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.