word already tells you? What more do you wish to perform than your goodness and My power enable you to perform? Do not crave for sin, but for holiness, son.
GRM 188.6 · Volume 3
Put wings as bright as the sun, wings of an angel on your spirit. By the simple breeze caused by flapping them you will attract hearts and will lead them in your wake to God.
GRM 191.3-4 · Volume 3
One of them, a rather elderly man, is pressing to his side a boy about ten years old; he eats and weeps.
«What is the matter, father?…» asks Jesus.
«It’s because Your goodness is too great…»
The man from Endor says in his guttural voice: «That is true… and it makes you weep. But the tears are not bitter ones…»
«They are not bitter. That’s true. And then… There is something I would like. My tears express also a desire.»
«What do you want, father?»
«See this child. He is my grandson. He was left to me after the landslide of last winter. Doras does not even know that he has come to me, because I have to let him live like a wild animal in the wood and I see him only on the Sabbath. If he finds out he will either drive him away or compel him to work… and this tender offspring of mine will be treated worse than a pack animal. At Passover I am sending him to Jerusalem with Micah, to become a son of the Law… and after?… He is my daughter’s son…»
«Would you give him to Me, instead? Do not weep. I have many friends who are honest, holy and without any children. They will bring him up in a holy manner, in My Way…»
«Oh! Lord! That is what I have been wishing for since I heard of You. And I prayed that holy man Jonah to save my grandchild from this death, because he knows what it means to belong to this master…»
«Child, would you come with Me?»
«Yes, my Lord. And I will cause You no grief.»
«That is settled.»
191.4
«But… to whom do You wish to give him?» asks Peter pulling Jesus by the sleeve. «Also this one to Lazarus?»
«No, Simon. But there are so many without any children…»
«And I am one of them…» Peter’s desire seems to make his face grow thinner.
«Simon. I have already told you. You are to be the “father” of all the children I will bequeath to you. But you are not to be bound by any child of your own. Do not be upset. You are too important to your Master, Who cannot detach you from Himself because of an affection. I am exacting, Simon. I am more exacting than a very jealous husband. I love you most partially and I want you to be entirely Mine.»
«All right, my Lord… all right… Let it be done as You wish.» Poor Peter is really heroic in adhering to Jesus’ will.
«He will be the son of My dawning Church. All right? He will belong to everybody and to nobody. He will be “our” child. He will follow us when distances will allow him to, or he will come to us and the shepherds will be his guardians, as in every child they love “their” Child Jesus. Come here, My child, what is your name?»
«Jabez of John and I am from Judah» says the boy without hesitating.
«Yes. We are Judaeans» confirms the old man. «I used to work in Doras’ lands in Judaea, and my daughter got married to a man from that area. He worked in the woods near Arimathea and last winter…»
«I saw the disaster.»
«The boy was spared because that night he was far away with a relative… In actual fact the boy was appropriately named Jabez. I said to my daughter at once: “Why? Do you not remember the ancient tradition?”. But her husband insisted in giving him that name, so he is Jabez[1].»
«“The child will call on the Lord and the Lord will bless him and will extend his lands, and the hand of the Lord will be with him and will keep harm away from him”. That is what the Lord will grant him to comfort you, father, and the souls of the dead, and to console the orphan.
"Simon, I told you", in EMV 104.5. The last mention of Lazarus is in connection with the event reported in EMV 172.11.
"I saw the catastrophe", in EMV 139.2.
"Why this name? Don't you remember the old one? " (...) " The child will call upon the Lord and the Lord will bless him and enlarge his borders; the hand of the Lord is in his hand and he will no longer be burdened by misfortune. " The quotation is taken from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
First Book of Chronicles 4, 9-10
1 Ch 4, 9-10 : Yabesh was more honored than his brothers. His mother gave him the name Yabés (i.e.: In sorrow), saying: "I gave birth in distress." Yabes invoked the God of Israel, saying: "If indeed you bless me, you will enlarge my territory, your hand will be with me, and you will remove misfortune from me, so that my distress will end." And God granted him what he had asked for.
GRM 191.7 · Volume 3
It is not fair that a blessed soul should leave my bosom to go and be insulted by the sons of the Enemy. The time of insults is over for such souls. They are now in peace by the order of God Who sees that it is useless to endeavour to convert those who do not even believe in the word of God and do not practice it.
In the parable of Lazarus and the poor rich man, Abraham speaks and says the following.
GRM 192.7 · Volume 3
They enter the town and Peter with his little friend goes to buy sandals.
«That man is dying for a son» says the Zealot, and he concludes: «He is right.»
«I will give you thousands. Now let us go and look for a place to rest, so that tomorrow we can start at dawn.»
GRM 193.4 · Volume 3
Do not become too attached to him! Or rather: love him as if he were your own son, but with a supernatural spirit.
Jesus tells Peter about Marziam, an orphan who is too weak to follow them on the roads of Palestine. He will have to entrust him to disciples, and teaches Peter to love him with a supernatural spirit.
GRM 194.4 · Volume 3
«Well! Let us go on. Towards the Holy City. We must arrive there tomorrow, towards evening. Why such a hurry? Can you tell me? Is it not the same if we arrive the day after tomorrow?»
«No. It would not be the same. Because tomorrow is Parasceve and after sunset one can walk only for six stadia. You are not allowed to go farther because the Sabbath and its rest have begun.»
«So one idles about on the Sabbath.»
«No. You pray to the Most High Lord.»
«What is His name?»
«Adonai. But saints can pronounce His name.»
«Also good children. Tell Me if you know.»
«Jaave» (the boy pronounces it thus: a very soft G, which is almost a J, and a very long ‘a’).
«And why does one pray to the Most High Lord on the Sabbath?»
«Because He told Moses, when He gave him the tables of the Law.»
«Oh! Did He? And what did He say?»
«He said that we must keep it holy. “For six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day you shall rest and make others rest, because that is what I did, too, after the creation”.»
«What? Did the Lord rest? Did He become tired creating? And was it He Who created? How do you know? I know that God never tires.»
«He was not tired, because God does not walk and does not move His arms. But He did it, to teach Adam and us, and to have a day on which we think of Him. And He created everything, most certainly. The Book of the Lord tells us.»
«But was the Book written by Him?»
«No. But it is the Truth. And one must believe it unless one wants to go to Lucifer.»
«You said that God does not walk and does not move His arms. How did He create then? What is He like? A statue?»
«He is not an idol: He is God. And God is… God is… let me think and remember what my mother said, and even better than she did, that man who, in Your name goes to visit the poor people at Esdraelon… My mother used to say, to make me understand God: “God is like my love for you. It has no body, but it exists”. And that little man, but with such a gentle smile, would say: “God is an Eternal Spirit, One and Triune, and the Second Person became flesh for the sake of us, poor people, and His name is… “ Oh! My Lord! Now that I think of it… it’s You!» The child, dumbfounded, prostrates himself on the ground adoring.
They all run thinking that he has fallen, but Jesus with His finger on His lips beckons them to be silent and then says: «Stand up, Jabez. Children must not be afraid of Me!»
The boy looks up reverently and looks at Jesus with a changed expression, almost of fear.
But Jesus smiles and stretches out His hand saying: «You are a wise little Israelite.»
GRM 195.3-4 · Volume 3
Peter’s attention is completely diverted by the apparition of the Holy City, which is now near and is visible in all the beauty of hills, olive-groves, houses, and above all of the Temple, a sight which must always have been a source of emotion and pride for Israelites. The warm April sun of Judaea has soon dried up the slabstones of the consular road. Puddles of water have disappeared completely. The apostles are tidying themselves on the side of the road, they let down the tunics which they had pulled up, they wash their muddy feet in a clear stream, they tidy their hair and drape their mantles. Also Jesus does that. I see them all doing it.
195.4
The entrance into Jerusalem must have been an important matter. To present oneself at the walls on these feast-days was like presenting oneself to a sovereign. The Holy City was the «real» queen of Israelites. I realise that this year, because I can notice the crowds and their behaviour on the consular road. The processions of the various families form here, the women in one group, the men in another, the children in either, but all very serious and serene at the same time. Some fold up their old mantles and pull out a new one from their travelling bags, or change sandals. Their gait then becomes solemn, it is already hieratic. In each group there is a soloist who gives the tone, and the hymns, the glorious old hymns of David, are intoned. And people look at one another more lovingly, as if they had been pacified by the sight of the House of the Lord and they look at the Holy House, a huge cube of marble surmounted by golden domes, placed like a pearl in the centre of the imposing enclosure of the Temple.
The apostolic procession is formed as follows: Jesus and Peter in front, with the boy between them; behind them Simon, the Iscariot and John; then Andrew, who has forced John of Endor to stay between him and James of Zebedee; in the fourth row the two cousins of the Lord and Matthew; last Thomas, Philip and Bartholomew. It is Jesus Who intones in His beautiful powerful voice of a light baritone, a mellow voice with refined tenor vibrations, and Judas Iscariot, a pure tenor, answers together with John, with his limpid voice typical of young people, the two baritone voices of Jesus’ cousins and the almost bass voice of Thomas, whose baritone voice is so deep that it can hardly be classifed as such. The others, who are not gifted with such beautiful voices, follow the chorus of the virtuosi singing in low voices. (The psalms are the known ones, called gradual psalms[3]). Little Jabez, the voice of an angel among the strong voices of men, sings very well, probably because he knows Psalm 121 better than the others: «How I rejoiced when they said to me: “We shall go to the house of the Lord”.» His little face, which only a few days ago was so sad, is now bright with joy.
The walls are now close at hand. Here is the Gate of the Fish. And the overcrowded streets.
They go straight to the Temple to say the first prayer. And then peace in the peace of Gethsemane, then supper and rest.
The journey towards Jerusalem is over.
Peter is distracted by the appearance of the Holy City.
The psalms are the well-known psalms, known as graduals. These are Ps 120 to 134, also known as "canticles of ascent", according to the new numbering. Ps 121, quoted below, has become Ps 122.
Additional note from maria-valtorta.org:
THE 15 GRADUALS: are Psalms 119 (Hebrew 120) to 133 (Hebrew 134), also known as CANTIQUES DES MONTÉES. They were sung on the three pilgrimage feasts by pilgrims or priests on the fifteen steps leading up to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Little Yabeç, with his angelic voice amidst the robust voices of men, sings Psalm 121 very well - because he perhaps knows it better than the others: "I rejoiced because it was said to me, 'We will go to the house of the Lord. " Psalm 121 (Hebrew 122): 'How glad I was when it was said to me, "We will go to the house of the Lord!" ...
This is the Pisces Gate. North of Jerusalem, right next to the Temple.
GRM 196.4 · Volume 3
A man, besides being the husband of his wife, is a teacher and a father to her; and a woman is an angel and a mother to her husband, besides being his wife.