Mt 10:16-23
[Jesus said to the Twelve,] 16“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. 17But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, 18and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. 19When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. 20For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Reflection:
Be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. How can we combine the qualities of a serpent and a dove?
A monk gave me this story. Jesus and Peter decided that to make things easier for all concerned, they would allow entry to the pearly gates of heaven for people who could give them a very good clean joke. For days, the Lord and Peter had a grand time laughing and rolling on their stomachs enjoying the jokes they were hearing.
An old priest one day came to be interviewed. When he heard the new requirement, he was shocked and furious, declaring, “I will have no part in this stupidity. All my life I have tried to be holy and have done nothing but good, and all you ask of me now is a joke?”
Peter laughed out loud, “That is the best joke I have heard so far! Come in, Father!” And the old priest was guided to his room in heaven.
An old, sour, and grouchy person is said to be the devil’s crowning work. I believe that to be able to laugh is to be shrewd like serpents and simple as doves.