Panis Angelicus: True And False Prophets

True And False Prophets

JUNE 22, 2022, WEDNESDAY
Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)
Optional Memorial of Saint John Fisher, Bishop and Saint Thomas More, Martyrs (Red)
Optional Memorial of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop (White)
Lectionary: 373

Reading I
2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3

The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan,

“I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.”

Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported,

“Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the temple

and have consigned them to the master workmen

in the temple of the LORD.”

The scribe Shaphan also informed the king

that the priest Hilkiah had given him a book,

and then read it aloud to the king.

When the king heard the contents of the book of the law,

he tore his garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest,

Ahikam, son of Shaphan,

Achbor, son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan,

and the king’s servant Asaiah:

“Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah,

about the stipulations of this book that has been found,

for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us,

because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book,

nor fulfill our written obligations.”

The king then had all the elders of Judah

and of Jerusalem summoned together before him.

The king went up to the temple of the LORD with all the men of Judah

and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great.

He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant

that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them.

Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD

that they would follow him

and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees

with their whole hearts and souls,

thus reviving the terms of the covenant

which were written in this book.

And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.

Responsorial Psalm
119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40

R. (33a) Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,

that I may exactly observe them.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Give me discernment, that I may observe your law

and keep it with all my heart.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Lead me in the path of your commands,

for in it I delight.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Incline my heart to your decrees

and not to gain.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain:

by your way give me life.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Behold, I long for your precepts;

in your justice give me life.

R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.

Alleluia
Jn 15:4a, 5b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord;

whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mt 7:15-20

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.”

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets, and gives us a very concrete and practical guideline for our discernment: Knowing them by their fruits. Our world sometimes can be so confusing, making so many promises of happiness and well-being, yet so full of suffering and loneliness. We need to discern, to realize there are not only false prophets, who bear fruit that is not good, but also good prophets whose message is true because it produces good fruit. I pray for the grace of insight and wisdom.

A good tree is well minded. It needs the right soil given at the right time, planted in the place for the weather it needs. It needs to be planted neither too near the other trees nor too far away. We grow if we are well tended - in education, in family, in love. We grow when we mind and nourish ourselves with the food and drink that do not ruin the body. Then the fruit is seen and others can enjoy and benefit from our lives. How we mind others in turn has its effect for many years.

PRAYER:

Jesus promised me the Holy Spirit who enriches my life and is evident in my attitudes, words and actions. As I turn away from false prophets and seek guidance of those who may truly help me, I ask the Spirit for guidance.

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What is "Panis Angelicus"?

It started from a simple spiritual bible verse on which I mostly posted daily in my personal Facebook account, I've seeing myself realizing the idea what if I will post something different to my audiences sharing my spiritual thoughts/insights in life based on my experiences as a former church servant. Indeed, the world of social media nowadays are full of negativity where many people who are "toxic" in terms of sharing ideas and opinions, on which I personally described. Some people have already forgotten the so-called respect and being open-minded in terms of sharing ideas and opinions on each other. It comes to the point that sometimes we didn't know and feel that we're already crossing the lines causing our egos would probably triggered and even tempered due to our different emotions and expressions. For me, there are lots of causes and reasons why all of these are happen in our society today. Maybe it's because the world nowadays are also under the influence of a so-called millennial traits and other social aspects in life on which other people most especially the youth tend to do unnecessary traits that would make to hurt the feelings of others. By this, some people often forget to show RESPECT to their elder ones and even their parents as well. The new generation of youth today is far different from those times of our lolos and lolas. Even in simple greeting (in a normal traditional Filipino custom of Mano Po) showing your respect to your elders are already forgotten to practice by some of our younger ones and even adults of today. Some people often forget to pray and say the Holy Rosary together with your family every night and even go to church on Sundays to attend holy masses, maybe it is because the people of today are also changing their personal aspects and priorities in life due to power, wealth and pride.

So I decided create this blog page entitled, "Panis Angelicus". This name (Latin for "Bread of Angels" or "Angelic Bread") derived from the penultimate strophe of the hymn "Sacris solemniis" written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a collection of spiritual reflections/verses taken from the Daily Readings in the Holy Bible. Aside of spiritual reflections/verses, you'll also read some of my different insights/opinions regarding on the different types of issues that happen in our world today and what would be its connection in terms of talking about the spiritual aspects in life.

By this simple cause on which I usually loved to do during my church days to help other people in the community by means of participating on various community outreach programs organized by the former parish church that I've served, I'm eagerly open my hands to help most especially those people who already reject nor forget GOD as the center of their life by means of educating and enlighten their minds not just in spiritual aspects but also in moral aspects of life that in this world, nobody's perfect and permanent. Feel free to comment on my posts or share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.