So by their fruits you will know them

26 JUNE (Mt 7,15-20)

The false prophecy is the plague of all time. The children of God are all true prophets. The children of the devil are all false prophets. Who is not a child of God, is a false prophet. Being the true progeny a quality of the soul, spirit and body, the new nature of man: a spiritual and invisible nature; just as spiritual and invisible the other progeny, that of the devil is, it becomes impossible to determine in advance who a true prophet is and who the fake one is.

True prophecy does not come from the profession, the mission, the exercised ministry, whatever it is: Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Religious people, confirmed, baptized, theologians, teachers of the sacred sciences, biblical scholars, moralists, scientists of the revealed truth, Philosophers, Psychologists, Professors, Masters, the father himself, mother, brother, sister, may ultimately prove to be false prophets. St. Paul warns the elders of Asia Minor to be careful, vigilant, because one day even among them false prophets and false apostles of Jesus Christ would have been born.

“But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God. Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears (Cf. At 20. 17-31).

Even St. John the Apostle warns the disciples against false prophets.

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the holy one, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well (1Jn 2,18-23).

Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh be longs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit (4,1-6).

Jesus asks his disciples to beware of false prophets. These will come to them in sheep’s clothing, while inwardly they are ravening wolves. They know how to hide their falsity.

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 thorn bushes, 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.

However, there is a weakness in their concealment: the works. Who dresses like a vine, must produce grape. They are instead brambles within and produce neither grapes nor figs. Looking at the works, everyone knows if he is faced with a true prophet, or a false one. The works do not deceive, because each produces according to his nature.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us wisdom and vigilance.