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.
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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
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