Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni

Our Lord Jesus Christ asks of us the simplicity of a dove. This means saying things absolutely simply, as we think of them, without wasting a thought, and acting straightforwardly, without deceit or artifice, our eyes on God alone. For this purpose we will each try to carry out all our actions in this same spirit of simplicity, representing to ourselves that God takes pleasure in communicating himself to the simple and in revealing those secrets to them that he hides from the wise and prudent of this world (Mt 11:25). But, while recommending the simplicity of a dove to us, Jesus Christ commands us to use the prudence of serpents, which is a virtue that causes us to speak and act with discretion... Our Lord, telling the apostles that he would send them out like sheep among wolves, tells them at the same time that they must be prudent as serpents and simple as doves. Then he adds: “Beware; for men will detain you before courts... because of me. But when they hand you over do not worry about what you are to say...” First he speaks of prudence and then of simplicity; the former is to enable them to go like sheep in the midst of wolves, where they run the risk of being badly treated. “Be prudent,” he says, “be shrewd, but be simple for all that.” “Beware of men”: watch out for yourselves prudently but, if you are exhibited before the judges, don't trouble yourselves about your answers. That is simplicity. Note that our Lord links these two virtues together in such a way that he intends us to make use of them on the same occasion. He advises us to use both equally and gives us to understand that prudence and simplicity go well together when they are properly understood.

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