Wednesday 27 June
Matthew 7:15-20
Paedophiles are notoriously manipulative and deceptive. Indeed, recently a lay person who was head of child protection in a diocese was jailed for one year for downloading child pornography. Who would have thought that someone in such a position of trust could abuse that trust in this way? He was perceived as a protector when in fact he was the attacker. When the clergy are convicted of such crimes the sense of manipulation and deception seems even greater. They appeared as shepherds but they were ferocious wolves.
Jesus warns us today of false prophets, people who present themselves in one guise but are then exposed as something completely different. Christians are often depicted as sheep and those who lead the Church as shepherds. The problem with this analogy is that sheep are not the smartest of creatures. They are easily led, and wander off and get themselves into all kinds of dangers.
However, a very different analogy is also applied by Jesus to his followers: we are also encouraged to be as shrewd as serpents and as cunning as snakes (see Matt. 10:16). We are taught to discern the spirits, use our minds and stand up for what we believe in. We might be sheep but we are not pushovers; neither are we easily led.
But, criminally manipulative behaviour aside, even the best of us can be hoodwinked by those pretending to be something they are not. What are the rules of discernment by which we identify a true prophet from a false one? The Lord teaches us to apply a rule learned from nature: a good tree produces good fruit; a bad tree, bad fruit. By their fruit true and false prophets are recognized.
What are these good fruits? They are the fruits of the Spirit, including love, joy, kindness, goodness and patience (see Gal. 5:22–23), but we should also include the gifts of the Spirit. One of the gifts of the Spirit is wisdom and discernment. As we grow closer to the Lord we receive God’s wisdom and alarm bells begin to ring in the case of some people we encounter. Jesus had the gift of discernment par excellence. He did not entrust himself to others lightly for he knew what was in the human heart (cf. John 2:24).
Lord, grant me the gift of discernment so that I can distinguish between a true and a false prophet, a good and a bad shepherd.
2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3 • Psalm 118(119):33-37,40
Matthew 7:15-20
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