Wednesday, June 27, 2018
TODAY'S REFLECTION - WEDNESDAY-12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, doctor of the Church
2 Kings 22:8-13;13:1-3/ Psalm 118:33-37,40/ Matthew 7:15-20
BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS
Beloved, the one time mighty Assyrian army and kingdom became weak [was] after the death of King Ashurbanipal in 633 BC. This created an enabling environment for the young King Josiah, to carry out some reforms. It was in the process of restoring/reforming/purifying the Temple of the Lord that the Book of the Law/Covenant was found (2 Kings 22:8-23:30). Finding this Book was joyful, but it was sad to hear the contents of the Book. People were not faithful to the Laws/commandments of God. After hearing the contents of the Book of the Law/Covenant, the people recommitted themselves by saying they would follow the Lord and keep his commandments and decrees and laws (2 Kings 23:3). We all need faithful and trusted friends and relatives who are able to keep secrets and promises and can be relied on. We need serious minded people to help us to redirect our steps back to God. Mostly, we organise seminars, workshops, conferences and synods and produce beautiful paper work/documents, only to shelve them to gather dust. We make resolutions or policies only to abandon them. Let us check our "files" and remind ourselves of the promises we made to God and one another.
Friends, Jesus cautions us to be aware of false prophets (Matthew 24:11, Mark 13:22, John 10:12). False prophets easily lead people to spiritual ruin. They cause great harm on souls. False prophets seek self-interest or gain or prestige. They give out their own ideas. Apart from false prophets or men/women of God, we also have false doctors killing people (2 Peter 2:1). We are all expected to bear good and lasting fruits as sound trees, not evil fruits (Matthew 7:17). In order to bear good and lasting fruits, we need to be in union with Jesus, the True Vine (John 15:5). That those who don't produce good fruits would be cut down and thrown on the fire. By our fruits, people can tell the sort of trees that we are: bad or good.
Let us pray for the grace to be sincerely sorry for the times we have not been faithful to God's commandments. We also pray against being false prophets. May we be good trees, bearing good fruits. BE BLESSED
Fr. Gaa (0206854323/0240308878)