Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 74.8
«I would like to give you back your children, in their flesh. But I tell you: be good, be resigned, forgive, hope, rejoice in hope and exult in one certainty: you will soon have your children, angels in Heaven, because the Messiah is about to open the gates of Heaven, and if you are just, death will be a new Life and a new Love…»
Jesus said to the people of Bethlehem who had suffered the massacre of the Innocents:
GRM 75.3
Translation in progress
GRM 75.4
«And my children?»
«They are angels, Elias. Angels who will repeat the “Gloria” when the Saviour is crowned.
«King?»
«No, Redeemer. Oh! What a procession of just people and saints! And in front there will be the white and purple phalanges of the martyrs! As soon as the gates of Limbo are opened, we shall ascend together to the eternal Kingdom. And then you will come and will find your fathers, mothers and children in the Lord! Believe Me.»
«Yes, my Lord.»
Elie has lost his children in the massacre of the Innocents. He asks the Master about their fate.
GRM 75.4
75.4 And what about the others? You were twelve: Elias, Levi, Samuel, Jonah, Isaac, Tobias, Jonathan, Daniel, Simeon, John, Joseph, Benjamin. My Mother always mentioned your names to Me. Because you were My first friends.»
«Oh!» The shepherds are more and more moved.
«Where are the others?»
«Old Samuel died of old age about twenty years ago. Joseph was killed because he fought at the gate of the enclosure to give time to his wife, who had just become a mother a few hours before, to escape with this man, whom I took with me for the sake of my friend… also to have children around me once again. I took Levi also with me… He was persecuted. Benjamin is a shepherd on Lebanon with Daniel. Simeon, John and Tobias, who now wants to be called Matthew in memory of his father, who was also killed, are disciples of John. Jonah works on the plain of Esdraelon for a Pharisee. Isaac suffers very much from his back that is bent in two, he lives in dire poverty, all by himself at Juttah. We help him as much as we can, but we have all been badly hit and our help is like dew drops on a fire. Jonathan is now the servant of one of Herod’s big men.»
«How could you, and particularly Jonathan, Jonah, Daniel and Benjamin get such jobs?»
«I remembered Your relative Zacharias… Your Mother had sent me to him. When we were in the mountain gorges in Judaea, fugitives and cursed, I took them to him. He was good to us. He sheltered and fed us. And he found work for us. He did what he could. I had already taken all Anne’s herd for the Herodian… and I remained with him… When the Baptist, grown into a man, began to preach, Simeon, John and Tobias went to him.»
«But now the Baptist is in jail.»
«Yes, and they are keeping watch near Machaerus, with a few sheep, to avoid arousing suspicion. They were given the sheep by a rich man, a disciple of Your relative John.»
«I would like to see them all.»
«Yes, My Lord. We will go and say to them: “Come, He is alive. He remembers us and loves us”.»
«And He wants you to be His friends.»
«Yes, my Lord.»
«But we will go first to Isaac. And where are Samuel and Joseph buried?»
«Samuel in Hebron. He remained in Zacharias’ service. Joseph… has no tomb. He was burned with the house.»
«He is no longer in the cruel fire, but in the flames of God’s love and will soon be in His glory. I am telling you, and particularly you, Joseph, son of Joseph. Come here, that I may kiss you to thank your father.»
«And my children?»
«They are angels, Elias. Angels who will repeat the “Gloria” when the Saviour is crowned.
«King?»
«No, Redeemer. Oh! What a procession of just people and saints! And in front there will be the white and purple phalanges of the martyrs! As soon as the gates of Limbo are opened, we shall ascend together to the eternal Kingdom. And then you will come and will find your fathers, mothers and children in the Lord! Believe Me.»
«Yes, my Lord.»
«Call Me: Master.»
Summary: Jesus has found Elijah and Levi, two shepherds from the Nativity. He explains where the other shepherds are, what Zechariah did for them, and who followed John the Baptist when he began his mission as Forerunner.
I had already taken all of Anne's trouveau passed to the Herodian... and stayed with it... a note in the second etidtion makes the following clarification.
It means: *the herd I was tending on Anne's behalf had been taken by the herodist, so I went over to the latter's service.
GRM 76.2
We must always go first to those who suffer.
GRM 76.2
The dead do not suffer any longer when they have been just people. (...) And if the dead need our prayers, it is not necessary to be near their bones to pray for them.
Bones? What are they? A proof of the power of God Who made man with dust. But nothing else. Also animals have bones. But the skeletons of all animals are not so perfect as a man’s skeleton. Only man, the king of creation, has an upright position, as a king over his subjects, and his face looks forwards and upwards without having to twist his neck; man looks upwards, towards the Abode of the Father. But they are still bones. Dust that will return to dust. The eternal Bounty has decided to assemble them again on the eternal Day to give even a greater joy to the blessed souls. Just imagine: not only will the souls be reunited and will love one another as and even more than they did on the earth, but they will rejoice also seeing one another with the same features they had on the earth: dear curly-haired children, like yours, Elias, fathers and mothers with loving hearts and faces like yours Levi and Joseph. Indeed, in your case Joseph, it will be the day when at last you will see the faces for which you feel nostalgia. There are no more orphans, no widows among the just, up there…
Prayers for the dead can be said anywhere. It is the prayer of a soul for the soul of a relative to the Perfect Spirit, Who is God, Who is everywhere. Oh! holy freedom of what is spiritual! There are no distances, no exile, no prisons, no tombs… There is nothing that can divide or restrict in painful impotence what is outside and above the chains of the flesh. You will go, with your better part, towards your beloved ones. And they will come to you with their better part. And the whole effusion of loving souls will rotate around the Eternal Fulcrum, around God: the Most Perfect Spirit, the Creator of everything that was, is and will be, Love that loves you and teaches you how to love…
GRM 77.1-3
77.1 «At what time shall we be arriving?» asks Jesus Who is walking in the centre of the group behind the sheep, grazing on the grass on the banks.
«At about the third hour. It’s almost ten miles» replies Elias.
«Are we going to Kerioth afterwards?» asks Judas.
«Yes, we will go there.»
«Was it not quicker to go to Kerioth from Juttah? It cannot be a great distance. Is that correct, shepherd?»
«About two miles longer, more or less.»
«This way, we will be doing over twenty for nothing.»
«Judas, why are you so worried?»
«I am not worried, Master. But You promised You would come to my house.»
«And I will. I always keep My promises.»
«I sent word to my mother… and after all, You said so Yourself, one can be near the dead also with one’s soul.»
«I did. But just think, Judas: you have not yet suffered because of Me. These people have been suffering for thirty years, and they have never betrayed, not even My memory they betrayed. They did not know whether I was dead or alive… and yet they remained faithful. They remembered Me as a newly-born baby, an infant with nothing but tears and the need of milk… and they have always worshipped Me as God. Because of Me they have been beaten, cursed and persecuted as if they were the disgrace of Judaea, and yet their faith has never faltered, neither did it wither under blows, on the contrary it took deeper roots and became stronger.»
77.2 «By the way. For some days I have been anxious to ask You a question. These people are Your friends and the friends of God, are they not? The angels blessed them with the peace of Heaven, did they not? They have been faithful against all temptations, have they not? Would You explain to me, then, why are they unhappy? And what about Anne? She was killed because she loved You…»
«Are you therefore deducing that to be loved by Me and to love Me brings bad luck?»
«No… but…»
«But you are. I am sorry to see you so closed to the Light and so open to human things. No, never mind John, and you too, Simon. I prefer him to speak. I never reproach. I only want you to open your souls to Me that I may enlighten them. Come here, Judas, listen.
You have an opinion which is common to many people of our times and will be common to man in future. I said: an opinion. I should say: an error. But since you do not do so out of malice, but out of ignorance of the truth, it is not an error, it is only an incorrect opinion, like a child’s. And you are like children, My poor men. And I am here, as a Master, to make adults of you, capable of distinguishing truth from lies, good from bad and what is better from what is good. Listen to Me, therefore.
What is life? It is a period of pause, I would say the limbo of Limbo, that the God Father grants you as trial to establish whether you are good or bad children, after which He will allocate, according to your deeds, a future life without pauses or trials. Now tell Me: would it be fair if a man, simply because he has been granted the rare gift of being in the position of serving God in a special way, also had an everlasting wealth throughout his life? Do you not think that he has already been granted a great deal and may therefore consider himself happy, even if human things are against him? Would it not be unfair if he, who already has the light of divine revelation in his heart and the smile of a clear conscience, should also have worldly honours and wealth? And would it not also be unwise?»
77.3 «Master, I would also say that he would be a desecrator. Why put human joys where You already are? When one has You — and they had You, they are the only rich people in Israel because they have had You for thirty years — one should have nothing else. We do not put human things on the Propitiatory… and the consecrated vase is used only for sacred uses. And these people are consecrated since the day they saw Your smile… and nothing but You is to enter their hearts, which possess You. I wish I was like them!» says Simon.
The apostolic group is walking towards Hebron, and Judas has the impression that they won't be going to Kerioth. In fact, he regrets that they are going to Hebron to pray over the bones of the shepherd Samuel, and recalls Jesus' lesson in EMV 76.2 about the suffrages of the dead and the prayer of the dead, which can be done anywhere. He then asks why the shepherds, who are friends of God and have received divine favors, had to suffer so much.
GRM 77.2-3
[Judas is talking about the shepherds at the Nativity.]
77.2 «By the way. For some days I have been anxious to ask You a question. These people are Your friends and the friends of God, are they not? The angels blessed them with the peace of Heaven, did they not? They have been faithful against all temptations, have they not? Would You explain to me, then, why are they unhappy? And what about Anne? She was killed because she loved You…»
«Are you therefore deducing that to be loved by Me and to love Me brings bad luck?»
«No… but…»
«But you are. (...) Come here, Judas, listen.
You have an opinion which is common to many people of our times and will be common to man in future. I said: an opinion. I should say: an error. But since you do not do so out of malice, but out of ignorance of the truth, it is not an error, it is only an incorrect opinion, like a child’s. And you are like children, My poor men. And I am here, as a Master, to make adults of you, capable of distinguishing truth from lies, good from bad and what is better from what is good. Listen to Me, therefore.
What is life? It is a period of pause, I would say the limbo of Limbo, that the God Father grants you as trial to establish whether you are good or bad children, after which He will allocate, according to your deeds, a future life without pauses or trials. Now tell Me: would it be fair if a man, simply because he has been granted the rare gift of being in the position of serving God in a special way, also had an everlasting wealth throughout his life? Do you not think that he has already been granted a great deal and may therefore consider himself happy, even if human things are against him? Would it not be unfair if he, who already has the light of divine revelation in his heart and the smile of a clear conscience, should also have worldly honours and wealth? And would it not also be unwise?»
77.3 «Master, I would also say that he would be a desecrator. Why put human joys where You already are? When one has You — and they had You, they are the only rich people in Israel because they have had You for thirty years — one should have nothing else. We do not put human things on the Propitiatory… and the consecrated vase is used only for sacred uses. And these people are consecrated since the day they saw Your smile… and nothing but You is to enter their hearts, which possess You. I wish I was like them!» says Simon.
Judas recalls the shepherds of the Nativity and the death of Anne of Bethlehem. He says that love for Jesus is bad luck, and Christ responds.
GRM 77.2
What is life? It is a period of pause, I would say the limbo of Limbo, that the God Father grants you as trial to establish whether you are good or bad children, after which He will allocate, according to your deeds, a future life without pauses or trials.
GRM 77.7
«How do You save? And whom?»
«Those who are anxious to be saved. I save by teaching to be pure, to prefer sorrow to honour, to desire good at all costs.»