Crazytown Wolves

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.  But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans…Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved…”

I’ve always been uncomfortable with this passage from Matthew (10:16-23).   First of all, why  must I be sent into the midst of wolves?  I have images of the wolves in the 2009 movie “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.”  Nasty beasts!   It sounds like Jesus is sending us to have more than our wool sheared off.   And I don’t think being shrewd as serpents is going to overcome the wolves’ appetite.   Being as simple as doves seems more like having us act like sitting ducks.  Perhaps the best we can do is run faster than the slower sheep among us. 

Secondly, it’s crazytown when “brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.”  What’s the story Jesus?  What’s your meaning?

To be follower of Jesus during the many years of cruel oppression by the Roman Empire wanting to squelch and smash those who believed Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior (instead of Caesar), made one anti-Rome.  It also made one fodder for lions and other beasts in the pits where Christians were thrown.  

It seems Jesus was simply telling his followers to be cautious (serpent-wise and dove-harmless) in their world where his followers appeared to be constantly under surveillance.  Perhaps this would explain the behavior of brothers, fathers, and even children doing the unthinkable and acting out of abject fear for everyone in the family if any family member followed Jesus.  

In today’s world we shouldn’t be cautious or fear spies.   Our role as Catholics is to heed the words of Pope Francis who said in his Joy of the Gospel, “Spirit-filled evangelizers means evangelizers fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit…The Holy Spirit also grants the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel with boldness in every time and place, even when it meets with opposition...Jesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence.”

So, who’s afraid of the big bad wolves? 

Deacon David Pierce