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     The problem of false prophets is as old as humanity.  There are always individuals or groups of individuals who try to take advantage of the power of faith to either enrich themselves or, being sincere, try to spread a version of the faith that is not true.  The early Christian community had its share of "false prophets," which gave rise to the warning in today's gospel scripture.  Sometimes the "message" of a false prophet is very persuasive and takes hold of a large number of followers.  The Arian heresy of the fourth century, which denied the divinity of Jesus by asserting that he was a subordinate being to God, was wide-spread in the Mediterranean and caused considerable conflict before the orthodox trinitarian faith of the church prevailed.

     The kind of false prophet mentioned in today's passage seems to be the kind that takes advantage of faithful people.  History is full of these, and in our own time we have seen a number of prominent televangelists come to grief because of their lack of integrity.  The true aim of the prophet should be to unite by calling people back to the truth and to actions in accord with the truth.  When the original message is lost because the integrity of the messenger has been compromised, a "designer faith" arises, or a faith of convenience is created.  "By their fruits you will know them."  Perhaps one of the most important functions of the papacy and the magisterium of the church is to call attention to the message so that the faithful are not led astray.  The task of identifying "false prophets" is not always an easy one because parts of the truth are always involved.  We have to put confidence in the Holy Spirit and in our leaders in the faith and pray that neither they nor the message will be compromised.   AMEN