"we are in the midst of death, and the world gives signs of falling in ruins. But the Lord lives. Everything belongs to the Creator, who is the almighty Father. Therefore we should have no regard for the magnitude of the disasters and for the power of those who persecute us. Nor should our own dangers or those of our wives and children terrify us. Thus Joseph does not look at prison, disgrace, death, and the very sad and horrible things that befell him. No, he clings to the Word and believes in the almighty Father. But if the Turk or the pope swallow us alive, what are they doing? They are swallowing our death, miseries, and troubles, and are exchanging this unhappy life for eternal life, provided that we believe in the almighty Father.
“Meanwhile, however, religion is being destroyed,” you will say. What will happen then? What of it? Let God rule. Let Him take care of this. The Lord will see to it that the church and a holy seed are preserved on earth. Certainly Joseph was sent to the Egyptians, a barbarous and godless nation with no knowledge of God, where there was great danger that his tender heart would be seduced after being imbued with perverse dogmas and with superstition. But the outcome bears witness that that very mission and danger led to many blessings. Thus it is possible for God also to preserve some of us to be a nursery for the church when the Turk and the enemies of God have been destroyed. For He allows them to rave and rage with no other end in view than that they may be destroyed and perish. In the meantime, however, the light of the Gospel is gradually being propagated more and more. Only let us keep on believing, teaching, suffering, and dying; for they, too, will have to perish.
“But you are being slaughtered in spite of this,” you will say. What then? I know that I must depart from this life. Therefore I do not care, no matter whether I am killed by the pope or the Turk. I believe in Christ. Him I confess and invoke. Anyone who wants to may be angry or laugh.
In this manner the very saintly fathers placed all trust and hope in Christ, and with this faith they conquered death, hell, and Satan with great strength of heart and obtained the eternal glory which is laid up for them and for us in heaven. If Joseph had remained at home and in the household of his father, he would have lived there as a private individual and would have benefited only a few. But after the seed has fallen into the ground (of. John 12:24), it becomes the physical and spiritual salvation of many lands."
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