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Chapter 98

The Son speaks: ”I shall give my friends four arrows. By the first shall be shot the man who is blind in one eye; by the second the man who is lame in one foot; by the third the man who is deaf in one ear; by the fourth the man who lies stretched out on the ground.

The man blind in one eye symbolizes the people who see the commandments of God and the deeds of the saints but pay them no attention. They do see, however, the pleasures of the world and covet them. Such people should be shot by saying thus: 'You are like Lucifer who beheld the utmost beauty of God but who, because he unjustly desired what he should not have desired, descended into hell. You, too, shall descend there, unless you come to your senses, inasmuch as you understand the precepts of God as well as the transient nature of everything in the world. The best advice for you, then, is to hold on to what is certain and let go of what is transient, so that you do not descend into hell.'
The man lame in one foot symbolizes those who repent and are sorry for the sins they have committed, but who strive to acquire earthly comforts and worldly rewards. Such people should be shot in this way: 'You strive for the comfort of a body that worms will shortly be consuming. Strive instead for the profit of your soul that will live forever.'
The man deaf in one ear symbolizes those who desire to hear my words and those of my saints but also keep their other ear open for coarse and worldly speech. Tell them thus: 'You are like Judas who listened to God's words with one ear but they went out the other. What he heard did not do him any good. Close your ears to empty words so that you may come to hear the angels' song.'
The man stretched out on the ground symbolizes those who are entangled in earthly matters yet think on and wish to know the way by which they can reform themselves. Tell them thus: 'The time is short. It is but a moment. Yet the punishment of hell is eternal and the glory of the saints everlasting. In order, then, to attain true life, do not worry about taking up a heavy and difficult load, for God is as just as he is kind.'
If the arrow comes out bloodied from the heart of anyone shot in this way, that is, if he feels compunction and resolves to reform his life, then I will pour into him the oil of my grace by which his whole body will regain its strength.”

Christ speaks to the bride and laments over his Jewish crucifiers. He also laments over the Christians who scorn him along with his charity and justice by presumptuously and knowingly sinning against his commandments and by spurning the church's sentences of excommunication under the pretext of God's mercy. For this he threatens them with the fury and wrath of his justice.

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The Mother says: ”At the time of my Son's suffering, when his betrayer Judas approached, he bent down - for Judas was small of size - and gave him a kiss and said: 'Friend, for what have you come?' And some of those there seized him immediately, while others pulled him by the hair or defiled him with their spittle.”

Then the Son spoke, saying: ”I am regarded as a worm, lying as though dead in the winter. Passersby spit on it and trample it down. This day the Jews treated me like a worm, for they held me to be the lowest and most unworthy of creatures. Even so do Christians scorn me, for they regard as meaningless everything I have done and endured for them out of love. They trample me down each time they fear and venerate man more than me, their God, each time they count my judgment for naught and fix the time and measure for my mercy according to their own conceptions.
They strike me in the teeth whenever, having heard of my commandments and suffering, they say: 'Let us do whatever delights us in the present, and we shall obtain heaven nonetheless. If God had wanted us to perish or to punish us eternally, he would not have created us or redeemed us at such a bitter cost.' That is why they shall experience my justice. While not the least little good will go unrewarded, neither will the least little evil remain unpunished. They treat me with scorn, as though crushing me underfoot, whenever they disregard the church's sentence of excommunication. As the excommunicated are shunned by others, so too such as these will be separated from me, inasmuch as excommunication, when it is known but scorned, causes more grievous injury than a physical sword.
Since, then, I appear as a worm to them, I will now come to life again through my terrible judgment. My coming will be so terrible that those who see it will say to the mountains: 'Fall upon us, cover us from the wrathful face of God!' ”

Christ speaks to the bride and tells her that she is like a pipe of the Holy Spirit through which he makes lovely music in the world for his own glory and for the benefit of people. For this reason, he wants to coat her with the silver of virtuous conduct and wisdom on the outside and with the gold of humility and purity of heart on the inside.

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The Son says to the bride: ”You should be like a pipe on which the piper makes lovely music. The owner of the pipe coats it with silver on the outside so that it will look more costly, but with durable gold on the inside. You, too, should be coated with the silver of virtuous conduct and human wisdom in order to understand what you owe to God and to your neighbor as well as what is expedient for the eternal salvation of body and soul. You should be coated on the inside with the gold of humility so that you long to please no one but me and are not afraid of being displeasing to other people for my sake.

The piper does three more things for his pipe. First he wraps it in silk so that it does not get dirty. Second, he makes a case to keep it in. Third, he makes a lock for the case so that it will not be stolen by a thief. You, too, should be wrapped in purity so that you no longer wish to be stained by lust or desire.
Instead, struggle cheerfully to remain by yourself, because dealings with evil men corrupt virtuous conduct. The lock represents the diligent custody of all your senses and inner faculties so that you guard against the devil's deception in all your actions. The key, however, is the Holy Spirit. He opens your heart, exactly as I please, for my glory and the benefit of men.”

The Mother of God says that her Son's heart is most sweet, most clean, and most pleasant, so abounding in love that even if a sinner were standing at the very door of perdition and cried out to him with a purpose of amendment, he would be immediately freed. One reaches the heart of God through the humility of true contrition and through the devout and frequent contemplation of his passion.

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