Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 28, 2023
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.
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.”
Jesus tells us we can recognize rotten trees by examining their fruits. But how are we supposed to know what is a good fruit? The bad often blends with the good, like a wormhole inside an otherwise perfect apple. Discerning good fruit is most important when considered in a spiritual context. A wormy apple upsets the stomach, but rotten spiritual fruit poisons the soul.
Our closeness to Christ enables us to discern well the fruits of life. “My sheep hear my voice, they know me, and they follow me.” (John 10:27). Sheep, as creatures, remember the voice of their shepherd and follow wherever he leads. Likewise, we must attune our hearts to the voice of Jesus, our shepherd. With his voice at the center of our hearts, we will be increasingly able to discern the fruits of eternal life.
During this spring finals week, I came into the Law School chapel for a rushed prayer before an exam. I was amid a season that tempted me to despair of God’s love for me when my work was anything less than perfect, but Jesus present in the Tabernacle stilled my heart with a peace that surpasses understanding. I knew that I had entered into a bit of eternity; even the morning light seemed to hang suspended in the air. Those moments set my mind at rest, reminding me of my shepherd’s call to life in him.
I invite all of us to spend a few minutes in eternity today. In an empty church, we are truly at rest against the feet of our shepherd. The more time we spend with him in the little eternities of our churches, the more attuned to his voice we become, and the easier it is to discern the rotten fruits of life from the good.
Prayer
Holy Spirit of God, help us discern wisely so that we might recognize you in all your manifestations and not be deceived by false prophets. Free us from all pretense and deceptiveness. Help us too, dear God, to represent you truly in our dealings with others, so that they might not be deceived and will see in us your love, truth, and deep care. May we always be who you created us to be—your image and likeness. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Irenaeus was a bishop who so thoroughly refuted a certain strain of heresy in his region that his words were used throughout the Church to guide the truth that has been handed on to us today.
He was born in 125 and was educated by St. Polycarp, who personally knew and learned from St. John. Irenaeus was sent as a missionary to what is now Lyons, France. Trading routes were leading to the development of that region, and the Church was growing there. Irenaeus was assigned to work as a priest under the bishop, St. Pothinus.
The region fell under a persecution and Irenaeus was chosen to travel to Rome to deliver a letter and speak with the pope about some matter. While he was away, Pothinus was killed, along with many of the other priests who worked with him. Irenaeus stayed in Rome until it was safe, and later he returned to Lyons as its new bishop.
He was bishop there for some 20 years, and expanded the Church in the area. He even spoke the native Celtic dialect instead of his own Greek. Certain deviations of the faith were spreading through the area, and Irenaeus was determined to refute them and guide his flock with the true faith. He learned every variation of the heresy and then explained all of the distorted beliefs in a large work that also described the true faith that came to him from the apostles and is contained in Scripture.
These heresies were from a strain of thought called Gnosticism, which seemed attractive to people because it claimed to offer them secret wisdom that was not available to everyone. Irenaeus said that he was determined to “strip the fox.” His work in defense of the faith spread rapidly and was used everywhere to refute gnostic belief, which was a major threat to the early faith.
It is believed that Irenaeus was martyred, but there is little evidence for this. He died around the year 202, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. His image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Irenaeus, you defended the early Church from secret sects and ensured the truth of our faith today—pray for us!