From the responsorial psalm: “Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain: by your way give me life. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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.”
Jesus continues to teach his disciples about the way to the Father. Warning them to avoid false profits, he identifies them to the disciples as the ones who bear rotten fruit. “A good tree,” he says, “cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.” In two ways, from the source and by their words and actions, false prophets identify themselves. By this, Jesus teaches us to avoid them and to remain in him to bear good fruit.
God, help me discern the thistles and thorn bushes I come across today, the voices that would lead me away from you into a place of discord and confusion. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down,” Jesus says, “and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.” Give me the grace, Lord, to be drawn to what is good and also to remain in you through my words and actions.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.