Love Among the Wolves

In this week’s gospel, Jesus treats his disciples to a harsh dose of reality.  Jesus is telling us that to be an open, active Christian means to be set among wolves. They have vicious teeth and claws, but we are armed with the grace of all-mighty God. It’s as true now as it was then. And the perils are not limited to the media reports of mass-martyrdom in the Middle East. In America today, routinely Christians now suffer the mini-martyrdom of the slight, the smear, the mocking smirk. Increasingly our culture tells us that it’s just not cool to be Christian.