Homily for Wednesday, 25 June 2014– Ferial

Wednesday of the 12th week in Ordinary Time 

Readings of the day: 2 Kings 22:8-13, 23:1-3; Psalm 119:34, 35, 36, 37, 40; Matthew 7:15-20

Do any of us remember a great teacher; someone who continues to have an influence in our lives? I can think of several excellent teachers I had growing up: Teachers who explained difficult concepts clearly; teachers who were stern or gentle with me when I needed sternness or gentleness; teachers I admired for their sense of humor; teachers with memorable catch phrases or rhetorical style…

The Gospel of Matthew, particularly our Gospel reading today, presents Jesus as a great teacher. Jesus is remembered for phrases still commonly used, even outside of Scripture, for instance “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Jesus uses contrasts like a “good tree” that always bears “good fruit” versus a “rotten tree” that “bears bad fruit” to clarify more complex concepts like discernment of true from false prophets. Jesus uses rhetorical questions that, I am sure, were originally humorous if not mildly sarcastic: “Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles”? Jesus’ hearers’ response to these questions would have been an emphatic “No,” perhaps with a few laughs added as if to say, “Of course not!”

Amid Jesus’ clear explanations, memorable phrases, rhetorical questions, and even humor, though, is a serious message: There are many true prophets who lead us toward God and, in Jesus’ time as in ours, there are a few false prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing who behave as though they are gods and so lead us away from the truth; away from God. For the false prophet, the message they preach is not about God but about them.

Good fruit from bad fruit or wolves in sheep’s clothing are not always easy to discern, but this kind of discernment is possible with prayer and sometimes with experiences of failure; of our own naïveté.

In the national parks of the Rocky Mountains a few hours’ drive from my native city, Edmonton, there are repeated signs warning tourists not to feed the bears. One of my favorite t-shirts from this park’s tourist shops shows a bear standing beside a sign that reads, “Do not feed the bears.” The bear wears moose antlers on his head and holds a sign that says “I am not a bear. Trust me.”

Wolves in sheep’s clothing do not usually carry signs that read, “I am not a wolf. Trust me.” And yet Jesus teaches that we can know true prophets from false prophets; true sheep from wolves in sheep’s clothing “by their fruits.” We can know true prophets; shepherds; teachers by how authentically they speak for the Good Shepherd; Christ the Teacher instead of presenting personal whims, opinions, or social trends as truth.

For a true prophet or a great teacher of our faith, “it’s not about me” but ultimately about God. And so we pray to be able to discern true from false teachers and prophets; to discern the presence of the Teacher, Jesus Christ, among us, especially when this discernment is not easy.