Wednesday. [I Cor 7:12-24; Matt. 14:35-15:11]

   Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. The Lord said this not because He did not favour fasting, or because He considered it not necessary for us—no, both He Himself fasted, and taught the apostles to do so, and He established fasts in his holy Church; but He said this so that we would not only fast by eating little or only uncooked food, but rather so that we would keep the fast in our soul, not indulging it with desires and passionate inclinations. And this is the important thing. Fasting serves as a powerful means for this. The foundation of the passions in the flesh; when the flesh is emaciated, then it is as if a hole is dug under the passions and their fortress is destroyed. Without fasting, overcoming the passions would be a miracle, similar to being in a fire and not being burned. How can he who profusely satisfies his flesh with food, sleep and rest, keep anything spiritual in mind and in his intentions? For him it is as easy to renounce the earth, to contemplate and strive for the invisible world, as would be for an old, decrepit bird to take flight and soar.

Tuesday. [I Cor. 6:20-7:12; Matt. 14:1-13]

   A rumour of the works of the Lord reached Herod; he immediately concluded: it is John resurrected. One could have thought anything. Yet he did not think of anyone except John. Who gave such a direction to his thoughts? His conscience. From it you cannot hide unconscionable deeds; you cannot correct its judgement with anything. Herod assumed the right to behead John, and others did not deny that he had the right, but his conscience spoke, and he could not muffle its words with anything. That is why he immediately saw John. How many similar instances do we know where the conscience pursues a sinner and paints the subject and deed of a sin so that he sees them even outside himself! There is a voice in us that we must acknowledge is not our voice. Whose is it? God’s. He who gives us our nature, gives us this voice. If it is God’s voice, we must obey it, for creatures dare not contradict the Creator. This voice says that God exists, that we completely depend upon Him, and therefore we cannot not but have a reverent fear of God; having this fear, we must fulfil God’s will, which conscience indicates. All of this makes up the word of God, written in our nature, read and offered to us. And we see that people of all times and all countries hear this word and heed it. Everywhere people believe in God, everywhere they listen to their conscience and await the future life. Only now has it somehow become fashionable to not acknowledge these truths. This is how the naturalists behave; which means that the teaching which the naturalists preach is unnatural.