Matthew 7:15-20

Genesis 15:1-2, 17-18

Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

Matthew 7:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,

but underneath are ravenous wolves.

By their fruits you will know them.

Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,

and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,

nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down

and thrown into the fire.

So by their fruits you will know them.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I want to be a good tree in your orchard. Prune me and nourish me so that I may bear good fruit for your Kingdom. Cut away the stubbornness of my heart. Fill me with the warm light of your Son and the life-giving water of your Spirit.

Encountering the Word of God

1. From Promises to Covenants: When we read the Genesis story of Abram, later named Abraham, we see how God elevates each of his three promises to Abram to covenants. The first promise was that God would make Abram a great nation. As the years passed, Abram grew somewhat impatient when he didn’t see the fulfillment of that promise. In the First Reading, we hear him complain that he has no children and that one of his servants was going to end up as his heir. God responded to Abram’s complaint by asking him to contemplate the stars and number them: “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be.” Abram responded to God with faith, not doubt. Now, on a clear night away from the city, we can only see between 2,000 and 4,500 stars. You reach this number of descendants in 11 to 12 generations. In response, Abram trusted that God would be faithful to his promise and covenant and that his descendants would be numerous. God added that Abram’s descendants would possess the land of Canaan. And when Abram asked for a sign, the Lord God responded by making a binding covenant. The Lord passed through the sacrificed animals alone, signifying that he would be faithful to his promise and covenant. Abram believed the Lord God, and this act of faith was rewarded with the “grant covenant” of nationhood and land: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”

2. The Lord Remembers His Covenant Forever: Psalm 105 is a prayer that contemplates the fidelity of the Lord to his covenants. “The psalm accents the Lord’s faithfulness to Israel: all the miracles, provisions, and acts of deliverance displayed in early biblical history show that God went to great lengths to fulfill his covenant oath to give Abraham’s offspring ‘the land of Canaan … for an inheritance’ (105:11)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 920). The covenant that God made with Abraham was reiterated to his son, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob (Israel) (Psalm 105:9-11). We notice that God did not require Abram to walk between the covenant pieces. This means that it was a grant covenant, like that given to Noah. Just as Noah believed God, so also Abram believed. And just as God swore to Noah that he would not destroy the earth again with a flood, so also God swore to Abram that he would father a great nation and his descendants would occupy the land of Canaan. God is faithful to his covenants, even when we are not.

3. Warning against False Prophets: In the Gospel today, Jesus warns his followers to be on guard against false prophets, who claim to speak for God but actually teach in opposition to the Gospel. False prophets are wolves dressed like sheep. How can we distinguish false prophets from true teachers? “Jesus tells us to examine their behavior. On the principle that like produces like, we are to evaluate the fruits of their lives. If their actions and their character show forth good things, such as grapes and figs, then the prophet is a good and trustworthy tree. However, if the works of the alleged prophet produce prickly thistles or a harvest of bad fruit, then he has blown his cover – the self-styled prophet is really a rotten tree that cannot be trusted” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 120). With time, the sheepskin the false prophet wears will fall off, and the fruit of their works will be revealed as rotten. With time, the works of true prophets reveal that they are good and lasting. They are true sheep who faithfully heed the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Davidic king and good shepherd who protects me from the ravenous wolves dressed as sheep. Take the fruit I produce today, purify it, transform it, and offer it to the Father as a pleasing sacrifice.

Living the Word of God: What kind of fruit have I produced for the Kingdom of God? Am I swayed by the messages of false prophets?