GRM 74.1
The Gospel as revealed to me
Translation in progress
Notes for this theme
Saints, venerable and blessed of the Catholic Church
Page 35 of 111
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GRM 74.2
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
«Do not contradict me if I should say something,… something… which is not true.»
«What do you mean? Why tell lies? I am the Truth and I want no lies in Me or around Me.»
«Oh! I will only tell half lies. I will say that we are all coming back from remote places, from Egypt for instance, and that we are seeking news of dear friends. I will say that we are Judaeans coming back from exile. After all, there is some truth in everything, and I will be speaking, and… one lie more, one lie less…»
«But Judas! Why deceive?»
«Never mind, Master! The world lives on deceit. And at times deceit is a necessity. Well: to make You happy, I will only say that we are coming from far and that we are Judaeans. Which is true for three out of four of us. And you, John, please do not speak at all. You would give yourself away.»
«I will be quiet.»
Detail
Judas wants to know more about the massacre of the Innocents and Anne, since Jesus wants to go there. So he asks Christ to let him tell half lies and asks John to keep quiet.
GRM 74.7-9
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
74.7 Jesus stretches out His arms. When Judas sees that gesture he says: «Don’t speak! It isn’t wise!»
But Jesus’ powerful voice fills the square: «Men of Judah! Men of Bethlehem, listen! Women of the land sacred to Rachel, listen! Listen to One Who descends from David, and has suffered because of persecutions and has become worthy of speaking, and is speaking to you to give you light and comfort. Listen.»
The people stop shouting, quarrelling and buying and they gather together.
«He is a rabbi!»
«He certainly comes from Jerusalem.»
«Who is He?»
«What a handsome man!»
«And what a voice!»
«And His manners!»
«Of course, He is of David’s House!»
«He is one of ours, then!»
«Let’s listen to Him!»
The whole crowd is now gathered near the little staircase which looks like a pulpit.
«Genesis states: “I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman: She will crush your head and you will strike at Her heel”. It is also said: “I will multiply your pains in childbearing… and the soil shall yield you brambles and thistles”. That was the sentence against man, woman and the serpent.
I have come from far to revere Rachel’s tomb, and in the evening breeze, in the dew of the night, in the plaintive morning song of the nightingale, I heard ancient Rachel’s sobs being repeated, and they were repeated by the mouths of many mothers of Bethlehem, within their tombs or within their hearts. And I heard Jacob’s sorrow roar in the pain of the widowed husbands, deprived of their wives whom sorrow had killed… I cry with you… But listen, brethren of My land. Bethlehem, the blessed land, the least of the towns in Judah, but the greatest in the eyes of God and of mankind, roused Satan’s hatred because it was the cradle of the Saviour, as Micah says, destined to be the tabernacle on which the Glory of God, the Fire of God, His Incarnate Love was to rest.
“I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman; She will crush your head and you will strike at Her heel”. Which enmity is there greater than the one that aims at a mother’s children, the very heart of a woman? And which heel is there stronger than the Saviour’s Mother’s? The revenge of Satan defeated was therefore a natural one: he did not strike at the heel, but at the hearts of mothers, because of the Mother.
Oh! Pains were multiplied when the children were lost after giving birth to them! Oh! great was the trouble of being a childless father after sowing and toiling for the offspring! And yet, Bethlehem, rejoice! Your pure blood, the blood of the innocents has prepared a blazing purple way for the Messiah…»
74.8 The crowd, which has become more and more turbulent after Jesus mentioned the Saviour and His Mother, is now showing clear signs of agitation.
«Be quiet, Master» says Judas. «And let us go.»
But Jesus does not listen to him. He goes on: «… for the Messiah that the Grace of the God-Father saved from tyrants to preserve Him for His people and its salvation and…»
The shrill voice of a woman shouts: «Five, five I gave birth to, and not one is now in my house. Poor me!» And she yells hysterically.
It is the beginning of the uproar.
Another woman rolls over in the dust, she tears her dress, and shows a breast maimed of its nipple, shouting: «Here, here on this breast they slaughtered my first-born son! The sword cut off his face and my nipple at the same time. Oh! my Ellis!»
«And what about me! What about me? There is my royal palace. Three tombs in one, watched over by the father: my husband and children together. There, there! If there is a Saviour, let Him give me back my children, my husband, let Him save me from despair, from Beelzebub He must save me.»
They all shout: «Our children, our husbands, our fathers! Let Him give them back, if He exists!»
Jesus waves His arms imposing silence. «Brethren of My land: 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…»
«Ah! Are You the Messiah? In the name of God, tell us.»
Jesus lowers Him arms, in so sweet and kind a gesture as if He were embracing them all, and He says: «Yes, I am.»
«Go away! Go away! It’s Your fault, then!»
A stone is thrown amid hisses and jeers.
74.9 Judas reacts at once in a most praiseworthy way… Oh! if he had always behaved thus! He jumps in front of Jesus, standing on the low wall of the landing, with his mantle wide open and undaunted he protects Jesus from the stones. His face bleeds and he shouts to John and Simon: «Take Jesus away. Behind those trees. I’ll follow. Go, in the name of Heaven!» And he shouts to the crowd: «Mad dogs! I am of the Temple and I will report you to the Temple and to Rome.»
The crowd is scared for a moment. Then the shower of stones is resumed at once, but fortunately, they are not experts. And Judas, fearless, receives them, and replies with offensive language to the curses of the crowd. Furthermore: he catches a stone thrown at him, and he throws it back on the head of an old man who is shouting like a magpie plucked alive! And as they attempt to climb up his pedestal, he quickly picks up an old branch from the ground, (he has now come off the little wall) and he swings it round on backs, heads and hands mercilessly.
Some soldiers rush to the spot and with their lances they make their way through the crowd: «Who are you? Why this brawl?»
«I am a Judaean and I have been attacked by these plebeians. A rabbi, well known to the priests, was with me. He was speaking to these dogs. But they became wild and attacked us.»
«Who are You?»
«Judas of Kerioth, I was a man of the Temple, now I am a disciple of rabbi Jesus of Galilee. I am a friend of Simon the Pharisee, of Johanan the Sadducee, and of Joseph of Arimathaea, the Counsellor of the Sanhedrin, and finally, of Eleazar ben Anna, the Proconsul’s great friend, and you can check.»
«I will. Where are you going?»
«I am going to Kerioth with my friend, then to Jerusalem.»
«Go. We will protect your back.»
Judas hands some coins to the soldier. It must be illegal… but quite normal, because the soldier takes them swiftly and cautiously, he salutes and smiles. Judas jumps down from his platform, he goes through the uncultivated field, skipping now and again, and he reaches his companions.
«Are you seriously hurt?»
«No, it’s nothing, Master! In any case, it’s for You… But I gave them a licking as well. I must be covered with blood…»
«Yes, on your cheek. There is a rivulet here.»
John moistens a small piece of cloth and wipes Judas’ cheek.
«I am sorry, Judas… But see,… to tell them that we are Judaeans, according to your good practical sense…»
«They are beasts. I believe You are now convinced, Master. And I hope you will not insist…»
«Oh! no! Not because I am afraid. But because it is useless, just now. When they do not want us, we must not curse them, but withdraw praying for the poor, foolish people, who die of starvation and cannot see the Bread. Let us go along this out-of-the-way path, towards the shepherds, if we can find them. I think we will be able to get on to the Hebron road…»
«To have more stones thrown at us,?»
«No. To say to them: “I am here”.»
«What?… They will certainly beat us. They have been suffering for thirty years because of You.»
«We shall see.»
They enter a cool, shady, thick little wood, and I lose sight of them.
Detail
Jesus came to the ruins of Anne's house. He decided to speak to the people of Bethlehem, who had lost their children in the massacre of the Innocents.
GRM 74.7
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
« Bethlehem, the blessed land, the least of the towns in Judah, but the greatest in the eyes of God and of mankind, roused Satan’s hatred because it was the cradle of the Saviour, as Micah says, destined to be the tabernacle on which the Glory of God, the Fire of God, His Incarnate Love was to rest.
“I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman; She will crush your head and you will strike at Her heel”. Which enmity is there greater than the one that aims at a mother’s children, the very heart of a woman? And which heel is there stronger than the Saviour’s Mother’s? The revenge of Satan defeated was therefore a natural one: he did not strike at the heel, but at the hearts of mothers, because of the Mother.
Oh! Pains were multiplied when the children were lost after giving birth to them! Oh! great was the trouble of being a childless father after sowing and toiling for the offspring! And yet, Bethlehem, rejoice! Your pure blood, the blood of the innocents has prepared a blazing purple way for the Messiah…»
GRM 74.8
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
«Now… I am very clever. I am not a hotel keeper for nothing. I was born here, the son of sons of hotel keepers. I have malice in my blood. And I did not take them. I could have found a hole for them. But… poor, unknown Galileans as they were… Oh! no! Hezekiah will not fall into the trap! And I felt… I felt they were different… that woman… Her eyes… something… no, no… She must have had a demon inside Her and She spoke to him. And She brought him… not to me… but to town. Anne was more innocent than a little lamb, and she gave them hospitality a few days later, when She already had the Child. They said He was the Messiah… Oh! the money I made during those days!»
Detail
Hezekiah, a Bethlehem man and innkeeper, speaks badly of the Virgin when he recounts his memories of the Nativity.
Keywords
GRM 74.9
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
«Who are You?»
«Judas of Kerioth, I was a man of the Temple, now I am a disciple of rabbi Jesus of Galilee. I am a friend of Simon the Pharisee, of Johanan the Sadducee, and of Joseph of Arimathaea, the Counsellor of the Sanhedrin, and finally, of Eleazar ben Anna, the Proconsul’s great friend, and you can check.»
«I will. Where are you going?»
Detail
Roman soldiers ask Judas:
GRM 75.1-2
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
75.1 The hills are becoming much higher and woodier than those around Bethlehem and they rise continuously and eventually form a real chain of mountains.
Jesus is climbing ahead of them all and He looks around, as if He were anxious to find something. He does not speak. He listens more to the voices of the woods than to the apostles’, who are a few yards behind Him and are speaking to one another.
A bell rings in the distance, but the wind carries its ding-dong. Jesus smiles. He turns around: «I hear the bells of sheep.»
«Where, Master?»
«I think near that hillock. But the wood prevents Me from seeing.»
John, without uttering one word, takes off his tunic — they have all rolled up their mantles and are carrying them across their backs, because they feel warm — and having on only his short tunic, he throws his arms around a tall smooth trunk, which I think is an ash tree, and he climbs up… until he can see. «Yes, Master. There are many herds and three shepherds over there, behind that thicket.» He comes down, and they proceed, sure of their way.
«Will it be them?»
«We shall ask, Simon, and if they are not, they will tell us something… They know one another.»
After approximately one hundred yards, there is a large, green pasture, surrounded on all sides by huge aged trees.
75.2
Many sheep are grazing on the thick grass of the undulated meadow. Three men are watching over them. One is old: his hair is all white, of the other two, one is about thirty, the other about forty years old.
«Be careful, Master. They are herdsmen…» advises Judas, when he sees Jesus hastening His step.
But Jesus does not even answer. He goes on, tall and handsome in His white tunic, with the setting sun in front of Him. He seems an angel, so bright He is…
Detail
Jesus seeks out the shepherds Elijah and Levi.
GRM 75.2
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
«Well, tell me. Has a Child ever come back to Nazareth, a Child with a woman whose name was Mary and a man called Joseph, a Child, Who was even more beautiful than His Mother, so beautiful that I have never seen a fairer flower on the slopes of Judah? A Child born in Bethlehem of Judah, at the time of the edict? A Child Who later fled, most fortunately for the world. A Child, oh! I would give my life just to hear whether He is alive… He must be a man by now.»
«Why do you say that His flight was a great fortune for the world?»
«Because He was the Saviour, the Messiah and Herod wanted Him dead. I was not there when He fled with His father and Mother.»
Detail
Jesus says he's from Nazareth and Elijah asks:
GRM 75.4
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
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.»
Detail
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.
Keywords
- Benjamin of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity)
- Daniel of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity)
- Isaac de Yutta (shepherd of the Nativity)
- Jean-Baptiste
- John of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity)
- Jonathas of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity)
- Joseph of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity who died before Christ's public life)
- Matthias (shepherd of the Nativity - formerly Tobias of Bethlehem)
- Persecution
- Samuel of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity who died before Christ's public life)
- Simeon of Bethlehem (shepherd of the Nativity)
- Zacharie (father of John the Baptist)
GRM 75.4
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
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.
Detail
In EMV 30, Mary promises the shepherds to repeat their names to her Son, and here we see that she keeps her word.