Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 211.7 · Volume 3
No money can buy a conscience, particularly the conscience of a priest or a teacher. It is not right to acquiesce in the mighty things of the earth when they induce acts contrary to God’s commandments.
GRM 211.7 · Volume 3
I solemnly tell you that many priests and masters are suffering from guilty spiritual barrenness, as they lack spiritual virility. Many. Too many!
GRM 211.8 · Volume 3
I invite you: “Come!”. (...) Come to serve God. The time is near. Do not be unprepared for Redemption. Let the rain fall on the sown ground. Otherwise it will fall in vain. (...) Salvation means to follow the Voice of the Lord and believe in His Word. (...) Come in a body to the service of God. I am passing and I call you. Do not be inferior to prostitutes, for whom one word of mercy is sufficient to persuade them to abandon their previous life and come on to the way of Good.
I was asked upon My arrival: “But do You not bear us a grudge?” Grudge? No, I have love for you! And I hope to see you in the multitude of My people, whom I lead to God, in the new exodus towards the true Promised Land: the Kingdom of God, beyond the Red Sea of sensuality and the deserts of sin, free from all kinds of slavery, to the eternal Land, which abounds in delight and is saturated with peace… Come! This is Love passing by. Whoever wishes can follow Him, because only goodwill is required to be accepted by Him.
GRM 212.7 · Volume 3
Do not be afraid that by being alone you may be led into error. No. If you do not want, you will not be unfaithful to the Lord and to His Christ. On the other hand, he who just cannot stay away from the Messiah should know that the Messiah opens His heart and stretches out His arms to him and says: “Come”. Come, whoever wishes to come. Stay here, whoever wishes to stay. But both the former and the latter should preach Christ by means of an honest life. Preach Him against the dishonesty that nestles in too many hearts. Preach Him against the levity of the numerous people who do not know how to persevere faithfully and forget their ornaments and sashes of souls called to the wedding with Christ.
GRM 214.3 · Volume 3
Always bear in mind that one achieves more by means of kindness than by intolerance and that you are a man as well. So examine yourself and consider how easy it is also for you to fall and how you become upset when you are reproached too frankly.
GRM 214.5 · Volume 3
It is painful to part from one’s son. We mothers would always like to be with our children. But we are giving them for a great cause, and we will not lose them. Not even death can take our sons away from us, if they and we are in grace in the eyes of God. But ours are still on the earth, even if by the will of God they are torn from our bosoms to be given to the world for its good. We can always join them and even the echo of their deeds is like a caress to our hearts, because their deeds are the scent of their souls.
GRM 215.1 · Volume 3
They are also discussing the tour they are about to make, towards the fertile plains before the sea. And the names of past glories come to light again, giving rise to stories, questions, explanations and friendly discussions.
«When we reach the top of this mountain, I will show you all the areas in which you are interested. They may suggest you thoughts for your sermons to the crowds.»
«But how can we do that, my Lord? I am not capable» moans Andrew, and Peter and James join him. «We are the most unlucky ones.»
«Oh! In that case I am no better. If it was gold or silver, I could talk about it, but about these things…» says Thomas.
«And what about me? What was I?» asks Matthew.
«But you are not afraid of the public, you are debating» replies Andrew.
«Yes, but on different matters…» retorts Matthew.
«Of course!… But… Well, you already know what I would like to say, so just imagine that I have already told you. The fact is that you are worth more than we are» says Peter.
«Listen, My dear. There is no need to be sublime. Simply say what you think, with your firm belief. Believe Me, when one is convinced, one can always persuade others» says Jesus.
But Judas of Kerioth implores: «Give us some hints. An idea put forth properly may be useful in many ways. I think these places have been left without one word about You. Because no one seems to know You.»
«The reason is that there is still a strong wind blowing from the Moriah… It makes sterile…» replies Peter.
«It is because it has not been sown. But we will sow» retorts the Iscariot, who is sure of himself and happy after his first success.
The apostolic group discusses the matter together.
“These places, I think, have remained unaware of you because no one shows that they know you.
‘That’s because there’s still a strong wind blowing here from Mount Moriah… And that wind dries everything up…’ Peter replies.
Mount Moriah is the site of the Temple in Jerusalem. Peter uses this image to say that the people at the Temple are warning the people of the region about Jesus.
GRM 215.1 · Volume 3
Simply say what you think, with your firm belief. Believe Me, when one is convinced, one can always persuade others.
To spread the Gospel.
GRM 216.3 · Volume 3
See those who are sleeping? Do you know how many thoughts they are turning over in their minds even while sleeping? And all those among the disciples? Do you think they will be faithful until everything is accomplished? Look: let us play this old game that you certainly played when a boy (and Jesus picks a round fully ripe dandelion growing among the stones. He raises it gently to His mouth, blows and the dandelion dissolves into tiny umbrellas, which wander in the air with their little tufts on top of the tiny handles). See? Look… How many have fallen on My lap as if they were in love with Me? Count them… They are twenty-three. They were at least three times as many. And the others? Look. Some are still wandering, some have fallen because of their weight, some, which are proud of their silvery plume, are haughtily rising higher, some are falling into the mud that we made with our flasks. Only… Look, look… Of the twenty-three that were on My lap, seven more have gone. That hornet flying by was enough to blow them away!… What were they afraid of? Or by what were they allured? Were they afraid of its sting? Or were they allured by its beautiful black and gold hues, or by its graceful appearance, its iridescent wings?… They have gone… Following a deceitful beauty. Simon, the same will happen to My disciples. Some will go because of their restlessness, some because of their inconsistency, their pride, their dullness, their frivolity, their lust for filth, some for fear, some because of their foolishness. Do you think that in the crucial hour of My mission I shall have beside Me all those who now say to Me: “I will come with You”? The tiny tufts of the dandelion, which My Father created, were more than seventy… and now there are only seven left on My lap, because some more have been blown away by this puff of wind that has caused the thinner stems to flutter away… It will be like that. And I am thinking of how much you have to struggle to be loyal to Me…
Simon the Zealot testifies that all the apostles are happy to follow Jesus, even when they are hungry, thirsty, and rejected. But Jesus says that this is not the case.
GRM 217.2 · Volume 3
I have been sent to evengelize and save.