14th Week in Ordinary Time - Friday - Sheep, serpents, and Doves...Oh my!

 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. We’ve had wolves in sheep’s clothing, sometimes wolves in shepherd’s clothing!

The Lord gives such a strong warning because the threat is serious—persecution is 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 the Master’s sheep—those who seek to silence us, desire to break the power of the Church, simply because we are Christian.  They conspired to prevent him from spreading His Gospel, they do the same to us. They laughed at him, mocked him, thought he was naïve, thought he was blasphemous, and they do the same to us.

As this country, and really all of Western Civilization, falls into moral decline, it is not surprising that we are called bigots for resisting the perversions and errors of the culture.  But, we are called to be sheep—docile and obedient to God, even when the wolves start closing in.  

I Am sending you as sheep, to follow wherever he leads us, even into wolf-infested territory. We are to be docile in following the Lord, but also like Him we are to “be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.”  We are to be docile to the Lord, not to the wolves. To the wolves we are to be like serpents: cunning, wise, and crafty in handling our enemies.  Anticipate their threats. Out maneuver them in wisdom, like the Lord handling the Pharisees.  The early Christians facing persecution gathered in secret, to worship and study their faith. That’s cunning.  They evangelized the emperor, the imperial courts, the aristocracy. Cunning. They made beautiful music, beautiful art to lift the soul. 

And they were innocent as doves: they showed themselves to be better citizens, more moral citizens than the non-Christians, innovative. Innocence, cunning, docile to the will of God. It’s a winning combination! It’s converted nations and drawn souls to Christ over and over again. May we be faithful to this vocation of ours for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -  

That all bishops and clergy will lead the Church in faithfulness to the Gospel mandate and in the practice of every Christian virtue.

For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have fallen into serious sin, for non-believers, atheists, and those in error, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.

For Christians experiencing persecution for the faith, that they may hold fast to the Lord in their sufferings.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, for victims of abuse and scandal, for the imprisoned and the addicted, for all those recovering from or undergoing surgery today, and for the consolation of the dying.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

14th Week of OT 2019 - Friday - Shrewd as Serpents, Innocent as Doves

In addition to his public teaching about the kingdom of God and his moral instruction, the Lord gave specific training to his disciples concerning their mission to spread the Gospel, training that applies to our efforts.

In today’s Gospel, the Lord tells them about the territory into which He is sending them. "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Sheep certainly need to be careful when they are in wolf-infested territory. Persecution is inevitable. There will not be a single age, a single sector of society, where Christians 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.  The Lord’s warning here certainly reflects the experience of early Christian communities where believers were betrayed by their own family members.

The Diocese of Cleveland is wolf-infested territory. Do not be surprised when the Gospel mission is opposed, when the world tries to silence the Word—even from within one’s own family.

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 naive, 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.  But, that doesn’t mean we are called to be punching bags.  Christian missionary disciples need to, “be as shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.”  Our Lord Himself was cunning in dealing with the Pharisees, in forming his disciples, but also innocent as a dove, of all malice, of all sin.

To be shrewd as the serpent, means to be cunning, wise, and crafty with non-believers and those who oppose the Gospel, not out of deceit, but as part of a greater strategy to win souls. How can I help people see the goodness and truth of Jesus?  We are to train our minds in the Word of God, in the writings and examples of the saints; to use creativity in the evangelizing mission.

On the other hand, to become innocent as doves, we train our hearts to trust God in all things, to hate sin, to love our neighbor with abundant generosity, peacemaking, and gentleness, and to not be hardened when we face difficulty or persecution.

“Without innocence, cunning becomes manipulative; without cunning, innocence becomes naivety; the finely-balanced character reflects that of Jesus himself.” May we have the mind and heart of Our Lord in fulfilling the mission of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
That all bishops and clergy will lead the Church in faithfulness to the Gospel mandate and in the practice of every Christian virtue.

For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have fallen into serious sin, for non-believers, atheists, and those in error, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.
For Christians experiencing persecution for the faith, that they may hold fast to the Lord in their sufferings.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, for victims of abuse and scandal, for the imprisoned and the addicted, for all those recovering from or undergoing surgery today, and for the consolation of the dying.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

14th Week in OT 2018 - Friday - Cunning as Serpents, Innocent as Doves

If you’ve ever done a bible study of the Gospel of Matthew, one of the first things you study about Matthew is that it has a very identifiable structure. It can be split up into five parts, likely as Matthew’s way of reminding his Jewish audience of the five books of Moses, showing them that Jesus brings to fulfillment all Moses said and did. Well, these five parts of Matthew can each be divided into two smaller parts, the first part communicating the narrative of the Gospel, the story, the action, the miracles of Jesus’ ministry throughout the Holy Land. And then, after each narrative part, Jesus gives a teaching or discourse, instructions for his followers.

For example, the first part of Matthew’s Gospel contains the narrative of Jesus’ baptism, and going out into the desert to fast and to face the devil, and coming out of the desert to perform healing miracles in Capernaum. He then gives his most famous discourse: the Lord Jesus a mountain, and gives his famous sermon, his sermon on the mount, the new Law for his followers, like Moses having ascending Mt. Sinai, to receive and then deliver the Commandments of the Law to Israel.

Today’s passage is from the second major part of Matthew’s Gospel, the second discourse. In this discourse Jesus has been giving instructions to the Apostles. He instructs them to go throughout Galilee, to heal, to cast out demons, as he has been doing. The Apostles are tasked with proclaiming the Gospel and showing it’s authenticity through signs. But then Jesus gives a warning, that warning, we hear today: he is sending them out as sheep amidst the wolves. There will be wolves who will persecute them, who will silence them, who will even seek to kill them because of the Gospel.

That’s a divine promise that we see come to pass in the Acts of the Apostles and in every age of the Church: the Church is hated, the Church is persecuted, the Church is silenced by those whose hearts are still hardened to the message of Jesus. Parma, the Diocese of Cleveland, the United States is wolf-infested territory.

So Jesus instructs the Apostles and instructs us: “be shrewd, be cunning as serpents, and simple, innocent, gentle as doves” Most of us are one or the other. We are either very cunning, or very innocent. One theologian said, “Without innocence, cunning becomes manipulative; without cunning, innocence becomes naivety…the finely balanced character…reflects that of Jesus himself”.  After all, Jesus was cunning in dealing with the Pharisees, in forming his disciples, but also innocent, of all malice, of all sin.

To become cunning as serpents, we train our minds in the Word of God, in the writings and examples of the saints, and be shrewd in dealing with those who oppose the Gospel, who don’t always work for the good of the Church.

To become innocent as doves, we train our hearts to trust God in all things, to hate sin, to love our neighbor with abundant generosity, peacemaking, and gentleness, and to not be hardened when we face difficulty or persecution. May we imitate the Lord’s own cunning and innocence for the spread of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -
 
That all bishops and clergy will lead the Church in faithfulness to the Gospel mandate and in the practice of every Christian virtue.

For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have fallen into serious sin, for their conversion, and the conversion of all hearts.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of July: That priests, who experience fatigue and loneliness in their pastoral work, may find help and comfort in their intimacy with the Lord and in their friendship with their brother priests.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, for all those recovering from or undergoing surgery today, and for the consolation of the dying.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord