Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 184.2 · Volume 3
« Come here. You wanted to hear Me speak? Why?»
«Because You are the Messiah. No one but You can be the Messiah, considering the miracle You have worked… And I was anxious to hear You. I never go out of Magdala because I have… a difficult husband and five children. The youngest is four months old… and You never come here.»
«I have come, and to your house, as you can see.»
«That is why I wanted to hear You.»
GRM 184.2 · Volume 3
«Be patient, woman. Everybody has a cross.»
«Oh! No! Shameless women have but pleasure. You have seen the deeds of the shameless ones! They enjoy themselves and make other people suffer. They do not suffer the labour of childbirth neither do they break their backs working. Their hands do not blister digging, neither do they get spoiled washing clothes. They are beautiful and fresh looking. Eve’s punishment does not affect them. On the contrary, they are our punishment, because… men… You know what I mean.»
«I understand. But, believe Me, they have a terrible cross, too. The most dreadful one, which is not visible: their conscience which reproaches them, the world that sneers at them, their blood that disowns them, God that curses them. They are not happy, believe Me. They do not suffer the labour of childbirth, they do not break their backs working, they do not ulcerate their hands toiling. But they feel broken just the same, and ashamed. Their hearts are one big sore. Do not envy their fresh look, their apparent serenity. It is a veil laid over a ruin that bites and gives no peace. Do not envy their sleep, you, a mother who dreams of her innocent children… Their pillows are covered with nightmares. And in future, in their old age, in their agony, they will have nothing but remorse and terror.»
«It is true… Forgive me…»
GRM 184.3-5 · Volume 3
184.3 «May I stay here?»
«Yes, stay. I will tell Benjamin a nice parable and those who are no longer children will apply it to themselves and to Mary of Magdala. Listen.
You doubt Mary’s conversion to Good. There is no sign in her in that direction. Brazen and impudent, conscious of her rank and power, she dared to defy the people and come to the very threshold of the house where they are weeping because of her. She laughed at Peter’s reproach. She replied to My inviting look by striking a proud attitude. Perhaps some of you, either for Lazarus’ sake or for mine, would have liked Me to speak to her directly, at some length, subduing her with My power, showing My strength as Messiah and Saviour. No. All that is not needed. I already said so many months ago with regards to another sinner. Souls must react by themselves. I pass and sow the seed. The seed works in secret. A soul is to be respected in this work. If the first seed does not take root, another must be sown, and a third one… and one must give up only when there is definite proof that it is useless to sow. And one prays. Prayer is like dew on the clods of earth: it keeps them soft and nourishes them, so that the seed can sprout. Is that not what you do, woman, with your vegetables?
184.4 Now listen to the parable of how God works in the hearts of men to establish His Kingdom there. Because every heart is a small kingdom of God on the earth. Later, after death, all these small kingdoms will agglomerate into one, immeasurable, holy eternal Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom of God is created in men’s hearts by the Divine Sower. He comes to his field – man belongs to God, because every man is initially His – and sows His seed. He then goes to other fields, to other hearts. Days follow the nights and nights the days. The days bring sunshine and rain, in our case rays of divine love and effusion of divine Wisdom speaking to the spirit. The nights bring stars and restful silence: in our case enlightening calls of God and silence for the soul so that it may collect its thoughts and meditate.
The seed, in this course of imperceptible but powerful influence, swells, splits, takes root, sprouts, grows. And all that happens without any help from man. The soil spontaneously produces grass from seeds, the herb becomes strong and supports the rising ear, the ear grows, swells, hardens, becomes golden and perfect when seeding. When it is ripe, the sower comes back and cuts it because the time of perfection has arrived for that seed. It cannot develop any further and so it is harvested.
My word does the same work in hearts. I am referring to the hearts which receive the seed. But it is a slow process. One must not spoil everything by being hasty. How troublesome it is for the little seed to split and take root! Such work is painful also for a hard wild heart. It must open itself, allow people to search it, accept new things and nourish them laboriously, appear different being covered with humble useful things, instead of the fascinating, pompous, useless, exuberant flourishing that covered it previously. It must be satisfied with working humbly for the benefit of the divine Thought, without drawing other people’s admiring attention. It must exert all its talent to grow and burst into ear. It must burn with love to become corn. And after overcoming all fears of human opinion, which are so grievous, after toiling, suffering and becoming attached to its new dress, it must be deprived of it by a cruel cut. It must give everything to receive everything. It must be divested to be clad again in Heaven with the stole of sainthood. The life of a sinner who becomes a saint is the longest, most heroic and glorious fight. I tell you.
184.5 You will realise from what I told you that it is fair that I should deal with Mary as I am doing. Did I behave differently with you, Matthew?»
«No, my Lord, You did not.»
«And tell Me the truth: what convinced you more, My patience or the bitter reproaches of the Pharisees?»
«Your patience, so much so that I am here. The Pharisees, by despising and anathematizing me, made me scornful, and out of contempt I did more harm than I had done so far. That is what happens. Sinners become more obstinate when they realise that they are treated as sinners. But when we are caressed instead of being insulted, we are dumbfounded and we weep… and when one weeps, the whole framework of sin collapses… One is left naked before Goodness and one implores it wholeheartedly to be reclothed by It.»
«You are right.»
Mary Magdalene doesn't seem to be converted, and Jesus gives a parable in this context.
I said this about another sinner, several months ago. For Aglaé, the veiled woman from Belle-Eau. See EMV 79.6.
Gospel of Mark 4, 26-32
Mk 4, 26-32 : He said: "The reign of God is like a man who casts seed into the earth: night and day, whether he sleeps or rises, the seed germinates and grows, he knows not how. Of its own accord, the earth first produces grass, then an ear of corn, and finally a full ear of wheat. And as soon as the wheat is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, since harvest time has arrived." He went on to say: "To what shall we compare the reign of God? What parable can we use to represent it? It's like a mustard seed: when you sow it in the ground, it's the smallest of all seeds. But when you sow it, it grows and surpasses all vegetable plants; and it spreads out long branches, so that the birds of the air can make their nests in its shade."
GRM 184.3 · Volume 3
Listen.
You doubt Mary’s conversion to Good. There is no sign in her in that direction. Brazen and impudent, conscious of her rank and power, she dared to defy the people and come to the very threshold of the house where they are weeping because of her. She laughed at Peter’s reproach. She replied to My inviting look by striking a proud attitude. Perhaps some of you, either for Lazarus’ sake or for mine, would have liked Me to speak to her directly, at some length, subduing her with My power, showing My strength as Messiah and Saviour. No. All that is not needed. I already said so many months ago with regards to another sinner. Souls must react by themselves. I pass and sow the seed. The seed works in secret. A soul is to be respected in this work. If the first seed does not take root, another must be sown, and a third one… and one must give up only when there is definite proof that it is useless to sow. And one prays. Prayer is like dew on the clods of earth: it keeps them soft and nourishes them, so that the seed can sprout.
Jesus talks about Mary Magdalene, who doesn't seem to be converting. He speaks of Lazarus and Aglaia, and of his power as Messiah, and then of souls working on themselves.
I said this about another sinner several months ago. For Aglaé, the veiled woman from Belle-Eau. See EMV 79.6.
GRM 184.4 · Volume 3
Now listen to the parable of how God works in the hearts of men to establish His Kingdom there. Because every heart is a small kingdom of God on the earth. Later, after death, all these small kingdoms will agglomerate into one, immeasurable, holy eternal Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom of God is created in men’s hearts by the Divine Sower. He comes to his field – man belongs to God, because every man is initially His – and sows His seed. He then goes to other fields, to other hearts. Days follow the nights and nights the days. The days bring sunshine and rain, in our case rays of divine love and effusion of divine Wisdom speaking to the spirit. The nights bring stars and restful silence: in our case enlightening calls of God and silence for the soul so that it may collect its thoughts and meditate.
The seed, in this course of imperceptible but powerful influence, swells, splits, takes root, sprouts, grows. And all that happens without any help from man. The soil spontaneously produces grass from seeds, the herb becomes strong and supports the rising ear, the ear grows, swells, hardens, becomes golden and perfect when seeding. When it is ripe, the sower comes back and cuts it because the time of perfection has arrived for that seed. It cannot develop any further and so it is harvested.
My word does the same work in hearts. I am referring to the hearts which receive the seed. But it is a slow process. One must not spoil everything by being hasty. How troublesome it is for the little seed to split and take root! Such work is painful also for a hard wild heart. It must open itself, allow people to search it, accept new things and nourish them laboriously, appear different being covered with humble useful things, instead of the fascinating, pompous, useless, exuberant flourishing that covered it previously. It must be satisfied with working humbly for the benefit of the divine Thought, without drawing other people’s admiring attention. It must exert all its talent to grow and burst into ear. It must burn with love to become corn. And after overcoming all fears of human opinion, which are so grievous, after toiling, suffering and becoming attached to its new dress, it must be deprived of it by a cruel cut. It must give everything to receive everything. It must be divested to be clad again in Heaven with the stole of sainthood. The life of a sinner who becomes a saint is the longest, most heroic and glorious fight. I tell you.
Gospel of Mark 4, 26-32
Mk 4, 26-32 : He said: "The reign of God is like a man who casts seed into the earth: night and day, whether he sleeps or rises, the seed germinates and grows, he knows not how. Of its own accord, the earth first produces grass, then an ear of corn, and finally a full ear of wheat. And as soon as the wheat is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, since harvest time has arrived." He went on to say: "To what shall we compare the reign of God? What parable can we use to represent it? It's like a mustard seed: when you sow it in the ground, it's the smallest of all seeds. But when you sow it, it grows and surpasses all vegetable plants; and it spreads out long branches, so that the birds of the air can make their nests in its shade."
GRM 184.4
GRM 184.6-7 · Volume 3
«Benjamin, did you like My story? Yes? Go Where is your mother?»
James of Alphaeus replies: «She went out at the end of the parable and ran along that road.»
«She may have gone to the seaside to see whether her husband is coming» says Thomas.
«No. She has gone to her old mother’s, to get the children. Mummy takes them there so that she can work» says the little boy, who is leaning familiarly on Jesus’ knees.
«And she keeps you here, my little man? You must be a handsome evil-doer if she keeps you here all by yourself!» remarks Bartholomew.
«I am the eldest, and I help her…»
«You help her to gain Paradise, poor woman! How old are you?» asks Peter.
«In three years’ time I will be a son of the Law» replies the urchin proudly.
«Can you read?» asks Thaddeus.
«Yes… but very slowly… because the teacher throws me out almost every day…»
«What did I say!» exclaims Bartholomew.
«But I behave like that because the teacher is old and ugly and says the same things all the time and makes you fall asleep! If he were like Him (and he points to Jesus) I would pay attention. Do You hit those who sleep or play?»
«I do not hit anybody. But I say to My pupils: “Pay attention for your own good and for My sake”» replies Jesus.
«Yes, that’s all right! Out of love, not out of fear.»
«But if you are good, the teacher will love you.»
«Do You love only those who are good? You just said that You were patient with this man here, who was not good…» The child’s logic is cogent.
«I am good with everybody. But when one becomes good, I love that one very much and I am very good, too.»
The boy is pensive… he then looks up and asks Matthew: «And what did you do to become good?»
«I loved Him.»
184.7
The boy becomes pensive again and then looking at the Twelve asks Jesus: «Are they all good?»
«Of course they are.»
«Are you sure? I sometimes behave as a good boy, but that is when… I am thinking of some big mischief.»
They all burst into laughter. Also the little fellow, who is in a confessing humour, laughs. Also Jesus laughs pressing him to His heart and kissing him.
The boy, who is now friendly with everybody, wants to play and says: «I will now tell You who is good» and he begins his selection. He looks at them all and goes straight to John and Andrew who are nearby and says: «You and you. Come here.» He then chooses the two Jameses and places them with the other two. He then takes Thaddeus. He is quite pensive in front of the Zealot and Bartholomew and says: «You are old, but good» and he joins them to the others. He examines Peter, who undergoes the examination, jokingly frowning at him, and finds him to be good. Also Matthew and Philip pass the test. He says to Thomas: «You laugh too much. I am in earnest. Don’t you know that my teacher says that he who always laughs fails in the test?» After all, Thomas too passes his examination, but with low marks. The boy then goes back to Jesus.
«Hey, you urchin! I am here, too! I am not a tree. I am young and handsome. Why don’t you examine me?» says the Iscariot.
«Because I don’t like you. My mother says that when you don’t like something, you must not touch it. You just leave it on the table, so that other people, who may like it, can take it. And she also says that if you are offered something you do not like, you must not say: “I do not like it”. But you say: “Thank you, but I am not hungry”. And I do not hunger for you.»
«Why not? Look, if you say that I am good, I will give you this coin.»
«What am I going to do with it? What can I buy with a lie? Mummy says that money which is the fruit of deceit, becomes straw. Once at my grandmother’s, I got them to give me a didrachma by telling a lie because I wanted to buy some honey-cakes, and during the night it turned into straw. I put it in that hole over there, under the door, to take it the following morning, but I found a handful of straw in its place.»
«But how can you see that I am not good? What is wrong with me? Am I lame? Am I ugly looking?»
«No. But you frighten me.»
«Why?» asks the Iscariot going near him.
«I don’t know. Leave me alone. Don’t touch me or I will scratch you.»
«What a hedgehog! You are silly.» Judas gives a forced laugh.
«I am not silly. You are bad» and the boy takes shelter in the lap of Jesus, Who caresses him without speaking.
The apostles make fun of the situation which is not very pleasant to the Iscariot.
Jesus has just given a parable and a child, Benjamin de Magdala, is present.
GRM 184.8
GRM 184.8 · Volume 3
If you enclose in your hearts a tiny seed of love for your Most Holy God and for your neighbour, and if you accomplish your deeds guided by love, you will not fail in any of the precepts of the Decalogue. You will not lie to God by means of a false religion of practices but not of the spirit. You will not lie to your neighbour, behaving as ungrateful children, as adulterers, as too exacting husbands and wives, as thieves in business, as liars in life, as violent avengers towards your enemies.
GRM 184.8 · Volume 3
Love and you will be loved. Love and you will bear with one another. Love and you will not be cruel by wanting more than what is lawful from those who are under you. Love and sincerity to obtain the peace and glory of Heaven. Otherwise, (...) every action of yours accomplished by lying to love and to truth will turn into straw for your beds in hell.