Jesus
is possibly going towards the lake. He certainly arrives at Cana and directs His
steps towards Susanna's house. His cousins are with Him. While they are in the
house and they rest and take some food, Jesus, to Whom His relatives and friends
are listening as they should always do, teaches those good people in a very
simple way. He also comforts the husband of Susanna, who appears to be ill. She
is in fact absent and while I hear them talk continuously of how much she
suffers, a well dressed man enters and prostrates himself at Jesus'
feet.
«Who
are you? What do you want? »
While
the man is still sighing and weeping, the landlord pulls Jesus by the hem of His
tunic and whispers: «He is an officer of the Tetrarch. Don't trust him too
much.»
«Speak
up. What do you want from Me? »
«Master,
I heard that You are back. I have been waiting for You as one waits for God.
Come to Capernaum at once. My son is so ill that his hours are numbered. I saw
John, Your disciple. He told me that You were coming here. Come, please come at
once, before it is too late.»
«What?
Can You, a servant of the persecutor of the Holy One in Israel, believe in Me?
You do not believe in the Precursor of the Messiah. So, how can you believe in
the Messiah? »
«That
is true. We are guilty of incredulity and of cruelty. But have mercy on a
father! I know Chuza. I have seen Johanna. I have seen her before and after the
miracle. And I believed in You.»
«Quite!
You are such an incredulous and wicked generation that you will not believe
without signs and miracles. You lack the essential quality that is necessary to
obtain a miracle.»
«It
is true. It is all very true. But You can see... I believe in You now and I beg
You: come to Capernaum at once! I will have a boat ready for You at Tiberias, so
that You may come quicker. But please come before my child dies! » and he weeps
desolately.
«I
am not coming just now. But go to Capernaum. Your son is cured as from this
moment and he will live.»
«May
God bless You, my Lord. I believe You. But as I want all my household to welcome
You when You come to Capernaum, come to my house.»
«I
will come. Goodbye. Peace be with you.»
The
man rushes out and soon after the trot of a horse can be
heard.
«But
is the boy really cured? » asks Susanna's husband.
«Is
it possible for you to think that I tell lies? »
«No,
my Lord. But You are here and the boy is there.»
«There
is no barrier, no distance for My spirit.»
«Well,
then, my Lord. You changed water into wine at my wedding, please change my tears
into happy smiles. Cure my Susanna.»
«What
will you give Me in exchange for that? »
«The
amount of money You want.»
«I
will not stain what is holy with Mammon's blood. I am asking your spirit what it
will give Me.»
«Myself,
if You wish so.»
«And
if I asked, without any words, a great sacrifice? »
«My
Lord, I ask You to grant physical health to my wife and the sanctification of us
all. I don't think I can say that anything is too much to have
that...»
«You
are suffering agonies because of your wife. But if I restored her to health and
I got her to become My disciple for ever, what would you say?
»
«That...
You are entitled to do it and that... I will imitate Abraham in his readiness to
the sacrifice.»
«You
are right. Listen, everybody: the time of My Sacrifice is approaching. Like a
course of water it is running fast and incessantly to the sea. I must accomplish
what I have to do. And human hardness precludes so much of the field of My
mission. My Mother and Mary of Alphaeus will come with Me when I go away amongst
people that do not love Me yet or will never love Me. My wisdom knows that women
will be able to help the Master in those precluded fields. I have come to redeem
also women and in the future century, in My time, women will be seen serving the
Lord and the servants of the Lord as priestesses. I have chosen My disciples.
But to elect women who are not free, I must ask fathers and husbands to do it.
Do you agree? »
«Lord,
I love Susanna. And so far I have loved her more as a body than as a soul. But
after Your teaching, something is already changed in me and I look at my wife as
a soul besides as a body. A soul belongs to God and You are the Messiah, the Son
of God. I cannot deny Your right on what belongs to God. If Susanna wants to
follow You, I will not oppose her. I only beg You to work the miracle that will
cure her body and my feelings...»
«Susanna
is cured. In a few hours' time she will come here to tell you how happy she is.
Let her soul follow its impulse without any mention of what I have just said.
You will see that her soul will come to Me spontaneously as a flame tends
upwards. But because of that, her love of a wife will not be stifled. On the
contrary it will rise to the highest degree, which is to love each other with
the better part: with your souls.»
«Susanna
belongs to You, Lord. She was to die a very painful slow death. And once she was
dead, I would have lost her for ever in this world. But as You say, I will still
have her beside me, to lead me on to Your way. God gave me her, and God is
taking her away from me. Blessed be the Most High in giving and in
taking.»
Maria Valtorta
The Poem of the Man God