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Wolves in sheeps’ clothing! Advice from Gospel of Matthew
This week’s liturgical readings from Matthew are some of my favorites. The writers of the Gospel admonish us to not be harsh with others, because no one, including ourselves, is perfect. They remind us to treat others the way we’d like to be treated. And in today’s reading, they caution us to beware of “false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep, but underneath are ravenous wolves” (Mt 7:15).
My first inclination is to think of “false prophets” as those who misuse scripture to promote intolerance, narrow-mindedness, exclusivity and other qualities that aren’t life-giving. But when I think more expansively, I realize false prophets take a variety of forms.
A couple of my false prophets are an inclination to sacrifice sleep for work, even though I know of the importance of sleep, and a propensity to skip meals instead of making time for healthy eating.
When I think of even larger contexts, the false prophets that come to mind are ideas like: having a strong consumer-based economy is what’s best for us and the world, and there’s a pill or surgery for almost any human condition we consider undesirable. For today, in the spirit of Matthew, I’m going to try to be more conscious of the false prophets around me and the questions they raise for my life.
What are some of the false prophets that you encounter in life? What questions do they bring to mind for you?
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