Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (10: 24-33) in which Jesus says, “The disciple is not superior to the teacher, nor a slave to their master; it is enough for the disciple that they should grow to be more like the teacher, and the slave like the master’.

Fr Paul says this final section of the Mission Discourse counters the fear of persecution with confidence in divine protection in the face of hostility and persecution. The image of divine care even for the sparrows falling to the ground is gripping to anyone who has seen small birds being trapped in Palestine: a net the size of a double bed is laid on the ground with bait in the middle. When the little birds have gathered, pecking over the bait, two ‘wings’ of netting are raised by unseen strings and trapped are all the birds with no chance of escape, pressing the fluttering birds into the ground. God has care even of these helpless captives! Jesus himself was fearless in proclaiming his message.

Instead of persecution we more often face mockery for holding to Christian principles, and that, too, can be difficult to bear. We can be accused of narrow-mindedness, lack of appreciation of human values, blind obedience, sentimentality, naivety, and a host of other hurtful slurs. It’s not always easy to respond to such slurs with the patience and generosity as well as the truthfulness which Jesus would have shown.

Fr Paul says today’s Gospel challenges us to be patient, generous and truthful with others like Jesus was.