Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Raymund Festin SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Friday 4th Week of Lent
Today’s Gospel presents Jesus as a very discerning and prudent man. He knows when to circumvent conflicts or confront challenges; when to keep silent or speak; when to keep a low-profile or engage his enemies. Prudence is an admirable virtue. For Shakespeare it is the better part of valor.
We hear in the Gospel that Jesus did not travel to Judea because His enemies were plotting to kill Him. So, he lay low and circulated quietly, not out of fear. First, He knew that if He openly circulated He would have made Himself an open target for His enemies. The Pharisees and the chief priests could easily put Him to death, ending His public ministry abruptly.
Second, if Jesus went around openly, he would have created an unnecessarily volatile situation. At that time, Jesus was very popular with the people who might have resisted the Pharisees if the latter would arrest Jesus openly. That would be counter productive to Jesus’ plan and timetable. Otherwise, when a good opportunity presented itself to Jesus to preach and teach or do His Father’s will, He came out unafraid—as when He taught the people during the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles.
We admire Jesus’ prudence. His action is the fulfillment of His own counsel to His disciples to be prudent like serpents but gentle as doves.
Like Jesus, we should be clever and prudent. We should know how to avoid unnecessary conflicts with our enemies. We should avoid occasions of sin or exposing ourselves to the devil’s temptations of power and money. The prudent person also knows the art of listening and keeping silent. General Francisco Franco of Spain is known to have said that we are masters of our silences and slaves of our words.
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