Homily: Friday of the 14th Week of OT - "Sheep amidst the wolves"

The Lord tells his followers today that he sends us out as sheep amidst wolves, urging us to be prepared for the hostility we will inevitably face as his disciples.

I think of those Christians of the first few centuries.  The Church underwent open and state-sanctioned persecution longer than America has been a country.  The early Christians could not build Churches and had to gather for Mass in secret.  For professing the Christian faith they were arrested, beaten, and tortured in unspeakable ways.  Sometimes they were even betrayed by close family members.  Some Christians became so frightened of the wolves, that they gave up the faith, left the flock, and began to run with the wolves.

Jesus gives this strong warning because the threat is serious—persecution, he knows, will be inevitable.  “You will be hated by all because of my name” he says.  There will not be a single age, a single sector of society, where you will be completely safe.  There will always be Wolves who will want to kill us simply because we are sheep—non-Christians who will misunderstand us, seek to silence us, desire to break us, simply because we are Christian. 

In an age of growing hostility we know that many people do not agree with Our Lord and his Church.  They laughed at him, mocked him, thought he was naïve, thought he was blasphemous, and they do the same to us.  They worked to prevent him from spreading His Gospel, they do the same to us.  As this country, and really all of Western Civilization, falls into moral decline, it is not surprising that Christians are being fined for operating our businesses according to Christian principles, it is not surprising that we are called bigots for not tolerating all the perversions of the culture. 

We are called to be sheep—docile and obedient to God, even when the wolves start closing in.  Though the Lord tells us to be sheep—that doesn’t mean we are called to be punching bags.  He tells us, “be as shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” 

The word for simple means “unmixed”, suggesting that all of our persecutions should be faced with the simple desire of glorifying God and spreading the Gospel. 

And to be shrewd as the serpent, means to be cunning, wise, and crafty.  Anticipate the threats, be cunning in the way you practice the faith.  The early Christians facing persecution gathered in the catacombs in the middle of the night.  That’s cunning.  They showed themselves to be better citizens, more moral citizens than the non-Christians, they evangelized the emperor, that too, was very wise.

Jesus doesn’t say “If they hand you over” he says, “when they hand you over”—each of will face trial—moments when our faith is attacked.   “When they hand you over, do not worry what you are to speak or say” the Lord tells us.   Remaining faithful to the Lord amidst the persecution speaks more than words. Some wolves may even be converted when we are faithful amidst our trials. 

In all of our trials, may we persevere to the end, in faithfulness to all the Lord commands, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.