«Master, Saul died enraptured by the Spirit of God. We touched him, are we clean or unclean?»
«Unclean.»
«And what about You?»
«I am just like the others. I do not change the Law. The Law is law and an Israelite fulfils it. We are unclean. Within the third and the seventh day we shall get purified. Till then, we are unclean. Judas, I am not going back to your mother’s. I do not want to take uncleanliness to her home. Send her word by someone who can go there. Peace to this town. Let us go.»
«Why give scandal lacking respect for the Law? One must walk in front of the others if one wants to say: “Follow me”. And to lead people on to a holy path, one must walk on the same path. How could I have said, or how could I say: “Be faithful”, if I were without faith?»
A workman is entitled to his pay, also if he deals with souls… because there is still a body to be nourished, as if it were a donkey helping its master.
The servant that is concerned with his own triumph, and not with the Lord’s, is a miserable man! The servant who is anxious to make a profit, who dreams he will sit on a high throne built on the interests of God, which have been lowered down to the earth, whereas they are celestial interests, is also a miserable servant. He is no longer a servant, except in his external appearance. He is a merchant, a trafficker, a deceitful person, who deceives himself and men and would like to deceive God as well… a wretched man who believes he is a prince, whilst he is a slave.
And here I experienced the weariness of the hero and of the ascetic who in an hour of forewarning realise the uselessness of their efforts… I cried… Sadness… a lure for Satan. It is not a sin to be sad in painful circumstances. It is a sin to go beyond sadness and fall into inertness and despair.
«A blessing is efficient and lasting if the souls of men are faithful to the Law of God and to My doctrine. On the contrary, grace comes to an end. And it is only fair. Because if it is true that God grants sunshine and fresh air to the good and to the bad, that they may live, and that they may become better if they are good, and they may be converted if they are bad, it is also just that the Father’s protection should turn elsewhere as a punishment for the wicked, to remind them of God, by means of some pain.»