Jesus, yes, I am Jesus.

You have been asked to submit two questions to Judas, and I have come to answer them.

• Firstly, how could I approach Judas, seeing the good in him?

• Secondly, how could I carry out this task on Mary of Magdala, putting aside my prejudices and helping her, although she was in a sinful condition as a prostitute?

Well, when I saw that both questions referred to my person and my way of acting and thinking, I believed that it was appropriate that I should give the answers myself.

I can offer two replies, a short one and another longer one. The short one is simply that I did approach neither Judas nor Mary, but rather, that both approached me. They did the first step. And this makes things much easier.

My long answer will be more instructive:

In Judas’ case, there was no reason at all for me to doubt of his goodness. I am aware that Judas is portrayed in the gospels in a very unfavorable fashion. He is the traitor, the man who defrauded his master's trust, the criminal who sold his ideals for money, or who had never entertained such ideals, but had only pretended to do so... but I can assure you that this was not true.

Judas approached me, and I received him with open arms. Until the moment of his betrayal, there was no reason whatsoever for me for doubting of him. Of course, he did not understand all that I tried to teach, but in this, he was in good company: Such lack of understanding was a characteristic of all my disciples. It is necessary to understand the circumstances, their education, their beliefs — beliefs that were shared by all the people. My teachings were radically different and new, and it is comprehensible that it took them a lot to grasp the idea.

Mary loved luxury, she loved the sensation of being accepted to the circles of the powerful, even if it was only as a lover... but deep inside her, she was woman capable of profound love. And it was this love that eventually unveiled to her the vanity of her life. When she finally approached me to find help and spiritual guidance, she had already mastered the situation.

In the case of Matthew, the tax collector, things were different. Matthew did not approach me, although he wished to. But he was scared — not of me, for sure, but of the people who surrounded me, whose hatred or scorn he could sense. But I could see Matthew's desire, a desperate desire to change his situation; and so it happened that I reached out my hand to him to give him that pull that would help him to get out of the bog in which was stuck.

It is not so difficult to see that people neither behave nor act nor speak as they really are, but rather, that they try to play a role, showing themselves as they believe that others want to see them. They are persons, and as you well know, the word person derives from the Latin "personare," that is to say, "to sound through." In the antiquity, the “persona” was the mask of the actors, an image that betrayed the role that the actor interpreted: the villain, the hero, the clumsy, etc. And all people interpret, in a similar way, their role, and they present their mask. But what you see, is not what they really are...

Besides, they also build up their masks in order to resolve their internal problems and conflicts — which never works, but everybody tries to. The man who was abused or mistreated as a boy, tries to inflict the same abuse to others, presenting himself as a dangerous and hard man, pretending to cover up his own feelings of weakness, fear, and inferiority. The short man wants to be the most towering among all mortals, and he sets out to conquer the world. Yes, in the bottom, the roots of their motifs are very banal at times.

But behind this false shell, there is a different personality; frequently it is weak, frightened, feeling inferior, crying out for help. Knowing that, it is very difficult to judge people for what they do or say or pretend to be.

In addition, my dear friend, when people have knowledge of the wonderful capacity of the human soul and of its happy destination, it is impossible to reject others for their momentary condition: After all, it is nothing else than a snapshot, a short scene in an endless movie, a captured moment of eternity, but it is nothing definitive.

It has been said that in order to be able to love others, it is necessary to love oneself. This is a great truth. Oftentimes, what people see in other people, is a projection of their own being. That is to say, when they see in others the flaws that they detected and hate in themselves, they hate these other people exactly for these flaws they share with them. The lack of overcoming their own flaws leads to the projection of hatred, scorn, and frustration on other people. It is necessary to learn to love oneself in order be able to love others. The recognition of one’s own flaws does not mean to condone them, but rather, that people have to make an effort to overcome them. Seeing these flaws in others should motivate people to help their neighbors to surmount them.

 You are right, in order to love oneself, it is not necessary to own the Divine Love. Purified natural love is perfectly able to achieve this objective. Even more, I dare to do one step further: The lack of self-love is the greatest obstacle to receiving the Father's Love. When people do not love themselves, how can they feel loved? And when they do not feel the Love that God has for them, it is difficult or impossible for them to find the right approach to ask God for His Love.

But when people finally manage to obtain this Love, and when all their being is eventually transformed into this Love, then to love for them is not only a strong desire, but also a demeanor that necessarily is born from the very nature of their souls. How could I have looked upon Judas and Mary, Matthew and Peter, Caiaphas and Pilate, if not through the eyes of Love?

 Dear brother, the reception of this message has drawn much on you. However, I think that what I have said so far, already answered the questions. But I promise that I will return when the moment favors us more, and will deepen on the subject.

I wish you a happy week.

Your elder brother,