Gospel Reflection for The 11th day of July in the year of Our Lord, 2025
Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
Matthew 10:16-23
16 Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. 17 But beware of men. For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. 18 And you shall be brought before governors, and before kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles: 19 But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. 20 For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.
21 The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death. 22 And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. 23 And when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel, till the Son of man come.
The Douay Rheims explains:
"Simple": That is, harmless, plain, sincere, and without guile.
To be wise as a serpent is to understand that the nature of evil in the world and human nature. Jesus warned His Holy Apostles that many they would encounter would secretly plot against them. Just as He would be welcomed into Jerusalem and celebrated as a king one day, only for the people to cry, “Crucify him. We have no King but Caesar.” the next, the Apostles would be betrayed. In fact, all but Saint John would die as martyrs, and John would be exiled. In spite of this, He instructed them to be “simple” or guileless. They were to speak plainly and honestly to all men, and to treat even those who would kill them with compassion and the love of God. Now that, is hard to do!
Consider when, in our daily lives, we have to interact with people who may not have our best interests in mind, may wish to do us harm or who are lying to us. While we are under no obligation to allow ourselves to be taken advantage of, cheated or harmed, we must still treat them charitably. Our Lord says that we must forgive those who sin against us. This is all in opposition to human nature. We want to drive them away before they can harm us and have them punished afterward. Jesus, however, gave each person every chance to repent and prayed for those who killed Him, “Forgive them, they know not what they do.”
Perhaps then, to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves is to try our best to treat others as Jesus would, as best we can. We can never know the minds of others and the actions others will take before hand. But, we can certainly say to a person, “I don't think you are telling me the truth.” “Or, I do not think you are treating me fairly.” If they blow up and get angry, we can walk away calmly. We are under no obligation to allow someone to steal from us or hurt us, and to do so would be enabling their sin. If the person later apologizes, we must forgive them.... but we need not fully trust them. As the old saying goes, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BHFZ7X
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic