Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 10: 16-23
July 11, 2025 | Friday

Today’s Gospel

Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard with people, for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, so that you may witness to them and the pagans.

But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father, speaking through you.

Brother will hand over his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, you will not have passed through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Today’s Reflection

“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Jesus does not sugarcoat but paints a realistic picture of the difficulties and challenges a true apostle will face in proclaiming God’s love and truth to a world whose predominant values are antithetical to it. An advocate of honesty, humility, or humaneness will be harassed with hatred and hostility by those who oppose His message. We could face resistance, rejection, repression, or ridicule, whether direct or insidious, and lose economic or social opportunities or benefits when we live according to our faith. We may have to contend with animosity, antipathy, or antagonism even from family and friends. Thus, Jesus tells His disciples to “beware of men” to alert them to the persecution, imprisonment, torture, or martyrdom they could face like the early Christians. Similar danger for Christians persists in many parts of the globe even up to today.

In the midst of these conditions, Jesus exhorts us to “be clever as snakes and innocent as doves” as we deal with the forces that confront us. The first metaphor makes clear the dangers that His disciples are to face. Nevertheless, we are to be “innocent as doves” in our trust and faith in Him as we place ourselves in His capable hands.

As we strive to be faithful to the tenets of our Christian faith, there will be occasions when we must publicly affirm, attest to, defend, or uphold our belief in Christ and His teachings. We could be at a loss on what to say or do. Jesus assures us not to worry about how we “are to speak . . . or what to say” for it is not we “who speak but the Spirit.” Let us pray for His inspiration and guidance to face those arrayed against us with full faith and fortitude that our words and deeds speak only the truth of the Lord. Whatever the consequences, be full of hope and trust in His promise that “whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

/Vulnerasti, 2025