A
reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew. Jesus said to his Apostles: ‘A
disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough
for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they
have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign
those of his household!
‘So
have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and
nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell
in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not
fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can
destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet
not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even
the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more
value than many sparrows.
‘Everyone
therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my
Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before
my Father in heaven. This is the word of the Lord. (Mt 10:24-33)
“Have
no fear of them” Jesus told his twelve apostles when he was instructing them
before sending them on mission. Who are those who the apostles should not fear?
What is the source of this fear? A few verses before today’s gospel selection
Jesus warns the apostles: “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst
of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them.” I can
imagine a question coming to their minds: “Why is he sending us like sheep to
face wolves?” Indeed, he did not send them to face wolves, but he knew that
wherever they went they would find wolves, and they would have to face them.
Jesus himself faced this problem. When he became man, the Son of God knew that
he would be among friends and foes, those who would listen to him and help him
and those who were always planning against him. That is why he told them also
that “it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like
the master”. It seems to me that Jesus wanted to encourage them on their
mission, so he told them not to fear, and he wanted to channel their enthusiasm
at the power given to them, for the apostles could easily rejoice at their
success so Jesus told them “not to rejoice that the spirits are subject to them; but to rejoice that their
names are written in heaven”. (cfr. Lk 10,
20)
Jesus
taught them by word and example how to live and how to behave during their
ministry. He asked them to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves”.
Perhaps
we can imagine ourselves to be ‘innocent’ like doves, but how can we be wise as
serpents? Is the serpent wise? This reminds me of the parable in which the dishonest
manager was commended by his master “because he had acted shrewdly; for the
children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than
are the children of light” (Lk 16, 8).
Augustine
says he loved the dove because it has no gall, no gall-bladder so that although it needs bile for digestion it
doesn’t store it. It does not ‘store’ bad sentiments to be used at a later
stage. So it is a symbol of purity and harmlessness. St. Augustine says that he
does not love the serpent because it has poison. However, although we fear its
poison, the serpent has something we should imitate, he says. We humans are continuously
shedding cells as we grow without our noticing the process. Snakes shed their
skin several times a year as they grow out of it and they come out in a new
skin. In a way St. Paul uses this metaphor when, writing to the Colossians, he
reminded them “you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have
clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge
according to the image of its creator” (Col 3, 9-10). “Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ” St. Paul tells the Romans (Rm 13, 14).
If we are simple and wise, if we clothe ourselves
in Jesus Christ, then we should not be afraid.
Three
times in this short gospel selection, Christ tells his apostles not to be
afraid. The first time he said: “So have no fear of them” and this is based on reality,
on experience. Jesus, in fact, reminded them that “If they have called the
master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his
household!” On his way to his crucifixion Jesus told the weeping women “Do not
weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ... For if they do
this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Lk 23, 28-31).
We celebrate the memory of Christ’s passion for it strengthens our belief in
the resurrection, that of Christ first and our own later, as promised. St. Paul
taught “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who
have died ... so all will be made alive in Christ” (1 Cor 15, 20.23) .
The
second time he said: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul”. History teaches us that prophets spoke louder when they were killed in
the hope of silencing them. Tertullian, one of the Fathers of the Church, in
the year 197 wrote: "The blood [of martyrs] is the seed of Christians".
Many were and are attracted to the faith because of the testimony of those who
are persecuted by those who want to silence the Church or to make it
irrelevant. That’s why Jesus told his disciples: “What I say to you in the
dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the
housetops”. He also said: “Do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves
or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour
what you ought to say” (Lk 12, 11-12).
The
third time he said: “So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many
sparrows”. The reason for this is trust. Not only are people immensely
valuable, they are more so for God.
Jesus said: “Even the hairs of your head are all counted”. Who cares to
count how many hairs grow on his head? For God they are all counted! God cares!
With St. Paul we can say: “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also
give us everything else?” (Rm 8, 31-32)
Let us
not fear the wolves then, those who in one way or another are against us
because of our faith. There is no problem in being afraid as long as fear does
not paralyse us, for a healthy fear helps us to be simple and wise and so take
the necessary precautions so as to take courage and do what needs to be done
for God’s glory and the good of mankind.
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