Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - Wednesday in the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3 and Matt 7:15-20]"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, butunderneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them...Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit." [Matthew]
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016 WEDNESDAY IN THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [St. Thomas More]
Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount uses images from the everyday experience of his principal audiences: subsistence farmers and fishermen and their families. Some images have found their way into our language: "a wolf in sheep's clothing.." and "by their fruits you shall know them." The line about false prophets is worth noting since it is a problem that has existed from times more ancient than Jesus' life.
A glance at the first scripture for today from 2 Kings shows that fidelity to God's covenant was inconsistent in Israel. The role of the prophet was to call the people back to fidelity and warn them about the consequences of straying. The lives of figures like Isaiah and Jeremiah are big examples. Both Jeremiah and Isaiah continually warned about forming alliances with neighbors in an effort to hold off either the Assyrians or the Babylonians because these inevitably led to adopting the religious practices of those cultures. Later on, after Jesus' time, St. Paul had to confront preachers who distorted the meaning of Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
In our own time, the spectacular scandals of certain televangelists and the terrible scourge of abusive clergy remind us that careful discernment is an important part of faith. Extravagant lives or inappropriate intimacy are danger signs. We have Jesus' permission to be careful and discerning as part of being trustful! AMEN
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