3. Message, July 29, 1945

The image of the altar from ancient times harkens back to the Old Testament tradition. Sacrifices pleasing to God were offered on the altar—perfect, without any imperfections, symbolizing sin. Through these sacrifices, God revealed to the people of Israel the attitude he expected from humanity. It was not just about animal sacrifices, but about humanity itself and the purity of its heart, which translated into every member of its body.
The evangelist Mark alludes to this spiritual dimension of sacrifice, repeatedly mentioning the members of the human body. He symbolically indicates that it is better for a person to cut off a sinful member and enter the Kingdom of God than to be condemned with it forever.
It is worth recalling that the sacrifices offered to God by the people of Israel could not be lame, blind, or flawed in any way. Every blemish symbolized sin and made the sacrifice unworthy. God desires the same from humanity—to cleanse themselves of sin by making a spiritual sacrifice of themselves during their earthly life. The fullness of this purification and perfection is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ—the Victim pleasing to God, perfect and spotless, whose life is a model for us to imitate. The Lady of All Nations places the Cross on the sacrificial altar, for Christ is the last bloody sacrifice to come into the world through Mary. Thus, in this very gesture, we see the role of the Lady of All Nations in the work of salvation.
 
Many of us undoubtedly wonder: what does it mean to become like Christ? Many look at the Cross with Christ and fail to understand what it truly means. Let us therefore try to answer the question of what the mystery of the Cross is.
From the very beginning, Jesus knew his mission. He was fully aware of God's will for himself, as the Gospels clearly attest. He knew that suffering and the cross awaited him—and he did not shrink from this path. He fulfilled the Father's will to the very end, even unto death.
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they were filled with sin. Every part of their bodies—eyes, ears, hands, feet, hearts—were touched by disobedience to God. Therefore, it became necessary to purify the whole person, symbolized by circumcision. Eve, approaching the tree of knowledge of good from evil, defiled her feet; reaching for the fruit, her hands; her gaze, her sight; listening to the serpent, her hearing; and tasting the fruit, her mouth and heart. Sin affected her entire being, and therefore the entire human body also requires purification.
It must be emphasized that purifying the entire body from sin is the fulfillment of God's Will, which God revealed through the Old Testament sacrifices. As with Adam, in the spiritual sense, Eve "killed" Adam by offering him the fruit of death; therefore, to be purified, she must give life. Here we come to the heart of the mystery of salvation: the New Eve – Mary – gave life to the New Adam – Jesus Christ, who fully fulfilled the Father's Will, purifying every member of his body through obedience to God's Will, even to death on the cross. Christ was circumcised in his heart and throughout his body.
Jesus could have escaped what awaited Him—he could have fled on his own two feet, but he did not, completely submitting to the Father's Will, the fulfillment of which was to allow himself to be crucified so that we would have an example and authority to imitate. He could have defended himself with his hands—but he did not. He could have explained himself to Pilate and avoided death—but he remained silent. He could have listened to Satan in the desert—but he did not yield. He could have turned his heart away from the Father—but he remained faithful to the end.
Letting himself be crucified was not a sign of weakness, but of supreme strength—the strength of spirit and body united with God's Will. Every member of His body was subject to the Father. Looking at Christ crucified, we see not weakness but power. We see the New Adam who, in the face of pain, fear, and suffering, remained faithful to God's Will until the end.
Imitating the Crucified Christ is therefore a call to purity in all the members of our bodies—hands, eyes, mouth, ears, and heart—in accordance with God's Will. It is about purity not only physical, but above all spiritual, for every sin has its source in the heart. The conformity of our will to God's will, especially in the face of temptation or pain, is a sign of our spiritual strength, which is perfected in our weak flesh.
Adam and Eve were not evil, but weak in spirit. Therefore, the slightest temptation, contrary to God's will, led them to death. They fulfilled the will of the flesh, which is mortal—therefore they died. However, if they had fulfilled God's will, as Christ did, they would have had eternal life, for God is immortal.
Jesus Christ and Mary—the New Adam and the New Eve—are the embodiment of all of Holy Scripture. In them, the Word of God and the Spirit of God became visible and tangible. The mystery of the cross has its source in all of Holy Scripture—it is profound and multidimensional. It is also referred to in the Second Book of Maccabees (2 Maccabees 7), where suffering and faithfulness to God become a prefiguration of Christ's passion.
 
In Ida Peerdeman's vision, we see an Old Testament altar, from which smoke descends—a sign that the Israelites have ceased offering sacrifices to atone for sin. Then, words are heard calling for faithfulness to God. In the times of the Old Covenant, it was the Israelite priests who scattered the sheep. But what does this scattering mean?
In the Book of Genesis, we read that the serpent led to the breaking of the covenant between God and Adam and Eve—and thus became the one who scattered God's sheep. Sin is therefore responsible for the separation of man from God. The priests, descended from the tribe of Israel, through their unfaithfulness and lack of concern for God's people, led to their spiritual decline. As a result, the people turned away from God, and sin began to spread, which in turn brought upon the children of Israel the curses recorded in the Book of the Law of Moses.
 
Let us recall that in the time of Joshua, the renewal of the Covenant with God took place at the Ark of the Covenant in Shechem, located between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. In relation to the structure of the Temple of the Lady of All Nations, a similar renewal of the Covenant takes place at the central altar, where the Tabernacle is located. It is worth noting that the Ark of the Covenant served as an altar—not one on which animal sacrifices were offered, but a spiritual altar. It was at the Ark that the Israelites renewed their spiritual commitment to remain faithful to the Covenant. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the Ark was also sprinkled with the blood of the propitiatory sacrifices, and let us recall that blood symbolizes the spirit. By consuming the Blood of Christ, we ritually consume His Spirit. Beyond its cultic function, the Ark served as God's throne and footstool, for upon it the Lord revealed Himself to Moses.
In Ida Peerdeman's vision, we see the Lady of All Nations placing the Cross above the altar, which in this case is also the Tabernacle. In this way, it symbolically becomes the throne upon which the Son of God sits. Christ is both the High Priest and the Sacrifice—the One whose blood symbolically flows onto the Tabernacle. On Yom Kippur, the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant and the four horns of the altar at the entrance to the temple. In light of this vision, the Cross thus appears as a throne and altar united as one. Its "four horns" are anointed with Christ's blood at the points where the nails pierced them and at the wound where the crown of thorns left them. In this way, the symbols of the Old Testament find their fulfillment in the Body of Christ, who is the Living Word.
Ida Peerdeman also sees smoke descending over the altar. On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest brought a laver of embers and a handful of incense before the Ark of the Covenant, so that "a cloud of incense might cover the mercy seat," or the lid of the Ark. This smoke was intended to protect the high priest from death, which would result from beholding God's glory. In Ida Peerdeman's vision, the smoke descends over the altar, as if revealing God's glory made present in the person of Christ. From then on, the smoke of incense is no longer necessary, because God revealed Himself to humanity in the Body of Jesus Christ—without a veil and through the Lady of All Nations, who symbolically places the Cross with Christ on the altar.
In turn, the cup carried in the vision before the gathered people alludes both to food—the Body and Blood of Christ—and to the manna stored in the Ark of the Covenant, with which God fed the Israelites during their journey to the Promised Land. In this way, the seemingly simple text of the message reveals its profound meaning and the richness of symbols rooted in Sacred Scripture.
 
Yom Kippur was also a day of complete reconciliation with God, during which all activity and work, as well as marital intercourse, were forbidden. In the message, a voice inviting the faithful is heard. However, the people stand with bowed heads, turned away from the Cross. This powerful image directly alludes to Christ's parable of inviting God's people to a feast—here understood as partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. Many of the invited ones, however, reject God's call, their hearts tied more to this world than to God. In the parable, some excuse their marriage obligations—forbidden on Yom Kippur—others cite work, which was also forbidden on that day.