This particular gospel has often caught my attention. In Luke 9:58 Jesus mentions that “Foxes have holes” and then again, in Luke 13, he mentions that Herod is like a fox. Clearly Jesus was spending time meditating on nature as an effective analogy for human behavior. In this case, those considered foxes are not considered holy.

In the “Golden Chain” of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bede makes the assertion that foxes are the best description of the evil of Herod because they are “lying in wait.” We then get the division Jesus describes of the spiritual state of the human race: we can understand ourselves as birds or foxes.

This is the image Jesus evokes when considering the persecution and dysfunction that exists intrinsically in the community of the faithful (Jerusalem). This is the heart of the place where the foxes are hiding in their holes in order to pounce on those soaring in the Spirit. Jesus does not allow the political dysfunction and culture of fear to change his tone or his approach. He is very direct, calls it like it is, and then signifies the handiwork of His Father through Him.

What we quickly learn from this is in the midst of persecution and facing those “lying in wait” Jesus draws their attention to God’s good work accomplished in them. That is to say, that those who persecute the Church from within, that do not share the same mission, Jesus directs their attention to the signs and wonders which His faithful ones are producing. Why? because it signifies who is actually being faithful since: They will be known by their fruits. What fruits are you producing for the Kingdom - how are you soaring? Or have you found yourself in a hole - waiting to pounce on others?