I AM SENDING YOU LIKE SHEEP IN THE MIDST OF WOLVES

Mtt 10:16-23

Jesus in today’s gospel discusses with his disciples the problems of persecution and of the betrayal even of those who preach his word. If understood with human fillings, this is the most horrible and worse speech Jesus ever pronounced. He says: “Behold I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.” What motivation can this give to the one sent? It is as if Jesus scares them before the mission. But this is not what Jesus is giving as message. His point is to stress the importance of the word of God; the importance of preaching; the importance of the missionary work. And he is saying be ready to endure whatever suffering you will meet in your mission; you have to cope with all the difficulties in order to make sure the word of God is preached.

First, He asks us to be shrewd as serpents. In other words as ones being sent today demand creativity because what might work in the past evangelization may not work so well today and in some other places. That is why new ideas and new ways of communicating God’s message are always needed. Some of these new ways are developing around us in the various apostolates that are springing up. Many ideas can be taken from secular institutions that can help us in evangelization and so on.

Second, He asks us to be as simple as doves. In other words, with all the astuteness and cleverness the one being sent should maintain his simple and humble heart with Christ and the Kingdom of God as his only interest. Somebody has said that to be both shrewd and simple is not a contradiction but rather the markings of a truly effective and fruitful apostle.

Third, He asks us not to be worried about what we are to speak because it “will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” This is easier for us to keep in mind if from the beginning we are aware of the fact that the Spirit is moving us to evangelize and we are simply instruments. God is always the protagonist! If we start with that mentality, it will be easy to trust in the Spirit through the entire process. We will remember that it is the Spirit that converts hearts and not our own efforts. Do we have this sort of trust and dependence on the Holy Spirit?

At the end let us always remember, as somebody said that the true symbol of love is not a cupid but a cross. On the cross human love and divine intersect. In the sacrifice of the cross, humanity and God are linked together in love.