Many Christians will be tempted to think “let us become relevant, numerous, prestigious, and the world will listen to us and respect us and we will defeat the wolves,” the pope said, but instead, the Lord asks us to “be humble.”
“He asks us to be like this, to be meek and with the will to be innocent, to be disposed to sacrifice. This is what the lamb represents: meekness, innocence, dedication, tenderness. And he, the Shepherd, will recognize his lambs and protect them from the wolves,” Francis said.
Pope Francis quoted a homily by St. John Chrysostom in which the late fourth-century Church Father wrote: “As long as we are lambs, we will conquer, and even if we are surrounded by many wolves, we will overcome them.”
“But if we become wolves … we will be defeated because we will be deprived of the shepherd’s help. He does not shepherd wolves, but lambs.”
The pope also noted that it is striking that Jesus told his disciples “what not to bring” rather than what to bring on a mission: “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick” (Mt. 10:9-10).