Tuesday. [I Cor. 10:5-12; Matt. 16:6-12]

   Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, said the Lord. The Sadducees are a model of carelessness; the Pharisees represent people who are outwardly zealous. The former do nothing, whereas the latter, although they look very busy, nothing really comes of them. Similar to these are members of our modern society who are enticed by the ideas of humanism. You hear them talk only about the good of the people, but no good ever comes to the people, for it is all talk and no action. Their humanism is feigned; they make only the appearance of humaneness, but in reality they are egoists. Speech does not require sacrifice—they speak lavishly; but when the matter touches sacrifices, they retreat. Nowadays almost everyone is an actor; some show off in front of others as being zealous for good, and particularly for enlightenment, and they are all quite satisfied when their own verbal testimony portrays them as being really this way. Therefore, as soon as some charitable undertaking comes up among us, talk is everywhere, but deeds do not come to fruition. Do not expect sacrifices from them; they have no need to help others, as long as their affairs are going well. But it also happens that, without any particular mental effort over real plans to help their neighbors, they give alms in order to be left alone. The Lord has condemned both categories, and has commanded us to be filled with sincere love for one another, which does not love to show off.

Wednesday. [I. Cor. 10:12-22; Matt. 16:20-24]

   When the Holy Apostles confessed the Saviour to be the Son of God, He said, I must…suffer…and be killed. The work had ripened; it remained only to complete it through the death on the cross. The same thing occurs in the course of a Christian’s moral progress. While he is struggling with his passions, the enemy still hopes somehow to tempt him; but when passions have settled down and the enemy no longer has enough power to awaken them, he presents external temptations, all sorts of wrongful accusations, moreover, the most sensitive. He tries to plant the thought: “So what did you work and struggle for? No good will come of it for you.” But when the enemy thus prepares a war from without, the Lord sends down the spirit of patience to his struggler, thereby preparing a lively readiness in his heart for all sorts of suffering and hostility before the enemy can manage to stir up trouble. As the Lord said about Himself, I must suffer, spiritual strugglers also feel a sort of thirst for sorrows. And when the suffering and hostility come, they meet them with joy, and drink them in like a thirsting man drinks cooling water.