Survival and motivation to live

Our cleverness is a quality which we do not often consider as a component of our spiritual life. The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary can be considered under the theme of the benefits and dangers of cleverness. Hosea tells the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who have attempted to be clever in balancing the demands of the Assyrians for loyalty, tribute and devotion to pagan gods with  demographics, the Covenant and survival that they are urged by God to return to trust in Providence to bring them to the joy and fruitfulness of life. Our strategy to get through difficulty is not clever when we park God on the sidelines, even just for now, until we are better situated, have more time. The Gospel from Matthew presents Jesus advice to the disciples about the conditions they can expect to encounter doing their mission to spread the Word. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the cleverness expected of the disciples who would be sent as “sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. “ The physical survival of modern evangelists in some parts of the world today requires strategy which needs human cleverness and trust in God to be successful.  The social survival and effectiveness of evangelists in Western culture requires use of skills inspired by our relationship with God to present the message so it will be considered by others.  The end must be evidenced in the means to achieve it. The cleverness in strategy suggested by Friar Jude to ensure that we continue to rely on our relationship with the Divine is our strategy to live and proclaim life. The great prayer for reconciliation of Psalm 51 in the texts today expresses both the desolation of the decision to be directed away from God and the great Life which is restored in return to being motivated by the will of God.