By Their Fruits You Will Know Them

Homily for Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

In the verses immediately preceding the Gospel text that we read today, Jesus says: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.” However, then he warns us about false prophets and tells us that we should judge them by their fruits. False prophets have always been a problem within the church community from its very beginning. How are we to discern who is a false prophet and who is a true prophet?

One rule of thumb that I find it helpful is to remember that true prophets are interested in three specific issues: the worship of God, the care of the poor, and the exercise of justice. Individual prophets may phrase their concerns using different metaphors or similes, but when the language is stripped away, these three issues will help us to discern who is a true prophet.

There were literally hundreds of prophets that populated the Hebrew Scriptures. Today we hear a story of Hilkiah who was high priest during the reign of King Josiah. The name Hilkiah means “my portion is the Lord”; an apt name for a priest. (The priests of the Hebrew Scriptures come from the tribe of Levi, the one tribe of Israel that did not receive a portion of land when Israel was divided among the sons of Jacob. The men of the tribe of Levi received, instead, the office of priesthood as their portion of the inheritance.) King Josiah was another of the good kings of Israel, but he came to the throne when he was but eight years old. Consequently, Hilkiah becomes this young man’s chief support. When he discovers the Book of the Lord or Torah hidden in the temple, he brings it to the attention of the King who charges him with reading the book in its entirety to the people. After this reading, King Josiah commits himself to true worship, as well as to all of the commandments found in the Torah. Once King Josiah knew about the covenant that had been struck between God and the people of Israel, he chose to lead his people back to God after generations of Kings who had led the people away from God.

If we choose to put God at the center of our relationships and encounters, then we too will bear good fruit. However, if we follow the false prophets of our age, we will meet our demise, being cut down and thrown into the fire.