February 9, 2010 (Tuesday)

Mark 7:7-13

Maria Valtorta Poem of the Man God

Volume 3, pp 138-145

February 10, 2010 (Wednesday)

Mark 7:14-23

Maria Valtorta Poem of the Man God

Volume 3, pp 138-145

299. At Nain, in the House of Daniel Raised from the Dead.

            12^th  October 1945.

            It is a feast day for the people of Nain. Jesus is their guest for the first time since the miracle of young Daniel, who was raised from the dead.

            Jesus is going through the town, blessing, preceded and followed by a large number of people. The people of Nain have been joined by incomers from other villages, who have come from Capernaum, where they had gone looking for Jesus, and from where they were sent to Cana and then to Nain. I am under the impression that now that Jesus has many disciples, He has set up a kind of information network, so that pilgrims looking for Him can find Him, although He moves around continuously, even for a few miles a day, as the season and the short days allow. And among those who have come looking for Him, there are some Pharisees and scribes, apparently respectful...

            Jesus is a guest in the house of the young man raised from the dead. The notables of the place have also gathered there. And Daniel's mother, when she sees the scribes and Pharisees – seven of them, like the deadly sins – humbly invites them, apologising for not being able to offer them a worthier abode.

            «There is the Master, woman, and that attaches great importance even to a cave. But your house is much more than a cave and we enter it saying: "Peace to you and to your house".»

            The woman in fact, although she is certainly not rich, has done her utmost to honour Jesus. All the wealthy families in Nain have certainly entered the lists, joining their efforts to adorn the house and the table. And the various women who have collaborated are casting glances, from all possible spots, at the group passing through the hall towards two rooms, facing each other, in which the landlady has laid the tables. Perhaps that is all they have asked for, as compensation for the loan of kitchenware, tablecloths and seats, and for their work in the kitchen: to see the Master close at hand and breathe the same air as He does. And now they appear here and there, flushed, covered with flour or ashes, or with dripping hands, according to their tasks in the kitchen, they watch Him closely, they take their little share of divine sight, of divine voice, drinking in with their eyes and ears His kind blessing and figure and look delighted when they go back to the kitchen stove, cupboards and sink, more flushed than ever.

            The happiest is the one who offers with the landlady the basins for the ablutions to the guests of consequence. She is a young dark-haired and dark-eyed girl, but her complexion is suffused with pink. And she blushes even more when the landlady informs Jesus that she is the fiancée of her son and that they will soon be getting married. «We waited for You so that the whole house might be sanctified by You. Please bless her as well, that she may be a good wife in this house.»

            Jesus looks at her, and as the little bride bows, He imposes His hands on her head saying: «May the virtues of Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel flourish again in you and may you give birth to true children of God, for His glory and the happiness of this house.»

            Jesus and the notables have now completed the purification rite and they enter the dining-room, with the young landlord, while the apostles and less influential persons of Nain go into the opposite room. And the banquet begins.

            From their conversation I gather that before my vision began, Jesus had preached and cured in Nain. But the Pharisees and scribes pay little attention to that; they, instead, harass with questions the people of Nain for details of the disease of which Daniel died, of how many hours had elapsed between his death and resurrection, and they ask whether they had completed his embalming etc. etc. Jesus pays no attention to such investigations and converses with the revived man who is very well and is eating with a wonderful appetite.

            But a Pharisee calls Jesus to ask Him whether He was aware of Daniel's disease.

            «I was coming from Endor by mere chance, as I wanted to please Judas of Kerioth as I had pleased John of Zebedee. I did not even know I would be passing through Nain when I set out on our Passover pilgrimage» replies Jesus.

            «Ah! Had you not gone to Endor deliberately?» asks an amazed scribe.

            «No. I had not the least intention of going there, at that time.»

            «Why did You go then?»

            «I told you: because Judas of Simon wanted to go there.»

            «And why that fancy?»

            «To see the cave of the sorceress.»

            «Perhaps You had spoken about it...»

            «Never! There was no reason why I should.»

            «I mean... perhaps with that episode You explained other witchcraft, to initiate Your apostles in...»

            «In what? To initiate anyone in holiness, there is no need of pilgrimages. A cell or a desert barren land, a mountain top or a solitary house serve the same purpose: providing there is austerity and holiness in the teacher, and the will to become holy in the disciple. That is what I teach and nothing else.»

            «But the miracles which Your apostles now work what are they if not wonders and...»

            «The will of God. That is all. And the more holy they become, the more miracles they will work, through prayer, sacrifices and obedience to God. By no other means.»

            «Are You sure of that?» asks a scribe holding his chin in his hand and looking Jesus up and down. His tone is rather ironical and pitiful.

            «I gave them those weapons and that doctrine. If among them, and they are many, there should be anyone who becomes corrupted through base practices, out of pride or for other reasons, he will not have received such advice from Me. I can pray to see the culprit redeemed. I can undertake hard penance in expiation, imploring God to help him particularly with the light of His wisdom so that he may see his error. I can throw Myself at his feet to entreat him with all My love of Brother, Master and Friend to abandon his sin. And I would not consider that a humiliation, because the price of a soul is such that it is worth suffering any humiliation to save that soul. But I can do no more. And if after all he perseveres in his fault, the eyes and heart of the betrayed and misunderstood Master and Friend will shed tears and blood.» How much kindness and sadness there is in Jesus' voice and expression!

            The scribes and Pharisees look at one another. They exchange meaningful glances, but say no more on the subject.

            They instead ask young Daniel questions. Does he remember what death is? What did he feel when he came back to life? And what did he see in the gap between death and life?

            «I know that I was suffering from a mortal disease and I suffered agony. Oh! what a dreadful thing! Don't make me remember it!... And yet the day will come when I will have to suffer it once again! Oh! Master...» He looks at Him and is so terrified that he goes pale at the idea of having to die once again.

            Jesus kindly comforts him saying: «Death is in itself expiation. By dying twice you will be completely cleansed of faults and you will rejoice at once in Heaven. Let this thought make you live a holy life, so that you may have only involuntary and venial faults.»

            But the Pharisees return to the attack: «But what did you feel when you came back to life?»

            «Nothing. I was alive and healthy as if I had awaked from a long sound sleep.»

            «But did you remember that you had died?»

            «I remembered that I was very ill, in agony, and that is all.»

            «And what do you remember of the other world?»

            «Nothing. There is nothing. A black hole, an empty space in my life... Nothing.»

            «So, according to you, there is no Limbo, no Purgatory, no Hell?»

            «Who says there isn't? Of course there are. But I do not remember them.»

            «But are you sure that you were dead?»

            The people of Nain lose their temper: «Was he dead? What more do you want? When we put him into the coffin, he was about to smell. In any case, with all those balms and bandages even a giant would die!»

            «But do you not remember that you were dead?»

            «I have told that I don't» the young man is losing his patience and he adds: «But what are you getting at with all these questions? That the whole village was pretending that I was dead, including my mother and my fiancée, who was dying with grief in her bed, including myself, all bandaged up and embalmed, while it was not true? What are you saying? That in Nain we were all children or idiots in a jesting mood? My mother's hair turned white in a few hours. My fiancée had to be treated because sorrow and joy had almost driven her mad. And you doubt it? And why should we have done all that?»

            «Why? That's true! Why should we have done it» exclaim those of Nain.

            Jesus does not speak. He toys with the tablecloth as if He were absent. The Pharisees do not know what to say... But Jesus begins to speak all of a sudden, when the conversation on the subject seemed to have come to an end, and He says: «I will tell you why. They (and He points at the Pharisees and scribes) want to prove that your resurrection from the dead was a cleverly contrived game to increase My reputation with the crowds. I, the inventor, you the accomplices to deceive God and our neighbour. No. I leave fraud to worthless people. I do not need witchcraft, or tricks or accomplices to be what I am. Why do you want to deny God the power of giving a soul back to a body? If He creates a soul and gives it when the body is being formed, will He not be able to give it back to the body, when the soul, being restored to the body through the prayer of His Messiah, is an incentive for many people to come to the Truth? Can you deny God the power of miracle? Why do you want to deny it?»

            «Are You God?»

            «I am Who I am. My miracles and My doctrine testify Who I am.»

            «But why does he not remember while the spirits evoked can tell what the next world is?»

            «Because this soul speaks the truth, sanctified as it is by the penance of a first death, instead what is spoken by the lips of necromancers is not the truth.»

            «But Samuel...»

            «Samuel came by the order of God, not of the sorceress, to bring to the traitor of the Law the verdict of the Lord, Who is not to be derided in His commandments.»

            «Then why do Your disciples do it?» The arrogant voice of a Pharisee, who stung to the quick raises his voice, draws the attention of the apostles, who are in the opposite room, separated by a corridor a little more that a yard wide, but not isolated by doors or heavy curtains. When they hear themselves being referred to, they stand up and come noiselessly into the corridor to listen.

            «In what do they do it? Speak frankly, and if your accusation is true, I will warn them not to do anything against the Law.»

            «I know in what they do it, and many others know as well. But since You raise people from the dead and You say that You are more than a prophet, find out for Yourself. We shall certainly not tell You. In any case, You have eyes to see also many other things which Your apostles have done, when they are not to be done, or they did not do, when they are to be done. And You do not mind.»

            «Tell Me some of them.»

            «Why do Your disciples infringe the traditions of our ancestors? We saw them today. Also today! Not more than an hour ago! They went into the dining-room to eat without purifying their hands beforehand!» If the Pharisees had said: «and they slaughtered citizens beforehand» they would not have spoken in such a horrified manner.

            «You have watched them, of course. There are so many things to be seen. Good and beautiful things which make us bless the Lord for creating or permitting such things and for giving us our lives so that we may see them. And yet you do not watch them. And many others do as you do. But you waste your time and your peace running after things which are not good.

            You look like jackals, or better still, like hyenas running in the trail of a stench, neglecting the waves of perfumes brought by the wind from gardens full of aromatic herbs. Hyenas do not love lilies and roses, jasmines and camphor, cinnamon and cloves. They are unpleasant smells to them. But the stench of a decomposing corpse in the bottom of a ravine, or on a cart road, or buried under bramble where a murderer threw it, or washed ashore by stormy waves, swollen, violaceous, burst, horrible, oh! that is a delightful smell for hyenas! And as the evening wind condenses and carries all the smells which the sun has distilled from the things it has warmed, they sniff at it to smell that vague inviting scent, and once they discover it and find where it comes from, they run away, with their snouts in the air, showing their uncovered teeth in their quivering jaws, like a hysterical laugh, to go where there is putrefaction. And be it the corpse of a man or a quadruped, or a snake killed by a peasant, or a beech-marten killed by a housewife, or be it a poor mouse, oh! they relish it! And they sink their fangs into the revolting stench, they feast and lick their lips...

            But it is a matter of no interest, if some men improve in holiness day by day! But if one only does wrong, or more omit not a divine commandment, but a human practice – you  may call it tradition, precept, as you wish, but it is always a human thing – then it is noticed. And one runs after even a suspicion... to rejoice, if the suspicion is true.

            You who have come here not out of love, or faith or honesty, but for a wicked purpose, tell Me: why do you infringe the commandment of God, for the sake of your tradition? Are you going to tell Me that a tradition is more than a Commandment? And yet God said: "Honour your father and your mother, anyone who curses father or mother must die"! You instead say: "Anyone who says to his father and mother: what you should have from me is corban (1) is no longer obliged to give it to his father and mother". So with your tradition you have cancelled the commandment of God.

            Hypocrites! Isaiah rightly said of you when he prophesied: "This people honours Me only with lip-service while its heart is far from Me, therefore they honour Me in vain as they teach human doctrine and commandments".

            And while you neglect the precepts of God, you keep the traditions of men, the ablutions of amphorae and chalices, of dishes and hands and other such things. While you justify the ingratitude and avarice of a son, by offering him the excuse of a sacrifice so that he may not give a piece of bread to those who gave birth to him and need his help and whom it is his duty to honour, because they are his parents, you are scandalised because one does not wash one's hands. You alter and infringe the word of God in order to obey words invented by you and imposed by you as precepts. You therefore proclaim yourselves more just than God. You arrogate to yourselves the rights of legislators, whereas God alone is the Legislator of His people. You...» and He would continue, but the hostile group goes out, in the hail of accusations, bumping into the apostles and those who were in the house, guests or women helping the landlady, and who had gathered in the corridor, attracted by Jesus' thundering voice.

            Jesus, Who had stood up, sits down again, beckoning to all those present to enter where He is, and He says to them: «Listen to Me and understand the truth. There is nothing outside man which going into his mouth can make him unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes him unclean. Let those who have ears hear and use their reason to understand and their will to act. And now let us go. People of Nain, persevere in good and may My peace be always with you.»

            He stands up, He greets the landlord and landlady in particular and He sets out along the corridor. But He sees the friendly women, who are enraptured looking at Him and He goes towards them saying: «Peace to you as well. May Heaven reward you for assisting Me with such love that I did not regret My Mother's table. I perceived your motherly love in every crumb of bread, in every sauce and bit of roast, in the sweet honey and in the cool scented wine. Love Me always thus, O good women of Nain. But do not work so hard for Me the next time. A piece of bread and a handful of olives, dressed with your motherly smiles and your honest good looks, are quite enough for Me. Be happy in your homes because the gratitude of the Persecuted One is upon you and He is leaving comforted by your love.»

            The women, weeping in their happiness, are all on their knees, and in passing by He lightly touches their white or dark-haired heads, one by one, blessing them. He then goes out and sets out again...

            The early shades of evening hide the pallor of Jesus, Who is embittered by too many things...

            (1) Corban: offering to God, especially one made in fulfilment of a vow.

***

February 11, 2010 (Thursday)

Mark 5:1-20

Maria Valtorta Poem of the Man God

Volume 3, pp 297-302

            330. The Cananean Mother.

            15th November 1945.

            «Is the Master with you?» the old farmer Jonah asks Judas Thaddeus who is entering the kitchen, where the fire is already blazing to warm the milk and the room, which is rather chilly in the early hours of a beautiful end of January morning, I think, or early February.

            «He must have gone out to pray. He often goes out at dawn, when He knows He can be alone. He will be here shortly. Why are you asking?»

            «I have asked also the others, who have gone out looking for Him, because there is a woman in the next room, with my wife. She comes from a village on the other side of the border, and I don't really know how she found out that the Master is here. But she knows and she wants to speak to Him.»

            «All right. She will speak to Him. Perhaps she is the woman He is expecting, with her little sick daughter. Her spirit must have brought her here.»

            «No. She is alone. There are no children with her. I know her because our villages are close to each other... and the valley belongs to everybody. In any case I do not think that we should be rude to our neighbours, even if they are Phoenicians, if we wish to serve the Lord. I may be wrong, but...»

            «Also the Master always says that we must be merciful to everybody.»

            «He is merciful, is He not?»

            «He is indeed.»

            «Annas told me that He was ill-treated even recently. Always ill-treated!... In Judaea, in Galilee, everywhere. Why is Israel so bad to its Messiah? I am referring to the mighty ones in Israel. Because the people love Him.»

            «How are you aware of such things?»

            «Oh! I live here, far away. But I am a faithful Israelite. It is sufficient to go to the Temple on holy days of obligation to learn all the good and all the evil! But one hears more of evil things than of good ones because good is humble and does not praise itself. Those who receive it should proclaim it. But only few people are grateful after receiving a grace. Man receives assistance and forgets it... Evil instead blows its trumpets loud and has its words heard even by those who do not want to hear them. You, His disciples, are you not aware of how much they run down and accuse the Messiah in the Temple! In their teaching the scribes speak of nothing else. I think they must have made a collection of lessons on how to accuse the Master as well as a collection of facts that they exhibit as plausible charges against Him. And one's conscience must be righteous, firm and free to be able to resist and judge wisely. Is He aware of such manoeuvres?»

            «He is aware of everything. And we are more or less aware as well. But He does not worry. He continues His work and disciples and believers in Him are increasing day by day.»

            «God grant they may persevere until the end. But man changes his mind. And weak... Here is the Master coming towards the house with three disciples.»

            And the old man goes out, followed by Judas Thaddeus, to pay his respects to Jesus, whose appearance is imposing while He walks towards the house.

            «Peace be with you today and always, Jonah.»

            «Glory and peace to You, Master, for ever.»

            «Peace to you, Judas. Have Andrew and John not come back yet?»

            «No. I did not hear them go out. I did not hear anybody. I was fast asleep.»

            «Come in, Master. Come in, everybody. The air is cool this morning. It must have been very cold in the wood. There is warm milk for everybody over there.»

            They are taking their milk and everybody, with the exception of Jesus, dips large slices of bread into it, when Andrew and John arrive with Annas, the shepherd.

            «Ah! You are here! We had come back to tell the rest that we had not found You...» exclaims Andrew.

            Jesus wishes peace to the three and adds: «Quick. Take your share and let us leave because I want to be at least at the foot of the mountain of Achzib before evening. The Sabbath begins this evening.»

            «What about my sheep?»

            Jesus smiles and replies: «They will recover after I bless them.»

            «But they are on the eastern side of the mountain! You are going westwards to see that woman...»

            «Leave it to God, and He will see to everything.»

            The meal is over and the apostles go upstairs to get their travelling bags and be ready to leave.

            «Master... that woman in the next room... are You not listening to her?»

            «I have no time, Jonah. I have a long way to go and in any case I have come for the sheep of Israel. Goodbye, Jonah. May God reward you for your charity. I bless you and all your relatives. Let us go...»

            But the old man begins to shout at the top of his voice: «Children! Women! The Master is going away! Come, quick!»

            As a brood of chicks scattered in a stack-yard rush towards the broody-hen calling them, so women and men – some already busy, some still half asleep – rush from every side, together with half-naked children who are smiling although they have just woken up... They all gather round Jesus, Who is in the middle of the threshing-floor, and the mothers envelop their children in their wide skirts to protect them from the cool air, or they hold them in their arms until a maid-servant brings their clothes and puts them on them.

            Also a woman, who is not of the household, comes forth. A poor weeping shy woman… She stoops and comes forward almost creeping and when she reaches the group where Jesus is, she begins to shout: «Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented very badly by a demon who makes her do shameful things. Have mercy on me because I am suffering so much, as everybody sneers at me because of that, as if my child were guilty of what she does... Have mercy, O Lord, You can do everything. Raise Your voice and Your hand and order the unclean spirit to go out of Palma. She is my only daughter and I am a widow... Oh! don't go away! Mercy!...»

            Jesus, in fact, after blessing each member of the household and reproaching the elder ones for telling people of His arrival there – and they justify themselves saying: «We have not said anything, believe us, Lord!» – goes away; He is inexplicably hard towards the poor woman, who is dragging herself along on her knees with her arms stretched out in suppliant attitude, while she says panting: «I saw You yesterday while You were crossing the torrent and I heard them call You: "Master". I followed You, among the bushes, and I heard what these people were saying. I understood who You are... And I came here this morning before daybreak and I remained here, on the threshold, like a little dog, until Sarah got up and made me go in. Have mercy, my Lord, on a mother and a little girl!»

            But Jesus is walking fast and turns a deaf ear to her entreaties.

            The people of the household say to her: «Resign yourself! He will not listen to you. He said so Himself: He has come for the children of Israel...»

            She is desperate but at the same time full of faith, and she stands up saying: «No. I will pray until He listens to me.» And she follows the Master shouting her entreaties, which draw to the doors of the houses in the village all those who are already awake and who, like the people of Jonah's household, begin to follow her to see what happens.

            In the meantime the apostles, seized with astonishment, look at one another and whisper: «Why is He doing that? He has never done it before!...»

            And John says: «He cured also those two people at Alexandroscene.»

            «But they were proselytes» replies Thaddeus.

            «And what about the woman He is going to cure now?»

            «She is a proselyte as well» says the shepherd Annas.

            «Oh! but how many times has He cured Gentiles or heathens! And what about the Roman girl?...» says Andrew desolately, as he cannot set his mind at rest seeing Jesus' harsh behaviour towards the Cananean woman.

            «I will tell you what it is» exclaims James of Zebedee. «The Master is angry. His patience has come to an end before so many attacks of human wickedness. Can't you see how changed He is? He is quite right! From now on He will devote Himself only to those with whom He is familiar. And He is doing the right thing!»

            «Good. But in the meantime this woman is following us howling and a train of people are coming behind her. Although He does not want to be noticed, He has found the way to draw even the attention of trees...» grumbles Matthew.

            «Let us go and tell Him to send her away... Look at the lovely procession there is behind us! If we arrive at the consular road like this, we will be in trouble! And she will not leave us unless He drives her away...» says Thaddeus who is very annoyed. He even turns round and says to the woman in a commanding voice: «Be quiet and go away!». And James of Alphaeus is solid for his brother.

            But she is not impressed by threats or orders and continues to implore.

            «Let us go and tell the Master to send her away, since He does not want to hear her. This cannot go on!» says Matthew, while Andrew whispers: «Poor woman!», and John repeats continuously: «I do not understand... I do not understand... » John is dumbfounded at Jesus' behaviour.

            They quicken their pace and reach the Master Who is walking as fast as if He were chased. «Master, please dismiss that woman! It's a scandal! She is shouting after us! She is pointing us out to everybody! The road is getting more and more crowded with people... and many are following her. Tell her to go away.»

            «You can tell her yourselves. I have already replied to her.»

            «She will not listen to us. Please! You must tell her. And very severely.»

            Jesus stops and turns round. The woman takes it as a sign of grace, she quickens her step, she raises the already shrill tone of her voice while her face becomes pale with her increased hope.

            «Be quiet, woman. And go home. I have already told you. I have come for the sheep of Israel. To cure the ones that are ill and find the ones that are lost. You are not from Israel.»

            But the woman is already at His feet and she kisses them, worshipping Him, holding His ankles tight, as if she were a ship-wrecked person who had found a rock of salvation, and she moans: «Lord, help me! You can help me, Lord. Give the order to the demon, since You are holy... Lord, You are the master of everything, of graces and of the world. Everything is subject to You, my Lord. I know. I believe it. Take therefore Your power and use it for my daughter.»

            «It is not right to take the bread of the children of the house and throw it to the dogs in the street.»

            «I believe in You. And through my faith, from a dog of the street I have become a dog of the house. I told You: I came before daybreak to lie down on the threshold of the house in which You were, and if You had come out there, You would have trampled on me. But You went out from the other side and did not see me. You did not see this poor distressed dog, starving for Your grace, waiting to go in, creeping, where You were, to kiss Your feet, imploring You not to drive it away...»

            «It is not right to throw the bread of the children to dogs» repeats Jesus.

            «But dogs go into the room where the landlord is eating with his children, and they eat what falls from the table, or the remnants of food, which the family gives them, as they are of no further use. I am not asking You to treat me as a daughter and let me sit at Your table. But give me at least the crumbs...»

            Jesus smiles. Oh! What a transfiguration that joyful smile works on His face!...

            The people, the apostles, the woman look at Him with admiration... they realise that something is about to happen.

            And Jesus says: «Oh! woman! Great is your faith. And you comfort My spirit by it. Go, therefore, and it will be done to you as you wish. As from this moment, the demon has gone out of your daughter. Go in peace. And as from a stray dog you wanted to be a dog of the house, endeavour in the future to be a daughter sitting at the table of the Father. Goodbye.»

            «Oh! Lord! My Lord!... I would like to run away and see my beloved Palma... And I would like to stay with You, and follow You! Blessed! Holy!»

            «Go, woman. Go in peace.»

            And Jesus resumes His way while the Cananean woman, more agile than a young girl, runs away along the road she came, followed by the crowd anxious to see the miracle...

            «But, Master, why did You make her implore You so much, before listening to her?» asks James of Zebedee.

            «Through your fault and the fault of all of you. That is not a defeat, James. I was not expelled, derided or cursed here... Let that be a relief to your disheartened spirits. I have already had today My most delicious food. And I bless God for it. And now let us go and see this other woman who believes and can wait with firm faith.»

            «And what about my sheep, Lord? In a short while I should take a road, which is different from Yours, to go to my grazing ground...»

            Jesus smiles but does not reply.

            It is beautiful to walk now that the sun warms the air and makes the new leaves of woods and the grass of meadows sparkle like emeralds, changing each flower-cup into a setting for the drops of dew shining on the many-coloured wild flowers. And Jesus proceeds smiling. And the apostles, immediately-relieved, follow Him smiling...

            They reach the road-junction. The shepherd Annas, who looks mortified, says: «And I should leave You here... Are You really not coming to cure my sheep? I believe, too; and I am a proselyte... Promise, at least, that You will come after the Sabbath!»

            «Oh! Annas! Is it possible that you have not yet understood that your sheep were cured when I raised My hand near Lesemdan? You may go, too, to see the miracle and to bless the Lord.»

            I think that Lot's wife, when she was turned into a pillar of salt, was very much like the shepherd, who has remained as he was, a little bent forward, with his face looking up to see Jesus, with one arm half stretched out in mid-air... He looks like a statue. And a label could be placed under it: "The Petitioner". He then comes round and prostrates himself saying: «You are blessed! Holy! Good!... But I promised You a lot of money, and I have only a few drachmae with me... Come to see me after the Sabbath...»

            «I will come. Not for the money, but to bless you once again for your simple faith. Goodbye, Annas. Peace be with you.»

            And they part...

            «And that was not a defeat either, My friends! Neither have they derided, expelled or cursed Me here... Come on, quick! There is a mother who has been waiting for us for days...»

            And their march continues, with a short rest to eat some bread and cheese and drink at a spring...

            It is midday when they see the road junction appear.

            «That is where the steps of Tyre begin, over there» says Matthew. And he cheers up considering that they have covered most of the road.

            Leaning on a Roman mile stone there is a woman. At her feet, on a folding-seat there is a little girl, about seven or eight years old. The woman is looking in all directions. Towards the steps in the rock. Towards the Ptolemais road. Towards the road on which Jesus is walking, and now and again she bends to caress her child, to protect her head from the sun with a piece of cloth, to cover her feet and hands with a shawl...

            «There is the woman! I wonder where she slept these past days?» asks Andrew.

            «Perhaps in that house near the cross-road. There are no other houses nearby» replies Matthew.

            «Or out in the open» says James of Alphaeus.

            «No. Not with the child, surely!» replies his brother.

            Jesus does not speak. But He smiles. All in a row, with in the centre, three on each side, they take up all the road, at this time of the day, when travellers stop to eat, wherever they happen to be at midday. Jesus, tall, handsome, in the centre of the row, smiles and His face is so radiant that all the light of the sun seems to be concentrated on it while rays of light emanate from it.

            The woman looks up... They are now about fifty meters apart. Jesus stares at her, which perhaps draws her attention, diverted for a moment by the child's weeping. She looks at Him and in an involuntary gesture of anxiety, she presses her hands against her heart.

            Jesus smiles more broadly. And His bright inexpressible smile must tell the woman a great deal, as she is no longer anxious, but smiling, as if she were already happy, she bends to pick up her child, and holding her in the folding-seat, with stretched out arms, as if she offered her to God, she comes forwards, and when she arrives at Jesus' feet, she kneels down, lifting as much as she can the child in the seat, who looks ecstatically at Jesus' most handsome face.

            The woman does not say one word. And what else could she say that is not already deeply expressed in her whole attitude?...

            And Jesus says but one word, a little, but powerful gladdening word, like God's «Fiat» at the creation of the world: «Yes.» And He lays his hand on the chest of the little girl.

            And the child, with the cry of a woodlark freed from a cage, shouts: «Mummy!» and all of a sudden sits up and slides down on to her feet and embraces her mother, who, exhausted as she is, staggers and is on the point of falling back, in a swoon brought about by tiredness, by anxiety that is calming down, by joy that overwhelms the strength of her heart, already weak by so much suffering.

            Jesus is ready to hold her. A much stronger support than the little girl's, who overburdening her mother with her own weight, is certainly not the best means to support her mother on her knees. Jesus makes her sit down and instills strength into her... And He looks at her while silent tears stream down the tired but happy face of the woman. Then words come to her lips: «Thank You, my Lord! Thanks and blessings! My hope has been crowned... I waited for You so long... But I am happy now...»

            The woman, after she comes round, kneels down once again, worshipping, holding the little girl in front of her, while Jesus caresses the child. And she explains: «A bone had been rotting in her back for two years, paralysing her and leading her slowly to death with great pain. We had her visited by doctors at Antioch, Tyre, Sidon and even at Caesarea and Paneas, and we spent so much on doctors and medicines that we were compelled to sell the house we had in town and retire to the one in the country, dismissing the servants of the house and keeping only those who worked in the fields, selling the crops that we used to consume ourselves... But nothing helped her! I saw You. I was aware of what You have done elsewhere. I hoped to receive grace myself... And I did! I will now go back home, without any worries, and thoroughly happy... and I will make my husband happy... It was my James who set hope in my heart by telling me what Your power works in Galilee and Judaea. Oh! Had we not been afraid of not finding You, we would have come with the girl. But You are always traveling around!...»

            «And traveling I came to you... But where did you stay these past days?»

            «In that house... But at night only the child was in there. There is a good woman who looked after her for me. I remained here all the time, because I was afraid that You might pass by at night.»

            Jesus lays a hand on her head: «You are a good mother. That is why God loves you. You can see that He has helped you in every way.»

            «Oh! Yes! I could perceive it when I was coming here. I came to town hoping to see You, so I had little money with me and I was alone. Then, following the advice of that man, I came here. I sent word home and I came... and I have never lacked anything: neither bread, nor shelter, nor courage.»

            «With that weight on your arms all the time? Could you not get a cart?..» asks James of Alphaeus, who is moved to pity.

            «No. She would have suffered too much: it would have been enough to kill her. My Johanna came to Grace in the arms of her mother.»

            Jesus caresses both of them on their heads: «You may go now and be always faithful to the Lord. May the Lord and My peace be with you.»

            Jesus resumes walking on the road to Ptolemais.

            «And that is not a defeat either, My friends. And I was not expelled, derided or cursed here either.»

            Following the straight road they soon reach the forge near the bridge. The Roman farrier is resting in the sunshine, sitting against the wall of his house. He recognises Jesus and greets Him. Jesus returns the greeting and says: «Will you allow Me to stop here and rest a little, while we eat some bread?»

            «Of course, Rabbi. My wife wanted to see You... because I told her what she had not heard of Your speech the last time You were here. Esther is Hebrew. But since I am a Roman, I did not dare to tell You. I would have sent her after You...»

            «Call her, then.» And Jesus sits on the bench against the wall, while James of Zebedee hands out bread and cheese...

            A woman about forty years old comes out, she looks embarrassed and blushes.

            «Peace to you, Esther. Have you been anxious to meet Me? Why?»

            «Because of what You said... Rabbis despise us, because we are married to Romans... But I have children and I have taken them all to the Temple and the boys have all been circumcised. I told Titus beforehand, when he wanted to marry me... And he is good... And he leaves me completely free with the children. Everything is Hebrew here, customs, rites!... But rabbis and heads of synagogues curse us. You don't... You have compassionate words for us. Oh! Do You know what that means to us? It is like being embraced by our fathers and mothers, who disowned us and cursed us and are severe with us... It is like going back to the homes we left and not feeling like strangers in them... Titus is kind. On our holy days he closes the farriery, with a heavy loss of money, and takes me and the children to the Temple. Because he says that one cannot live without religion. He says that his religion is now his family and his work, as previously it was his duty as a soldier... But I... my Lord... I wanted to speak to You about one thing... You said that the followers of the true God must take a little of their holy yeast and put it into the good flour to make it rise holily. I have done that with my husband. I have tried, during the twenty years we have been together, to work his soul, which is good, with the yeast of Israel. But he cannot make up his mind... and he is old... I would like to have him with me in the next life... United by faith as we are now by love... I am not asking for riches, welfare, health. What we have is sufficient, praised be the Lord for it! But that is what I would like... Pray for my husband! That he may belong to the true God...»

            «He will. You may be sure of that. You are asking for something holy and it will be granted to you. You have understood the duty of a wife to God and to her husband. I wish all wives did! I solemnly tell you that many of them should imitate you. Continue like that and you will have the joy of having your Titus beside you, in prayer and in Heaven. Now show Me your children.»

            The woman calls her numerous issue: «Jacob, Judas, Levi, Mary, John, Anne, Eliza, Marcus.» She then goes into the house and comes out again with one who can hardly walk and one of three months, at most: «And this one is Isaac and this little one is Judith» she says ending the introductions.

            «Plenty!» says James of Zebedee laughing.

            And Judas exclaims: «Six boys! And everyone circumcised! And with pure names! Very good!»

            The woman is happy and she praises Jacob, Judas and Levi, who help their father «every day except on Sabbaths, when Titus works by himself shoeing horses with shoes made previously» she says. And she praises Mary and Anne «who help their mother.» But she does not forget to praise also the four little ones «as they are good and not naughty. Titus helps me to bring them up, as he was a disciplined soldier» she says casting a loving glance at the man, who, leaning against the door post, with a hand resting on his side, has listened to everything his wife has said, with a hearty smile on his honest face, and who now becomes elated hearing his merits as a soldier being mentioned.

            «Very well. The discipline of the army is not disliked by God, when soldiers do their duty humanely. The essential point is to be always morally honest, in every task, in order to be always virtuous. Your past discipline, which you now instil into your children, must prepare you to enter a higher service: the service of God. We must part now. I will just manage to reach Achzib before sunset. Peace to you, Esther, and to your house. May you all belong to the Lord, before long.»

            The mother and children kneel down while Jesus raises His hand blessing them. The man, as if he were once again a soldier of Rome in front of his emperor, stands stiffly at attention and salutes in Roman style.

            And they go away... After a few steps Jesus lays a hand on James' shoulder: «And once again, the fourth time today, I would point out to you that that was not a defeat, and We were not expelled, derided, cursed... What do you say about it now?»

            «That I am a fool, my Lord» says James of Zebedee impulsively.

            «No. You, and all the others, are still and always too human and you have all the alternatives of those who are ruled more by their human nature than by their spirits. When the spirit is sovereign, it is not affected by every breath of wind that cannot always be a scented breeze... It may suffer, but will not change. I always pray that you may reach such sovereignty of spirit. But you must help Me with your efforts... Well! We have come to the end of our journey. During it I have sown what is necessary to prepare the work for you, when you will be evangelizing. We can now begin our Sabbath rest with the consciousness that we have done our duty. And we shall wait for the others... Then we shall set out... again... always... until everything is accomplished...»

Volume 2, pp 68-72

         159. Jesus at Gherghesa. John's Disciples.

          9th May 1945.

        Jesus is speaking in a town which I have never seen before. At least, that is what I think, because all the towns are alike in style and it is difficult to tell one from the other at first sight. Also here a road coasts the lake and all the boats are on the shore. Large and small houses are set in a row on the other side of the road, but the hills are much more distant and so the little town is on a charming plain which stretches along the eastern shores of the lake, protected from the winds by the range of hills, and warmed by the sun which here, more than in the other parts of the country, increases the blossoming of the trees.

        I think that Jesus' sermon has already begun because He says: «... It is true, You say: "We will never abandon You because to abandon You is to abandon God", But, o people of Gherghesa, remember that nothing is more changeable than the human mind. I am convinced that at present that is what you really think. My word and the miracle that took place have encouraged you in that direction and at the present moment you are sincere in what you say. But I wish to remind you of one event, I could quote a thousand both remote and recent. I will mention only this one.

        Joshua, the servant of the Lord, on the eve of death, gathered around him all the tribes with their elders, leaders, judges and scribes and he spoke to them in the presence of the Lord, reminding them of all the benefits gained from and prodigies worked by the Lord through His servant. And after enumerating all these things, he asked them to repudiate any god which was not the Lord or at least to be frank in their faith, choosing with sincerity either the True God or the gods of Mesopotamia and of the Amorites, so that there should be a clear separation between the sons of Abraham and the paganizing people.

        An openly declared error is always better than a hypocritical profession and mixture of faiths, which is an insult to God and death to souls. And nothing is easier to maintain and more commonly met than such mixture. The appearance is good; the substance underneath it is not good. That state applies also nowadays. Those believers who mix the observance of the Law with what is forbidden by the Law, those miserable fellows who stagger like drunken people between loyalty to the Law and the profit of business and compromise with outlaws from whom they hope to receive some advantage, those priests or Scribes or Pharisees who no longer make the service of God the aim of their lives, but indulge in shrewd politics to triumph over other people and thus be able to do anything against more honest persons, because they are not the servants of God, but they serve a power which they know is strong and useful for their purposes, all those people are nothing but hypocrites who mix our God with false gods.

       The people replied to Joshua: "Never let it be that we shall abandon the True God to serve false gods". Joshua told them what I, have just told you about the holy jealousy of the Father, about His will to be loved exclusively, with our whole selves, about His justice in punishing those who are untruthful. Punishment! God can punish just as He can reward us. It is not necessary to be dead to receive our reward or punishment. Consider, o people of Israel, whether God, after giving you so much, freeing you from the Pharaohs, leading you safely through the desert and the snares of enemies, allowing you to become a great and respected nation, full of glory, has not punished you once, twice, ten times, for your sins! Consider what you have become now! And I, Who see you throwing yourselves headlong into the most sacrilegious idolatry, I see also into which abyss you are about to fall because you always persevere in the same faults. And because of that I rebuke you, o people who are twice Mine, because I am your Redeemer and because I was born of you. My reproach is not hatred, it is not grudge, nor intolerance, it is love, even if it is severe.

        Joshua then said: "You are witnesses: you have chosen the Lord" and they all replied: "Yes, we are". And Joshua, who was wise besides being brave, knowing how fleeting the will of man is, wrote in the book all the words of the Law and of the covenant and he put them in the temple, and also in the sanctuary of the Lord in Shechem, which contained the Tabernacle for the occasion, he set a great stone as witness and said: "This stone which has heard all your words to the Lord shall remain here as a witness so that you may not lie and deny the Lord your God".

         A stone, no matter how great and hard it may be, can always be reduced to powder by man, by thunderbolt or by the erosion of water and time. But I am the Eternal Corner-Stone. And I cannot be destroyed. Do not lie to this Living Stone. Do not love it only because it works miracles. Love it because through it you will touch Heaven. I would like you to be more spiritual, more faithful to the Lord. I am not saying to Me. I am, only because I am the Voice of the Father. By trampling on Me, you wound Him Who sent Me. I am the mediator. He is everything. Take what I offer you and keep within yourselves what is holy so that you may reach God. Do not love the Man, love the Messiah of the Lord not because of the miracles He works, but because He wants to work in you the intimate and sublime miracle of your sanctification.»

         Jesus blesses and directs His steps towards a house. He is almost at the door when He is stopped by a group of elderly men who greet Him respectfully saying: «May we ask You a question, Lord? We are disciples of John and as he always speaks of You and also because the fame of Your miracles reached us, we wish to make Your acquaintance. We have just listened to You and we have a question to ask You.»

          «Ask it. If you are disciples of John, you are already on the path of justice.»

          «You said, speaking of the idolatries which are common amongst believers, that there are people amongst us who come to compromise between the Law and those who are out of the Law. But You also are a friend of theirs. We know that You do not disdain the Romans. So?»

        «I do not deny it. But can you say that I do it to make a profit? Can you say that I caress them even to receive only their protection?»

         «No, Master. And we are more than certain. But the world is not made only of us, who want to believe only in the evil that we see and not in the evil we are told about. Now tell us the convincing reason for approaching Gentiles, for our own guidance and to defend You in the event of someone slandering You in our presence.»

        «It is evil to have contact when one does it for human purposes. It is not evil when one approaches them to take them to the Lord our God. That is what I do. If you were Gentiles, I could spend some time explaining to you how every man comes from One God only. But you are Jews and disciples of John. You are therefore the cream of Jews, and I need not explain that to you. You can therefore understand and believe that it is My duty, as the Word of God, to take His word to all men, the sons of the Universal father.»

         «But they are not His sons, they are pagans...»

         «With regard to Grace they are not. Because of their erroneous faith, they are not. That is true. But until I redeem you, man, also a Jew, will have lost Grace, he will be deprived of it, because the Stain of Origin prevents the ineffable ray of Grace from descending into men's hearts. But with regard to creation, man is always a son. From Adam, the founder of the human family, descend both the Jews and the Romans and Adam is the son of the Father Who gave him His spiritual likeness.»

        «That is true. Another question, Master. Why do John's disciples fast very sternly and Yours do not? We do not mean that You should not eat. Also the Prophet Daniel was holy in the eyes of God although he was a great man at the court in Babylon, and You are greater than he. But they...»

         «What very often is not achieved by rigorism, is achieved by cordiality. There are people who would never come to the Master, and the Master must go to them. There are others who would go to the Master, but are ashamed of going amongst the crowd. The Master must go also to them. And since they say to Me: "Be my guest that I may know You" I go, bearing in mind, not the pleasure of a rich table, and of a conversation that sometimes is very painful for Me, but only and always the interest of God. That is as far as I am concerned. And as often at least one of the souls which I approach is converted to God, and every conversion is a wedding feast for My soul, a great feast in which all the angels in Heaven take part and which is blessed by the Eternal God, My disciples, the friends of Me-the Spouse, rejoice with the Spouse and Friend. Would you like to see My friends in pain while I rejoice? While I am with them? But the time will come when they will no longer have Me. And then they will fast. New methods for new times. Up to yesterday, in the days of the Baptist, there was the ash of Penance. Today, in My days, there is the sweet manna of Redemption, of Mercy, of Love. The old methods could not be engrafted into Mine, as My method could not have been used then, not even yesterday. Because Mercy was not yet on the earth. It is now. No longer the Prophet, but the Messiah, to Whom everything has been entrusted by God, is on the earth. Each day has what is useful to it. Nobody sews a new cloth on to an old garment, lest the new piece of cloth, particularly when being washed, should shrink and thus tear the old cloth and the hole would become bigger. Likewise no one puts new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the new wine would burst the wineskins, which cannot stand the effervescence of the new wine, and it would run out of the burst wineskins. But the old wine, which has already been decanted several times, is put into old wineskins, and the new wine into new ones. So that one force may be compensated by another equal one. The same happens now. The force of the new doctrine suggests new methods to divulge it. And I, Who am aware of it, make use of them.»

        «Thank You, Lord. We are now happy. Pray for us. We are old wineskins. Will we be able to restrain Your force?»

         «Yes, because the Baptist shaped you and because his prayers and Mine will make you capable of so much. Go with My peace and tell John that I bless him.»

         «But... according to You, is it better for us to stay with the Baptist or with You?»

         «As long as there is old wine, drink it, if its flavour is agreeable. Later... as the putrid water which is everywhere will disgust you, you will love the new wine.»

          «Do You think that the Baptist will be recaptured?»

         «Yes, most certainly. I have already sent him a warning. Go now. Enjoy your John as long as you can and make him happy. Afterwards you will love Me. And you will find it hard... also because no one who has become used to old wine will all of a sudden wish to have new wine. One says: "The old one was better". And in fact I will have a different flavour, which will seem sour to you. But you will relish its vital flavour day by day. Goodbye, friends. May God be with you.»

***

February 12, 2010 (Friday)

Mark 7:31-37

Maria Valtorta Poem of the Man God

Volume 3, pp 355-359

         159. Jesus at Gherghesa. John's Disciples.

          9th May 1945.

        Jesus is speaking in a town which I have never seen before. At least, that is what I think, because all the towns are alike in style and it is difficult to tell one from the other at first sight. Also here a road coasts the lake and all the boats are on the shore. Large and small houses are set in a row on the other side of the road, but the hills are much more distant and so the little town is on a charming plain which stretches along the eastern shores of the lake, protected from the winds by the range of hills, and warmed by the sun which here, more than in the other parts of the country, increases the blossoming of the trees.

        I think that Jesus' sermon has already begun because He says: «... It is true, You say: "We will never abandon You because to abandon You is to abandon God", But, o people of Gherghesa, remember that nothing is more changeable than the human mind. I am convinced that at present that is what you really think. My word and the miracle that took place have encouraged you in that direction and at the present moment you are sincere in what you say. But I wish to remind you of one event, I could quote a thousand both remote and recent. I will mention only this one.

        Joshua, the servant of the Lord, on the eve of death, gathered around him all the tribes with their elders, leaders, judges and scribes and he spoke to them in the presence of the Lord, reminding them of all the benefits gained from and prodigies worked by the Lord through His servant. And after enumerating all these things, he asked them to repudiate any god which was not the Lord or at least to be frank in their faith, choosing with sincerity either the True God or the gods of Mesopotamia and of the Amorites, so that there should be a clear separation between the sons of Abraham and the paganizing people.

        An openly declared error is always better than a hypocritical profession and mixture of faiths, which is an insult to God and death to souls. And nothing is easier to maintain and more commonly met than such mixture. The appearance is good; the substance underneath it is not good. That state applies also nowadays. Those believers who mix the observance of the Law with what is forbidden by the Law, those miserable fellows who stagger like drunken people between loyalty to the Law and the profit of business and compromise with outlaws from whom they hope to receive some advantage, those priests or Scribes or Pharisees who no longer make the service of God the aim of their lives, but indulge in shrewd politics to triumph over other people and thus be able to do anything against more honest persons, because they are not the servants of God, but they serve a power which they know is strong and useful for their purposes, all those people are nothing but hypocrites who mix our God with false gods.

       The people replied to Joshua: "Never let it be that we shall abandon the True God to serve false gods". Joshua told them what I, have just told you about the holy jealousy of the Father, about His will to be loved exclusively, with our whole selves, about His justice in punishing those who are untruthful. Punishment! God can punish just as He can reward us. It is not necessary to be dead to receive our reward or punishment. Consider, o people of Israel, whether God, after giving you so much, freeing you from the Pharaohs, leading you safely through the desert and the snares of enemies, allowing you to become a great and respected nation, full of glory, has not punished you once, twice, ten times, for your sins! Consider what you have become now! And I, Who see you throwing yourselves headlong into the most sacrilegious idolatry, I see also into which abyss you are about to fall because you always persevere in the same faults. And because of that I rebuke you, o people who are twice Mine, because I am your Redeemer and because I was born of you. My reproach is not hatred, it is not grudge, nor intolerance, it is love, even if it is severe.

        Joshua then said: "You are witnesses: you have chosen the Lord" and they all replied: "Yes, we are". And Joshua, who was wise besides being brave, knowing how fleeting the will of man is, wrote in the book all the words of the Law and of the covenant and he put them in the temple, and also in the sanctuary of the Lord in Shechem, which contained the Tabernacle for the occasion, he set a great stone as witness and said: "This stone which has heard all your words to the Lord shall remain here as a witness so that you may not lie and deny the Lord your God".

         A stone, no matter how great and hard it may be, can always be reduced to powder by man, by thunderbolt or by the erosion of water and time. But I am the Eternal Corner-Stone. And I cannot be destroyed. Do not lie to this Living Stone. Do not love it only because it works miracles. Love it because through it you will touch Heaven. I would like you to be more spiritual, more faithful to the Lord. I am not saying to Me. I am, only because I am the Voice of the Father. By trampling on Me, you wound Him Who sent Me. I am the mediator. He is everything. Take what I offer you and keep within yourselves what is holy so that you may reach God. Do not love the Man, love the Messiah of the Lord not because of the miracles He works, but because He wants to work in you the intimate and sublime miracle of your sanctification.»

         Jesus blesses and directs His steps towards a house. He is almost at the door when He is stopped by a group of elderly men who greet Him respectfully saying: «May we ask You a question, Lord? We are disciples of John and as he always speaks of You and also because the fame of Your miracles reached us, we wish to make Your acquaintance. We have just listened to You and we have a question to ask You.»

          «Ask it. If you are disciples of John, you are already on the path of justice.»

          «You said, speaking of the idolatries which are common amongst believers, that there are people amongst us who come to compromise between the Law and those who are out of the Law. But You also are a friend of theirs. We know that You do not disdain the Romans. So?»

        «I do not deny it. But can you say that I do it to make a profit? Can you say that I caress them even to receive only their protection?»

         «No, Master. And we are more than certain. But the world is not made only of us, who want to believe only in the evil that we see and not in the evil we are told about. Now tell us the convincing reason for approaching Gentiles, for our own guidance and to defend You in the event of someone slandering You in our presence.»

        «It is evil to have contact when one does it for human purposes. It is not evil when one approaches them to take them to the Lord our God. That is what I do. If you were Gentiles, I could spend some time explaining to you how every man comes from One God only. But you are Jews and disciples of John. You are therefore the cream of Jews, and I need not explain that to you. You can therefore understand and believe that it is My duty, as the Word of God, to take His word to all men, the sons of the Universal father.»

         «But they are not His sons, they are pagans...»

         «With regard to Grace they are not. Because of their erroneous faith, they are not. That is true. But until I redeem you, man, also a Jew, will have lost Grace, he will be deprived of it, because the Stain of Origin prevents the ineffable ray of Grace from descending into men's hearts. But with regard to creation, man is always a son. From Adam, the founder of the human family, descend both the Jews and the Romans and Adam is the son of the Father Who gave him His spiritual likeness.»

        «That is true. Another question, Master. Why do John's disciples fast very sternly and Yours do not? We do not mean that You should not eat. Also the Prophet Daniel was holy in the eyes of God although he was a great man at the court in Babylon, and You are greater than he. But they...»

         «What very often is not achieved by rigorism, is achieved by cordiality. There are people who would never come to the Master, and the Master must go to them. There are others who would go to the Master, but are ashamed of going amongst the crowd. The Master must go also to them. And since they say to Me: "Be my guest that I may know You" I go, bearing in mind, not the pleasure of a rich table, and of a conversation that sometimes is very painful for Me, but only and always the interest of God. That is as far as I am concerned. And as often at least one of the souls which I approach is converted to God, and every conversion is a wedding feast for My soul, a great feast in which all the angels in Heaven take part and which is blessed by the Eternal God, My disciples, the friends of Me-the Spouse, rejoice with the Spouse and Friend. Would you like to see My friends in pain while I rejoice? While I am with them? But the time will come when they will no longer have Me. And then they will fast. New methods for new times. Up to yesterday, in the days of the Baptist, there was the ash of Penance. Today, in My days, there is the sweet manna of Redemption, of Mercy, of Love. The old methods could not be engrafted into Mine, as My method could not have been used then, not even yesterday. Because Mercy was not yet on the earth. It is now. No longer the Prophet, but the Messiah, to Whom everything has been entrusted by God, is on the earth. Each day has what is useful to it. Nobody sews a new cloth on to an old garment, lest the new piece of cloth, particularly when being washed, should shrink and thus tear the old cloth and the hole would become bigger. Likewise no one puts new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the new wine would burst the wineskins, which cannot stand the effervescence of the new wine, and it would run out of the burst wineskins. But the old wine, which has already been decanted several times, is put into old wineskins, and the new wine into new ones. So that one force may be compensated by another equal one. The same happens now. The force of the new doctrine suggests new methods to divulge it. And I, Who am aware of it, make use of them.»

        «Thank You, Lord. We are now happy. Pray for us. We are old wineskins. Will we be able to restrain Your force?»

         «Yes, because the Baptist shaped you and because his prayers and Mine will make you capable of so much. Go with My peace and tell John that I bless him.»

         «But... according to You, is it better for us to stay with the Baptist or with You?»

         «As long as there is old wine, drink it, if its flavour is agreeable. Later... as the putrid water which is everywhere will disgust you, you will love the new wine.»

          «Do You think that the Baptist will be recaptured?»

         «Yes, most certainly. I have already sent him a warning. Go now. Enjoy your John as long as you can and make him happy. Afterwards you will love Me. And you will find it hard... also because no one who has become used to old wine will all of a sudden wish to have new wine. One says: "The old one was better". And in fact I will have a different flavour, which will seem sour to you. But you will relish its vital flavour day by day. Goodbye, friends. May God be with you.»

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