The Holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria (253-60)
Great Fast Day 25. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read
Proverbs 13:19-14:6
One of the difficulties of reading Proverbs is that the world it portrays often seems unrealistic: many of its sayings contrast the blessings of the righteous with the punishment of the wicked in a way that is, at first glance, unconvincing. After all, we know from history and current events that many unrighteous people lived in prosperity and still died peacefully in their beds. So how do we explain verses like “Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous,” when they appear to be contrary to obvious fact?
Two things help us understand these verses. First, there is the fact that injustice does beget more injustice, including for its perpetrators: even though the wicked often get away with their wickedness, they often do not. And even those who lives were full of injustice and oppression and then died peacefully can expect a rude awakening on the Day of Judgment. Second, however, is the fact that these proverbs have a spiritual interpretation that reconciles them to the Christian meaning of suffering in union with Christ. Today’s verse, “the righteous have enough to satisfy their appetite, but the belly of the wicked is empty,” makes sense not as a description of reality as we see it now, but as an account of what will really satisfy us in the long run. Only the righteous, who even in their suffering, are focused on Christ as their only hope and desire, will ever be satisfied. The wicked, for all their full bellies, will be empty until they accept him.