The third path shown by our Leader is this: Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:10). Truly admirable is the wisdom of Christ our Teacher, yet wholly hidden from the wise of this world. Who would believe — unless God the Master said it — that it is good to be poor in money and rich in afflictions? And yet it is truly so. Nothing is more profitable for acquiring the true riches, which are the merits of the heavenly kingdom, than to have a mind empty of affection for money and at the same time full of the desire to suffer for Christ. Hear the Lord in Luke: Woe to you that are rich, for you have your consolation; woe to you that are filled; woe to you that laugh (Luke 6:24-25). And on the contrary, in the same place: Blessed are you poor; blessed are you that now hunger; blessed are you that now weep; blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake: be glad in that day and rejoice; for behold, your reward is great in heaven. Hear what blessed James says of riches, and what he says of tribulations: Count it all joy, my brethren, when you shall fall into various temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience; and patience has a perfect work (James 1:2-4). There he does not say: Bear, endure, be patient; but: Rejoice — nay rather: Count it all joy — that is, receive tribulation not as tribulation but as the matter of every kind of joy. But of riches, on the contrary: Go now, you rich, weep howling in your miseries that shall come upon you (James 5:1); and in the chapter before: Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into sorrow (James 4:9).
But how does it happen that persecution makes a man blessed, when it seems rather to make him miserable? Many things could be said here; but I shall be content with this one: that persecution is like a furnace of burning fire; and fire cooks food, purges silver, and proves gold. So also persecution, if patiently endured, cooks sinners, purges the imperfect, proves the just, and thus is wonderfully profitable to all. The sinner is like raw flesh: unless it is properly cooked, it is thrown to the beasts, not eaten by men. For the sinner is full of every evil humor: the concupiscence of the flesh, which is lust; the concupiscence of the eyes, which is avarice; and pride, which is ambition. But if the furnace of persecution draws near, in that fire he is dried and cooked, so that he becomes fit to be brought honorably to the table of the Lord (John 2). For when persecution or a grave tribulation presses in, he forgets his lusts, his gains, and his ambitions, and begins to be altogether another man than he was before. The just man, however, who is yet imperfect — though he does not slip into horrible crimes — is still a friend of his flesh: he follows pleasures, loves gain, and does not shrink from the vanities of the world. He is therefore like silver that has much dross mixed into it. But if the furnace of great persecution seizes him and he bears it patiently, the dross will begin little by little to be separated from the silver; he will begin, I say, to be gathered within himself, to meditate on the things that are above, to abstain from carnal desires; in fine, to live justly, soberly, and piously in this world, and to look for that blessed hope and the coming of the glory of the great God (Titus 2:12-13). Finally, the man perfect in charity is gold; but he must be proved by the fire of persecution, lest it should be thought by others — and he himself even suspect — that he is a golden alloy and not true gold. For when he is seen to bear the fire of persecution patiently, not only is he recognized by others to be what he is, but he himself is raised up into a great hope and awaits that reward of the heavenly kingdom with greater assurance. Tribulation, says the Apostle, works patience; and patience, trial; and trial, hope; and hope does not confound (Rom. 5:3-5). And God Himself, when His friend has been proved by the fire of tribulation, advances and exalts him more and more each day, until He brings him to the fellowship of the kingdom and of happiness. Behold how much patience brings forth in persecutions. And it is indeed strange how few there are who enjoy these goods, though these goods lie open to all: for persecution can be found everywhere, and everywhere it meets us — in the house, on the road, in the forum, in the temple; for everywhere the wicked beset the good. And most certain is the sentence of the Apostle: All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). But we, delicate soldiers, either flee the proving furnace or hurl back upon our adversary the injury we have received; so that we not only refuse to suffer persecution, but even inflict it. Nor are they wanting — a man's enemies are those of his own household (Matt. 10:36) — who praise the man who, as they say, unloads himself of the injury and loads it upon his adversary; and yet they who despise the precepts of Christ wish to be called Christians.