From: Matthew 7:15-20

False Prophets

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [15] “Beware of false prophets, who come to you
in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [16] You will know them by
their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? [17] So, every
sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. [18] A sound tree can-
not bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will know them
by their fruits.”

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Commentary:

15-20. There are many references in the Old Testament to false prophets; per-
haps the best-known passage is Jeremiah 23:9-40 which condemns the impiety
of those prophets who “prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray”;
“who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes; they speak visions of their own
minds, not from the mouth of the Lord [...]. I did not send the prophets, yet they
ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied”; they “lead my people astray
by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them;
so that they do not profit this people at all.”

In the life of the Church the Fathers see these false prophets, as of whom Jesus
speaks, in heretics, who apparently are pious and reformist but who in fact do not
have Christ’s sentiments (cf. St Jerome, “Comm. in Matth.”, 7). St John Chrysos-
tom applies this teaching to anyone who appears to be virtuous but in fact is not,
and thereby misleads others.

How are false prophets and genuine prophets to be distinguished? By the fruit
they produce. Human nobility and divine inspiration combine to give the things
of God a savor of their own. A person who truly speaks the things of God sows
faith, hope, charity, peace and understanding; whereas a false prophet in the
Church of God, in his preaching and behavior, sows division, hatred, resentment,
pride and sensuality (cf. Gal 5:16-25). However, the main characteristic of a
false prophet is that he separates the people of God from the Magisterium of the
Church, through which Christ’s teaching is declared to the world. Our Lord also
indicates that these deceivers are destined to eternal perdition.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading
Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 ©

It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’

‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘what do you intend to give me? I go childless...’ Then Abram said, ‘See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir.’ And then this word of the Lord was spoken to him, ‘He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood.’ Then taking him outside he said, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.

‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off.

Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms:

‘To your descendants I give this land,

from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River,

the river Euphrates.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 104(105):1-4,6-9 ©