"But It Looked So Harmless...!"

When "milking" a cobra for venom, it is not enough simply to avoid snakebite. Snake experts (technically called ophiologists) say that cobra venom is so toxic that merely handling it with unprotected hands can cause a person to fall into a coma.

Daily and even hourly we are bombarded with "take care" messages urging caution: "Don't Walk" signals flash at street intersections; skull-and-crossbones symbols leer at us from dangerous substance containers; TVs and radios blare forth protective procedures to follow in hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquekes; warning messages are featured on cigarette packs, Yet emergency rooms and trauma centers are crowded with victims who neglected to follow such precautionary directions. 

The spiritual dangers that surround us are far more serious than bodily ones, for "what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (Mt 16:26). No cobra poisoning could compare with the damage caused by the spiritual venom of the serpent in the Garden of Eden; the afflection it spawned has contaminated every subsequent generation with the toxin of inherited original sin. That serpent is still slithering around us, attempting to deepen the effects of original sin in each of us with personal sin. Meanwhile, Jesus still urges us: "Pray so that you will not fall into temptation" (Mt 26:41). 

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net