Gospel: June 25, 2025
June 25, 2025 (Wednesday)
12th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green)
Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
The Lord remembers his covenant forever.
1st Reading: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Gospel: Matthew 7:15-20
Beware of false prophets: they come to you in sheep’s clothing; but inside, they are voracious wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Do you ever pick grapes from thorn bushes; or figs, from thistles? A good tree always produces good fruit. A rotten tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit; and a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit. Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruit.
Reflection:
“Christ calls us to look forward to eternal life.”
Studies have shown that, long before the time of Christ, Aesop’s Fables were known to the Jews and influenced their own teaching stories. Perhaps Jesus is using an image from Aesop’s Fables in today’s Gospel, but he adapts it. Aesop cautions that wearing a disguise or disguising one’s intention will end badly. In his fable, the wolf disguised as a sheep does not get to attack the sheep, as he is mistaken for a sheep by the farmer and killed for food. The wolf in sheep’s clothing in Christ’s parable is far more dangerous. He is left to attack the sheep and they are devoured. Here the focus is the sheep, that they remain alert and not be tricked by falsehood. Aesop’s fables often end with a moral. They describe truths of life and warn people about the ways of the world. Christ’s parables do more than this since they look at things from the perspective of God’s Kingdom. They give a message of salvation, preach justice and mercy, and challenge people to change for the better. Aesop offers practical advice for this life. Christ calls us to look forward to eternal life and to mold our actions accordingly.
