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God's gifts in the Christian life

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GRM 180.3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Our senses need a term to catch an idea. Each of us, I am referring to us believers, believes, by the virtue of faith, in the Most High Lord and Creator, Eternal God, Who is in Heaven. But every being needs more than such bare, pure, incorporeal faith, which is fit and sufficient for the angels who see and love God spiritually, as they share with Him a spiritual nature and can see God. We have to create a “picture” of God for ourselves, which picture is made with the essential features that we ascribe to God, to give a name to His infinite absolute perfection. The more a soul concentrates, the more it succeeds in achieving an exact knowledge of God. That is what I say: the immanent God. I am not a philosopher. Perhaps I have applied the word wrongly. In short, I think that the immanent God is to feel, to perceive God in our spirits, to feel and perceive Him no longer as an abstract idea, but as a real presence, bestowing strength and a new peace upon us.»

«All right. But, to sum up, how did you feel Him? What is the difference between feeling by faith and feeling by immanence?» asks the Iscariot somewhat ironically.

«God is safety, boy. When you perceive Him, as Simon says, by means of that word, which I do not understand literally, but I understand its spirit — and believe me, the trouble is that we understand only literally and we do not understand the spirit of God’s words — it means that you are able to grasp the idea of the terrible majesty, but also of the most sweet paternity of God. It means that, should all the world judge and condemn you unjustly, you would feel that One only, He, the Eternal One, Who is your Father, does not judge you, but absolves and comforts you. It means that if all the world should hate you, you would feel over you a love greater than any this world can offer. It means that if you were isolated in jail or in a desert you would always hear One speak to you and say: “Be holy, that you may be like your Father”. It means that for the true love for this Father and God, Whom at last you perceive as such, you accept, work, take and leave without any human consideration, as you are concerned only to return love for love and to copy God as much as possible in your actions» says Peter.

«You are proud! To copy God! You are not entitled to» declares the Iscariot.

«It is not pride. Love leads to obedience. To copy God seems to me a form of obedience because God said that He made us in His own image and likeness» replies Peter.

«He made us. We must not go higher up.»

«You are a poor wretch, my boy, if that is what you think! You are forgetting that we fell and that God wants to take us back to what we were.»

180.4

Jesus begins to speak: «Even more, Peter, Judas and you all. Even more than that. Adam’s perfection was still susceptible of improvement through love, which would have made him a more precise image of his Creator. Adam without the stain of sin would have been a most shining mirror of God. That is why I say: “Be perfect as your Father Who is in Heaven is perfect”. Like your Father. Therefore like God. Peter is quite right. And so is Simon. I ask you to remember their words and apply them to your souls.»

Detail

Simon the Zealot expresses one of his reflections on God. Love, pride, obedience and the case for redemption are discussed at the end of the note.

GRM 180.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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.

Annotation

Gospel of Matthew 13, 10-12

Mt 13, 10-12 : The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He answered, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these. To the one who has, it will be given, and he will be in abundance; to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."

Gospel of Matthew 25, 29

Mt 25, 29 : To him who has, more will be given, and he will have plenty; but to him who has nothing, even that which he has will be taken away.

Gospel of Mark 4, 25

Mk 4, 25 : For to him who has will be given; but to him who has not, even that which he has will be taken away.

Gospel of Luke 8, 18

Lk 8, 18 : "Therefore be careful how you listen; for to him who has, it will be given; and to him who does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away."

Gospel of Luke 19, 26

Lk 19:26: "I tell you, to the one who has, it will be given; but to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."

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 180.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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.

GRM 180.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

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.

Detail

Jesus explains the parable of the sower, and by talking about fields full of stones, he ends up making a link with Israel.

Annotation

Regarding Jude's words, see the following note.

GRM 181.3 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The good God gives you the Word. The enemy is vigilant to make it harmful, because the flour of wheat if mixed with the flour of darnel makes a bitter bread, which is harmful to the stomach. If there is darnel in your souls, pick it with goodwill and throw it away, so that you may not be unworthy of God.

GRM 181.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Sometimes a bad disciple does not realise that he is such. The demon’s action is so subtle that he is not aware of it. He becomes wicked without even suspecting that he is subject to such action. And because of his anger, He is enraged at being known for what he is, when he is aware of Satan’s work and of his followers: the men who tempt weak people in their weak points, to remove from the world a saint who offends them, wicked as they are, when compared with his goodness. The saint then prays and trusts in God. “Let what You allow be done” he says. He adds only the clause: “providing it serves Your purpose”. The saint knows that the time will come when the wicked darnel will be rejected from the harvest. By God Himself Who does not allow more than what is useful to the triumph of His loving will.

Annotation

"God does not allow us to oppose, any more than is useful, the triumph of his will of love". On a leaf inserted in the typed copy, Maria Valtorta wrote:

"God has given man the intellect to understand, the reason to guide himself as a reasonable creature, the conscience to advise, the law to know how to regulate himself, the freedom to deserve what he wants to deserve: God and glory, or Hell and damnation.

Moreover, He gave him grace, or predestination to grace, so that it might be a stimulus, or a means, to raise the things listed below to a level capable of giving him a holy taste for the supernatural and for God.

Now, in the man who is intelligent, reasonable, conscious, free, and above all instructed in the Faith, knowing his final end and the divine Law, there should be only such actions as the Law prescribes and the knowledge of the end incites us to practice, even as reason and conscience indicate them as good to all, even to those who do not know revealed religion, in order toto obtain the eternal reward that the human intellect, all the more so when enlightened by Grace, is infinitely superior to all conceptions a believer can imagine.

But it sometimes happens that man, acting against reason, turns his freedom into a yoke of the cruellest of slavery: that of the devil and sin, preferring Evil to Good.

Even if God allows man to do what he chooses of his own free will, in order to judge and confirm him in grace, or to judge that he deserves punishment, nothing lessens man's guilt. For while it is true that man, at God's prompting or Satan's instigation, can do good or evil, it is no less true that man should follow God alone and his loving invitations, for it is from him that he has received all those natural, moral and supernatural gifts capable of making him a child of God, heir to the Kingdom."