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Saints, venerable and blessed of the Catholic Church

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GRM 181.5-7 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

That is the universal sense. But there is another sense, which is the answer to the question which you have been asking yourselves many times and particularly since yesterday evening. Your question is: “Can there be traitors in the mass of disciples?” and your hearts tremble with horror and fear. Yes, there may be some. There are certainly some.

The Sower sows the good seed. In this case, instead of sowing, we could say that He “picks”. Because the master, whether it is I or the Baptist, choses his disciples. How were they, therefore, led astray? No, I did not use the right word saying that the disciples are the “seed”. You may misunderstand. I will call them “field”. As many disciples as fields, chosen by the master to form the area of the Kingdom of God, the wealth of God. The master tires himself cultivating them so that they may yield one hundred per cent. He takes care of everything with patience, love, wisdom, hard work and perseverance. He also sees their wicked inclinations, their barrenness and avidity, their stubbornness and weakness. But he hopes all the time, corroborating his hope through prayer and penance, because he wishes to lead them to perfection.

But the fields are open. They are not gardens enclosed in walls of protection, of which the only owner is the master, who is the only one who can go in. They are open. Placed as they are in the centre of the world, among the world, anyone can go near them and into them. Everybody and everything. Oh! darnel is not the only bad seed sown! Darnel could be the symbol of the bitter frivolity of the worldly spirit. But all the other seeds, scattered by the Enemy, come up in them. There are nettles, couch-grass, dodder, bearbines, and finally hemlock and poisonous herbs. Why? What are they?

Nettles: stinging untameable spirits which hurt through their excess of poison and cause so much trouble. Couch-grass: parasites who wear out the master as they can only creep and suck, taking advantage of his work and injuring the willing ones, who would make much more profit if the master were not upset and distracted by the cares required by the couch-grass. The sluggish bearbines rise from the ground only by making use of the efforts of other people. Dodders: they are a torture on the already painful road of the master and a torment to the faithful disciples who follow him. They twist, pierce, tear to pieces, scratch, cause mistrust and pain. The poisonous ones: the criminal disciples, who go as far as betraying and killing as hemlock and other poisonous plants do. Have you noticed how beautiful they are with their little flowers which later become white, red, blue-violet berries? Who would say that the white or pinkish star-shaped corolla, with its little gold heart, or the many-coloured corals, so much like other little fruits which are the delight of birds and children, can cause death, once they are ripe? No one. And the innocent ones fall into the trap. They believe that everybody is as good as they are… they pick and die.

They believe that everybody is as good as they are! Oh! The truth that makes the master sublime and condemns his traitor! How? Does goodness not disarm wickedness? Does it not make ill-will harmless? No, it does not, because the man who has fallen prey to the Enemy is indifferent to what is superior. And what is superior changes apperance, as far as he is concerned. Kindness becomes weakness on which it is lawful to tread and it stimulates his ill-will as the scent of blood stimulates a beast to slaughter.

Also the master is always innocent… and he lets his traitor poison him, because he cannot possibly believe that a human being can murder an innocent person.

181.6

The enemies come into the fields of the Master, that is to His disciples. They are many and Satan is the first one. The others are his servants, that is, men, passions, the world and the flesh. The disciple who is more easily struck by them is the one who is not entirely close to the Master, but is between the Master and the world. He is not capable and does not want to part completely with the world, the flesh, passions and demons, to belong entirely to Him Who wants to take him to God. And the world, flesh, passions and the demon scatter their seed in him: gold, power, women, pride, the fear of an unfavourable opinion of the world, the spirit of utilitarianism. “The great ones are the strongest. I will serve them so that they will be friendly to me”. And they become criminals and damned for such miserable things!…

Why does the Master, Who sees the imperfection of a disciple, not cast him away at once, even if He is not prepared to submit to the thought: “He will be My murderer”? That is what you are asking yourselves. Because it is useless to do so. If He did so he would not avoid having him as an enemy, a double and more dangerous enemy, because of his anger and his sorrow at being found out or at being found out or at being driven away. Yes, because of his sorrow. Because 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.»

181.7

«If You maintain that Satan and his followers are always to be blamed… it seems to me that the responsibility of the disciple diminishes» says Matthew.

«Do not believe that. If there is Good there is also Evil and man is gifted with discernment and freedom.»

«You say that God does not allow more than what is useful to the triumph of His loving will. Therefore such an error is useful too, if He allows it, and it serves the triumph of the divine will» says the Iscariot.

«And you infer, as Matthew does, that that justifies the disciple’s crime. God created the lion without ferocity and the snake without poison, now one is ferocious and the other poisonous. That is why God separated them from man. Ponder over that and draw conclusions.»

Detail

Jesus has just given the parable of the good grain and the tares, and its universal meaning. He then returns to the story of John the Baptist's betrayal by one of his disciples.

Annotation

You ask: "But can there be traitors in the mass of disciples? "See the previous chapter, in EMV 180.8. The betrayal of a disciple of John the Baptist, the cause of the prophet's arrest, causes a great stir.

The good believe others to be as good as themselves! Ah, what a truth that elevates the master and condemns his betrayer! During Father Migliorini's rereading of the typescript, Maria Valtorta notes at this point: "To work to redeem with goodness, to work without hopes or illusions, out of pure desire to do one's duty to the extreme, to work so that others don't realize that this one is a bad one, so that they don't hate him ... What a divine lesson the Divine Master gives to spiritual guides and to all Christians!"

"God does not allow us to oppose the triumph of his loving will any more than is useful". 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 has given him grace, or predestination to grace, so that it may be a stimulus, or a means, of raising 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 slaveries: 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."

GRM 181.6-7 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

View in context

Quotation

The enemies come into the fields of the Master, that is to His disciples. They are many and Satan is the first one. The others are his servants, that is, men, passions, the world and the flesh. The disciple who is more easily struck by them is the one who is not entirely close to the Master, but is between the Master and the world. He is not capable and does not want to part completely with the world, the flesh, passions and demons, to belong entirely to Him Who wants to take him to God. And the world, flesh, passions and the demon scatter their seed in him: gold, power, women, pride, the fear of an unfavourable opinion of the world, the spirit of utilitarianism. “The great ones are the strongest. I will serve them so that they will be friendly to me”. And they become criminals and damned for such miserable things!…

Why does the Master, Who sees the imperfection of a disciple, not cast him away at once, even if He is not prepared to submit to the thought: “He will be My murderer”? That is what you are asking yourselves. Because it is useless to do so. If He did so he would not avoid having him as an enemy, a double and more dangerous enemy, because of his anger and his sorrow at being found out or at being found out or at being driven away. Yes, because of his sorrow. Because 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.»

181.7

«If You maintain that Satan and his followers are always to be blamed… it seems to me that the responsibility of the disciple diminishes» says Matthew.

«Do not believe that. If there is Good there is also Evil and man is gifted with discernment and freedom.»

«You say that God does not allow more than what is useful to the triumph of His loving will. Therefore such an error is useful too, if He allows it, and it serves the triumph of the divine will» says the Iscariot.

«And you infer, as Matthew does, that that justifies the disciple’s crime. God created the lion without ferocity and the snake without poison, now one is ferocious and the other poisonous. That is why God separated them from man. Ponder over that and draw conclusions. »

GRM 182.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Peter comes back only the following morning. And he is calmer than when he left, because he was made welcome at Capernaum and the town had been cleared of Eli and Joachim.

«They must have taken part in the plot. Because I asked some friends when they had left, and I understood that they had not come back after going to the Baptist as penitents. And I do not think that they will come back so soon, now that I mentioned that they were present at the arrest… There is much turmoil because of the Baptist’s capture… I will ensure that the whole world knows about it… It is the best weapon we have. I also met Simon, the Pharisee… But if he really is what he appeared to me, I think he is favourably disposed towards us. He said to Me: “Tell the Master not to follow the Jordan along the western valley. The other side is safer” he said stressing the words. And he ended: “I have not seen you. I have not spoken to you. Don’t forget. And mind what you do in mine, yours and everybody’s interest. Tell the Master that I am a friend” and he kept looking up, as if he were speaking to the wind. They are always false, even when doing good things and… and I will say “strange”, so that You will not reproach me. But… ehi!… but I went and I had a little chat with the centurion. Just… to ask: “Is your servant well?”, and when I was told that he was, I said: “That is good! Make sure you keep him healthy because they are laying snares for the Master. The Baptist has already been captured…” and the Roman grasped the idea immediately. A cunning fellow he is! He replied: “Where there is a vexillum, there will be a guard for Him, and there will be someone reminding the Jews that no plot is allowed under the sign of Rome, death or the galley being the punishment”. They are heathens, but I could have kissed him. I like people who understand and take action! So we can go.»

«Let us go. But all that was not necessary» says Jesus.

«It was… it was necessary indeed!» Jesus says goodbye to the hospitable family and also to the new disciple, to whom He must have given some instructions.

Detail

Peter went to Capernaum and asked about John the Baptist's betrayal.

Annotation

Pierre arrived only the next morning. He's calmer than when he left, having found Capernaum a warm welcome and the town free of Eli and Joachim. These are the two Capernaum Pharisees most suspected of having organized the Baptist's arrest (see EMV 180.9).

I also met the Pharisee Simon and... But if he is as he appeared to me, he seems well-disposed. It was this Pharisee who organized the banquet where Mary Magdalene wept at Jesus' feet (Cf. EMV 236.1).

He said to me, emphasizing the words: "Advise the Master not to go along the Jordan in the western valley. The other side is safer. "Jesus mentions this" advice" in EMV 187.3.

However, I went to pay the centurion a little visit. So Peter has succeeded in overcoming his prejudice against pagans, as he envisaged out of love for Jesus, in EMV 181.1.

"Wherever there is a Roman sign, it will be a safeguard for him, and there will be someone to remind the Jews that, under Roman signs, it is not permitted to plot without exposing oneself to death or the galley. "Under the Pax Romana, examples of plotters being put to death were not uncommon.

GRM 182.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

They are alone once again: the Master with His apostles and they walk along the cool country, along a road which Jesus has taken much to Peter’s surprise, as he wanted to take a different one. «We are going away from the lake…»

«We will still arrive in time for what I have to do.»

The apostles become silent and go towards a little village, a handful of houses, spread out in the country.

Annotation

They walk in the cool countryside, on a road that Jesus has taken, to the astonishment of Peter, who wanted to take another. Jesus avoids Capernaum by going further inland.

"This takes us away from the lake..." he says. "We'll get there just in time for what I have to do. For several days Jesus has been preparing his coming to Magdala... "The Father (God) gave me two names of people...": see EMV 176.1.

GRM 183.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The entire apostolic college is around Jesus. Sitting on the grass, in the cool shade of a thicket, near a stream, they are all eating bread and cheese and drinking the cool clear water of the stream. Their dusty sandals imply that they have walked a long way and perhaps the disciples wish but to rest on the long fresh grass.

But the Tireless Walker is not of the same mind. As soon as he deems that the hottest hour is over, He gets up, goes onto the road and looks… He then turns around and says: «Let us go.» Nothing else.

GRM 183.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

When they reach a crossroads, where four dusty roads meet, Jesus resolutely takes the one in a north-east direction.

«Are we going back to Capernaum?» asks Peter.

Jesus replies: «No.» Just: no.

«We are going to Tiberias, then» insists Peter, who is anxious to know.»

«Not there either.»

«But this road takes one to the Sea of Galilee… and Tiberias Capernaum are there…»

«And there is also Magdala» says Jesus with a half-serious expression to satisfy Peter’s curiosity.

«Magdala? Oh!…» Peter is somewhat scandalised, which makes me think that the town is ill-famed.

«Yes, to Magdala. Do you consider yourself too honest to enter that town? Peter, Peter!… For My sake you will have to enter not towns of pleasure but real brothels… Christ did not come to save those who are already saved, but those who are Lost… and you shall be “Peter”, or Rock, not Simon, for that purpose. Are you afraid of becoming contaminated? No! Not even this one, see (and He points at the very young John) will suffer any harm. Because he does not want, as you do not want, as your brother and John’s brother do not want, as none of you, for the time being, wants. As long as one does not want, no harm is done. But one must not want resolutely and perseveringly. You will obtain will-power and perseverance from the Father, by praying with sincere intentions. Not all of you will be able to pray thus, in future… What are you saying, Judas? Do not be too self-confident. I, Who am the Christ, constantly pray to have strength against Satan. Are you better than I am? Pride is the opening through which Satan penetrates. Be vigilant and humble, Judas. Matthew, since you are familiar with this place, tell Me: is it better to go to the town this way, or is there another road?»

«It depends, Master. If You want to go to the area of Magdala where fishermen and poor people live, this is the road. But — I do not think this is the case. I am telling You to give You a complete answer — if You want to go where the rich people are, then in about one hundred yards, You have to leave this road and take another one, because their houses are approximately in this direction and it is necessary to go back…»

«We will go back because I want to go to the residential area of the wealthy people. What did you say, Judas?»

«Nothing, Master. It is the second time that You ask me in a very short time. But I have never spoken.»

«Not with your lips, no. But you have spoken, grumbling in your heart. You have grumbled with your guest: your heart. It is not necessary to have an interlocutor in order to speak. We say many words to ourselves… But we must not moan or calumniate, not even with our own ego.»

GRM 183.1 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Peter, Peter!… For My sake you will have to enter not towns of pleasure but real brothels… Christ did not come to save those who are already saved, but those who are Lost… and you shall be “Peter”, or Rock, not Simon, for that purpose. Are you afraid of becoming contaminated? No! Not even this one, see (and He points at the very young John) will suffer any harm. Because he does not want, as you do not want, as your brother and John’s brother do not want, as none of you, for the time being, wants. As long as one does not want, no harm is done. But one must not want resolutely and perseveringly. You will obtain will-power and perseverance from the Father, by praying with sincere intentions.

Annotation

A thinly veiled announcement of Peter's future stay in Rome, "the great prostitute". Another mention of this stay is made in EMV 310.5, then in EMV 545.7. Houses of prostitution (lupanaria) were common in ancient Greece and Rome as early as the 6th century BC. In ancient Roman slang, lupa, the she-wolf, is the animal symbolizing the prostitute.

GRM 183.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

View in context

Quotation

Jesus proceeds, sure of Himself, as if He knew where to go. He follows the contour of the lake, which reflects the houses and gardens built on its borders.

A loud noise of crying people can be heard from a sumptuous house. It is the voices of women and children. The shrill voice of a woman shouts: «My son! My son!»

Jesus turns around and looks at His apostles. Judas steps forward. «No, not you» orders Jesus. «You, Matthew. Go and find out.»

Matthew goes and comes back: «A brawl, Master. A man is dying. A Jew. The man who wounded him, a Roman, has run away. His wife, mother and children have rushed to help him… But he is dying.»

«Let us go.»

«Master… Master… It happened in the house of a woman… who is not his wife.»

«Let us go.»

Detail

Jesus enters Magdala.

Annotation

It's a brawl, Master. There's a man dying, a Jew. The murderer has escaped: he was a Roman. Probably Mary Magdalene's Roman lover. He was glimpsed during the Sermon on the Mount (EMV 174.12).

GRM 183.2-5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

A loud noise of crying people can be heard from a sumptuous house. It is the voices of women and children. The shrill voice of a woman shouts: «My son! My son!»

Jesus turns around and looks at His apostles. Judas steps forward. «No, not you» orders Jesus. «You, Matthew. Go and find out.»

Matthew goes and comes back: «A brawl, Master. A man is dying. A Jew. The man who wounded him, a Roman, has run away. His wife, mother and children have rushed to help him… But he is dying.»

«Let us go.»

«Master… Master… It happened in the house of a woman… who is not his wife.»

«Let us go.»

183.3 Through the wide open door they enter a large hall which opens onto a lovely garden. The house seems to be divided by this kind of covered peristyle, which is full of pots with green plants, statues and inlaid articles. It is a mixture of a hall and greenhouse. In a room, the door of which opens onto the hall, there are some women weeping. Jesus goes in confidently. But He does not pronounce His usual greeting.

Among the men present there is a merchant who obviously knows Jesus, because as soon as he sees Him, he says: «The Rabbi of Nazareth!» and greets Him respectfully.

«Joseph, what is the matter?»

«Master, a stab wound in his heart… He is dying.»

«Why?»

A grey-haired unkempt woman stands up – she was kneeling near the dying man holding his limp hand – and with distracted face and voice she shouts: «Because of her, because of her… She has turned him into a devil… Mother, wife, children no longer existed for him! Hell will have you, satan!»

Jesus looks up and His eyes follow the trembling accusing hand and in a corner, against the dark red wall, He sees Mary of Magdala, more immodest than ever, wearing, I would say, nothing on half of her body, because she is half naked from the waist upwards, draped in a kind of hexagonal net decorated with little round objects which look like tiny pearls. But as she is in a half-light, I cannot see her well.

Jesus lowers His eyes once again. Mary, lashed by His indifference, stands up, whereas before she seemed somewhat depressed, and strikes a defiant pose.

«Woman» says Jesus to the mother. «Do not curse. Tell Me. Why was your son in this house?»

«I told You. Because she infatuated him. She did.»

«Silence. So, he was in sin, too, because he is an adulterer and an unworthy father of these innocent children. He therefore deserves his punishment. In this life and in the next one there is no mercy for those who do not repent. But I feel sorry for your grief and for these innocent children.

183.4 Is your house far?»

«About one hundred yards.»

«Lift the man and take him there.»

«It is not possible, Master» says Joseph, the merchant. «He is breathing his last breath.»

«Do as I tell you.»

They place a board under the body of the dying man and the procession slowly moves out. They cross the street and go into a shady garden. The women carry on crying loudly.

As soon as they enter the garden, Jesus addresses the mother. «Can you forgive? If you forgive, God will forgive. We must be kind-hearted, to obtain grace. He has sinned and will sin again. It would be better for him to die, because, if he lives, he will fall into sin again and he will also have to answer for his ingratitude to God Who has saved him. But you and these innocent ones (and He points at the wife and children) would give yourselves up to despair. I have come to save, not to lose. Man, I tell you: stand up and be cured.»

The man begins to recover. He opens his eyes, sees his mother, wife and children and lowers his head shamefully.

«Son, son» says the mother. «You were dead, if He had not saved you. Come to your senses. Don’t be infatuated for a…»

Jesus interrupts the old woman. «Be quiet, woman. Have mercy as mercy was granted to you. Your house has been sanctified by a miracle, which is always the evidence of God’s presence. That is why I could not work it where there was sin. You, at least, must endeavour to keep it such, even if he will not. Take care of him now. It is fair that he should suffer a little. Be good, woman. And you. And you little ones. Goodbye.» Jesus has laid His hand on the heads of the two women and of the children.

183.5 He then goes out passing in front of the Magdalene who followed the procession as far as the entrance of the house where she remained leaning against a tree. Jesus slackens His pace as if He were waiting for His disciples, but I think He does so to give Mary a chance of making a gesture. But she does not.

The disciples reach Jesus and Peter cannot help muttering between his teeth an epithet appropriate to Mary, who, wishing to strike an attitude, bursts into a laugh of a weak triumph. But Jesus heard Peter’s word and addresses him severely: «Peter. I do not insult. Do not insult. Pray for sinners. Nothing else.»

Mary stops her trilling laughter, lowers her head and runs away, like a gazelle, towards her house.

Detail

Case of adultery in Magdala.

Annotation

Your house is sanctified by the miracle, which is always proof of God's presence. In EMV 234.4/5, Jesus returns at length to this miracle and its context.