Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (10: 16-23) in which Jesus says to his disciples, ‘I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and, yet, as harmless as doves’.

Fr Paul says much of this central passage of the Missionary Discourse must be read on three different levels, that of:
• Jesus speaking to his disciples about their mission
• the early Church interpreting their experiences in the light of Jesus’ sayings, and finally,
• the modern disciples of Jesus fulfilling the same missionary task amid the same difficulties and trials.
For Tertullian’s saying in the second century is true in every age, ‘The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church’. We know from the writings of Paul that his mission was fraught with physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering in which he relied on the help and guidance of the Spirit.

But it also applies to those who have witnessed to Christ in every age and the present day, for the Church has never been free of persecution.

However, we must persevere just as we have done over the past 2000 years and more.

So, today, Fr Paul invites us to reflect on these questions – With the help of the Spirit and despite persecution, how can I persevere in my faith and how can I persevere is spreading the message of Jesus?