255. Jesus Speaks of Hope

 255. Jesus Speaks of Hope. 18th August 1945. 1 Some vine-dressers, who are passing through the orchard, laden with baskets of golden grapes, which seem to be made of amber, see the apostles and ask them: « Are you pilgrims or strangers? » « We are Galilean pilgrims going towards Mount Carmel » replies on behalf of 255. Jesus Speaks of Hope. 381 everybody James of Zebedee, who with his fishermen companions is stretching his legs to overcome a residual somnolence. The Iscariot and Matthew are just waking up on the grass on which they had lain down, while the elder ones, being very tired, are still sleeping. Jesus is speaking to John of Endor and Ermasteus, while the Blessed Virgin and Mary Clopas are nearby, but they do not speak. The vine-dressers ask: « Have you come from afar? » « Caesarea was our last stop. Before that we were at Sicaminon and farther away. We come from Capernaum. » « Oh! It's a long way in this season! But why did you not come to our house? It's over there, see? We could have given you cool water to refreshen yourselves, and some food, rustic food, but good. Come now. » « We are about to depart. May God reward you just the same. » « Mount Carmel will not flee on a chariot of fire as its prophet did » says a peasant half-seriously. « No more chariots come from Heaven to take prophets away. There are no more prophets in Israel, They say that John is already dead » says another peasant. « Dead? Since when? » « That's what we were told by some people who came from beyond the Jordan. Did you venerate him? » « We were his disciples. » « Why did you leave him? » « To follow the Lamb of God, the Messiah Whom he announced. Men, He is still in Israel. And much more than a chariot of fire would be required to transfer Him worthily to Heaven. Do you not believe in the Messiah? » « Of course we do! We decided to go and look for Him when the harvest is over. They say that He is very zealous in obeying the Law and that He goes to the Temple on prescribed festivities. We shall soon be going for the Tabernacles and will stay in the Temple every day to see Him. And if we do not find Him, we will go looking for Him until we find Him. Since you know Him, tell us: is it true that He is at Capernaum almost all the time? Is it true that He is tall, young, pale, fair-haired and that His voice is different from every other man's, as it touches the hearts of men and even animals and trees listen to it? » « It touches every heart, except the hearts of Pharisees, Gamala. They have become harsher. » « They are not even animals. They are demons, including the one whose name I bear. But tell us: is it true that He is so kind as to speak to everybody, to comfort everybody, to cure diseases and convert sinners? » « Do you believe that? » « Yes, we do. But we would like to be told by you who follow Him. Oh! I wish you would take us to Him! » « But you have your vineyards to look after. » « But we have also a soul to take care of, and it is worth more than our vineyards. Is He at Capernaum? By forced marches we could go and come back in ten days...» 2 « The One you are looking for is over there. He has rested in your orchard and is now speaking to that old man and the young one, and His Mother and the sister of His Mother are beside Him. » « That One... Oh!... What shall we do? » They become stiff with amazement. They are all eyes looking at Him. All their vitality is concentrated in their eyes. « Well? You were so anxious to see Him, and now you are not moving? Have you become of salt? » says Peter prodding them. « No... it's... But is the Messiah so simple? » « What did you expect Him to be? Sitting on a flashing throne wearing a royal mantle? Did you think that He was a new Ahasuerus? » « No. But... so simple, and He is so holy! » « Man, He is simple just because He is holy. Well, let us do this... Master! Be patient, come here and work a miracle. There are some men here who are looking for You, but they have become petrified seeing You. Come and give them back motion and speech. » Jesus, Who turned round when He was called, gets up smiling and comes 255. Jesus Speaks of Hope. 382 towards the vine-dressers, whose countenance is so stupefied that they seem to be frightened. « Peace be with you. Did you want Me? Here I am » and He makes the usual gesture with His arms, which He stretches out as if He offered Himself. The vine-dressers fall on their knees and remain silent. « Be not afraid. Tell Me what you want. » They offer their baskets full of grapes, without speaking. Jesus admires the beautiful grapes, and saying: « Thanks » He stretches a hand and takes a bunch and begins to eat them. « O Most High God! He eats like us! » says with a sigh the one whose name is Gamala. It is not possible not to laugh at such a remark. Jesus also smiles more noticeably and almost to excuse Himself, He says: « I am the Son of man! » His gesture has overcome their ecstatic torpor, and Gamala says: « Would You not enter our house, at least until vesper? We are many, because we are seven brothers with wives and children, and then there are the old ones who are waiting for death in peace. » « Let us go. Call your companions and join us. Mother, come with Mary. » And Jesus sets out behind the peasants who have got up and are walking a little sideways in order to see Him walk. The path is a narrow one and runs between trees tied to one another by vines. 3 They soon reach the house, or rather the houses, because there are several houses forming a square with a large common yard in the centre, where there is a well. The entrance is through a long corridor, which serves as a lobby and is closed at night with a heavy door. « Peace to this house and to those who live in it » says Jesus entering and raising His hand to bless, and then lowers it to caress a little half-naked baby, who looks at Him ecstatically: he is lovely in his little sleeveless shirt, which has fallen off his plump shoulder; he is bare-footed, with one finger in his mouth and a crust of bread, dressed with oil, in the other hand. « That's David, the son of my youngest brother » explains Gamala, while one of the other vine-dressers enters the house next door to inform the people in it, he then comes out and enters another one and so on, so that faces of every age look out and withdraw, and finally come out after a short toilet. There is an old man sitting in the shade of a shed, shielded by a huge fig-tree, and he is holding a stick in his hands. He does not even raise his head, as if nothing were of interest to him. « He is our father » explains Gamala. « He is one of the old people of the household, because Jacob's wife also brought her father here, when he was left all alone, then there is the old mother of Leah, who is the youngest wife. Our father is blind. His eyes are covered by a veil. So much sunshine in the fields! So much heat from the soil! Poor father! He is very sad. But he is very good. He is now waiting for his grandchildren, who are his only joy. » Jesus goes towards the old man. « May God bless you, father. » « May God give Your blessing back to You, whoever You are » replies the old man raising his head towards the voice. « Your fate is unpleasant, is it not? » asks Jesus kindly, beckoning to the others not to say who is speaking. « It comes from God, after so much good He has given me during my long life. As I accepted good from God I must accept also the misfortune of my sight. After all, it is not eternal. It will end on the bosom of Abraham. » « You are right. It would be worse if your soul were blind. » « I have always endeavoured to keep its sight perfect. » « How did you do that? » « You who are speaking, are young, Your voice tells me. Are You perhaps like the present-day young people who are all blind, because they are without religion, eh? Be careful, it is a great misfortune not to believe and not to do what God, told us. An old man tells You, my boy. If You abandon the Law, You will be blind both on the earth and in next life. You will never see God. Because the day will come when the Redemptor Messiah will open the gates of God for us. I am too old to see that day here on the earth. But I will see it from the bosom of Abraham. That is why I do not complain of anything. Because I hope that 255. Jesus Speaks of Hope. 383 through my darkness I will expiate anything I may have done disagreeable to God, and that I may deserve Him in eternal life. But You are young. Be faithful, son, so that You may see the Messiah. Because the time is near. The Baptist said so. You will see Him. But if Your soul is blind You will be one of those of whom Isaiah speaks. You will have eyes, but You will not see. » « Would you like to see Him, father? » asks Jesus laying one hand on his white head. « I would like to see Him. Of course. But I prefer to go without seeing Him, rather than I should see Him and my sons should not recognise Him. I still have the ancient faith and it is enough for me. They... Oh! the world nowadays...» « Father, see therefore the Messiah, and may the evening of your life be crowned with delight » and Jesus' hand slides from the white head down across his forehead as far as the bearded chin of the old man, as if He were caressing him, and in the meantime He bends to be at the height of his senile face. « Oh! Most High Lord! But I can see! I see... Who are You, with this unknown face, which, however, is familiar to me, as if I had already seen You?... But... Oh! How foolish I am! You Who have given me back my eyesight are the blessed Messiah! Oh! » The old man weeps over Jesus' hands, which he has grasped, covering them with tears and kisses. All the relatives are in a turmoil. 4 Jesus frees His hand and He caresses the old man again saying: « Yes, it is I. Come, so that you may become acquainted with My words as well as with My face. » And He goes towards a little staircase, which leads up to a shady terrace entirely shielded by a thick pergola. Everybody follows Him. « I had promised My disciples to speak to them about hope and I was going to tell them a parable to explain it. This is the parable: this old Israelite. The Father of Heaven gives Me the subject to teach you all the great virtue that supports Faith and Charity, like the arms of a yoke. A sweet yoke. The scaffold of mankind like the arm of the cross, the throne of salvation like the support of the wholesome snake raised in the desert. Scaffold of mankind. Bridge of the soul to fly up to the Light. And it is placed in the middle, between essential Faith and most perfect Charity, because without Hope there can be no Faith and without Hope, Charity dies. Faith presupposes unfailing hope. How can one believe that one will reach God if one does not hope in His Bounty? What can support you during your lifetime if you do not hope in eternal life? How can we persist in justice if we do not entertain the hope that every good deed of ours is seen by God Who will reward us for it? Likewise how can Charity be alive in us if we have no hope? Hope precedes Charity and prepares it. Because a man needs to hope in order to love. Those who have lost all hope, cannot love. This is the staircase, made of steps and banisters: Faith the steps, Hope the banisters; at the top there is Charity to which one climbs by means of the other two. Man hopes in order to believe, and believes in order to love. This man knew how to hope. He was born. A baby of Israel like everybody else. He grew up with the same teaching as everybody else. He became a son of the Law like all the others. He became a man, a husband, a father, old, always hoping in the promises made to the patriarchs and repeated by the prophets. In his old age shadows came over his eyes, but not over his heart. Hope has always been lit in it. Hope to see God. To see God in next life. And, in the hope of that eternal vision, there was a more intimate and dearer hope: “to see the Messiah.” And he said to Me, not knowing who was the young man speaking to him: “If you abandon the Law you will be blind both on the earth and in Heaven. You will not see God and you will not know the Messiah.” He spoke as a wise man. There are too many people in Israel now who are blind. They have no hope because it was killed by their rebellion to the Law, which is always a rebellion, even when veiled by sacred vestments, if it is not complete acceptance of the word of God, I say of God, not of the superstructures put there by man, which being too many and completely human, are neglected by the very ones who put them there, and are fulfilled mechanically, compulsorily, wearily, unfruitfully by others. They have no more hope. But they deride the eternal truth. Therefore they no longer have Faith or Charity. The divine yoke given by God to man that he might make it his obedience and merit, the heavenly cross that God gave to man to conjure the serpents of Evil, that he might make it his health, has lost its cross arm, the one supporting the white flame and the red one: Faith and Charity, and darkness descended into the hearts of men. The old man said to Me: “It is a great misfortune not to believe and not to do what God told us.” It is true. I confirm it. It is worse than bodily blindness, which can be cured to give a just man the joy to see again the sun, meadows, the fruit of the earth, the faces of his sons and grandchildren, and above all, what was the hope of his hope: “To see the Messiah of the Lord.” I wish such virtue 255. Jesus Speaks of Hope. 384 were alive in the soul of every man in Israel and above all in the souls of those who are more learned in the law. It is not sufficient to have been to the Temple or to be of the Temple, it is not sufficient to know the words of the Book by heart. It is necessary to make them the life of our lives by means of the three divine virtues. You have an example: everything is easy to deal with where they are alive, even misfortune. Because the yoke of God is always a light one, which weighs only on the body but does not deject the spirit. Go in peace, you who live in this house of good Israelites. Go in peace, old father. You have the certainty that God loves you. End your just day by laying your wisdom in the hearts of the children of your own blood. I cannot stay, but My blessing remains here, among these walls rich in grace like the grapes of this vineyard. » And Jesus would like to go away. But He has to stay at least long enough to meet this tribe of all ages, and receive what they wish to give Him, until their travelling sacks are like bulging goat-skins... He can then take to the road again, along a short cut through the vineyard, shown to Him by the vine-dressers, who leave Him only when they reach the main road, in sight of a little village where Jesus and His friends can stay for the night.

254. Goodbye to Mary of Magdala, to Martha and to Syntyche

 254. Goodbye to Mary of Magdala, to Martha and to Syntyche. 17th August 1945. 1 And they are once again on their way, going eastwards, towards the country. The apostles and the two disciples are now with Mary Clopas and Susanna, a few yards behind Jesus, Who is with His Mother and the two sisters of Lazarus. Jesus is engrossed in talking. The apostles instead are silent. They look tired or disheartened. Their attention is not even attracted by the beauty of the country, which is really wonderful, with gentle undulations across the plain like many green pillows under the feet of a giant king and its tiny hills spread here and there, preluding the mountain chains of Mount Carmel and Samaria. Both the plain, which is the dominating part of the country, and the small decorated hills and undulated ground, are completely covered with blooming flowers and full of ripening fruit. It must be a well-watered place, notwithstanding its position and the season, because it is too flourishing to be lacking in water. I now understand why the plain of Saron is so often mentioned enthusiastically in the Holy Scriptures. But that enthusiasm is not shared by the apostles, who look somewhat sulky, the only ones to look so, in this splendid day and in this charming country. The consular road, which is well kept, cuts across the most fertile land like a white ribbon and in the early morning one frequently meets farmers laden with victuals and travellers going to Caesarea. One of the farmers, leading a line of donkeys laden with sacks, who catches up with the apostles and compels them to step aside to make room for the asinine caravan, asks arrogantly: « Is the Kishon here? » « Farther back » replies Thomas dryly, and mutters between his teeth: « You lout! » « He is a Samaritan and that's enough! » replies Philip. 2 They become silent again. After a few yards, as if he were concluding an internal speech, Peter says: « For what it was worth! Was it worth going all that road? » « Of course! Why did we go to Caesarea if He did not say even one word? I thought He intended working some wonderful miracle to convince the Romans. Instead...» says James of Zebedee. « He exposed us to ridicule, that's all » comments Thomas. The Iscariot aggravates the situation saying: « And He made us suffer. But He likes to be insulted and He thinks we like that as well. » « In actual fact it was Mary of Theophilus who suffered in this case » remarks the Zealot calmly. « Mary! Mary! Has Mary become the centre of the universe? She is the only one who suffers, the only heroine, the only one to be perfected. If I had known, I would have become a robber and a killer in order to be the object of so much care » bursts out the Iscariot. « Actually the last time we came to Caesarea and He worked a miracle and evangelized, we vexed Him by expressing our discontent because He had done so » remarks the cousin of the Lord. « The trouble is that we do not know what we want... If He does one thing, we grumble, if He does the opposite thing, we still grumble. We are full of faults » says John seriously. « Oh! There is the other wise man speaking! One thing is certain: no good has been done for some time. » « No good, Judas? What about the Greek woman, and Ermasteus, and Abel, and Mary, but...» « It is not with such nonentities that He will establish the Kingdom » retorts the Iscariot, who is haunted by the idea of an earthly triumph. « Judas, please do not judge the actions of my Brother. It is a ridiculous pretence. A boy who wants to judge his master, or I should say: a nonentity wishing to be placed in high quarters » says Thaddeus, who has the same name and an invincible aversion for his namesake. « Thank you for just calling me a boy. Actually, after living so long in the Temple I thought I could be considered at least of age » replies the Iscariot sarcastically. 254. Goodbye to Mary of Magdala, to Martha and to Syntyche. 378 3 « How dull these discussions are! » says Andrew with a sigh. « True Instead of being united, the more we live together, we are being divided. And yet at Sicaminon He told us that we must be united to the flock... How shall we ever be so, if we are not united as shepherds? » remarks Matthew. « So we must not speak? We must never express our ideas? I don't think that we are slaves. » « No, Judas, we are not slaves. But we are not worthy of following Him, because we do not understand Him » says the Zealot peacefully. « I understand Him very well. » « No. You do not understand Him, and like you, those who criticise Him, do not understand Him either... To understand means to obey without discussing, because one is convinced of the holiness of the guide » says the Zealot. « Ah! You are talking of understanding His holiness! I was referring to His words. His holiness is undisputed and indisputable » the Iscariot hastens to say. « Can you separate one from the others? A saint will always possess Wisdom, and his words will be wise. » « That is true. But He does harmful things. Because of His excessive holiness. I agree. But the world is not holy, and He causes trouble for Himself. Now, for instance, do you think that this Philistine and that Greek woman will do us any good? » « If I am going to be harmful, I will withdraw » says Ermasteus, who feels mortified. « I came with the idea of honouring Him and doing the right thing. » « You would grieve Him by going away for this reason » James of Alphaeus replies to him. « I will pretend that I have changed my mind. I will say goodbye to Him... and I will go. » « Surely not! You will not go away. It is not fair that the Master should lose a good disciple because of the short temper of other people » replies Peter promptly. « If he wants to go away for so little, it means that he is not sure of his own will. So let him go » insists the Iscariot. Peter loses his temper: « I promised Him, when He gave me Marjiam, that I would become paternal to everybody, and I am sorry to break my promise. But you force me to. Ermasteus is here and is staying here. Do you know what I must tell you? That you are the one who upsets the will of other people and makes them feel uncertain. You are one who causes separations and disorder. That is what you are. Shame on you. » « What are you? The protector of...» « Yes. You are quite right. I know what you mean. I am the protector of the Veiled woman, of John of Endor, of Ermasteus, of the slave, of anyone else who has been found by Jesus and is not one of those splendid ostentatious examples of the Temple, who are formed with the sacred mortar and cobwebs of the Temple, the wicks scented with the dregs of the lamps of the Temple, those like you, in other words, to make the parable clearer, because if the Temple is much, unless I have become a fool, the Master is much more than the Temple and you are lacking ...» he shouts so loud that the Master stops and turns round and is about to walk back, leaving the women. « He has heard! He will be sorrowful! » says the apostle John. « No, Master. Don't come. We were discussing... to kill the boredom of the journey » says Thomas promptly. But Jesus remains still so that they can reach Him. « What were you discussing? Must I tell you once again that the women disciples surpass you? » His kind reproach touches their hearts. They become silent and lower their heads. « My friends. Do not be the cause of scandal to those who are being born to the Light just now! Do you not know that an imperfection of yours is more harmful to the redemption of a heathen or a sinner, than all the errors of paganism? » No one replies because they do not know what to say to justify themselves or to avoid accusing the others. 4 The wagon of Lazarus' sisters is near a bridge over a dry torrent. The two horses are grazing the thick grass on the banks of the torrent, which has perhaps run dry only recently and thus the banks are thick with grass. Martha's servant and another man, perhaps the driver, are also on the river-bed, whilst the women 254. Goodbye to Mary of Magdala, to Martha and to Syntyche. 379 are in the closed wagon, which is completely enveloped with a heavy cover with tanned hides, which hang like heavy curtains down to the floor of the wagon. The women disciples move towards it, and the servant who is the first to see them, informs the nurse, while the other man takes the horses to the shaft. In the meantime the servant rushes towards his mistresses bowing to the ground. The elderly nurse, a fine woman with an olive complexion, but pleasant, comes down from the wagon quickly and goes towards her mistresses. But Mary of Magdala says something to her and she directs her steps towards the Blessed Virgin saying: « Forgive me... But my joy in seeing her is so great that I see nobody else. Come, blessed Mother. The sun is scorching. It is cool in the wagon. » All the women get on to it waiting for the men who are far behind. And while they are waiting and Syntyche, who is wearing the dress which the Magdalene had on yesterday, kisses the feet of her mistresses, as she insists in calling them, although they tell her that she is neither their slave nor their servant, but their guest in the name of Jesus, the Virgin Mary shows the precious little parcel of purple asking how the very short threads can be spun as they refuse to be moistened or twisted. « That is not how to do it, Donna. They are to be reduced to powder and used as any other dye. It's the filament of the shell, not a hair. See how crumbly it is, now that it is dry? Reduce it to thin powder, sift it, to remove all long bits, which would stain the yarn or the cloth. It is better to dye the yarn in skeins. When You are sure that it is all fine powder, You dissolve it like cochineal, or saffron, or indigo powder or the powder of any other bark, root or fruit and You use it. Fasten the dye with strong vinegar the last time You rinse it. » « Thank you, Naomi. I will do as you told Me. I have embroidered with purple threads, but they were given to Me ready to be used... 5 Here is Jesus. It is time to say goodbye, My daughters. I bless you all in the name of the Lord. Go in peace and take peace and joy to Lazarus. Goodbye, Mary. Remember that you wept on My breast your first happy tears. I am therefore your Mother because a baby weeps its first tears on its mother's breast. I am your Mother and will always be such. What may be burdensome for you to tell also the most kind sister, the most loving nurse, come and tell Me. I will always understand you. What you would not dare say to My Jesus, because it is still stained with humanity, which He does not want in you, come and tell Me. I will always be indulgent to you. And if you should like to inform Me also of your triumphs – but I would prefer you told Him, like sweet-smelling flowers, because He is your Saviour, not I – I will rejoice with you. Goodbye, Martha. You are now going away happily, and your supernatural happiness will last. So you need nothing else but to make progress in justice, in the peace which now nothing perturbs in you. Do it for the sake of Jesus, Who has loved you so much as to love your sister whom you love with complete love. Goodbye, Naomi. Go with the treasure you have found. As you used to satisfy her hunger with your milk, satisfy now your own, with the words that she and Martha will tell you, so that you may see in My Son much more than the exorciser who frees hearts from Evil. Goodbye, Syntyche, flower of Greece, you perceived by yourself that there is something more than flesh. Bloom now in God and be the first of the new Grecian flowers in Christ. I am very happy to leave you united thus. I bless you with My love. » The shuffling of feet is now close at hand. They lift the heavy curtain and see Jesus Who is a few feet from the wagon. They come off in the parching sun, which is blazing down on the road. Mary of Magdala kneels at Jesus' feet saying: « I thank You, for everything. And I thank You also very much for making me do this pilgrimage. You only possess Wisdom. I am now leaving divested of the remains of the Mary of time ago. Bless me, My Lord, to fortify me more and more. » « Yes. I bless you. Enjoy the company of your brother and sister and with them form yourself more and more in Me. Goodbye, Mary. Goodbye, Martha. Tell Lazarus that I bless him. I entrust this woman to you. I am not giving her to you. She is My disciple. But I want you to give her the opportunity, however small, of understanding My doctrine. I will come later. Naomi, I bless you, and you two, as well. » Martha and Mary have tears in their eyes. The Zealot greets them in particular handing them a letter for his servant. The others greet them all together. The wagon then sets out. 6 « And now let us go and look for some shady spot. May God guide them... Are you so sorry, Mary, that they have gone? » He asks Mary of Alphaeus, who is weeping silently. « Yes. They were very good...» 254. Goodbye to Mary of Magdala, to Martha and to Syntyche. 380 « We shall be meeting them again soon. And they will have grown in numbers. You will have many sisters... or daughters, if you prefer so. It is all love, whether it is maternal or brotherly » says Jesus comforting her. « Providing that does not cause trouble...» grumbles the Iscariot. « Trouble to love one another? » « No. Trouble having people of different races or origin. » « You mean Syntyche? » « Yes, Master. After all she was the property of the Roman and it was wrong to take possession of her. He will be angry with us and we will draw upon ourselves the rigour of Pontius Pilate. » « What do you think Pontius Pilate cares if one of his subordinates loses a slave? He will know what a slave is worth. And if he is generally honest, as they say he is, at least at home, he will say that the woman did the right thing to run away. If he is dishonest, he will say: “Serves him right. I may find her.” Dishonest people are not sensitive to other people's sufferings. In any case, poor Pontius! With all the trouble we make for him, he has enough to worry about instead of wasting his time with the complaint of a man who let his slave run away! » says Peter. And many say that he is right and laugh at the anger of the lewd Roman. 7 But Jesus discusses the matter at a higher level. « Judas, are you familiar with Deuteronomy? » « Certainly, Master. And, I do not hesitate to say, as very few people are. » « And what do you consider it is? » « The spokesman of God. » « Spokesman. So it repeats the word of God. » « Exactly. » « You judge it correctly. But, then, why do you not think that it is right to do what it commands? » « I never said that. On the contrary! I find that we neglect it too much by following the new Law. » « The New Law is the fruit of the old one, that is, it is the perfection achieved by the tree of Faith. But none of us neglect it, as far as I know, because I am the first to respect it and to prevent others from neglecting it. » Jesus is very incisive in saying these words. He resumes: « The Deuteronomy is untouchable. Also when My Kingdom will triumph, and with My Kingdom the New Law and its new codes and clauses, the Deuteronomy will always be applied to the new dictates, as the squared stones of ancient buildings are used for new ones, because they are perfect and make very strong walls. But My Kingdom does not yet exist, and I, a faithful Israelite, do not offend or neglect the Mosaic Book. It is the base of My behaviour and My teaching. Upon the base of the Man and of the Master, the Son of the Father places the heavenly construction of His Nature and Wisdom. In Deuteronomy it is written: “You shall not hand over to his master the slave who has come to you. He shall live with you, wherever he pleases, he shall stay peacefully in one of your towns and you shall not molest him.” This decree applies in any case where a slave has been compelled to run away from a cruel master. In My case, in the case of Syntyche, the flight is not towards a limited freedom, but towards the unlimited freedom of the Son of God. And now that this skylark has escaped from the hunters' trap, do you expect Me to put her into a net once again and hand her over to her prison to deprive her also of hope, after taking away her freedom? No, never! I bless the Lord because, as our trip to Endor brought this son back to the Father, so our visit to Caesarea has brought this woman to Me, that I may lead her to the Father. At Sicaminon I spoke to you of the power of faith. Today I will speak to you of the light of Hope. But now let us eat and rest in this orchard. Because the sun is scorching as if hell were open. »

253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave.

 253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave. 15th August 1945. 1 I do not see the town of Dora. The sun is setting and the pilgrims have directed their steps towards Caesarea. But I did not see the stop at Dora. Perhaps it was a simple stop, without anything remarkable to be noted. The sea seems on fire, as in its calm it reflects the red of the sky so much, so deep a red that it looks unreal. Blood seems to have been shed on the vault of heaven. It is still warm notwithstanding the sea air makes the heat bearable. They are walking along the sea all the time, to avoid the fierce heat of the dry earth, and many of them have taken off their sandals and pulled up their garments to paddle in the water. Peter states: « If the women disciples were not here, I would strip myself and go in up to my neck. » But he has to come out even from where he is, because the Magdalene, who was ahead with the other women, comes back and says: « Master, I am familiar with this area. Can You see that yellow strip in the blue sea over there? A river flows into the sea there, also in summer, as it is a perennial one. And one must be careful in crossing it... » « We have crossed so many. It is surely not the Nile! We will cross this one as well » says Peter. 253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave. 373 « It is not the Nile. But in the water and on its banks there are dangerous water animals. You cannot cross it carelessly or barefooted, if you do not want to be wounded. » « Oh! What are they? Leviathans? » « You are right, Simon. They are in fact crocodiles. Small ones, that is true, but capable of maiming you for a while. » « How did they come to be here? » « I think they were brought there for religious rites of the Phoenician era. And they have remained there, they have become smaller, but not less aggressive, and from the temples have passed into the sludge of the river. They are now large lizards, with vicious teeth! The Romans come here hunting and to amuse themselves in various ways. I have come with them, too. Everything helps to... occupy the time. Their skin is lovely and is used for many articles. Allow me therefore to be your guide, in view of my experience. » « All right. I would like to see them... » says Peter. « We may see some, although they have almost all been destroyed, they are hunted so much. » 2 They depart from the shore and turn inland, until they find a main road, half way between the hills and the sea and they soon reach an ogival bridge, thrown across a little river, the bed of which is rather wide, but the scanty water flows only in its centre. Where there is no water there are reeds and bog-grass, now almost parched by the summer heat, but in other seasons they perhaps form tiny islands in the water. The banks instead are covered with thick bushes and trees. Although they look very carefully, they can see no animal, and many of them are disappointed. But when they are near the end of the bridge, the only arch of which is very high, so that it may not be submerged by water in the period of floods – it is a very strong construction probably built by the Romans – Martha gives a very shrill scream and runs back terrified. A very big lizard, that is all it is, but with the typical head of a crocodile, is lying across the road, feigning sleep. « Don't be afraid! » shouts the Magdalene. « When they are like that, they are not dangerous. The trouble is when they are hidden and you put your foot on them without seeing them. » But Martha remains prudently behind. Susanna also is frightened... Mary of Alphaeus is prudent but more brave and walking close to her sons she advances and looks. The apostles are not afraid and they look making comments on the ugly animal, which deigns to turn round its head slowly, so that its face can be seen. It then moves and seems to be wanting to come towards those who have disturbed it. Another scream from Martha who runs farther back, imitated also by Susanna and Mary Clopas. But Mary of Magdala picks up a stone, throws it at the lizard which, hit on one side, runs down the gravel bed and sinks into the mud. « Come forward, you fearful woman. It's no longer here » she says to her sister. The women come together. « It is really ugly » comments Peter. « Is it true, Master, that once they fed them with human victims? » asks the Iscariot. « It was considered a sacred animal, it represented a god, and as we offer sacrifices to our God, so the poor idolaters did it in the forms and with the errors becoming their condition. » « But not now? » asks Susanna. « I think that it is still possible that it might be done in idolatrous countries » says John of Endor. « My God! But they will give them dead, eh? » « No. If they give them, they give them alive. Generally girls or boys. The choice of the population. At least that is what I read » replies John once again to the women who look around frightened. « I would die of fear if I had to go near one » says Martha. « Really? But these ones are nothing compared with real crocodiles. They are at least three times as long and large. » « And they are famished, too. This one was certainly replete with water snakes or wild rabbits. » 253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave. 374 « Mercy! Water snakes, too! My Lord, where have You brought us? » moans Martha, who is so frightened that she makes everybody laugh. Ermasteus, who has always been quiet, says: « Do not be afraid, It is enough to make a lot of noise to make them flee. I know because I have been to low Egypt many times. » They set out clapping their hands or beating tree trunks. And the dangerous spot is left behind. Martha has gone near Jesus and she often asks Him: « Will there be any more? » Jesus looks at her, shakes His head, but reassures her: « The Saron plain is nothing but beauty, and we are now there. But the women disciples have really surprised me today. I do not really know why you are so fearful. » « I do not know myself. But anything that creeps terrorises me. I seem to feel on me the cold of their bodies, which are certainly cold and slimy. And I wonder why they exist. Are they necessary? » « You should ask Him Who made them. But you may be sure that if He made them, it means that they are useful. At least to make Martha's heroism shine » says Jesus, eyes shining wittily. « Oh! Lord. You are joking and You are right. But I am afraid and I will never be able to control myself. » « We shall see about that... 3 But what is moving in those bushes over there? » says Jesus raising His head and looking straight in front of Him, at a tangled mass of bramble and other plants with long branches climbing towards an embankment of Indian figs, growing farther back with their leaves, which are as rigid as the climbing branches are flexible. « Another crocodile, Lord?!... » moans Martha, who is terrorised once again. The rustling of the branches increases and the head of a woman appears. She looks. When she sees so many men, she is uncertain whether to flee to the country or withdraw back into the wild tunnel. The former alternative prevails and she runs away screaming. « A leper? » « A mad woman? » « A woman possessed? » they ask perplexedly. The woman comes back because a Roman wagon is arriving from Caesarea and is already near. The woman looks like a mouse in a trap. She does not know where to go, because Jesus and His group of people are near the thicket where she was sheltered, and thus she cannot go back to it, and she does not want to go towards the Roman wagon... In the evening dusk, as night falls fast after a powerful sunset, it is possible to see that she is young and pretty although her garments are torn and she is unkempt. « Woman! Come here! » commands Jesus peremptorily. The woman stretches out her arms imploring: « Do not hurt me! » « Come here. Who are you? I will do you no harm » and He says so, so kindly that He persuades her. The woman moves forward with her head lowered and she throws herself on the ground saying: « Whoever You are, have mercy on me. Kill me but do not hand me back to my master. I am a fugitive slave... » « Who was your master? And where are you from? You are certainly not Hebrew. It is obvious from your way of speaking and from your garments. » « I am Greek. The Greek slave of... Oh! mercy! Hide me! The wagon is about to arrive... » They all form a group round the poor wretch curled up on the ground. Her dress torn by thorns shows her shoulders streaked with lashes and covered with scratches. The wagon passes by without any of its passengers paying attention to the group standing near the hedge. « They have gone by, speak now. We will help you if we can » says Jesus laying the tips of His fingers on her ruffled hair. 4 « I am Syntyche, the Greek slave of a noble Roman of the Proconsul's suite. » « So you are the slave of Valerian! » exclaims Mary of Magdala. « Ah! Have mercy! Don't denounce me to him » implores the unhappy woman. « Do not be afraid. I will never speak to Valerian again » replies the Magdalene. And she informs Jesus: « He is one of the richest and filthiest Romans we have here. And he is as cruel as he is filthy. » « Why did you run away? » asks Jesus. 253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave. 375 « Because I have a soul. I am not merchandise... (the woman takes heart when she realises she has come across compassionate people). I am not merchandise. He bought me. That is true. But he may have bought my person to embellish his house, that I may brighten up his time by reading for him, that I may serve him. But nothing else. My soul is mine! It cannot be bought. But he wanted also that. » « How do you know there is a soul? » « I am not illiterate, Lord. I was a prey of war since my youth. But I was not plebeian. This was my third master and a dirty faun. But I remember the words of our philosophers. And I know that we are not made only of flesh. There is something immortal enclosed within us. Something which has no precise name for us. But I recently learned its name. One day a man came from Caesarea, he worked miracles and spoke better than Socrates and Plato. They discussed him very much, in thermal baths, in triclinia, or in gilt peristyles, contaminating his august Name by mentioning it in the halls of foul orgies. And I, just I who already felt I had something immortal that belongs only to God and cannot be purchased as merchandise at slave markets, was ordered by my master to read the works of philosophers to compare them and find out whether this unknown thing, that the Man from Caesarea had called “soul”, was described in them. He made me read that! Me whom he wanted to enslave to his sensuality! I thus found out that this immortal thing is the soul. And while Valerian and his like were listening to my voice, and belching and yawning he endeavoured to understand, compare and discuss, I linked their conversation, referring the words of the Unknown Man, with the words of the philosophers and I kept them here, in my heart, and my dignity became stronger and stronger to reject his lustfulness... Some evenings ago he beat me to death because I rejected him, biting him with my teeth... and I ran away the following day... I have lived in that thicket for five days, picking blackberries and Indian figs at night. But I will end up by being caught. He is certainly looking for me. I cost much money and his sensuality craves too much for me to leave me alone... Have mercy on me! You are an Israelite and you certainly know where he is, I ask you to take me to the Unknown Man who speaks to slaves and speaks of souls. They told me that he is poor. I will starve, but I want to be near him that he may teach me and elevate me. It is brutalising to live with brutes, even if one resists them. I want to possess my moral dignity once again. » 5 « That man, The Unknown One, Whom you are looking for, is in front of you. » « You? O unknown God of the Acropolis, Hail! » and she bows her forehead to the ground. « You cannot remain here. But I am going to Caesarea... » « Do not leave me, Lord! » « I will not leave you... I think... » « Master, our wagon is certainly at the appointed place, waiting for us. Send for it. She will be as safe in the wagon as she would be in our house » suggests Mary of Magdala. « Oh! yes, Lord! Send her to us, in the place of old Ishmael. We will teach her Your doctrine. She will be torn from paganism » begs Martha. « Do you want to come with us? » asks Jesus. « With any of Your friends, providing I am no longer with that man. But... but a woman here said that she knows him. Will she betray me? Will any Romans go to her house? No... » « Be not afraid. Romans do not come to Bethany, above all Romans of the kind » replies the Magdalene reassuring her. « Simon and Simon Peter, go and look for the wagon. We shall wait for you here. We shall go to town afterwards » orders Jesus. 6 ... When the noise of the hooves and of the wheels and the lamp hanging from its roof announce the arrival of the heavy closed wagon, those waiting for it come up from the river bank, where they certainly had their evening meal, and come on to the road. The wagon comes jolting to a stop on the edge of the rough road and Peter and Simon come off it. They are immediately followed by an elderly woman who runs to embrace the Magdalene saying: « I did not want to delay one moment to tell you that I am so happy, to tell you that your mother is rejoicing with me, to tell you that you are once again the fair rose of our house, as when you used to sleep in the cradle after I had suckled you » and she kisses her many times. Mary weeps in her arms. 253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave. 376 « Woman, I entrust this young woman to you and I ask you to make the sacrifice of waiting here all night. Tomorrow you will be able to go to the first village on the consular road and wait there. We shall come by the third hour » Jesus says to the nurse. « Everything as You wish, may You be blessed! Just let me give Mary the clothes I brought her. » And she climbs on to the wagon with the Most Holy Virgin, Martha and Mary. When they come out the Magdalene is dressed as we shall always see her in future: a plain dress, a wide thin linen cloth as a veil and a mantle without any ornament. « You may go peacefully, Syntyche. We shall be coming tomorrow as well. Goodbye » says Jesus greeting her. And He takes to the road again towards Caesarea... 7 The sea-front is crowded with people walking in the light of torches or lanterns carried by slaves, breathing the air coming from the sea, which is a relief to their lungs tired of the summer sultriness. The ones walking are mainly rich Romans. The Jews are closed in their houses and enjoy the fresh air on their terraces. The sea-front looks like a very long parlour during visits. To pass there means to be examined closely in every detail. And Jesus passes just there... for the whole length of the promenade, ignoring those who watch Him, make comments or deride Him. « Master, You are here? At this time? » asks Lydia, who is sitting on a kind of armchair, or little bed, which slaves have brought for her to the edge of the road. And she stands up. « I am coming from Dora and I am late. I am looking for lodgings. » « I would say to You: here is my house » and she points at a beautiful building behind her. « But I do not know whether... » « No. Thank you. I cannot accept. I have many people with Me and two have already gone ahead of us to inform some people I know. I think they will give us hospitality. » Lydia's eyes rest also on the women and the disciples at whom Jesus pointed, and she immediately recognises the Magdalene. « Mary? It's you? So it's true? » Mary's eyes are like those of a surrounded gazelle: she is tortured. And she is justified because Lydia is not the only one she has to face, as many more look at her... But she looks also at Jesus and plucks up courage again. « It is true. » « So we have lost you! » « No. You have found me. At least I hope to find you again one day, and in a better friendship, on the road that at long last I have found. Please tell all those who know me. Goodbye, Lydia. Forget all the evil you saw me do, I ask you to forgive me...» « Mary! Why are you lowering yourself? We have led the same life, the life of rich idle people, and there is no...» « No. No, my life was worse. But I have come out of it. And forever. » « Goodbye, Lydia » the Lord cuts short and He directs His steps towards His cousin Judas who is coming towards Him with Thomas. Lydia keeps the Magdalene back for another moment. « Tell me the truth, now that we are alone: are you really convinced? » « Not convinced: happy to be a disciple. I regret one thing only: that I did not meet the Light before and that I have been feeding on filth instead of being nourished by It. Goodbye, Lydia. » Her reply sounds clear in the silence enveloping the two women. None of the many people present speak any more... Mary turns round and makes haste to reach the Master. A young man stands on her way: « Is that your last foolish action? » he says, and tries to embrace her. But half drunk as he is, he is not successful, and Mary evades him shouting: « No, it is my only wise one. » She reaches her companions who are completely covered with their veils, such is their disgust to be seen by those vicious people. « Mary » says Martha anxiously « did you suffer much? » « No, and He is right, I will never suffer again because of that. He is right... » They all turn into a narrow dark street and enter a large house, certainly a hotel, 253. Syntyche, the Greek Slave. 377 for the night.

252. Departure from Sicaminon. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Spiritualised Maternity..

 252. Departure from Sicaminon. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Spiritualised Maternity. 14th August 1945. 1 It is still night, a beautiful night with waning moon, when Jesus, the apostles and the women, John of Endor and Ermasteus, silently take leave of Isaac, the only one to be awake, and set out along the shore. The noise of their steps is only a slight creaking of gravel pressed by their sandals, and no one speaks until they have gone a few metres beyond the last house. The people sleeping in it, or in the ones before it, were certainly not aware of the silent departure of the Lord and His friends. There is dead silence. Only the sea speaks to the moon about to set in the west and it tells the sand the stories of its depths with the long wave at high tide, which begins leaving a narrower and narrower dry margin on the beach. This time the women are in front, together with John, the Zealot, Judas Thaddeus and James of Alphaeus, who help them to get over small rocks spread here and there, which are damp and also slippery with the humidity of the night. The Zealot is with the Magdalene, John with Martha, while James of Alphaeus takes care of his mother and of Susanna, and Thaddeus does not surrender to anybody the honour of taking in his long strong hand – which is like Jesus' – the little hand of Mary to help Her in difficult spots. Each speaks in a low voice to his companion. They all seem to be wishing to respect the sleep of the Earth. The Zealot is conversing intensely with Mary of Magdala and I can see that Simon stretches out his arms more than once, meaning: « it is so and there is nothing we can do about it » but I cannot hear what they are saying as they are ahead of everybody. John speaks to his companion only now and again, pointing at the sea and Mount Carmel, the western side of which looks white in the moonlight. Perhaps he is talking of the road they took the last time, skirting Mount Carmel on the other side. 2 Also James, who is between Mary of Alphaeus and Susanna, is speaking of Mount Carmel. He says to his mother: « Jesus has promised me to climb up there with me alone and to tell me alone something. » « What does He want to tell you, son? Will you tell me, afterwards? » 252.Departure from Sicaminon. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Spiritualised Maternity. 370 « Mother, if it is a secret, I cannot tell you » replies James smiling with his smile which is so tender; his likeness to Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin, is remarkable both with regard to his features and even more to his serene kindness. « There are no secrets for a mother. » « In fact I have none. But if Jesus wants me up there, all alone to speak to me, it means that He does not want anyone to know what He is going to tell me. And you, mother, are my dear mother, whom I love so much, but Jesus is above you, as His will is. But, when the time comes, I will ask Him whether I may repeat His words to you. Are you happy? » « You will forget to ask Him...» « No, mother. I never forget you, not even when you are far from me. Every time I see or hear something beautiful, I always say: “I wish my mother were here!” » « My dear! Give me a kiss, son. » Mary of Alphaeus is moved. But emotion does not kill curiosity. After being quiet for a few moments, she makes a fresh assault: « You said: His will. So you know that He wants to tell what His Will is. Come on, you can tell me at least that. He told you that in the presence of everybody. » « In actual fact I was alone with Him, ahead of the others » says James smiling. « But the others could hear you. » « He did not tell me very much, mother. He reminded me of the words and the prayer of Elijah on Mount Carmel: “Of all the prophets of the Lord, I alone am left.” “Hear me, that this people may acknowledge that You are the Lord God.” » « And what did He mean? » « How many things you want to know, mother! Go to Jesus, then, and He will tell you » replies James, to parry her embarrassing questions. « He probably meant that, since the Baptist has been captured, He is the only prophet left in Israel and that God must preserve Him for a long time, so that the people may be taught » says Susanna. « H'm! I don't believe that Jesus asks to be preserved for a long time. He asks nothing for Himself... Come on, dear James! Tell your mother. » « Curiosity is a fault, mother; it is useless, dangerous, at times it is sorrowful. Make a nice act of mortification...» 3 « Alas! Did He mean that your brother will be put in prison, and killed perhaps?! » asks Mary of Alphaeus, who is thoroughly upset. « Judas is not “all the prophets”, mother, even if, as far as your love is concerned, each son of yours is the whole world...» « I am thinking also of the others... because you will certainly be among the future prophets. So... so if you are the only one to be left... If you are the only one left, it means that the others, that my Judas... oh!...» Mary of Alphaeus leaves James and Susanna, and she runs back fast, as if she were a young girl, paying no attention to the question Thaddeus asks her. She arrives in Jesus' group like one who has been chased. « My Jesus... I was speaking to my son... about what You told him... of Mount Carmel... of Elijah... of the prophets... You said... that James will be the only one left... And what will happen to Judas? He is my son, You know? » she says panting because of her anguish and her racing. « I know, Mary. And I also know that you are happy that he is My disciple. You see that you have all the rights of a mother, and I have them as Master and Lord. » « That is true... it is true... but Judas is my boy!...» and Mary, foreseeing the future, burst into tears. « Oh! how badly shed your tears are! But the heart of a mother is forgiven everything. Come here, Mary. Do not weep. I comforted you once before. Also on that occasion I promised you that your grief would obtain great graces from God, for you, for your Alphaeus, for your sons...» Jesus has laid His arm on the shoulder of His aunt drawing her close to Himself... He tells those who were with Him: « Move forward...» When He is alone with Mary Clopas, He resumes speaking: « And I did not tell a lie. Alphaeus died invoking Me. Thus every debt he had with God was cancelled. It was your grief, Mary, that obtained that conversion to his misunderstood relative, to the Messiah Whom he did not recognise before. Your present grief will get your hesitant Simon and your 252.Departure from Sicaminon. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Spiritualised Maternity. 371 stubborn Joseph to imitate your Alphaeus. » « Yes, but... What will You do to Judas, to my Judas? » « I will love him even more than I love him now. » « No, no. There is a threat in those words. Oh! Jesus! Oh! Jesus!...» 4 The Blessed Virgin Mary comes back to comfort Her sister-in-law, although She does not know yet the nature of her grief, and when She knows, because when Mary sees Her beside her, she weeps more and informs Her, Our Lady becomes paler than the moon. Mary of Alphaeus moans: « Will You tell Him, no, no, not death for my Judas...» Our Lady, Who is deadly pale, says to her: « And can I ask that on your behalf, when I do not ask salvation from death for My own Son? Mary, say with Me: “Your will be done, Father, in Heaven, on the Earth and in the hearts of mothers.” To do the will of God through the destiny of our sons is the redeeming martyrdom of us mothers... In any case... No one said that Judas is to be killed, or killed before you die. How burdensome your present prayer, that he may live to the most longeval age, would be for you, when in the Kingdom of Truth and Love, you will see everything in the light of God and in your spiritualised maternity. I am sure that you then, both as a blessed soul and a mother, would like your Judas to be like My Jesus in His destiny of Redeemer, and you would long to have him soon with you again, forever. Because it is a mother's torture to be separated from her children. So great a torture, that I think it will last, as anxious love, also in Heaven, where we shall be received. » Mary's crying, so loud in the silence of early dawn, has caused everybody to come back, to learn what has happened, and they thus hear the words of the Blessed Virgin and everybody is moved. Mary of Magdala whispers weeping: « And I gave my mother that torture even here on the Earth. » Martha weeps saying: « To be separated is sorrowful for both mothers and children. » Peter's eyes are shining with tears and the Zealot says to Bartholomew: « Wonderful words of wisdom to explain what the maternity of a blessed soul will be! » « And how things will be considered by a blessed mother: in the light of God and her spiritualised maternity... It takes your breath away as if you were facing a bright mystery » replies Nathanael. The Iscariot says to Andrew: « Maternity is divested of all sensible weight and takes wings... when described thus. We seem to be seeing our mothers already transformed into inconceivable beauty. » « That is true. Our mother, James, will love us thus. Can you imagine how perfect her love will be? » says John to his brother and he is the only one to smile brightly, so deeply moved he is at the thought that his mother will be able to love perfectly. 5 « I am sorry I caused so much sorrow » apologises James of Alphaeus. « But she apprehended more than I said... Believe me, Jesus. » « I know, I know. But Mary is working on herself by herself, and that was a particularly hard stroke of the chisel. But it will relieve her of so much dead weight » says Jesus. « Come on, mother, stop weeping. I am sorry that you should suffer like a poor little woman who is unaware of the certainties of the Kingdom of God. You are in no way like the mother of the Maccabean brothers » says Thaddeus reproaching her severely, but he embraces her at the same time and kisses her grey-haired head. « You are like a little girl who is afraid of shadows and of the tales they tell her to frighten her. And yet you know where to find me in Jesus. What a mother! You ought to weep if you had been told that, in future, I was to become a traitor to Jesus, or one who would abandon Him, or would be a damned soul. In that case I agree. You ought to weep tears of blood. But, with the help of God I will never give you such deep sorrow, mother. I want to be with you forever and ever...» The reproach first, and the subsequent caresses stop the tears of Mary of Alphaeus, who is now rather ashamed of her weakness. 6 Light, in the transition from night to day, has faded, because the moon has set, but it is not yet daylight. It is twilight. But immediately afterwards light begins to assert itself: at first it is leaden, then greyish, then greenish, afterwards whitish with bluish traces, and finally clear, like an incorporeal silver, and it makes it easy to walk on the damp shingly shore, from which the sea has receded, while it is delightful to contemplate the sea becoming pale blue and on 252.Departure from Sicaminon. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Spiritualised Maternity. 372 the point of brightening up with facets of gems. And then the air blends its silver with a darker and darker pink, until the golden pink of dawn becomes a reddish pink shower on the sea, on faces, on the country, with brighter and brighter contrasting hues, which reach the perfect climax, which I consider the most beautiful of the day, when the sun bouncing out from the eastern horizon, darts its first rays on mountains and hills, forests, meadows and the large expanses of sea and sky, emphasising each shade, whether it is the whiteness of snow, or remote mountains of indigo changing into jasper green, or cobalt sky attenuating to mix with pink, or sapphire veined with jade and lined with sea pearls. And today the sea is a real prodigy of beauty. It is not dead in dull calm, it is not ruffled by the fury of winds, but it is majestically alive in smiling little thin waves, just marked with ripplings crowned with a tiny crest of foam. « We shall arrive at Dora before the heat of the day. And we shall depart at sunset. Sisters, your toilsome journey will end tomorrow at Caesarea. And we shall have a rest, too. Your wagon will be certainly waiting for you. We will part... Why are you weeping, Mary? Am I supposed to see all the Maries weep today? » says Jesus to the Magdalene. « She is sorry to leave You » says her sister excusing her. « That does not mean that we shall not be meeting again and soon. » Mary shakes her head. That is not the reason why she is weeping. The Zealot explains: « She is afraid she will not be able to be good without being near You. She is afraid of... of being tempted too strongly, when You are not near her to keep the demon away. She was telling me a little while ago. » « Do not be afraid for that. I never withdraw the grace I have granted. Do you want to sin? No? Then do not worry. Be watchful, of course, but be not afraid. » « Lord... I am weeping because at Caesarea... Caesarea is full of my sins. I can see them all now... My human nature will have much to suffer...» « I am glad of that. The more you suffer, the better. Because afterwards you will no longer suffer such useless pains. Mary of Theophilus, I remind you that you are the daughter of a strong man, that you are a strong soul and I want to make you most strong. I can bear with the weakness of the other women disciples, because they have always been meek and shy, including your sister. But I will not put up with it in your case. I will work you with fire and on the anvil. Because your character is to be dealt with thus, in order not to spoil the miracle of your will and Mine. Let that be known to you and to all those who among the people present or absent may think that, as I have loved you so much, I may become weak with you. I allow you to weep for repentance and for love. But nothing else. Is that clear? » Jesus is imposing and severe. Mary of Magdala endeavours to swallow tears and sobs and she goes down on her knees, kisses Jesus' feet and endeavouring to steady her voice she says: « Yes, my Lord. I will do what You want. » « Get up then and be calm. »

251. Return to Sicaminon. Jesus Speaks of Faith.

 251. Return to Sicaminon. Jesus Speaks of Faith. 13th August 1945. 1 The people of Sicaminon, impelled by curiosity, besieged the place where the apostles were, all day long, awaiting the return of the Master. The women disciples, in the meantime, have not wasted any time, but have washed the clothes covered with dust and wet with perspiration, and on the little beach there is a bright display of garments drying in the wind and sunshine. As it is evening and getting dark, the dampness of sea fog is felt, so they hasten to take in the clothes, although they are still dampish. Before folding them they stretch them out in all directions and press them, so that they may look tidy to the respective owners. « Let us take Mary's clothes to her at once » says Mary of Alphaeus. And she concludes: « She has been really suffering yesterday and today in that little stifling room!... » I thus realise that Jesus has been absent for more than one day, during which time Mary of Magdala, who had only one dress, had to remain indoors, until her dress was dry. Susanna replies: « Fortunately she never complains! I did not think she was so good. » « And so humble, you should say, and reserved. Poor woman! It was the devil who tormented her! Since she was freed by my Jesus, she has become herself once again, exactly as she was when a girl. » And talking to each other, they arrive back home carrying the laundry. In the meanwhile Martha is busy preparing food and the Blessed Virgin is cleaning vegetables in a copper basin and then boils them for supper. « Here you are. Everything is dry, clean and folded. And they badly needed it. Go to Mary and give her her clothes » says Susanna handing the clothes to Martha. The two sisters come back shortly afterwards. « I thank both of you. The sacrifice of wearing the same dress for days was the most painful one to me » says Mary of Magdala smiling. « I now feel fresh and cool. » « Go and sit outside, there is a lovely breeze. You certainly need it after being closed in » remarks Martha, who, being smaller than her sister and not so buxom, was able to put on a dress of Susanna's or of Mary of Alphaeus', while her clothes were being washed. « This time we had to make the best of it. But in future we will bring little bags, like the others, and we will not have all this trouble » says the Magdalene. « What? Are you going to follow Him as we do? » « Of course. Unless He tells me otherwise. I am now going to the beach to see whether they are coming back. 2 Are they coming back this evening? » « I hope so » replies the Most Holy Virgin. « I am worried because He has gone to Phoenicia. But I know that He is with the apostles and after all the Phoenicians may be better than many other people. When I went to the fountain, a mother stopped Me saying: “Are You with the Galilean Master, the One they call Messiah? If so, come and see my son. Fever has been tormenting him for over a year.” I went into the little house. Poor thing! He looks like a little flower about to die. I will tell Jesus. » « There are others as well who want to be cured. They are more anxious to be cured than to be taught » says Martha. « It is difficult for a man to be entirely spiritual. The voice and needs of the flesh are more strongly felt » replies the Virgin. « However, many revive spiritually after a miracle. » « Yes, Martha. And that is one of the reasons why My Son works so many miracles. Out of love for man, but also to draw him by such means on to His Way, which, otherwise, many would not follow. » 3 John of Endor, who had not gone with Jesus, comes back home with many disciples who are going to the little houses where they live. Almost at the same time the Magdalene comes back saying: « They are arriving. They are the five boats that left yesterday at dawn. I recognised them very well. » « They must be tired and thirsty. I will go and get some more water. The water of the fountain is very cool » and Mary of Alphaeus goes out carrying some pitchers. 251. Return to Sicaminon. Jesus Speaks of Faith. 366 « Let us go and meet Jesus. Come » says the Blessed Virgin. And She goes out with the Magdalene and John of Endor, because Martha and Susanna, both flushed and very busy preparing supper, remain near the kitchen range. Walking along a wall they arrive at a little pier, where other fishing boats have already come in and are moored. From the end of the pier it is possible to have a very good view of the whole bay and of the town after which it is called, and one can also see the five boats sailing fast, slightly heeled to one side, as a light northern breeze fills the sails, and is thus favourable and at the same time brings relief to the men who are tired and warm. « See how well Simon and the others are manoeuvering. They are following the pilot's boat excellently. They have now passed the breaker; they are now taking to the open sea to avoid the current which is strong over there. Good... Now everything is all right. They will soon be here » says John of Endor. The boats in fact are coming nearer and nearer and it is possible to distinguish the people in them. Jesus is on the first one with Isaac. He has stood up and His tall figure appears in all its magnificence until the furling sail conceals Him for a few minutes. In fact the boat veers round to approach the little pier and passes before the women standing on the point. Jesus smiles waving to them, while they begin to walk fast to reach the landing place at the same time as the boat. « May God bless You, My Son! » says Mary greeting Jesus Who is disembarking on the quay. « May God bless You, Mother. Have You been worrying? The man whom we were looking for, was not in Sidon. We went as far as Tyre. And we found him there. Come, Ermasteus... Here, John. This man wants to be taught. I entrust him to you. » « I shall not disappoint You in teaching him Your word. Thank You, Master! There are many people waiting for You » replies John of Endor. « There is also a poor sick boy, Son, and his mother wants You to go there. » « I will go to her at once. » « I know who she is, Master. I will take You there. Ermasteus, come with us. You will begin to know the infinite goodness of our Lord » says the man from Endor. Peter lands from the second boat, James from the third, Andrew from the fourth, John from the fifth; the four pilots followed by the other apostles or disciples who were with them all gather round Jesus and Mary. « Go home. I shall soon be there as well. In the meantime prepare the supper and tell those who are waiting that I will speak to them at the end of vesper. » « And what if there are some sick people? » « I will cure them first. Even before supper, so that they may go back home happily. » 4 They part. Jesus with John of Endor and Ermasteus goes towards the town, the others walk back along the pebbly beach, telling what they have seen or heard, as happy as children returning to their mothers. Also Judas of Kerioth seems happy. He shows all the offerings given to him by the murex fishermen, and above all he shows a little bundle containing the precious substance. « This is for the Master. If He does not wear it, who can possibly do so? They called me to one side saying: “We have some precious madrepores in our boat, and we have also a pearl. Imagine! A treasure. I do not know how we were so lucky. But we will give them willingly to you for the Master. Come and see them.” I went with them to please them, while the Master had withdrawn into a cave to pray. They were beautiful corals and a pearl, not a big one, but beautiful. I said to them: “Don't deprive yourselves of these things. The Master does not wear jewels. Give me instead some of that purple to make an ornament for His tunic.” They had this little packet. They insisted in giving it all to me, at all costs. Take it, Mother, make something nice with it for our Lord, as You know how to do it. But make sure You do so. If He becomes aware of it, He will have it sold for the poor. And we like to see Him dressed as He deserves. Is that right? » « Oh! It is true! I suffer when I see Him dressed so plainly amongst other people, while He is a king, and they are less than slaves and yet they wear gorgeous decorations and garments. And they look at Him as if He were unworthy of being near them! » says Peter. « Ehi! Did you see how those gentlemen in Tyre were laughing when we took leave of the fishermen?! » replies his brother. 251. Return to Sicaminon. Jesus Speaks of Faith. 367 « I said to them: “You ought to be ashamed, you dogs! A single thread of His white tunic is worth all your finery.” » says James of Zebedee. « Since Judas has been able to get it, I would like You to have it ready for the Tabernacles » says Judas Thaddeus. « I have never spun purple. But I will try... » says the Blessed Virgin touching the light bright-coloured wool, as soft as silk. « My nurse is an expert at that. We shall find her at Caesarea. She will let you see how to do it. You will learn at once, because You do everything so well. I would put a band round the neck, the sleeves and at the hem of His tunic: purple on snow-white linen or wool, with palm or rosette decorations as we see on the marble of the Holy, and David's knot in the centre. It would look lovely » says the Magdalene who is an expert in such beautiful things. Martha says: « Our mother made that design, because it was so beautiful, on the tunic that Lazarus wore on his journey to Syria when he took possession of our land there. I kept it because it was the last work of our mother. I will send it to You. » « I will do it praying for your mother. » 5 They have reached the houses. The apostles spread out to gather those who want the Master, particularly sick people... And Jesus comes back with John of Endor and Ermasteus. And He passes by greeting those who have crowded in front of the little houses. His smile is a blessing. They bring Him the inevitable man with eye trouble, who is almost blind with ulcerous ophthalmia, and He cures him. Then it is the turn of a man sick with malaria, as emaciated and yellow as a Chinese, and He cures him. Then a woman asks for a particular miracle: milk for her breast, which has none, and she shows her baby, only a few days old, underfed and all red probably because of some inflammation. She moans: « See? We are told to obey man and to procreate. But what does it serve if we see our children languish? This is my third one, and I have buried two in the grave, because of my unfruitful breast. And this one is about to die, too, because he was born in this hot season, the others lived: one ten months, the other six, to make me weep even more when they died of intestine trouble. If I could give them my milk, that would not happen...» Jesus looks at her and says: « Your child will live. Have faith. Go home and as soon as you are there offer your breast to the baby. Have faith. » The woman goes away obediently with the poor baby, who moans like a kitten, close to his mother's heart. « Will she have milk? » « Of course she will. » « I say that the baby will live, but she will never have any milk, and it is already a miracle if he lives. He is almost dead with privations. » « Instead I say that she will have milk. » « Of course. » « No, she will not. » The people present are of different opinions. 6 Meanwhile Jesus withdraws to eat. When He comes out to preach, the crowd is even larger because the news of the miracle of the boy sick with fever, which Jesus worked as soon as He landed, has spread throughout the town. « I give you My peace that it may prepare you to understand. It is not possible to hear the Voice of the Lord in a storm. Every perturbation is detrimental to Wisdom, which is peaceful, as it comes from God. Perturbations instead do not come from God, because worries, anxieties, doubts are the work of the Evil One to upset the children of man and separate them from God. I will tell you a parable that you may understand My teaching more clearly. A farmer had many trees in his fields and many vines which yielded much fruit, among which there was a special quality, of which he was very proud. One year that vine produced many leaves but few grapes. A friend said to the farmer: “That is because you did not prune it enough.” The following year the man pruned it much more. The vine had few shoots and fewer grapes. Another friend said to him: “That is because you pruned it too much.” The third year the farmer left it alone. The vine did not produce any grapes at all, only a few crumpled leaves, covered with blight. A third friend stated: “It is dying because the soil is not good. Burn it.” “Why? It is the same soil that the others have and I tend it exactly as I do with the others. Before it was doing so well!.” His friend shrugged his shoulders and went away. An unknown wayfarer passed by and stopped to look at the farmer sadly leaning 251. Return to Sicaminon. Jesus Speaks of Faith. 368 on the poor vine. “What is the matter?” he asked. “Someone dead in the family?.” “No. But this vine, of which I was so fond, is dying. It has no more sap and yields no fruit. One year little, the next one less, this year nothing. I have done everything they told me, but to no avail.” The unknown wayfarer entered the field and approached the vine. He felt the leaves, took a lump of earth in his hand, smelt it, crumpled it with his fingers, looked at the trunk of the tree supporting the vine. “You must remove that trunk. The vine is made barren by it.” “It has been its support for years!” “Tell me, man: when you planted this vine, what was it like, and what was that trunk like?” “Oh! It was a lovely three year old vine-shoot. I got it from another vine of mine, and to bring it here, I dug a deep hole, so that its roots would not suffer when they were taken away from the native soil. I dug a similar hole here as well, nay a larger one, so that it should be at ease at once, and I hoed the soil around it, to make it soft, so that the roots could spread out at once, without any difficulty. I settled it carefully, laying underneath it some good manure. As you know, roots grow strong immediately if they find suitable nourishment. I did not pay so much attention to the elm-tree. It was only a little tree planted there to support the vineshoot. In fact I planted it superficially near the vine-shoot, I earthed it up and went away. They both took roots, because the soil is good. The vine grew every year, it was looked after, hoed and pruned. The elm-tree instead hardly grew. But for what it was worth!... Then it grew strong. See how lovely it is now? When I come here, from afar I can see its top standing out like a tower and it looks like the ensign of my little kingdom. Once the vine covered it up and one could not see its beautiful foliage. But look how lovely it is up there, in the sunshine! And what a trunk! Straight and strong. It could have supported this vine for many years, even if it became like the ones that the explorers of Israel took near the Torrent of Grapes. Instead... “It has killed it. It has overwhelmed it. Everything was right for its life: the soil, its place, light, sunshine, the care you took of it. But the elm-tree killed it. It became too strong. It entangled its roots suffocating them, it took all the sap of the soil, it prevented it from breathing and receiving the necessary light. Cut down this useless powerful tree at once, and your vine will revive. And it will revive even better if you patiently dig up the ground to expose the roots of the elm-tree and then cut them, to ensure that they do not sprout. Their last ramifications will rot in the ground, and once dead they will become life, because they will become manure, a worthy punishment for their selfishness. Burn the trunk, make thus good use of it. A useless harmful tree is good only as firewood, and it is to be removed so that all the nourishment of the soil may go to the good and useful plant. Have faith in what I am telling you and you will be happy.” “But, who are you? Tell me that I may have faith.” “I am the Wise One. He who believes in Me will be safe” and he went away. The man was rather doubtful. Then he made up his mind and he got a saw. And he called his friends to help him. “Are you mad?” “You will lose both elm-tree and vine.” “I would cut off only its top, in order to give air to the vine. But no more.” “It must have a support. You are going to do a useless job.” “I wonder who He was! Perhaps one who hates you, without you knowing it.” “Or a madman” and so on. “I am going to do what he told me. I have faith in Him” and he cut the elm-tree down at its root, and not happy, he laid bare the roots of both plants in a wide circle around them, and he patiently cut the roots of the elm-tree, taking great care not to damage those of the vine, he then filled in the hole, and as the vine had no support, he placed a strong iron pole near it with the word “Faith” written on a wooden board tied to the top of the pole. The others went away shaking their heads. Autumn and winter passed and spring came. The vine-shoots twined round the support became adorned with buds, first closed like silvery velvet cases, then half open against the emerald of the fresh leaves, then fully open, and finally producing new strong shoots from the trunk, all covered with tiny flowers that turned into grapes. There were more bunches of grapes than leaves, and the latter were large, green, strong, the size of two, three or more clusters. And each bunch was thick with pulpy, juicy, wonderful grapes. “And now what do you say? Was the tree the cause of the withering of my vine or was it not? Was the Wise One right or not? Was I right or not in writing on that board the word: 'Faith'?” said the farmer to his incredulous friends. “You were right. You are happy because you had faith and you were able to destroy the past and neglect the wrong information given to you.” 251. Return to Sicaminon. Jesus Speaks of Faith. 369 That is the parable. 7 With regard to the woman with the unfruitful breast, there is the answer. Look towards the town. » They all turn round and see the woman of a little while ago running towards them, and although she is running she does not detach the baby from her breast now full of milk, which the child sucks with such voracity as to almost choke himself. The woman stops only when she is at Jesus' feet, in front of Whom she detaches the baby from her nipple for a moment, shouting: « Bless him that he may live for You! » After that moment Jesus resumes: « And you have had a reply to your various conjectures on the miracle. But the parable has a wider meaning than the little episode of faith rewarded. And here it is. God had planted His vine, His people, in a suitable place, and supplied it with everything necessary to grow and bear more and more fruit, supporting it with masters so that the people might understand the Law more easily, and make it its strength. But the masters wanted to excel the Lawgiver, and they grew more and more until they imposed themselves more than the eternal word did. And Israel became sterile. The Lord then sent the Wise One so that those in Israel who with righteous souls are sorry for such barrenness and try this and that remedy, according to the dictates and advice of the masters, who are humanly learned but supernaturally unlearned, and thus far from knowing what is to be done to give life back to the spirit of Israel, may have true healthy advice. But what happens? Why does Israel not recover its strength and become energetic as in the golden days of its loyalty to the Lord? Because the advice is: remove all parasites that have grown to the detriment of what is Holy: the Law of the Decalogue, as it was given, without any compromise, hesitation, hypocrisy, remove them to give air, space, nourishment to the Vine, to the People of God, and a strong, straight, inflexible, unique support, with a name as bright as the sun: Faith. But that advice is not accepted. I therefore tell you that Israel will perish, whilst it could revive and possess the Kingdom of God, if it believed and made amends and changed itself substantially. Go in peace and the Lord be with you. »

250. At Tyre, Jesus Speaks of Perseverance.

 250. At Tyre, Jesus Speaks of Perseverance. 12th August 1945. 1 It is early morning when Jesus arrives in front of a sea-town. Four boats are following His. The town juts out strangely towards the sea, as if it were built on an isthmus. Or rather: as if a slender isthmus linked the part protruding on the sea to the part stretching along the shore. It looks like a huge mushroom, as seen from the sea, with its crown lying on the waves, its roots under the shore, the isthmus being the stem. There are two harbours, one on each side: one, to the north, is wider and full of small boats; in the other, to the south, which is more sheltered, there are large ships arriving or departing. « We must go over there » says Isaac, pointing to the harbour of the smaller boats. « That is where the fishermen are. » They walk round the island and I can see that the isthmus is an artificial one, a kind of Cyclopean dam linking the little island to the mainland. They built lavishly in those days! I gather from this work and from the number of boats in the harbours that the town was wealthy and commercially very active. Behind the town, beyond a flat area, there are some pretty looking little hills, and the Great Hermon and the Lebanon chain of mountains can be seen very far behind. I also understand that this is one of the towns I could see from Lebanon. Jesus' boat is now entering the northern harbour, the roadstead, because it does not dock, but the men row slowly backwards and forwards until Isaac sees those he is looking for and calls them at the top of his voice. Two beautiful fishing boats come towards them and the crew bend over the smaller boats of the disciples. « The Master is with us, my friends. Come, if you wish to hear His word. This evening He is going back to Sicaminon » says Isaac. « We are coming at once. Where shall we go? » « To a quiet place. The Master is not disembarking at Tyre nor at the town on the mainland. He will speak from the boat. So choose a shaded and sheltered place. » « Follow us towards the rock. There are some quiet shady inlets. You can also land. » And they go to an inlet in the cliff, farther north. The very steep cliff protects from the sun. It is a lonely spot: only sea-gulls and woodpigeons live there: they fly out for their raids at sea and then fly back to their nests in the rocks, squeaking loud. Some more small boats have joined the leading one and have thus formed a little fleet. At the end of the tiny bay there is a very small beach. It is really a sham beach: a small square strewn with stones. It can hold about one hundred people. 250. At Tyre, Jesus Speaks of Perseverance. 363 They land making use of a large flat rock emerging from the deep water like a small natural wharf and they gather on the little stony beach, sparkling with salt. They are thin swarthy men, parched by the sun and the sea. Their short undergarments leave their thin agile limbs uncovered. They are clearly a different race from the Jews of the present time, but the difference is not so striking with regard to Galileans. I would say that those SyroPhoenicians are more like the old Philistines than their neighbouring peoples. At least those I can see. 2 Jesus draws close to the beach and begins to speak. « We read in the Book of Kings that the Lord ordered Elijah to go to Zarephath of Sidonians during the drought and famine which afflicted the Earth for over three years. The Lord did not lack means to appease the prophet's hunger in any place, neither did He send him to Zarephath because that town was rich in food. On the contrary, they were already dying of starvation there. Why then did God send Elijah the Tishbite? There was in Zarephath a woman with a righteous heart. She was a widow, a holy living woman, the mother of a boy; she was poor and lonely, yet she never rebelled against the dreadful punishment, neither was she selfish in her hunger, or disobedient. God wanted to benefit her by granting her three miracles. One for the water she took to the thirsty man, one for the little loaf of bread she baked under ashes, when she had only a handful of flour left, one for the hospitality she offered the prophet. He gave her bread and oil, the life of her son and the knowledge of the word of God. You can see that a charitable action not only satisfies the hunger of bodies or removes the grief for a death, but it teaches the soul the wisdom of the Lord. You have given lodgings to the servants of the Lord and He gives you the word of Wisdom. A good deed has brought the word of the Lord to this land, where that word does not come. I can compare you to the only woman in Zarephath who welcomed the prophet. Because if I had gone to town, the rich and mighty people would not have welcomed Me, the busy merchants and sailors would have neglected Me and My coming here would have been valueless. I will now leave and you will say: “But what are we? A handful of men. What do we possess? A drop of wisdom.” And yet I say to you: “I entrust you with the task of announcing the hour of the Redeemer.” I leave you repeating the words of Elijah, the prophet: “The jar of flour will not run out. The oil will not diminish until one comes who will give it more copiously.” You have already done that. Because there are Phoenicians here among you who have come from beyond Mount Carmel. Which means that you have spoken as you were spoken to. You can thus see that the handful of flour and the drop of oil have not run out, but have instead increased in quantity. Continue to make it grow. And if you think that it is strange that God has chosen you for this work, as you do not feel capable of carrying it out, repeat the word of great trust: “I will do what you tell me, trusting your word.” » 3 « Master, how are we to deal with the heathens here? We know these people because they are fishermen, like ourselves. We fraternise because we do the same work. But what about the others? » asks a fisherman of Israel. « You say that you fraternise because of the same work. Well, then, should the same origin not cause you to fraternise as well? God created both Israelites and Phoenicians. The people of the plain of Saron or of High Judaea are not different from the people of this shore. Paradise was made for all the sons of man. And the Son of man has come to take all men to Paradise. The purpose is to attain Heaven and give joy to the Father. Meet therefore on the same road and love one another spiritually as you love one another for reasons of your trade. » « Isaac has told us many things. But we would like to know more. Is it possible for us to have a disciple, although we are so far out of the way? » « Send them John of Endor, Master. He is so clever and he is accustomed to living with pagans » suggests Judas of Kerioth. « No. John is staying with us » replies Jesus resolutely. He then turns to the shepherds: « When will the murex fishing be over? » « At the first storms in autumn. The sea is too rough here, afterwards. » « Will you be going back to Sicaminon then? » « We will be going there and to Caesarea. We supply many Romans. » « You will then be able to meet the disciples. For the time being... persevere. » 4 « On board my boat there is one whom I did not want and he came here almost in Your Name. » « Who is he? » « A young fisherman from Ashkelon. » 250. At Tyre, Jesus Speaks of Perseverance. 364 « Tell him to disembark and come here. » The man goes on board and comes back with a young fellow who seems rather embarrassed at being the centre of so much attention. The apostle John recognises him. « He is one of those who gave us the fish, Master » and he gets up to greet him. « You have come, Ermasteus? Are you alone here? » « Yes, I am alone. At Capernaum I was ashamed... I stayed on the beach, hoping... » « What? » « To see your Master. » « And not yours yet? My dear friend, why are you still hesitating? Come to the Light waiting for you. See how He is watching and smiling at you. » « How will they bear with me? » « Master, please come here for a moment. » Jesus gets up and goes to John. « He does not dare to come because he is a foreigner. » « There are no foreigners, as far as I am concerned. And your companions? Were you not many?... Do not be upset. You are the only one who persevered. But I am happy also because of you alone. Come with Me. » Jesus goes back to His place with His new conquest. « We shall certainly give this young man to John of Endor » He says to the Iscariot. 5 He then speaks to everybody. « A group of diggers went down into a mine where they knew there were some treasures well hidden in the bowels of the earth... And they began to dig. But the ground was hard and the work laborious. Many became tired, threw away their picks and went away. Some made fun of the foreman and treated him almost as a fool. Some cursed their fate, the work, the ground, the metal and in a fit of anger they struck the bowels of the earth tearing the vein into useless tiny bits and when they saw that they had only caused damage without making any profit, they also went away. Only one remained: the most persevering one. He dealt kindly with the hard layers of the soil to pierce it without damaging anything, he made various tests, he dug and went down deeper. A wonderful valuable vein was at last discovered. The perseverance of the miner was thus rewarded and with the most pure metal he had found he was able to get many work contracts, a great glory and many customers, because everybody wanted that metal, which perseverance only was able to find, whereas lazy or angry people had achieved nothing. But once the gold has been found, it must in its turn persevere and be available to be worked on, in order to become beautiful and ready to be used by the goldsmith. If the gold, after being excavated, should refuse to undergo further treatment, however painful it might be, it would remain a coarse metal, unsuitable to be worked on. You can thus see that the first enthusiasm is not enough to be successful, either as apostles, or disciples or believers. It is necessary to persevere. Ermasteus had many companions, and in their first enthusiasm they all promised to come. He only has come. I have many disciples and their number will increase. But only a few of them will persevere until the end. Perseverance! It is the great word. For all good things. When you cast the drag-net to catch murex shells, do you do that only once? No. Many times, for hours, for days, for months, and you are willing to go back to the same spot the following year, because your work brings bread and comfort to you and to your families. And would you behave differently for more important things, such as the interests of God and of your souls, if You are believers; your interests and your brothers', if you are disciples? I solemnly tell you that it is necessary to persevere until the end, to extract purple for eternal garments. And now let us stay here as good friends until it is time for us to go back. We shall thus become better acquainted and it will be easy to recognise one another...» And they spread out in the little rocky bay, cooking mussels and crabs caught on the rocks, and little fish caught with small nets. Some sleep on dried seaweeds in caves opened in the rock by earthquakes or by the sea, while sky and sea are a dazzling blue kissing each other at the horizon. Seagulls fly backwards and forwards, from the sea to their nests in the rocks, squeaking and flapping their wings, the only noises which can be heard, together with the washing of the sea, in these sultry summer hours.

249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon.

 249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon. 11th August 1945. 1 It is on the bank of the deep torrent that Jesus finds Isaac with many known and unknown disciples. Among the known ones there are: the head of the synagogue of the Clear Water, Timoneus; Joseph of Emmaus, the one accused of incest; the young man who did not bury his father to follow Jesus; Stephen; Abel, the leper cured near Korazim with his friend Samuel; Solomon, the ferryman of Jericho, and many more, whom I recognise, but I do not remember in the least where I saw them or their names. Many faces indeed are known to me, but only as faces of disciples. And there are other people who have been converted by Isaac or by the above mentioned disciples and are following the main group hoping to find Jesus. Their meeting is tender, joyful and respectful. Isaac's eyes are beaming with joy, when he looks at the Master and shows Him his new flock and as a reward he asks Jesus to say a few words to his people. « Do you know any quiet place where we can gather together? » « At the end of the bay there is a desert beach, with some hovels of fishermen, which are empty at this time of the year because they are unhealthy and because the fishing season of fish to be salted is over and the fishermen have gone to Syro-Phoenicia to fish for murices. Many of them already believe in You because they heard You speak in sea towns or because they found disciples, and they have given us the little houses to rest in. We go there after a mission. Because there is a lot to be done in this area. It is deeply corrupted by many things. I would like to go as far as Syro-Phoenicia, and I could do it by sea, because the coast is parched by the sun and it is impossible to go there on foot. But I am a shepherd, not a sailor, and among my people there is not even one who can sail. » Jesus, Who listens carefully, smiling lightly, lowering His head a little, as He is so tall compared with the little shepherd who, like a soldier, is reporting everything to his general, replies: « God helps you because of your humility. If I am known here it is due to you, My disciple, and to no one else. 2 We will now ask the men of the lake whether they feel they can sail the sea, and if possible, we will go to Syro-Phoenicia. » And He turns round looking for Peter, Andrew, James and John, who are talking animatedly to some disciples, while Judas is warmly congratulating Stephen, and the Zealot, Bartholomew and Philip are near the women. The other four are with Jesus. The four fishermen come at once. « Do you feel up to sailing the sea? » asks Jesus. The four look at one another perplexedly. Peter ruffles his hair while pondering on the matter. He then asks: « But where? Off shore? We are fresh water fish...» « No, along the coast, as far as Sidon. » « H'm! I think it can be done. What do you say? » « I think so, too. Sea or lake, it is still the same thing: water » says James. « Nay: it will be even more beautiful and easier » exclaims John. « I don't know how you can say that » replies his brother. 249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon. 358 « It's his fondness for the sea. He who loves something, sees every perfection in it. If you loved a woman like that, you would be a perfect husband » says Peter jokingly shaking him affectionately. « No, I am saying so because at Ashkelon I saw that manoeuvres are the same and navigation very smooth » replies John. « Well, let us go, then! » exclaims Peter. « However, it would be better to have someone from here. We have no experience with this sea and its depth contour » remarks James. « Oh! I would not even think of that. We have Jesus with us! Before I was not yet certain, but after He calmed the lake! Let us go with the Master to Sidon. Perhaps there is some good to be done there » says Andrew. « Well, we shall go. You will get the boats tomorrow. Ask Judas of Simon to give you the purse. » 3 And all mixed together, apostles and disciples – and it is needless to say how happy many are, particularly the ones already well known to Jesus – they retrace their steps going back towards the town, and walk round the outskirts, until they reach the end of the bay, which protrudes into the sea like a bent arm. A few little houses there, spread on the narrow pebbly shore, represent the most poverty-stricken and depopulated quarter of the town, which is inhabited only at intervals. The walls of the little cubic shaped houses are worn away by saltness and age and they are all closed. When the disciples open them, they show their smoky misery and bare essential furnishings. « Here they are. They are not beautiful, but are clean and comfortable » says Isaac, who is doing the honours of the house. « The poor things are certainly not beautiful. The Clear Water was a royal palace in comparison. And there were some who complained!...» grumbles Peter. « But they are a real fortune to us. » « Of course! The all important thing is to have a roof over your head and to be fond of one another. Oh! look, there is our John! How are you? Where were you? » But John of Endor, although smiling at Peter, runs to greet Jesus Who replies to him with very kind words. « I did not let him come because he has not been well... I prefer him to stay here. He is so clever with citizens and with those who ask information on the Messiah...» says Isaac. The man from Endor is indeed much thinner than previously. But his countenance is serene. His emaciation ennobles his features, so that one thinks of him as a man already affected by the double martyrdom of flesh and soul. Jesus watches him and asks: « Are you not well, John? » « I am not any worse than I was before seeing You. And that as far as my body is concerned. With regard to my soul, I think I am recovering from my peculiar wounds. » Jesus looks at his peaceful eyes and hollow temples but does not say anything. He lays a hand on his shoulder while entering a little house with him, into which they have brought basins of salt water to refreshen their tired feet and pitchers of cool water to quench their thirst, while outside they are laying the table on a rustic board shaded by a very poor pergola of creepers. While twilight is falling and the sea is whispering its evening prayers with the surf rustling on the pebbly shore, it is beautiful to see Jesus having supper with the women and the apostles, sitting at the coarse board, while the others, sitting on the ground, or on seats or baskets turned upside down, form a circle round the main table. The meal is soon over and the table is cleared even sooner, because there were only very few plates, only for the more important guests. The sea has become indigo-black in the starless night. And all its majesty appears in this sad but solemn hour, typical of sea shores. 4 Jesus, Whose tall white figure is outstanding in the darker and darker shadows, rises from the table and comes towards the middle of the apostolic group, while the women withdraw. Isaac and another man light little fires on the beach to illuminate and keep away the clouds of mosquitoes, which probably come from nearby marshes. « Peace to you all. 249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon. 359 The mercy of God has joined us before the appointed time, giving reciprocal joy to our hearts. I have searched all your hearts, which are morally good, as is evidenced by your being here, waiting for Me, formed in Me, but still spiritually imperfect as is proved by some of your reactions that show how the old man of Israel still persists in you with all his ideas and prejudices, and the new man, the man of Christ with Christ's wide, bright merciful mentality and even wider charity has not yet come out of him, like a butterfly from its larva. Do not feel mortified if I have scanned you and pried into all your secrets. A teacher must know his pupils in order to correct their faults, and believe Me, if he is a good teacher, he is not disgusted with the more faulty ones, on the contrary he pays greater attention to them, to improve them. You know that I am a good Master. And now let us consider those reactions and prejudices, let us consider together the reason why we are here, and because of the joy we experience by being together, let us bless the Lord, Who always achieves a collective welfare from an individual one. 5 I have heard from your own lips how much you admire John of Endor, and your admiration is even more remarkable because he professes to be a repentant sinner and on his past and present condition he bases the argument of his preaching to those whom he wants to bring to Me. It is true: he was a sinner. Now he is a disciple. Many of you have now come to the Messiah through his merit. You can thus see that God creates the new people of God just by those means that the old man of Israel would despise. I now ask you to refrain from misjudging the presence of a sister, whom old Israel cannot understand to be a disciple. I told the women to go and rest. I was not so anxious to let them rest as I was to be able to give you a holy careful consideration on her conversion and thus prevent you from committing a sin against love and justice, and that is why I gave that command, which has certainly disappointed them. Mary of Magdala, the great sinner, who had no excuse for her sin, has come back to the Lord. And from whom will she expect faith and mercy but from God and the servants of God? The whole of Israel, and with Israel the foreigners who are amongst us, who know her very well and judge her very severely, criticise and deride her resurrection, now that she is no longer their accomplice in vice. Resurrection. That is the exact word. To raise the flesh from death is not the greatest miracle. It is only a relative miracle because it is destined to be cancelled one day by death. I do not give immortality to those whose flesh I raise from death, but I give eternity to those who resuscitate in their souls. And while a man, whose body is dead, does not join his will to Mine in order to come back to life and therefore he has not merit, there is a firm will in the man who revives spiritually, nay his will is there first. And he thus has merit. I am not saying this to justify Myself. I have to give account of My action to God only. But you are My disciples. And each of you must be another Jesus. And none of you must be ignorant or guilty of any of those deep-rooted faults, whereby so many are united to God only by name. 6 Everything can become a good action. Also what seems less suitable to become so. When matter is presented to the will of God, even if it were the most inert, cold and filthy, it can become living, blazing pure beauty. I will give you an instance taken from the book of the Maccabees. When Nehemiah was sent back to Jerusalem by the king of Persia, they decided to offer sacrifices on the purified altar in the rebuilt Temple. Nehemiah remembered that at the time they were captured by the Persians, the priests assigned to the cult of God used to take the fire of the altar and hide it in a secret place, at the bottom of a valley, in a deep dry well, and did it so carefully and secretly that they were the only ones who knew where the sacred fire was. As Nehemiah remembered all that, he asked the grandchildren of those priests to go to the place which the priests, before dying, had disclosed to their sons, who in turn had informed their children, handing on the secret from father to son, and to take the sacred fire to light the fire for the sacrifice. But when the grandchildren went down into the secret well, they did not find the fire, and they found instead thick water, a putrid, stinking, heavy slime, which had filtered down there from all the obstructed sewers of the devastated city of Jerusalem. And they told Nehemiah, who told them to take some of that water and bring it up to him. After laying firewood on the altar and the victims on top of it, he sprayed everything copiously with the slimy water. The people was amazed and the priests scandalised, but they watched and did everything respectfully, only because it was Nehemiah who told them. But how sad their hearts were! And how discouraged they felt! As the overcast sky made the day a sad one, so uncertainty made men melancholy. But the sun broke through the clouds and its rays descended upon the altar and the firewood sprayed with the slimy water caught fire, which soon consumed the sacrifice, while the priests were saying the prayers that Nehemiah had written, singing the most beautiful hymns of 249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon. 360 Israel, until the whole sacrifice was consumed. And in order to convince the crowds that God can work miracles also with the most unsuitable means, when they are used for a righteous purpose, Nehemiah ordered the remaining water to be sprayed on to some large stones. And as soon as the stones were sprayed, they caught fire and were burnt out in the great light coming from the altar. 7 Every soul is a sacred fire laid by God on the altar of man's heart that it may burn the sacrifice of life through love for the Creator of life. Every life is a holocaust, if spent properly, and every day is a sacrifice to be offered holily. But marauders come, the oppressors of man and of man's soul. The fire falls into the deep well, not through any holy need, but through fateful stupidity. And submerged by all the drainage of the dens of vice, it becomes heavy putrid mud, until a priest descends to that bottom and brings that mud up to daylight, laying it on the holocaust of his own sacrifice. Because – and remember this – the heroism of the man to be converted is not sufficient: also the heroism of him who converts is required. Nay, the latter must precede the former, 'because souls are saved through our sacrifice. Because thus we are successful in getting mud to change into fire and God to judge perfect and pleasing to His holiness the sacrifice that is being consumed. Then, as it is still not enough to convince the world that repentant mud burns more than common fire, even if it is consecrated fire, which common fire serves only to burn wood and victims, that is, combustible material, then the repentant mud becomes so powerful as to set on fire and burn even stones, which are incombustible material. Are you not wondering whence such property comes to that mud? Do you not know? I will tell you: because in the ardour of repentance they merge with God, flame with flame; rising flame, descending flame; flame which offers itself loving, flame which gives itself loving; the embrace of two who love and find each other, who join together forming one thing only. And since the flame of God is a greater one, it overflows, excels, penetrates, absorbs and the flame of the repentant mud is no longer a relative flame of a created thing, but it is the infinite flame of the Uncreated Thing: of the Most High, Most Powerful, Infinite God. That is what truly and wholly converted big sinners are, who have generously devoted themselves to their conversion without keeping anything of their past, burning themselves as the first thing, in their heavier part, by means of the flame rising from their mud, which has run towards Grace and has been touched by Grace. I solemnly tell you that many stones in Israel will be attacked by the fire of God because of these burning furnaces, which will blaze more and more, until the human creature is utterly consumed. And from their thrones in Heaven they will continue to burn the stones, the tepidity, uncertainty, timidity of the Earth, and as true supernatural burning glasses they will collect the One and Trine lights to converge them on to mankind and set it afire in God. 8 I would repeat that I did not have to justify My actions, but I wanted you to understand My conception and make it your own. A wrong conception, a Pharisaical suspicion of contaminating God by taking a repentant sinner to Him must never stop you from such a deed that is the perfect coronation of the misson for which I destine you. Always bear in mind that I have not come to save saints, but sinners. And do likewise, because a disciple is not worth more than his Master, and if I do not loathe taking by the hand the dregs of the Earth who feel the need of Heaven, who at long last feel it, and exulting I take them to God, because that is My mission, and every conquered soul justifies My incarnation, which humiliated My Infinity, neither you must loathe doing so, as you are imperfect men, and you have all become more or less acquainted with imperfection, as you are of the same nature as your brother sinners, and I have elected you to the rank of saviours so that My work on the Earth may be continued forever, as if I continued to live on it in an endless life. And such it will be, because the union of My priests will be like the vital part of the great body of My Church, of which I will be the animating Spirit, and the numberless particles of believers will assemble round this vital part to form one only body, which will be called after My Name. But if the sacerdotal part should lack vitality would the numberless particles be able to live? In actual fact, as I am in the body, I could extend My Life as far as the most remote particles, neglecting the obstructed and useless channels and cisterns, reluctant to fulfill their mission. Because rain falls wherever it wishes and the good particles, being capable by themselves of desiring life, would still live My Life. But what would Christianity then be? A close assembly of souls, one near the other. One near the other and yet separated by channels and cisterns that no longer link them, distributing to each particle the vital blood coming from one only centre. But there would be dividing walls and precipices across which the particles would look at one another, and they would be humanly hostile, supernaturally anguished, saying in their spirits: “And yet we were brothers and we still feel as such, notwithstanding they have divided us!” It would be a closeness of souls, not a fusion or an organism. And My love would shine sorrowfully upon such 249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon. 361 ruin... Further, do not think that that applies only to religious schisms. No. It applies also to all the souls that remain all alone because priests refuse to support them, to take care of them, to love them, violating their mission, which is to say and do what I say and do, that is: “Come to Me, all of you, and I will lead you to God.” Go in peace, now, and God be with you. » 9 The crowd disperse slowly, going to their little houses. Also John of Endor stands up. He took notes while Jesus was speaking and in order to see what he was writing, he became red-hot near the fire. But Jesus stops him saying: « Stay for a little while with your Master ». And He keeps him close to Himself until they have all gone away. « Let us go as far as that rock near the water. The moon is high in the sky and we can see our way. » John agrees without demur. They move away from the houses about two hundred metres and they sit on a huge boulder, which I do not know whether it is the ruin of a pier, or the extreme ramification of a cliff fallen into the sea, or the wreck of one of the little houses swallowed by the water that through centuries advanced on the shore. I know that whilst from the little beach it is possible to climb on to the rock, making use of the cavities and juts, which form a sort of steps, on the sea side the face is a sheer cliff ending in the blue sea. Because of the tide, half of the rock is surrounded by water, which grumbles and lightly smacks the obstacle and then withdraws with the sound of a huge sigh, becomes silent for a moment, starting all over again, with regular motions and sounds of slaps, aspirations and pauses, like syncopated music. They sit on the very top of the boulder struck by the sea. The moon forms a silvery road on the water and the sea looks deep blue in the moonlight, whereas before the moon rose, it was like a large blackish expanse in the dark night. « John, are you not telling your Master the reason why your body suffers? » « You know, my Lord. But do not say: “it suffers.” Say: “it is being consumed.” That is more exact, and You know, and You also know that it is being consumed with delight. Thank You, Lord. I recognised myself, too, in the mud that becomes flame. But I shall not have time to set the stones afire. I shall soon die. I have suffered too much through the hatred of the world and I exult too much because of the love of God. But I do not regret life. I might sin again here, or fail in the mission to which You destine us. I have already failed twice in my life. In my mission of a master, because I should have been able to find what was necessary to perfect myself and I did not train myself: in my mission of a husband, because I was not able to mould my wife... which was logical. As I was not able to perfect myself, I could not perfect her either. I might fail in my mission as a disciple. And I do not want to fail with You. Blessed therefore be death if it comes to take me where one can no longer sin! But if I am not destined to be a teaching disciple, I shall be a victim disciple, which fate is more like Yours. You said that this evening: “Burning ourselves as first thing.” » « John, is it a fate, which you suffer or is it an offer you are making? » « An offer, which I am making, if God does not disdain mud that has become fire. » « John, you are doing much penance. » « Saints do, You are the first. It is fair that he should do it, who has so much to pay. But do You think that mine is not pleasant to God? Are You prohibiting me from doing it? » « I never interfere with the good yearnings of a loving soul. I have come to preach by actual facts that suffering is expiation and sorrow redemption. I cannot contradict Myself. » « Thank You, Lord. It will be my mission. » 10 « What were you writing, John? » « Oh! Master! Sometimes old Felix emerges again with his habits of a teacher. I am thinking of Marjiam. He has a whole life to preach You, but because of his age, he is not here to hear Your sermons. I thought I should write certain instructions You have given us and which he has not heard, because he is intent on playing, or he is far away with one of us. There is so much wisdom in Your words, also in the least ones! Your familiar conversations are a lesson on matters of every day and every man, on the least things in life, which after all are the most important, because by piling up they form a heavy burden, which requires patience, perseverance, resignation to be borne holily. It is easier to accomplish one only great heroic deed than a thousand little ones for which a constant presence of virtue is required. And yet one will not attain a great deed, both in good and in evil, I know by experience with regard to evil, 249. Jesus Meets the Disciples at Sicaminon. 362 unless one stores up many little deeds, which seem insignificant. I began to kill when, tired of the frivolity of my wife, I looked at her scornfully for the first time. I have written Your short lessons for Marjiam. And this evening I wanted to take a note of Your great lesson. I will leave my work to the boy, so that he may remember me, the old master, and he may have what otherwise he would never have had. Your words: a wonderful treasure for him. Will you allow me? » « Yes, John. But be in complete peace, like this sea. See? It would be too warm for you to go about in the heat of the sun, and apostolic life is really hard. You have fought so much in life. Now God calls you to Himself in this placid moonlight that makes everything calm and pure. Proceed in the kindness of God. I can tell you: God is pleased with you. » John of Endor takes Jesus' hand, kisses it and whispers: « And yet it would have been lovely to say to the world: “Come to Jesus!” » « You will say that from Paradise, where You will be a burning glass, too. Let us go, John. I would like to read what you have written. » « Here it is, Lord. And tomorrow I will give You the other roll on which I wrote the other words. » They descend from the boulder, and in a most clear moonlight, which has changed the pebbly shore into silver, they go back to the houses. They say goodbye to each other, John kneeling down, Jesus blessing him with His hand laid on his head and giving him His peace.