Monday, 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: Ephesians 4:25-32
Gospel: Luke 6:24-30

On the Path through the Desert

Woe unto the rich, woe unto those who have enough to eat, who laugh, who enjoy praises from people; conversely, blessed are those who suffer from calumny, violence, robbery, and forced labor (Luke 6:20-26) ─ quite opposite to people’s common judgments and sentiments!

God’s plans are as far from men’s reasoning as the heavens are far from the earth. And it hardly could be otherwise. We are in exile; therefore, we ought to be content with offences and insults; we are under penance which consists of needs and hardships; we are sick, and bitter medicine is good for us. The Savior Himself in His earthly life had no place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20) and died on the Cross ─ so why should His followers have a better lot?

The spirit of Christ is in being ready to suffer any loss and persevere through any hardship. Comfort, gratification, luxury, and opulence are alien to Him. His path leads through a harsh, bleak desert, a prototype of which we see in the Israelite people’s 40 years of wandering. Who, then, follows Him on this path? Those who can see through the desert to the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. And while in the desert of this life, they also receive manna, not from the earth but from heaven, not materially but spiritually, and the glory of the Lord abides inside them.