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Facts about the apostles

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GRM 175.3-5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The people throng around the Master, forming a circle which does not want to open at any cost. But the sun has set and the Sabbath rest begins. The villages are far away. But the people do not pine for their villages, their food or anything else. But the apostles are worried about it and they tell Jesus. Also the elder disciples are worried. There are women and children, and while the night is mild and the grass of the meadow is soft, the stars are not bread. Neither do stones become food.

Jesus is the only one who does not trouble. The people in the meantime eat the remains of their food without any worry and Jesus points it out to His apostles: «I solemnly tell you that these people are worth more than you are! Look how thoughtlessly they are finishing everything. I said to them: “Those who cannot believe that God will provide food for His children tomorrow, may go away”, and they stayed. God will not belie His Messiah and will not disappoint those who hope in Him.»

The apostles shrug their shoulders and do not show concern for anything else.

It is nightfall after a placid, beautiful red sunset and the silence of the country spreads over everything after the last choir of birds. There is a light whispering of the wind and then the first mute flight of a night bird, the first star appears and a frog croaks.

The children are already asleep. The adults are talking among themselves and now and again someone goes to the Master asking for clarification of some point or other.

175.4

So no one is surprised when a person, imposing by look, garments and age, is seen coming from a path between two corn fields. Some men are following him. Everybody turns around to look at him and they point him out to one another whispering. The whispering spreads from one group to another, it revives and fades away. The groups that are farther away come near drawn by curiosity.

The noble looking man reaches Jesus, Who is sitting at the foot of a tree listening to some men, and bows down before Him. Jesus stands up at once and responds with equal respect to the greeting. The people present are watching attentively.

«I was up on the mountain and perhaps You thought that I did not have faith as I went away for fear of having to fast. But I went away for another reason. I wanted to be a brother among brothers, the eldest brother. I would like to speak to You aside. Can You listen to me? Although a scribe, I am not Your enemy.»

«Let us move away a little…» and they go into the corn field.

«I wanted to provide some food for the pilgrims and I came down to tell the baker to bake bread for a large crowd. You can see that I am at a legal distance, because these fields belong to me, and it is lawful to walk from here to the top on a Sabbath. It was my intention to come up tomorrow with my servants. But I found out that You are here with the crowd. I beg You to allow me to provide for the Sabbath. Otherwise I would be very sorry that I had to forego Your words for nothing.»

«For nothing, no, never, because the Father would have compensated you with His light. But I thank you and will not disappoint you. I only wish to point out that the crowd is very large.»

«I asked them to heat all the ovens, also the ones used to dry foodstuffs and I will succeed in having bread for everybody.»

«I did not mean that. I was referring to the quantity of bread…»

«That does not trouble me. Last year I had a good crop of corn. You have seen what the ears of corn are like this year. Let me do it. It will be the greatest protection for my fields. After all, Master… You gave me such bread today… You really are the Bread of the spirit!…»

«Let it be done as you wish. Let us go and tell the pilgrims.»

«No. You said so.»

«Are you a scribe?»

«Yes, I am.»

«May the Lord take you where your heart deserves.»

«I understand what You mean but do not say, You mean: to the Truth. Because great are our errors… and our ill-will.»

«Who are you?»

«A son of God. Pray the Father for me. Goodbye.»

«Peace be with you.»

175.5

Jesus goes slowly back to His apostles while the man goes away with his servants.

«Who was he? What did he want? Did he say something unpleasant to You? Has he sick people?» Jesus is flooded with questions.

«I do not know who he is. Or rather, I know that he is goodhearted and that…»

«He is John, the scribe» says one of the crowd.

«Well, I know now, because you said so. He only wanted to be the servant of God with His children. Pray for him because tomorrow we shall all have food, thanks to his goodness.»

«He is really a just man» says one.

«Yes, indeed. I do not know how he can be the friend of others» remarks another one.

«He is swathed in scruples and rules like a baby, but he is not a bad man» concludes a third one.

«Do these fields belong to him?» ask many who are not from this part of the country.

«Yes, they do. I think that the leper was one of his servants or peasants. But he allowed him to stay around here and I think that he also fed him.»

The comments continue but Jesus does not pay attention to them. He calls the Twelve near Him and asks them: «And what should I say now with regards to your incredulity? Did the Father not put bread for all of us into the hands of one who, by caste, is an enemy of Mine? Oh! men of little faith!… Go into the soft hay and sleep. I am going to pray the Father that He may open your hearts and to thank Him for His kindness. Peace be with you.»

And He goes to the lower slopes of the mountain. He sits down and collects His thoughts in prayer. When He raises His eyes He sees the myriad of stars crowding the sky, when He lowers them. He sees the crowd of people sleeping on the meadows. Nothing else. But such is the joy in His heart that His face seems to become transfigured by a bright light…

Detail

Jesus has come down from the Mount of Beatitudes and a crowd is following him. The apostles are worried about how to feed them. This chapter shows a practical case of trusting in Providence and in the goodness of the Father.

Annotation

Meanwhile, the sun has gone down. This is the beginning of Sabbatical rest. Sabbatical rest begins at 6 p.m. on Friday. From the horns of Hattin to the plain, they covered 5 to 6km, or about an hour and a half's walk. We determined in the previous chapter that they left at around 3.00 pm / 3.30 pm. So it's about 5 p.m.

I said to them: "Let those who cannot believe that tomorrow God will give food to his children, withdraw", and they stayed. God will not deny his Messiah or disappoint those who hope in him." Cf. previous chapter. Maria Valtorta even notes that only about fifty people left at the time.

I am not hostile to you, even though I am a scribe. Scribes who are not hostile to Jesus are rare. Of the 24 members of this college, only 5 were secretly in favor of Jesus. The other 19 were overwhelmingly hostile or indifferent.

You see I'm in the legal space because these fields belong to me, and from here to the top it's a path you can make on the Sabbath. So they're right at the entrance to the plain, about 1 km from the summit of Arbel. The practical rules for applying the Sabbath distance were, and remain, complex. However, the basic condition, laid down in Solomon's time, remains the prohibition on moving more than 2,000 cubits (around 900 meters) from the limits of one's property or a town. As Maria Valtorta points out, the summit is the last acceptable limit for the scribe.

GRM 180.4-6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Peter blushes so much that he seems to be having a stroke of apoplexy. He remains dumb for a few moments, then says: «Well, then, give me my reward. The parable of this morning…»

Also the others join Peter saying: «Yes, You promised. Parables serve very well to make people understand the comparison. But we know that they have a higher meaning than the comparison.

180.5

Why do You speak to them in parables?»

«Because they are not to understand more than I explain. You are granted much more, because as My disciples, you must be acquainted with the mystery; and you are therefore given to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why I say to you: “Ask Me if you do not understand the spirit of the parable”. You give everything and everything is given to you, that you, in your turn, may give everything. You are giving everything to God: love, time, interests, freedom, lives. And God gives you everything to reward you and to enable you to give everything in the name of God to those who come after you. Thus, to him who has given will be given abundantly. But he who gave only partly or did not give at all, will be deprived also of what he has.

I speak to them in parables, so that, while seeing, they may see only what is illuminated by their will to adhere to God, and while listening, always through the same will of adherence, they may hear and understand. See! Many hear My word, few adhere to God. Their spirits lack goodwill. Isaiah’s prophecy[2] is fulfilled in them: “You will hear with your ears and will not understand, you will look with your eyes and will not see”. Because these people are hard-hearted; their ears are hard and their eyes are closed, so that they may not see and hear, that they may not understand with their hearts and convert, that I may cure them. But you are blessed because your eyes see and your ears hear, and because of your goodwill! I solemnly tell you that many Prophets and many just people were anxious to see what you see and they did not see it, and to hear what you hear and they did not hear it. They pined away with the desire to understand the mystery of the words, but as soon as the light of the prophecy went out, the words remained like burnt out coals, also for the holy man who had received them.

Only God reveals Himself. When His light fades out, as soon as the purpose of illuminating the mystery comes to its end, the inability to understand envelops the regal truth of the word received, like the bandages of a mummy. That is why I said to you this morning: “The day will come when you will find everything I have given you”. Now you cannot remember. But later light will come upon you, not just for a moment, but for an inseparable union of the Eternal Spirit with yours, whereby your teaching concerning what pertains to the Kingdom of God will be infallible. And what applies to you, will also apply to your successors, if they live of God as of one bread only.

180.6

Now listen to the spirit of the parable.

We have four kinds of fields: the fertile ones, the thorny ones, the stony ones and the ones full of paths. We also have four types of spirits.

There are the honest spirits, the spirits of goodwill, prepared by their own will and by the work of an apostle, of a “true” apostle; because there are apostles who have the name but not the spirit of an apostle and they are more lethal for the will in formation, than birds, thorns and stones, They upset in such a way, through their intolerance, their haste, their reproaches and their threats, as to drive people away from God forever. There are others who, on the contrary, through an excess of benignity, utterly out of place, cause the seed to rot in too soft a soil. Because of their lack of vigour, they kill the vigour of the souls they cure. But let us consider true apostles, that is, the shining mirrors of God. They are paternal, merciful, patient, and at the same time they are strong, as their Lord is strong. Now: the souls prepared by them and by their own will can be compared to the fertile fields, free from stones and brambles, from couch-grass and darnel, in which the word of God thrives and every word, that is every seed, bears a bundle of ears, yielding in some places one hundred, in others sixty per cent. Are there any like that among those who follow Me? There certainly are. And they will be holy. They come from all castes and countries. And there are Gentiles among them and they will yield one hundred per cent because of their goodwill, only because of that, or because of their goodwill and that of an apostle or disciple who prepares them for Me.

The thorny fields are those in which thorny tangles of personal interests, which suffocate the good seed, have been allowed to grow by carelessness. You must watch yourselves all the time. Never say: “Oh! I am well formed, I have been sown, I can rest assured that I will bear seeds of eternal life”. Watch yourselves; the struggle between Good and Evil is still on. Have you ever watched a colony of ants that install themselves in a house? There they are, near the fireplace. The housewife takes all foodstuff away from there and puts it on the table. They sniff the air and attack the table. The housewife puts the food in a cupboard and they get into the cupboard through the keyhole. The woman hangs her food supply from the ceiling, and they go a long way along walls and beams, down the rope and reach the food. The woman burns them, scalds them, poisons them. And thinking that she has destroyed them she is happy. But if she does not watch, what a surprise she gets! The new hatched ones come out and she has to start all over again. And that is what happens while you live; you must be careful and uproot the evil weeds as soon as they come up. Otherwise they will form a ceiling of brambles which suffocate the corns. Worldly cares, deceiving wealth form the tangle, suffocate the seed of God and prevent it from coming into ears.

And here are the fields full of stones. How many there are in Israel! They are the ones that belong to the “children of the laws” as My cousin Judas quite rightly said. In them there is not the one Stone of Witness, nor the Stone of the Law. There is the quarry poor petty human laws made by men. They are so many that with their weight they have broken also the Stone of the Law into chips. A disaster which does not allow the seed to take root. The root is no longer nourished because there is neither soil nor sap. The water stagnating on the stone pavement causes the seed to rot, the sun makes the stones hot and parches the little plants. Such are the spirits of those who put complicated human doctrines in place of the simple doctrine of God. They even receive My word with joy. At first it shakes and allures them. But later… They would need to be heroes and work hard to clean the field, their souls and minds of all rhetorical stones. The seed would then take root and bear long spikes. As it is… it bears nothing. The fear of human retaliation is enough. It is enough to say: “And after? What will the mighty ones do to me?” and the poor seed languishes without nourishment. It is enough for the whole quarry to stir with the vain sound of the hundreds of precepts, which have been put in place of the Precept, that man perishes with the seed received.. Israel is full of them. That explains why the coming to God is in inverse ratio to human power.

The last are the dusty barren fields full of roads. Those of worldly selfish people. Their comfort is their law, enjoyment their aim. Their ambitions: to do no work, to slumber, to enjoy themselves, to feast… The spirit of the world is their king. The dust of worldliness covers the soil which becomes mouldy. Birds, that dissipation, rush onto the thousand paths which have been built to make life easier. The spirit of the world, that is, of the Evil one, picks up and destroys all the seed that falls on this soil open to all sensuality and laxity…

Detail

Jesus has just complimented Peter and Simon, and Andrew's brother takes the opportunity to ask for an explanation of the parable of the sower.

Annotation

Give me the reward. This morning's parable... Peter reminds Jesus of his promise to explain to them the parable of the sower.(EMV 179.5). (See Matthew 13:10-11).

Gospel of Matthew 13,10-23

Mt 13:10-23: The disciples came to Jesus and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He replied, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these. To him who has, it will be given, and he will have plenty; to him who does not have, it will even be taken away. If I speak to them in parables, it's because they look without looking, and listen without hearing or understanding. And so Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled for them: You may listen, but you will not understand. No matter how you look, you will not see. The hearts of these people have grown heavy: they have become hard of hearing, they have closed their eyes, lest their eyes should see, their ears should hear, their hearts should understand, they should be converted - and I will heal them. But as for you, blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear! Amen, I say to you: many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.

So listen to what the parable of the sower means. When someone hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, the Evil One comes and seizes what is sown in his heart: he is the sown field by the side of the road. The one who received the seed on stony ground is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; but he has no roots in him, he is the man of a moment: when distress or persecution comes because of the Word, he immediately stumbles. The one who received the seed in the brambles is the one who hears the Word; but the cares of the world and the seduction of wealth choke the Word, and it bears no fruit. The one who has received the seed in the good soil is the one who hears the Word and understands it: he bears fruit at the rate of a hundred, or sixty, or thirty to one."

Gospel of Mark 4:10-20

Mk 4, 10-20 : When he was left alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. He said to them: "The mystery of the kingdom of God is given to you; but to those outside, everything is presented in the form of parables. And so, as the prophet says: They may look with all their eyes, but they will not see; they may listen with all their ears, but they will not understand; or else they will be converted and receive forgiveness."

Then he said to them: "Don't you understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the Word. There are those who stand by the wayside where the Word is sown: when they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the Word sown in them. And in the same way, there are those who received the seed in stony places: when they hear the Word, they immediately receive it with joy; but they have no root in them, they are people of a moment; whether distress or persecution comes because of the Word, they immediately stumble. And there are others who have received the seed in the briers: these hear the Word, but the cares of the world, the seduction of wealth and all other lusts invade them and choke the Word, which bears no fruit. And there are those who have received the seed in the good soil: these hear the Word, they welcome it, and they bear fruit: thirty, sixty, a hundred, for one."

Gospel of Luke 8, 4-18

Lk 8, 4-18 : As a great crowd gathered, and people from every town came to Jesus, he said in a parable: "The sower went out to sow seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. Passers-by trampled it underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it all up. It also fell in the stones, grew and withered because it had no moisture. It also fell among the brambles, and the brambles, growing with it, suffocated it. Finally, some fell into good soil, and it grew and bore fruit a hundredfold." Saying this, he raised his voice: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He told them: "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but the others have only the parables. So, as it is written, 'They look, but do not see; they hear, but do not understand. This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. Then the devil comes and takes the Word from their hearts, to prevent them from believing and being saved. There are those who are in the stones: when they hear, they welcome the Word with joy; but they have no roots, they believe for a moment and, at the moment of trial, they give up. What has fallen into the brambles are the people who have heard, but are choked along the way by worries, wealth and the pleasures of life, and fail to mature. And what has fallen into good soil are the people who have heard the Word in a good and generous heart, who retain it and bear fruit by their perseverance.(...)

Be careful how you listen. For to him who has, it will be given; and to him who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away."

Gospel of Luke 10, 23-24

Lk 10, 23-24 : Then he turned to his disciples and said to them in particular: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings have wished to see what you see, and have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

GRM 180.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I solemnly tell you that many Prophets and many just people were anxious to see what you see and they did not see it, and to hear what you hear and they did not hear it. They pined away with the desire to understand the mystery of the words, but as soon as the light of the prophecy went out, the words remained like burnt out coals, also for the holy man who had received them.

Only God reveals Himself. When His light fades out, as soon as the purpose of illuminating the mystery comes to its end, the inability to understand envelops the regal truth of the word received, like the bandages of a mummy. That is why I said to you this morning: “The day will come when you will find everything I have given you”. Now you cannot remember. But later light will come upon you, not just for a moment, but for an inseparable union of the Eternal Spirit with yours, whereby your teaching concerning what pertains to the Kingdom of God will be infallible. And what applies to you, will also apply to your successors, if they live of God as of one bread only.

Detail

Concerning papal infallibility and the dictation of Jesus, see the annotation below.

Annotation

Many a prophet and many a righteous man has wished to see what you see and not seen it, to hear what you hear and not heard it. In the continuity of the text reported by Matthew.

Mt 13:16-17 : But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.

Luke gives it in another context (Luke 10:24).

Lk 10:23-24: Then he turned to his disciples and said to them in particular: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings have wished to see what you see, and have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

That's why I told you this morning: this is typically the kind of seemingly insignificant detail, but very useful for establishing chronology.

Later, the light will come upon you, not for an instant, but for an indissoluble union of the eternal Spirit with your soul, which will make your teaching on what concerns the Kingdom of God infallible. The same will be true of your successors, if they live by God as their only bread.

Note from maria-valtorta.org:

This condition of pontifical infallibility must have aroused an objection from Father Migliorini. Maria Valtorta notes:

"Having submitted to Jesus P. M(igliorini)'s objection to papal infallibility, contrary to the sentence in p. ... file ... line ... of ..., Jesus replies: "I answer your question like this:

It is true that the Pope's infallibility in the spiritual realm is a definite truth. It exists in each of my vicars, regardless of his form of life and degree of virtue. But it is equally true that you cannot find a dogma defined and proclaimed by popes who are - notoriously or not - deprived of my grace. The soul that is not in a state of grace cannot be in the friendship of the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who thinks such a thing is possible is truly a heretic!

God is just: the way he treats the poor, he treats the rich. the way he treats the layman, he treats the Sovereign-Pontiff. Unfortunately, there are dark areas in the history of my Church. To want to close our eyes so as not to see these dark spots is to live in darkness over the totality of the Church, even over the very many and angelically luminous, divinely luminous, glorious epochs of my Church.

Because we must also be sincere in these things, as I was to my apostles, my disciples and those who followed me. Many crowds, not all of them saints, not all of them lukewarm, not all of them wicked. I recognized each one's merit or demerit, I gave each one what he deserved, without taking into account any particular emotional reasons. Truth is truth, in all things.

This is also true in the study of history. And in the study of the history of my Church. History, to be history and not a fable, must be impartial. The dark ages, moreover, are those foretold in the prophetic allusions to the idol-shepherd and this Sebna, prefect of the Temple (this character will be solemnly repeated in the message to Pius XII of December 23, 1948). That it stings and burns, I admit. But you can't say "Anathema" to a truth.

So lean on this certainty: dogmas are true and infallibility exists because I don't grant dogmas to those who don't deserve it. That's what was included in the sentence that prompted the objection.

You're satisfied. Go in peace. I gave you this clarification immediately because I am the author of these words, and therefore I know and remember them, even if the dictation is not present."

30-6-45, 8 a.m.".

We find the same idea in Jesus' words to the apostle James, son of Alphaeus, in EMV 258.6: "God will grant his light according to the degree you have reached. God will not let the light fail you, unless sin comes and extinguishes grace in you."

This doctrine of infallibility, willed by Christ, was reaffirmed 20 years later in the Apostolic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, § 25: "This infallibility, with which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to be endowed in the definition of doctrine concerning faith or morals, extends as far as the content of divine Revelation, which must be guarded with veneration and faithfully expounded. This infallibility, the Roman Pontiff, Head of the College of Bishops, possesses by virtue of his office..."

Note from the second edition:

If they live from God as their only bread: this condition placed on papal infallibility must have aroused an objection from Father Migliorini, to whom Maria Valtorta passed on this reply from Jesus (dated June 30, 1945). We report the main passages: [...] Jesus replied: "[...] It is true that the infallibility of the pope in spiritual matters is a definite truth. It exists in each of my vicars, regardless of his form of life and degree of virtue. But it is equally true that you cannot find a dogma defined and proclaimed by popes who are - notoriously or not - deprived of my grace. The soul that is not in a state of grace cannot be in the friendship of the Holy Spirit. [...] Rely, then, on this certainty: dogmas are true and infallibility exists because I do not grant dogmas to those who do not deserve them. This is what was included in the sentence that gave rise to the objection [...]. "The same idea can be found in Jesus' words to the apostle James, son of Alphaeus, in 258.6: "God will grant his light according to the degree you have reached. God will not let the light fail you, unless sin comes and extinguishes grace in you. "

GRM 180.7-10 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Have you understood? Have you any questions to ask? No? In that case we can go and rest and tomorrow we will leave for Capernaum. There is one place to which I must go before starting on My journey to Jerusalem for Passover.»

«Shall we go through Arimathea again?» asks the Iscariot.

«I am not sure. It depends on…»

There is a loud knocking at the door.

«Who can it be at this time?» asks Peter getting up to open the door.

John comes in. He is most upset, covered in dust, and he has obviously been weeping.

«You are here!» they all shout. «What’s the matter?»

Jesus, Who has stood up, says only: «Where is My Mother?»

And John, coming forward and kneeling at the feet of the Master, holding his arms as if he were asking for help, says: «Your Mother is well, but She is weeping as I am, as many others are, and She begs You not to come following the Jordan on our side. That is why She sent me back, because Your cousin John has been captured…» And John weeps while everybody is bewildered.

Jesus turns very pale but does not become excited. He only says:

«Stand up and tell us.»

«I was going down with Your Mother and the other women. Isaac and Timoneus were also with us. We were three women and three men. I was carrying out Your instruction to take Mary to John… Ah! You knew it was their last farewell!… It was to be their last farewell… Because of the storm of a few days ago, we had to stop for a little while. But it was enough to make it impossible for John to see Mary… We arrived at noon and he had been captured at daybreak…»

«Where? How? By whom? In his cave?» they all ask, they all want to know.

«He was betrayed!… They used Your name to betray him!» «How horrible! Who did that?» they all shout.

And John shuddering, whispering in a low voice what not even the air should hear, states: «It was one of his disciples…»

The confusion is at its highest pitch. Some curse, some weep, some are petrified with astonishment.

180.8

John throws his arms around Jesus’ neck and shouts: «I am afraid for You!… for You! The saints have their traitors who sell themselves for gold and for fear of the mighty ones, yearning for reward, obeying Satan. For thousands of things! Oh! Jesus! Jesus! How dreadful! My first master! My John who gave me to You!»

«It is all right! Do not worry! Nothing will happen to Me for the time being.»

«But later? What will happen later? I look at myself, at these… I am afraid of everybody, also of myself. Will one of us be Your traitor?…»

«Are you mad? And do you think that we would not tear him to pieces?» shouts Peter.

And the Iscariot: «Oh! You really are mad! It will never be I! But if I should feel so weak as to eventually become so, I would kill myself. Better than be the murderer of God.»

Jesus frees Himself from John’s grip, shakes Judas violently saying: «Do not swear! Nothing can make you weak, unless you want! And if that should happen, make sure you weep for it, and do not commit another crime in addition to deicide. He becomes weak who cuts off his vital link with God.»

180.9

He then returns to John, who is weeping with his head on the table and he says: «Speak calmly. It grieves Me, too. He was of My blood and was My Precursor.»

«I only saw some of the disciples, who were dismayed and furious with the traitor. The others accompanied John towards his prison to be near him at his death.»

«But he is not dead yet… the last time he managed to escape.» says the Zealot endeavouring to comfort John of whom he is very fond.

«He is not dead yet. But he will die» replies John.

«Yes, he will die. He knows as well as I do. Nothing and no one will save him this time. When? I do not know. I know that he will not come out of Herod’s hand alive.»

«Yes, Herod. Listen. John went to the mountain gorge, between Mount Ebal and Gerizim, where we also passed coming back from Galilee, because the traitor said to him: “The Messiah is dying after being attacked by His enemies. He wants to see you to entrust a secret to you”. And he went with the traitor and some other people. Herod’s armed men were in the shade of the valley and they captured him. The others ran away and gave the news to the disciples who had remained near Hennon. They had just come when I arrived with Your Mother. And the dreadful thing is that he was one from our towns… and that the Pharisees of Capernaum are the leaders of the plot to catch him. They went to John saying that You had been their guest and that You were leaving from there to go to Judaea… he would not have left his refuge but for You…»

180.10

Dead silence follows John’s report. Jesus looks bloodless, His deep blue eyes are dimmed. He is standing with his head bowed, His hand still on John’s shoulder, and His hand is trembling lightly. No one dare speak. Jesus breaks the silence: «We shall go to Judaea following a different route. But I must go to Capernaum tomorrow. As early as possible. Rest now. I am going up to the olive-grove. I need to be alone.» And He goes out without saying anything else.

«He is certainly going to weep» whispers James of Alphaeus.

«Let us follow Him, brother» says Judas Thaddeus.

«No. Let Him weep. But let us go out quietly and keep watch. I fear tricks everywhere» replies the Zealot.

«Yes, let us go. We fishermen to the shore. If anybody comes from the lake we will see him. You go to the olive-grove. He is certainly in the usual place, near the walnut-tree. At dawn we will have the boats ready to go away early. Those snakes! Ehi! I did tell you! Tell me, boy? But… is His Mother really safe?»

«Oh! Yes! The shepherd disciples of John have also gone with Her. Andrew… we will never see our John again!»

«Be quiet! It sounds like the song of the cuckoo… One precedes the other and… and…»

«By the Holy Ark! Be quiet! If you go on talking about misfortunes to the Master, I will start from you, letting your backs feel the weight of my oar!» shouts an enraged Peter. «You…» he then says to those who are to go to the olive-grove: «Get some clubs, some big branches, you will find some in the wood-shed… and spread out, armed with them. The first one to come near Jesus to harm Him, kill him.»

«The disciples! We must be careful with the new ones!» exclaims Philip.

The new disciple feels hurt and asks: «Are you in doubt about me? He chose me and wanted me.»

«Not about you. I mean the scribes and Pharisees and their worshippers. That is where the trouble will come from, believe me.»

They go out, some towards the boats, some towards the olive-trees on the hills, and it all ends.

Detail

In the previous chapters, John of Zebedee had to accompany the Virgin to Hennon to see John.

Annotation

"Your Mother is doing well, but she is in tears like me, like many people, and she begs you not to come along the Jordan on our side." (...) " We will go to Judea by another way." Jesus confirms in EMV 187.3 that he respects his mother's wish, and speaks to Mary about it again in EMV 198.1/2.

We arrived at the sixth hour, and he had been captured at the crowing of the cock... Gallicinium, "the crowing of the cock", corresponded to the last watch: from 3am to 6am.

"By one of his disciples..." This fact, which doesn't seem to be mentioned in any tradition, indicates that The Forerunner was also betrayed by one of his own.

I will never betray. But if I felt weak enough to do so, I'd kill myself. It's better than being God's murderer. This is the germ of the idea of suicide, which Judas will put into practice after his betrayal (EMV 605.1/13).

Yes, he will die. He knows it, as I know it. In fact, Jesus had not hidden this from John himself, when he visited him (EMV 148.2). The Baptist's death is announced in EMV 270.7.

He went to the same gorge we passed through on our way back to Galilee. It was during the encounter with the Samaritan woman Fotinai in EMV 143.4.

The Pharisees of Capernaum who are at the head of the plot to capture him. This plot was probably organized by Joachim and Elijah of Capernaum (see EMV 182.1).

He would not have left his refuge for anyone but you ... Enon (or Hennon), on the border of Decapolis and Samaria, was outside Herod's jurisdiction. John was safe there.