Tuesday. [Rom. 7:14-8:2; Matt. 10:9-15]

   The Lord also said to the apostles that if a city does not receive them, and will not hear their words, then It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. And what will happen to us for our not hearing the words of Divine Revelation? It will be immeasurably intolerable be for us. To disbelieve the truth of God after so many tangible proofs is the same as reviling the Holy Spirit, and blaspheming. And yet we have no fear. The spiritists [and Hindus] say, “What judgment! We just have to be born a few more times.” The scientists say, “Whom is there to judge? Everything is made of atoms; they will fly apart and that will be the end.” But, my friends, the hour of death will come; these dreams will fly away like phantoms, and we will all be faced with inevitability reality. What then?… What wretched times we live in! The enemy has contrived to destroy our souls. He knows that fear of death and judgment is the strongest means for sobering up a soul—and so he makes every attempt to drive this away; and he succeeds. But extinguish the fear of death and fear of God will disappear; and without the fear of God the conscience becomes mute. The soul becomes empty, it becomes a waterless cloud, carried by any wind of teachings and various fits of passions.

Wednesday. [Rom. 8:2-13; Matt. 10:16-22]

   He that endureth to the end shall be saved. And do we have anything to endure? In this nobody is lacking. Everyone’s arena of endurance is vast; therefore our salvation is at hand. Endure everything to the end and you will be saved. However, you must endure skillfully; otherwise you may not gain anything by your endurance. First of all, keep the holy faith and lead an irreproachable life according to faith; immediately cleanse every sin that occurs with repentance. Secondly, accept everything that you must endure as from the hands of God, remembering firmly that nothing happens without God’s will. Thirdly, give thanks sincerely to God for everything, believing that everything which proceeds from the Lord is sent by Him unto the good of our souls—thank Him for sorrows, and for consolations. Fourth, love sorrow for its great saving worth and cultivate your thirst for it, like a drink which although bitter, is healing. Fifth, keep in your thoughts that when a misfortune has come, you cannot throw it off like tight clothes; you must bear it. Whether in a Christian way, or in a non-Christian way, you must bear it nonetheless; so it is better to bear it in a Christian way. Complaining will not rescue you from misfortune, but only make it heavier; whereas humble submission to God’s Providence and good humour relieve the burden of misfortunes. Sixth, realize that you deserve even a greater misfortune—realize that if the Lord wanted to deal with you as you rightly deserve, would such a small misfortune really be enough? Seventh, most of all, pray, and the merciful Lord will give you strength of spirit. With such strength, others will marvel at your misfortunes which seem like nothing to you.