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Notes for this theme

Evangelism and the Word of God

Page 5 of 29

Reading comfort

Aa

GRM 67.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Love. I say nothing else. Love your neighbour as the Lord God of Israel prescribes. Do not always be of Cain’s blood. And why are you so? For the sake of a few coins, you who might have become murderers. For a few palms of land. For a better position. For a woman. What are such things? Are they eternal? No. They last less than a lifetime, which lasts an instant of eternity. And what do you lose if you follow them? The eternal peace promised to the just, and which the Messiah will bring you together with His Kingdom. Come on to the way of Truth. Follow the Voice of God. Love one another. Be honest. Be moderate. Be humble and fair. Go and meditate.

GRM 70.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I ask you to evangelise him with your faith, your charity, your purity (...). It is a land defiled by stagnant waters. It must be dried up by the sun of love, purified by the integrity of thoughts, desires and deeds, and cultivated with faith. You can do that.

Detail

Jesus speaks to John about Judas. His words can potentially apply to all evangelists and all Christians.

GRM 70.8

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

He is the one who divests himself also of his own way of thinking and judging, in order to be “the disciple”. He is the one who gives himself without wishing to withhold even a particle of himself, as his self was before becoming a disciple. Judas is the one who does not want to divest himself of himself. His donation is therefore unreal. He carries with himself his ego diseased with pride, sensuality and greed. He maintains his way of thinking. And he thus counteracts the effect of the donation and of Grace.

Judas: the first of all the apostles who failed. And they are so many! John: the first of those who become victims out of love for Me. And you are one of them.

My Mother and I are the sublime Victims. It is difficult to reach us, in fact it is impossible, because our sacrifice was of total bitterness. But My John! He is the victim that all My lovers can imitate: virgins, martyrs, confessors, evangelisers, servants of God and of the Mother of God, devoted to activity or contemplation: he is an example for everyone. He is the one who loves.

Note their different ways of reasoning. Judas investigates, quibbles, is obstinate, even when he pretends to give in, he still has mental reservations. John feels he is nothing, he accepts everything, he does not ask for reasons, he is satisfied with making Me happy. That is the example.

Detail

Jesus tells Maria about John and says:

GRM 72.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

If He promises to dress our intellectual and spiritual misery with the brightness of the power His Father gives Him for us, we must be certain that He will do so and that we will be successful, not by ourselves, but through His mercy. All this will most certainly happen, providing our deeds are free from pride and human ambitions. I think that if we contaminate our mission, which is entirely a spiritual one, with earthly ingredients, then also Christ’s promise will no longer stand. Not because of any inability on His part, but because we shall strangle such ability with the rope of pride.

Detail

Simon the Zealot speaks of Jesus and says:

GRM 76.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

76.6 Do you want to be My disciple, Isaac?»

«Oh! But I am not capable!»

«Can you avow Who I am? Avow it against jeers and threats? And tell people that I called you and you came?»

«Even if You did not want, I would avow all that. I would disobey You in that, Master. Forgive me for saying so.»

Jesus smiles. «You can see then that you are capable of becoming a disciple!»

«Oh! If that’s all one has to do! I thought it was more difficult, that we had to go to school with the rabbis to learn how to serve You, the Rabbi of rabbis… and to go to school at my age…» The man in fact must be at least fifty years old.

«You have done your schooling already, Isaac.»

«Me? No.»

«Yes, you have. Have you not continued to believe and love, to respect and bless God and your neighbour, not to be envious, not to wish what belongs to other people, and even what was your own and you no longer possessed, to speak only the truth, even if it should be harmful to you, not to associate with Satan committing sins? Have you not done all these things, in the last thirty years of misfortunes?»

«Yes, Master.»

«So you see, you have done your schooling. Go on doing so and reveal, in addition, to the world, that I am in the world. There is nothing else to be done.»

Detail

Jesus asks Isaac to follow him and be a disciple, but Isaac thinks he won't know how to act well.

GRM 78.9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Master, Saul died enraptured by the Spirit of God. We touched him, are we clean or unclean?»

«Unclean.»

«And what about You?»

«I am just like the others. I do not change the Law. The Law is law and an Israelite fulfils it. We are unclean. Within the third and the seventh day we shall get purified. Till then, we are unclean. Judas, I am not going back to your mother’s. I do not want to take uncleanliness to her home. Send her word by someone who can go there. Peace to this town. Let us go.»

I do not see anything else.

GRM 79.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Why give scandal lacking respect for the Law? One must walk in front of the others if one wants to say: “Follow me”. And to lead people on to a holy path, one must walk on the same path. How could I have said, or how could I say: “Be faithful”, if I were without faith?»