Fr. Ken told this parable during last week’s homily on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross:
There was a man standing beside a river and saw a scorpion floating on top of the water, helpless in the river current. The man reached out to save the scorpion and was stung. He instinctively reacted by jerking his hand back in pain. After a moment, he reached out a second time to save the scorpion and was stung one more time.
Another man was passing by and saw what had happened. He said to the man trying to save the scorpion, “You are a fool for trying to save that dreaded creature.”
The first man replied, “The nature of the scorpion to sting does not change my nature to save.”
Fr. Ken followed up the parable with this comment: On that day, where the crowd of people were jeering and cursing Jesus as He died on the Cross, we can almost hear the crowd say, “You fool. Why are you trying to save the dreaded creatures called humanity?” And we can almost hear Jesus reply, “The nature of man to sin does not change my nature to save.”