Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus: jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis, All ye nations, clap your hands: shout unto God with the voice of JOY. This introit taken from Psalm 46:2 is to remind us that we always rejoice to come and celebrate this eucharistic mass, for the Lord is worthy to be praised without end. When we live and die, our hearts are set to give glory to our great eternal King and God.
Our first reading today from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans invites us to Paul’s exhortation that “because of your infirmity of your flesh; for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity for iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification.”
The apostle is fully pressing the necessity of holiness in this chapter, his exhortations to holiness to everyone and mortification, or vivification, which means dying to sin and living to righteousness. It is an expression putting off the old man and putting on the new, ceasing to do evil and learning to do well.
The body of sin must be destroyed (v. 6). The corruption that dwelleth in us is the body of sin seriously affecting our body, not only our physical body, but it also includes the church, the community. This is the root to which the axe must be laid. We must not only cease from the acts of sin, but we must get the vicious habits and inclinations weakening and destroying us from within. Let us be fervent to cast away the idols of iniquity out of the heart; thus, we should not serve sin. Please do not make a trade of our goodness with the devil. We are all called to sanctity.
The Gospel spoke to us today that we must develop our ability to discern false teaching from true teaching by way of our sanctification, perseverance in the faith and mortification.
There are two things that we need to reflect on. Jesus calls on his disciples and to all of us to be careful not to be fooled by someone who claims to be of Christ. What do you think our best measuring stick should be?
First, Jesus says, “beware of false prophets.” (Matthew 7:15) Jesus tell his disciples to be on guard. Surprisingly, he doesn’t say beware of the temptations of the flesh or snares of the devil. Here Jesus tells them to watch out for “false prophets.” He explained that they would come in sheep’s clothing, but they are actually violent, dangerous wolves to scare and confuse them. They use deception to gain trust and infiltrate fellowship in order to spread their teaching and lead sheep off of the difficult road that leads to the narrow gate. There is always great danger when we allow the enemy to destroy us. The Lord is actually concerned with what is happening in the Church. Many Christian and Catholic churches across the United States and the world today have been infiltrated by false teachers. This is a critical problem today and must be addressed; therefore, this passage is very important and relevant. We must be careful and critical not to accept any and all teachings that they come in contact with. They should be diligent to test all teachings according to the Truth and moral teachings of the Church. Our primary nourishment is from the bishops, pastors and credible teachers who are in communion with the Church.
Second, Jesus says, “By their fruits you shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16–23) We might probably be deceived by their lies. Check the facts and look closely at the outcome of their witnessing. Please don’t be deceived by their words, but examine the quality of their life. People are easily deceived and that’s why Jesus gave this warning. He knew that Christians would struggle to stay on the difficult road headed toward heaven as voices called out to them. Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (v. 21).
Brothers and sisters, let us use God’s given gift of wisdom in order to seek and to discern false prophets from true prophets. Jesus explained that just because someone comes into the midst of the church and claims the name of Christ, we could be easily deceived. We must cling to Christ by clinging to His Word. We are journeying down the difficult road toward our eternal home. Be always on guard, be wise and be prudent.
God bless you.
Fr. Arlon, osa
