Jesus says:
“In the countries of the East, it is common to find large tanks of water located precisely in places that are so arid that it causes amazement to discover so much water. They are supplied by secret springs descending deep under the sand or in calcareous masses that have been exuding that blessed centuries-old wealth of theirs into enormous ancient cisterns. Around them there are palms and other plants, beautifully green, because they benefit from the moisture issuing from the ground. They protect the water, which thus remains fresh and not dried up by the scalding sun, which desiccates everything all around.
“They are the blessing of the arid deserts. The goodness of the Creator placed those deep springs of water in the ground out of mercy for men and has been supplying them since the earth’s first day.
“The caravans and the desert animals come to these cisterns, and it is not rare for a little village to arise there in the freshness of the oasis. A village which may be said to live on the flow of that water.
“Now I shall offer you the comparison for the soul. The cistern gathering the waters for its own good and that of others is the soul able to receive grace, which in an inexhaustible flow comes into it by the goodness of God. Its own life and those of so many others in contact with it benefit from this, and it becomes luxuriant with eternal fruit, whereas the most disinherited, the unfortunates who are unable to make good use of grace, the extravagant who waste it, and the blameworthy who lose it can nourish themselves in contact with it, drink from it, and reflect on how sweet the water of the Lord is, and they are led to repeat the cry of the Samaritan woman: ‘Lord, give me this water.’
“Believe that, in truth, if someone asked Me for a drink, I would at once give him the living water of grace, even if he were the most sinful of all men.
“But a reflection must be made. If the water issuing from the depths of the earth were to find the cistern with its edges broken, what would happen? The water would run off, overflowing to the ground and becoming mud, from which only slippery animals and harmful insects would benefit. The easterners in fact take good care of their tanks and repair their deterioration so that not even a drop of the precious element will be lost.
“In order for grace to fill your soul, always take care to keep anything from eroding your spirit. Acts of unfaithfulness to grace are all attacks on the safety of the mystical cistern into which I unceasingly pour the water flowing from a spring of eternal life which gives eternal life. Great care and great faithfulness, then.
“In addition, great humility. The green plants, which grow luxuriantly thanks to the moisture of the soil and serve to keep the water fresh by preventing its evaporation by the sun, are humility becoming luxuriant in a soul able to cultivate grace and with its lush growth keeping the sun of haughtiness from consuming the most precious water.
“In addition, great charity. The cistern does not live for itself. It lives for others. It was created for others. Its being would otherwise have been useless. The soul I fill with my gifts of grace must be glad that all come to draw upon it.
“Do not commit the ugly sin of spiritual avarice by wanting to hoard for yourself alone the riches I give you. I give them to you free, but you must generously make others partake of them. You do so with prayers and sufferings. But with my words you manifest a shameful avarice. Strip yourself of this defect.
“I spoke to the throngs. I did not whisper into the ears of my friends alone. I spoke to friends and enemies, to Jews and Gentiles, to whoever came within the range of my Voice. My intention is that what I say to my friends now should not remain a treasure buried by the miser. It would be a lack of charity and might make Me punish the one who is miserly and distrustful - miserly, because he keeps it for himself alone; distrustful, because he thinks I have no other coins to give.
“My riches are such that the firmaments would not be sufficient to receive them. They are renewed every instant, with every beat - to give you a human comparison - of the great heart which is the hub of our Trinity. Inexhaustible life, continuous creation, eternal renewal.
“Give freely, then, what I give you. With charity, with generosity, with humility.
“This flowing into you of the divine words is a double-edged sword. On one edge is humility; on the other, pride. One edge gives life; the other gives death. For every gift of God forces the recipient towards greater perfection - under the pain of augmenting, if the opposite occurs, God’s judgment weighing over his head. Much will be asked of the one to whom much is given.
“Great humility, then. To give anonymously as I give free. For the sake of justice: consider that nothing is yours, but everything is mine. For the sake of respect: remember that they are God’s words, and it would be indecorous to pass them off as yours. For the sake of truth: to call them yours would be a lie.
“And now go ahead and pray. I give you my peace.”
Now I speak. It is 8:45 a.m.
I was praying, and I had barely begun when this arrived. To spare myself a little effort - for my shoulders are badly aching - I wrote right into the notebook.54 Anyway, you55 promised to make me a copy. As you see, since I was not disturbed by useless chit-chat, I was able to write under dictation, and, after removing and rewriting a word badly written on the first page, there are no erasures.
I like this parable of the waters a lot. It refreshes my soul and my flesh, which is burning with fever, like my soul, which is always afraid of erring. I indeed have some spiritual avarice and strip myself reluctantly of the gifts the good Jesus gives me. I feel I am tearing out a piece of my heart and throwing it under the feet of others. But I will correct myself.
As you see, from my bed, with Jesus taking me by the hand, I have made a nice trip to the lands of the South. I would never have imagined it when I woke up this morning from a short, uninterrupted sleep... Jesus knows I like to travel, and He took me among palms and gazelles.
54 See June 7.
55 Father Migliorini.