59. The Demoniac of Capernaum Cured in the Synagogue.
2nd November 1944.
I see the synagogue of Capernaum. It is already crowded with people waiting.
People near the door cast glances at the square, which is still sunny, though it is
almost evening. At last there is a shout: « The Rabbi is coming.» They all turn
towards the door, the smaller people stand on their toes or endeavour to push
their way to the front. Some start discussing and shoving, notwithstanding the
reproaches of those employed in the synagogue and of the elders of the town.
« May peace be with all those seeking the Truth.» Jesus is at the entrance and
He greets them, blessing with His arms stretched forward. His tall figure stands
out against the very bright light in the sunny square. He has taken off His white
mantle and is wearing the usual deep blue one. He makes His way through the
crowd, which opens out and then throngs around Him, like the waves round a
ship.
« I am ill, cure me!» moans a young man who appears to be consumptive, and
pulls Jesus by His mantle.
Jesus lays His hands on his head and says: « Have faith. God will listen to you.
Let Me speak to the people now, then I will come to you.»
The young man lets Him go and calms down.
« What did He say to you?» asks a woman holding a child in her arms.
« He said that after He has spoken to the people, He will come to me.»
« Is He going to cure you then?»
« I don't know. He said to me: “Have faith.” I can only hope.»
« What did He say? What did He say?»
The people want to know. Jesus' answer is repeated through the crowd.
« In that case, I am going to get my child.»
« And I am bringing my old father here.»
« Oh! If Aggaeus would only come! I'll try... but he will not come.»
Jesus has reached His place. He greets the head of the synagogue who
reciprocates the greeting. He is a small, stout, rather elderly man. When
speaking to him, Jesus bends down. It is like a palm bending over a shrub which
is wider than it is taller.
« What shall I give You?» asks the little man.
« Whatever you wish, or anything at random. The Spirit will be our guide.»
« But... will You be prepared?»
« I am. Give me a roll at random. I tell you: the Spirit of the Lord will guide the
choice for the sake of this people.»
The head of the synagogue stretches his hand out to the pile of rolls, he picks
one and unrolls it, he stops at a certain point. « Here» he says.
Jesus takes the roll and starts reading at the shown point: « Joshua: “Rise and
sanctify the people and say to them: 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because
the Lord of Israel declares: the ban is now among you, Israel; you can never
stand up to your enemies until you take from among you him who is
contaminated by such crime' .”» He stops, He rolls the parchment and hands it
back.
The crowd is most heedful. Only one whispers: « We shall hear some very nice
words against our enemies!». « It is the King of Israel, the Promised One, Who
gathers His people together!»
Jesus stretches out His arms in His usual oratorial attitude. Silence is now
perfect.
« Who came to sanctify you, has risen. He has come out from the secrecy of His
house, where He prepared Himself for this mission. He purified Himself to give
you an example of purification. He established His position with the mighty
ones in the Temple and with the people of God, and is now amongst you. It is I.
Not as some of you think and hope, with clouded minds and unrest in their
hearts. The Kingdom of which I am the future King and to which I call you, is
more notable and greater.
I am calling you, Israel, before any other people, because in the fathers of your
fathers you received the promise of this hour and of the alliance with the Most
High Lord. But His Kingdom will not be established with armed multitudes or
wild blood shedding and neither the violent, nor the overbearing, the proud, the
wrathful, the envious, the lustful, the avaricious will enter it but only the good,
the meek, the continent, the merciful, the humble, the patient and those who love
God and their neighbours will be admitted.
Israel! You are not asked to fight against external enemies, but against internal
ones. Against those who are in all your hearts. In the hearts of thousands and
thousands of your children. Remove the barrier of sin from all your hearts, if
you want God to gather you together tomorrow and say to you: “My people,
yours is the Kingdom that will never be defeated, or invaded, or undermined by
enemies.”
Tomorrow. Which tomorrow? In a year's or a month's time? Oh! Do not be
inquisitive! Do not allow an unhealthy thirst to inquire into the future by means
which taste of guilty witchcraft. Leave the Python spirit to the heathens. Leave
to Eternal God the secrecy of time. As from tomorrow, the morrow that will rise
after this evening, and the morrow that will come after tonight and will rise at
cock-crow, come and be purified by sincere penance.
Repent of your sins to be forgiven and to be ready for the Kingdom. Remove
from yourselves the barrier of sin. Each of you has his own. Each has the one
against the ten commandments of eternal salvation. Examine your consciences
59. The Demoniac of Capernaum Cured in the Synagogue. 185
with sincerity and you will find your errors. Repent with sincere humility. You
must repent. Not just with your mouths. You cannot laugh at or deceive God.
But repent with a firm will, that will make you change your ways of living and
return to the Law of the Lord. The Kingdom of Heaven is waiting for you.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow? you may ask. Oh! the hour of God is always an early morrow, even
when it comes at the end of a life as long as the Patriarchs'. Eternity does not use
as a measure of time the slow flowing of a sand glass. And the measures of time
which you call days, months, years, centuries are but heartbeats of the Eternal
Spirit that keeps you alive. But your souls are eternal and you must adopt for
your souls the same measure of time as your Creator does. You must, therefore,
say: “Tomorrow will be the day of my death.” No, not death for the faithful. But
rest of expectation, waiting for the Messiah to open the gates of Heaven.
And I solemnly tell you that only twenty-seven of you here present will die and
have to wait. The rest will be judged before their death, and their death will be a
transition to God or Mammon without any delay because the Messiah has come,
He is amongst you and calls you to give you the Gospel, to teach you the Truth
and save you in Heaven.
Do penance! The “morrow” of the Kingdom of Heaven is impending. May it
find you pure so that you may possess the eternal day.
Peace be with you.»
A bearded sumptuously dressed Israelite stands up to contradict Him. He says: «
Master, what You have stated appears to be in contrast with what is said in the
sacred book of Maccabees, glory of Israel. It is said there: “Indeed when evil-
doers are not left for long to their own devices but incur swift retribution, it is a
sign of great benevolence. In the case of the other nations, the Lord waits
patiently for them to obtain the full measure of their sins, before He punishes
them.” According to what You said, instead, the Most High would appear to be
very slow in punishing us, waiting, as for the other nations, the time of
Judgement, when the measure of sins is full. Events, indeed, give You the lie.
Israel is punished as stated by the historian of the Maccabees. But if what You
say is correct, is there no conflict between Your doctrine and the sentence I have
quoted?»
« I do not know who you are, but I will give you My answer, whoever you are.
There is no conflict in the doctrine, but only in the interpretation of the words.
You interpret them in a human sense, I, instead, in a spiritual one. You see
everything as referred to the present time and transient things, and you represent
the majority of people who think likewise. I represent God and I explain and
apply everything to eternal and supernatural matters. It is true, Yahweh did
strike you at present because of your pride and because you considered
yourselves a “nation” according to the world. But how much He loved you and
how patient He is with you, more than with anyone else, granting you the
Saviour, His Messiah, that you may listen to Him and be saved before the hour
of the wrath of God! He does not want you to be sinners any longer. But if He
struck you in the fleeting worldly things, seeing that the injury does not cure
your souls, nay it makes them duller and duller, He does not inflict a further
punishment, but He grants you salvation. He sends you Him Who cures and
saves you! I, Who am speaking to you.»
« Do You not consider Yourself bold in avowing Yourself a representative of
God? None of the Prophets dared so much and You... Who are You, Who are
speaking? And by whose order do You speak?»
« The Prophets could not say of themselves what I state of Myself. Who am I?
The Expected One, The Promised One, the Saviour. You have already heard His
Precursor say: “Prepare the way for the Lord... Here the Lord God is coming...
Like a shepherd He will feed His flock, although He is the Lamb of the true
Passover.” Many amongst you heard these words from the Precursor and they
saw the heavens brighten with a light that descended in the shape of a dove and
they heard a voice speak and say who I am. By whose order do I speak? By the
order of Him Who is and Who sends Me.»
« You say that, but You may be a liar or a dreamer. Your words are holy, but
Satan sometimes uses deceitful words painted with holiness, to deceive people.
We do not know You.»
« I am Jesus of Joseph of the House of David, I was born at Bethlehem
Ephrathah, as was promised, named Nazarene, because I live at Nazareth. And
that according to the world. According to God I am His Messenger. My
disciples know.»
« Oh! They! They can say what they like or what You tell them to say.»
« Another will speak, who does not love Me, and will say Who I am. Wait till I
call one of the people present here.»
Jesus looks at the crowd, who are astonished and annoyed at the dispute, and
divided between the two opposite doctrines. He looks for someone with His
sapphire eyes, and then in a loud voice He calls: « Aggaeus! Come here. It is an
order.»
There is great excitement in the crowd. They open out to let a man pass, who is
violently shaking all over his body and is supported by a woman.
« Do you know this man?»
« Yes, he is Aggaeus, of Malachi, of Capernaum. He is possessed by an evil
spirit which tortures him with sudden fury-fits.»
« Does everybody know him?»
The crowd shout: « Yes, we do.»
« Can any of you say that he has spoken to Me, even for a few minutes?»
The crowd shout: « No, no, he is half-witted, he never leaves his house, and
nobody has seen You in it.»
« Woman, bring him here in front of Me.»
The woman pushes and drags him, while the poor man trembles more than ever.
The head of the synagogue warns Jesus: « Be careful! The devil is about to
torture him... and then he rushes at people, scratches and bites them.»
The crowd moves away thronging against the walls.
Jesus and the man are now facing each other. There is a moment's struggle. The
man, usually mute, seems to have difficulty in speaking, he moans, then his
voice turns into words: « What is there between us and You, Jesus of Nazareth?
Why have You come to torture us? Why do You want to destroy us, You, the
Lord of Heaven and Earth? I know who You are: the Holy of God. No one, in
human flesh, was ever greater than You, because in Your flesh of man is
enclosed the Spirit of the Eternal Winner. You have already beaten me in...»
« Be quiet! I order you to come out of this man.»
The man has a fit of strange convulsions. He is tossed about by jerks and thrusts,
as if someone pulled and pushed him, violently ill-treating him, he shouts in a
wild voice, foams at his mouth, and is then thrown down onto the ground. He
gets up, astonished and cured.
« Have you heard? What do you say now?» Jesus asks His opponent.
The bearded sumptuous man shrugs his shoulders and, obviously beaten, goes
out without replying. The crowd scoff at him and applaud Jesus.
« Silence! This place is sacred! » says Jesus and He orders: « Bring Me the man
to whom I promised help from God.»
The sick man comes forward. Jesus caresses him: « You believed Me! Be cured.
Go in peace and be just. »
The young man lets out a yell. I wonder what he feels. He kneels down before
Jesus, kisses His feet thanking Him: « Thanks from me and from my mother!»
Other sick people come: a little boy with paralysed legs. Jesus takes him in His
arms, caresses him and puts him down... and leaves him. The child does not fall,
but runs to his mother, who clasps him to her heart, weeping, and in a loud voice
blesses « the Holy One of Israel». A little old blind man comes, led by his
daughter. He also is cured with a caress on his diseased eyes.
There is a roar of blessing from the crowd.
Jesus makes His way through the crowd smiling, and although He is tall, He
would not succeed in pushing through, if Peter, James, Andrew and John did not
work generously with their elbows, to make their way and reach Jesus, and then
escort Him to the exit onto the square, which is now dark.
The vision ends thus.