So on this day, the anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, and as someone who wrote a book entitled: A Sheep Among Wolves, the first line of todays Gospel reading caught my attention. Coincidence or God-incidence? Perhaps it provides some insight into the nature of my ministry... Jesus said: “Check it out! I’m sending all of you out like sheep in the middle of a pack of wolves! So have some street sense, but make sure that your conduct remains impeccable! Watch out because there are a lot of people who will want the legal authorities and church officials to condemn you. They’ll beat you with whips! You’ll be forced to appear before governors and presidents because of your loyalty to me, and you’ll testify against them in front of the whole world. Don’t worry about anything when you are arrested and don’t worry about how to defend yourselves when you appear in court. God will let you know what your line of defense will be when all this happens. Words will come out of your mouths, but it will be the very spirit of your Father who is speaking through you. “Brothers will betray their own brothers, and will even try to have them executed! Fathers will betray the very children that they raised! Children will rebel against their own parents, and will even try to have them executed! Everyone will hate all of you because you honor my name, but anyone who doesn’t crack under the pressure until all this is over will be granted clemency! “When they pick on you and threaten you in one city, then flee to the next one! Amen! I’m telling all of you that the Son of Man will arrive before you have run out of cities in which to hide. (As Matthew Tells It, The New Peace Treaty: A New Translation of the New Testament)
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:28:01 +0000