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GRM 39.4-6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I see Jesus with His Mother going into the dining room (let us call it so), in Nazareth.

Jesus is a handsome young boy, twelve years old, tall, well built, strong but not fat. He looks older than His years, because of His complexion. He is already tall, in fact He reaches up to the shoulders of His Mother. His face is the rosy round face of a child and later, in His youth and then in His manhood, it will get thinner and thinner and it will become colourless, the colour of some very delicate alabasters with a hue of yellowish pink.

Also His eyes are still the eyes of a child. They are large, wide open when looking, with a sparkle of joy lost in the seriousness of His glance. Later they will not be so wide open… His eyelashes will cover half of them to conceal the excessive wickedness which is in the world, from the Pure and Holy One. Only when working miracles they will be open and bright, even brighter than now… to cast out demons and death, to heal diseases and sins. And they will no longer have that sparkle of happiness mingled with seriousness… death and sin will be more and more present and close, and with them the knowledge, also the human knowledge of the uselessness of His sacrifice, because of the unwillingness and aversion of man. Only in the rarest moments of joy, when He is with faithful believers and particularly with pure people, mostly children, will His holy mild kind eyes shine again with happiness.

But now He is at home with His Mother, in front of Him there is Saint Joseph who is smiling lovingly, and there are His little cousins who admire Him, and His aunt Mary of Alphaeus who is patting Him… He is happy. My Jesus needs love to be happy. And in this moment He has it.

He is dressed in a loose woollen tunic which is a light ruby red colour. It is soft, perfectly woven in its compact thinness. Round the neck, in the front, at the ends of the long wide sleeves and at the bottom of the tunic which hangs down to the ground, so that only His feet can be seen, there is a Greek fret which is not embroidered, but woven in a darker colour into the ruby of the tunic. He is wearing new sandals which appear to be very well made, they are not just the usual soles tied to the feet by means of straps of leather. His tunic must be the work of His Mother because Her sister-in-law admires and praises it.

His lovely blond hair is already somewhat darker than when He was a little boy, with auburn reflections in the curls ending under His ears. They are no longer the soft graceful curls of His childhood. It is not yet the wavy long hair of His manhood, reaching down to His shoulders, ending there in a soft, big curl. But it already resembles more the latter in its colour and style.

39.5 «Here is our Son,» says Mary lifting Her right hand which is holding Jesus’ left one. She seems to be introducing Him to everybody and confirming the paternity of the Just man who is smiling. And She adds: «Bless Him, Joseph, before leaving for Jerusalem. There was no ritual blessing for His first step in life, because it was not necessary for Him to go to school. But now that He is going to the Temple to be proclaimed of age, please bless Him. And bless Me with Him. Your blessing…» (Mary sobs softly) «will fortify Him and give Me strength, to detach Myself a little more from Him…»

«Mary, Jesus will always be Yours. The formality will not affect our mutual relationship. Neither will I contend with You for this Son, so dear to us. No one deserves, as You do, to guide Him in life, o my Holy Spouse.»

Mary bends down and takes Joseph’s hand and kisses it. She is the respectful, loving spouse of Her consort!

Joseph receives the sign of respect and love with dignity, he then lifts the hand which She has kissed and lays it on the head of his Spouse and says to Her: «Yes. I bless You, o Blessed One, and I bless Jesus with You. Come to me, my only joys, my honour and essence of my life.» Joseph is solemn. With his arms stretched out and the palms of his hands turned down above the two heads which are bent down, both equally blond and holy, he pronounces his blessing: «May the Lord look upon You and bless You. May He have mercy on You and give You peace. May the Lord give You His blessing.» And then he says: «And now let us go. The hour is favourable for the journey.»

39.6 Mary takes a wide dark brown mantle and She drapes it on the body of Her Son. How She caresses Him in doing so!

They go out, they close up the house. They set off. Other pilgrims are going in the same direction. Outside the village the women separate from the men. The children go where they like. Jesus stays with His Mother.

The pilgrims go along through the country which is so beautiful in the happiest springtime, and they sing psalms most of the time. The meadows are fresh and the crops are fresh, and the leaves on the trees have just begun to bloom. You can hear men singing in the fields along the roads and birds singing their songs of love among the branches of the trees. Clear streams reflect like mirrors the flowers on the banks, while little lambs are jumping about near their mothers… Peace and happiness under the loveliest April sky.

The vision ends in this way.

Detail

Physical description of the infant Jesus and Joseph's blessing before leaving for Jerusalem.

GRM 41.11-13

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

41.11 Jesus says:

[…]

«Let us go back, far back. Let us go back to the Temple where I, a twelve year old boy, am disputing. Or rather, let us go back to the roads which take one to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem to the Temple.

See Mary’s distress when She realised, after the groups of men and women had gathered together, that I was not with Joseph.

She does not reproach Her spouse bitterly. Every woman would have done that. You do so for much less, forgetting that man is still the head of the family. But the pain that appears on Mary’s face pierces Joseph’s heart more than any bitter reproach. Mary does not give vent to dramatic outbursts. You do so for much less because you love to be noticed and pitied. But Her repressed sorrow is so obvious: She starts trembling, Her face turns pale, Her eyes are wide open and thus She arouses pity more than any outburst of tears and cries.

She is no longer tired or hungry. And yet the journey was a long one and She has not taken any food for so many hours! But She leaves everything: the bed She was preparing and the food which was ready to be handed out. And She goes back. It is night, it is dark. It does not matter. Every step takes Her back to Jerusalem. She stops the caravans and pilgrims and questions them. Joseph follows Her and helps Her. A long day’s walk back to Jerusalem and then the feverish search in town.

Where, where can Her Jesus be? And by God’s provision for many hours She will not know where to look for Me. To look for a child in the Temple does not make sense. What could a child be doing in the Temple? At the most, if he had got lost in town and his little steps had brought him back there, he would have cried for his mother and thus would have attracted the attention of people and of the priests, who would have taken the necessary steps to find the parents by means of announcements left at the gates. But there was no announcement. No one in town knew anything of this Child. Beautiful? Blond? Strong? There are so many like that! It is too little to enable anyone to say: ‘I saw Him. He was there or there’!

41.12 Then, after three days, the symbol of three other days of future anguish, Mary, exhausted, enters the Temple, walks along the yards and the halls. Nothing. She runs, the poor Mother, whenever She hears the voice of a child. Even the bleating of the lambs give Her the impression that She hears Her Creature weeping and looking for Her. But Jesus is not weeping. He is teaching. All of a sudden, from beyond the barrier of a large group of people, She hears His voice saying: ‘These stones will vibrate…’ She endeavours to make Her way through the crowd, and succeeds after much effort. There is Her Son, standing in the midst of the doctors with His arms stretched out.

Mary is the Prudent Virgin. But this time anxiety overcomes prudence. It is a hurricane that demolishes everything. She runs to Her Son, embraces Him, lifting Him off the stool and putting Him down on the ground and She exclaims: ‘Oh! Why have You done this to us? For three days we have been looking for You. Your Mummy is dying with pain, Son. Your father is exhausted with fatigue. Why, Jesus?’

You do not ask ‘why ‘ of Him Who knows. ‘Why’ He behaved in a certain way. You do not ask those with a vocation ‘why’ they leave everything to follow the voice of God. I was Wisdom and I knew. I was ‘called’ to a mission and I was fulfilling it. Above the earthly father and mother there is God, the Divine Father. His interests are above ours, His affections are superior to everything else. And I tell My Mother.

I finish teaching the doctors with the lesson to Mary, the Queen of doctors. And She has never forgotten it. The sun began to shine again in Her heart now that She had Me, humble and obedient, beside Her, but My words are deeply rooted in Her mind. There will be much sunshine and many clouds will gather in the sky during the next twenty-one years I will still be on the earth. And great joys and many tears will alternate in Her heart during the next twenty-one years. But never again will She ask: ‘My Son, why have You done this to us?’

Oh, insolent men, learn your lesson.

41.13 I directed and enlightened the vision, because you, little John, are not able to do anything further. […]»

GRM 43.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

43.6 I do not promise you human gifts or human comfort. I promise you the same consolations as Joseph had: supernatural ones. Because, everybody should know, the gifts of the Wise Men, in the dire necessities of poor refugees, vanished as fast as lightning when we purchased a home and the bare essential household implements necessary for life, and the food which is also essential for life and could be procured only out of that source of income, until such time as we found work.

Jewish communities have always helped one another. But the community gathered in Egypt was formed almost exclusively of persecuted refugees, who therefore were almost as poor as we, who had come to join them. And a little share of that wealth, which we were anxious to keep for our Jesus when adult, and we had spared out of the expenses for settling in Egypt, was most useful for our return and just sufficient to reorganise our house and the workshop in Nazareth upon our return. Because times change, but human greed is always the same and it takes advantage of other people’s necessities to suck its part in the most exorbitant way.

No. The fact that we had Jesus with us did not procure us any material wealth. Many amongst you expect that, when they are hardly united to Jesus. They forget what He said[1]: ‘Set your hearts on things of the spirit’. All the rest is unnecessary. God provides also food. For men as well as for birds. Because He knows that you need food while your flesh is the tabernacle of your soul. But first of all ask for His grace. First of all ask for things for your spirit. The rest will be given to you in addition.

GRM 45.1-5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

45.1 I see a bare, flat country, without any villages or vegetation. There are no cultivated fields, but a few odd plants are growing here and there in clusters, like vegetable families, where the deep soil is less parched. Imagine that the arid waste land is on my right-hand side, with my back turned to the north, and the harsh area stretches southwards.

On my left instead, I can see a river with very low banks, flowing slowly from north to south. The very slow flowing water leads me to believe that there are no falls in the level of the riverbed and that it flows in such a flat country as to form a depression. The movement of the water is just enough to avoid the formation of marshes. The river is so shallow that the bottom can be seen: I would say the water is a metre deep, or a metre and a half, at the most. It is as wide as the river Arno in the S. Miniato-Empoli area: about twenty metres. However, I am not good at estimating. And yet its colour is blue with a light green hue near the banks, where on the humid soil, there is a strip of thick green vegetation, very pleasant to look at: the sight of the stony, sandy bleakness of the ground lying before it, is instead, a very monotonous one indeed.

The internal voice, which I told you I hear and tells me what I must take note of and know, is now warning me that I am looking at the Jordan valley. I call it a valley, because that is the name used to indicate the place where a river flows, but here it is incorrect to call it so, because a valley presumes the presence of mountains, but I do not see any mountains in the neighbourhood. In any case, I am near the Jordan, and the waste land on my right is the desert of Judah.

If it is correct to call a desert a place where there are no houses or man’s works, it is not so according to our idea of a desert. There are none of the undulating sands of the desert, as we understand it, but only bare ground strewn with stones and rubble, like alluvial grounds after a flood. There are hills in the distance.

And yet, near the Jordan there is great peace, something special and unusual, as one often feels on the shores of lake Trasimeno. It is a place that seems to be full of memories of angels’ flights and celestial voices. I cannot describe exactly what I feel. But I feel that I am in a place that communicates with my soul.

45.2 While I am watching these things, I notice that the right bank of the Jordan (according to my position) is becoming crowded with people. There are many men dressed in different fashions. Some seem ordinary people, some rich, and there are some who appear to be Pharisees, because their tunics are adorned with fringes and braids.

In the midst of them, standing on a rock, there is a man whom I recognise at once to be the Baptist, although it is the first time I see him. He is speaking to the crowds, and I can assure you that his sermon is not a sweet one. Jesus called James and John «the sons of thunder». Well then, what should we call this impetuous orator? John the Baptist deserves the names of thunderbolt, avalanche, earthquake, so impetuous and severe he is in his speech and gestures.

He is announcing the Messiah and exhorting the people to prepare their hearts for His coming, eradicating all obstructions and rectifying their thoughts. But it is a violent and harsh speech. The Precursor does not possess the light hand Jesus used to cure the wounds of hearts. He is a doctor who lays the wound bare, scrutinises it and cuts it mercilessly.

45.3 While I am listening — I am not repeating the words, because they are related by the Evangelists, but here they are amplified in impetuosity — I see my Jesus proceeding along a path, which is at the edge of the grassy shady strip coasting the Jordan. This rustic road (it is more a path than a road) seems to have been opened by the caravans and the people who throughout years and centuries passed along it to reach a point where it is easy to wade, because the water is very shallow. The path continues on the other side of the river and disappears from sight in the green strip of the other bank.

Jesus is alone. He is walking slowly, coming forward, behind the Baptist. He approaches noiselessly and listens to the thundering voice of the Penitent of the desert, as if He also were one of the many who came to John to be baptised and purified for the coming of the Messiah. There is nothing to distinguish Jesus from the others. His clothes are those of common people, but He has the appearance and handsomeness of a gentleman. There is no divine sign discriminating Him from the crowd.

But it would appear that John perceives a special spirituality emanate from Him. He turns around, and at once identifies the source of the emanation. He descends impulsively from the rocky pulpit and moves quickly towards Jesus, Who has stopped a few yards away from the crowd and is leaning against the trunk of a tree.

45.4 Jesus and John stare at each other for a moment: Jesus, with His very sweet blue eyes; John with his very severe black flashing ones. Seen from nearby, one is the antithesis of the other. They are both tall — their only resemblance — for all the rest, they differ immensely. Jesus is fair haired. His hair is long and tidy, His face is white ivory, His eyes blue, His garment simple, but majestic. John is hairy: his straight, black hair falls unevenly onto his shoulders, his sparse dark beard covers his face almost completely, but his cheeks, hollowed by fasting, are still noticeable, his feverish eyes are black, his complexion is dark, tanned by the sun and weather-beaten, his body is covered with hairs, he is half-naked in his camel-hair garment, which is tied to his waist by a leather belt and covers his trunk, reaching down to his thin sides, whilst his right side is uncovered and bare, completely weather-beaten. They look like a savage and an angel, seen close together.

John, after scrutinising Him with his piercing eyes, exclaims: «Here is the Lamb of God. How is it that my Lord comes to

me?»

Jesus replies calmly: «To fulfil the penitential rite.»

«Never, my Lord. I must come to You to be sanctified, and You are coming to me?»

And Jesus, laying His hand on the head of John, who had bowed down in front of Him, replies: «Let it be done as I wish, that all justice may be fulfilled and your rite may become the beginning of a higher mystery and men may be informed that the Victim is in the world.»

45.5 John looks at Him with his eyes sweetened by tears and precedes Jesus towards the bank of the river. Jesus takes off His mantle and tunic, and is left with loin cloth. He then descends into the water, where there is John, who baptises Him, pouring on His head some water taken from the river by means of a cup, tied to his belt. It looks like a shell or a half pumpkin dried and emptied.

Jesus is really the Lamb. A Lamb in the whiteness of His flesh, in the modesty of His gestures, in the meekness of His appearance.

While Jesus climbs onto the bank and after putting on His clothes concentrates on praying, John points Him out to the crowd and testifies that he recognised Him by the sign that the Spirit of God had shown him as an infallible means to identify the Redeemer.

But I am enraptured in watching Jesus pray, and I can only see His bright figure against the green of the river bank.

Annotation

Matthew 3:1-17

In those days, John the Baptist appeared and proclaimed in the Judean desert: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John is the one designated by the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah: Voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. He, John, wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his loins; his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea and the whole Jordan region came to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan, acknowledging their sins.

Seeing many Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them: "You offspring of vipers! Who taught you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce fruit worthy of conversion. Do not say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The axe is already at the root of the trees: every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for conversion. But he who comes after me is stronger than I, and I am not worthy to take off his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He holds the winnowing shovel in his hand, he will clean his threshing floor, and he will gather his grain into the barn; as for the straw, he will burn it in the fire that does not go out."

Then Jesus appeared. He had come from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John wanted to stop him, saying, "I'm the one who needs to be baptized by you, and you're the one who's coming to me!" But Jesus replied, "Let it be for now, for it is fitting that we should fulfill all righteousness in this way." So John let him. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descend in a dove and come upon him. And from heaven a voice said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Mark 1, 9-11

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. There was a voice from heaven: "You are my beloved Son; in you I rejoice."

Luke 3, 1-22

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod then ruling in Galilee, his brother Philip in the land of Ituraea and Traconitides, Lysanias in Abilene, the high priests being Hanne and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert. He went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of conversion for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the oracles of Isaiah, the prophet: Voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every ravine shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; crooked passages shall become straight, rocky paths shall be made smooth; and every living creature shall see the salvation of God. John said to the crowds arriving to be baptized by him: "You offspring of vipers! Who taught you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce fruits that express your conversion. Do not begin to say to yourselves: "We have Abraham for our father", for I tell you that, from these stones, God can bring forth children to Abraham. Already the axe is at the root of the trees: every tree that does not produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire."

The crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" John replied, "He who has two garments, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise!" Publicans (i.e. tax collectors) also came to be baptized; they said to him, "Master, what should we do?" He replied, "Demand nothing more than is set before you." Soldiers in turn asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Do no violence to anyone, accuse no one falsely; and be content with your pay."

Now the people were waiting, and all were wondering within themselves whether John was not the Christ. Then John said to them all: "I baptize you with water, but he who is stronger than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He holds in his hand the winnowing shovel to clean his threshing floor, and he will gather the grain into his barn; as for the chaff, he will burn it with the fire that does not go out."

With many other exhortations, he announced the Good News to the people. Herod, who was in power in Galilee, had received reproaches from John about his brother's wife Herodias, and about all the misdeeds he had committed. To all this he added this: he had John locked up in prison.

As all the people were being baptized, and Jesus was also being baptized and praying, the heavens opened. The Holy Spirit, in bodily form, like a dove, descended on Jesus, and there was a voice from heaven: "You are my beloved Son; in you I rejoice."

John 1:29-34

The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John declared: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world; of him I said, 'The man who comes after me has gone before me, for before me he was. And I did not know him; but if I came to baptize in water, it was so that he might be manifested to Israel." Then John testified: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove, and it stayed on him. And I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "He on whom you will see the Spirit descend and remain, he it is who baptizes in the Holy Spirit." I have seen, and I bear witness: this is the Son of God."

GRM 45.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

(...) John, My cousin John, had been purified from fault when the Full of Grace lovingly embraced Elizabeth who, after being barren, had become pregnant. The little child had leapt out of joy in her womb because he felt the scales of sin falling from his soul, as a scab falls off a wound when the latter is healed. The Holy Spirit, Who had made Mary the Mother of the Saviour, started His mission of salvation on that child about to be born, through Mary, the living Tabernacle of Incarnate Salvation: the child was destined to be united to Me not so much by his blood, as by the mission by which we were like the lips that express a word. John was the lips, I the Word. He was the Precursor both in the Gospel and in martyrdom; I, by means of My divine perfection, made perfect both the Gospel which John had started, and martyrdom, suffered to defend the Law of God.

GRM 45.6-7

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

John did not need any sign. But a sign was necessary for the darkness of spirit of other people. On what would John base his statement, but on an undeniable proof evident to the eyes and ears of backward and dull listeners?

45.7 Neither did I need to be baptised. But the wisdom of the Lord had chosen that moment and way for our meeting. And leading John out of his cave in the desert and Me from My home, He united us in that hour to open the Heavens above Me and He descended Himself, a divine Dove, on Him Who was to baptise men with that Dove, and His announcement was heard descending from Heaven, more powerful than the angel’s, because it came from My Father: “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am very pleased”. So that man should have no excuse or doubt in following or not following Me.

GRM 51.1-2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«I have come from Capernaum, I went there by boat and I have come here in the same boat to gain time. Your Mother sends me; She says: “Susanna is getting married tomorrow; please come to the wedding”. Mary will be there, and also my mother and brothers. All the relatives have been invited. You would be the only one absent, and they ask You to come and make the young couple happy.»

51.2

Jesus bows lightly stretching out His arms and says: «A wish of My Mother is a law for Me. But I will come also for Susanna’s and our relatives’ sake. Only… I am sorry for you…» and He looks at Peter and the others. «They are My friends» He explains to His cousin. And then He mentions their names, beginning with Peter’s. He then adds: «And this is John» with a special expression that causes Judas Thaddeus to look at him more carefully while the beloved disciple blushes. He ends the introductions stating: «My friends, this is Judas, son of Alphaeus, My cousin according to the custom of the world, because he is the son of the brother of My Mother’s spouse. A very good friend of Mine, and a companion both in life and in work.»

«My house is open to you as it is to the Master. Sit down» and then addressing Jesus, Peter says: «So? Are we no longer going to Jerusalem with You?»

«Of course you will come. I will go after the wedding feast. The only difference is that I will not stop at Nazareth any longer.»

«Quite right, Jesus, because Your Mother is my guest for a few days. That is what we intend to do. She also will go there after the wedding.» It is the man from Capernaum who speaks thus.

«This is what we will do. I will now go in Judas’ boat to Tiberias and from there to Cana. With the same boat I will come back to Capernaum with My Mother, and with you. You will come the day after the next Sabbath, Simon, if you still wish to come, and we will go to Jerusalem for Passover.»

«Of course I want to come! In fact, I will come on the Sabbath to hear You in the synagogue.»

Detail

Jude came to Jesus to invite him to the wedding at Cana. He said:

GRM 51.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

I am in My Mother, and She is in Me, and We are in God.

I would like you all to understand that, (...) friends and children in a supernatural way. Neither you, nor anyone else know Who My Mother is. But if you knew, (...) you would venerate Her as the closest friend of God, the Mighty Woman Who can obtain all graces from the heart of the Eternal Father and from Her beloved Son.

GRM 51.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

51.5 What have you got in that satchel?»

«The tunic Your Mother sent You. It is a big feast tomorrow. She thinks that Her Jesus will need it, so that He may not look out of place amongst all the guests. She worked from early morning till late night every day, to have it ready for You. But She did not finish the mantle. Its fringes are not yet ready and She is very sorry about it.»

«It does not matter. I will wear this one, and I will keep that one for Jerusalem. The Temple is much more important than a wedding feast.»

«She will be so happy.»

«If you want to be on the way to Cana at dawn, you ought to leave at once. The moon is rising and it will be a pleasant crossing» says Peter.

«Let us go, then. Come, John. I am taking you with Me. Goodbye, Simon Peter, James, Andrew. I will see you on the Sabbath evening at Capernaum. Goodbye, woman. Peace be with you and your house.»

Jesus goes out with Judas and John. Peter follows them as far as the lake and helps them cast off.

And the vision ends.

Detail

Jude has come to Jesus for the wedding at Cana and Jesus asks: