“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.”
The gate is narrow and the way is straight, and there are many who would upset your road to it. Now, prophecy in the Old Testament sense pointed to Christ, and in the New Testament is the interpretation of what has been said of Him. Thus, St. Paul encourages the gift of prophecy, which is the gift of wisdom: “Follow after love, be zealous for spiritual gifts; but rather that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1); “Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom, and that shall meditate in his justice, and in his mind shall think of the all seeing eye of God” (Ecclesiasticus 14:22). False prophets, then, are those that profess Christ and seem decent people, but whose interpretation of the Scriptures is warped. O Theophila, the Christian life is so much greater than simply being polite, being agreeable, but in loving radically. It is in being so captivated with love for your Beloved that love of Him guides your every single action, sinking into your very bones like water into the earth: “And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring… so shall my word be” (Isaias 55:10-11). As for the gift of prophecy itself, the Catholic Church in her beautiful purity safeguards her children, protecting them from error as a loving mother, and those outside of it are, sadly, floundering in darkness. True wisdom is the knowledge and love of Jesus, exhibited in His Scriptures, and interpreted properly through the Church’s documents and teachers such as the Fathers on what they mean. Descending to other denominations or non-Christian philosophers runs a great risk of danger, for seeking wisdom from those without proper faith is to grasp in darkness: “We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places as dead men” (Isaias 59:10). While the Lord does say, “if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them” (Mark 16:18), with this poison being that of harmful doctrine, He also warns in two ways: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 6:16); “Then they understood that he said not that they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12). False ideas about God can shred your soul like a wolf does a sheep, on the one hand from being so relaxed that you do not pursue Him at all, to errors such as Jansenism or Calvinism, which teach a hateful God that watches with a harsh eye. There is a whole amalgamation of falsities in between, thus you are to take heed. While a virtuous life may be seen even in those that are gravely in error, a love that puts God before all else and worships Him truly, “God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) is hard to find. While there are many that profess a love of Jesus, they follow Him falsely, loving Him for their own sakes and despising the cross: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction; whose God is their belly; and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things” (Philippians 3:18-19). It is interesting here to consider “fruits,” for many in error bring forth many good works, but the Lover of Christ is consumed with love for the Beloved. The fruit of true love is “Love, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity” (Galatians 5:22-23), it is a mind in heaven that seeks only the Beloved. Those in error do not truly know Jesus, they may know things about Him and be filled with good feelings towards Him, but either they do not tend towards Him in thought and speech, or when they do speak on Him it is devoid of wisdom: “As a lame man hath fair legs in vain: so a parable is unseemly in the mouth of fools” (Proverbs 26:7). Ah, these words are harsh, Theophila, but so necessary to the lover of God, for God would have you pure in life and in doctrine, in heart, mind, soul, word, and deed, not hindered by the false teachings about God, people, or reality that are so harbored by those outside His beloved Catholic Church. There is a place in the spiritual life for the cultivation of sound doctrine, that you may know the truth as one knows their spouse. This is not in knowing true things, for many cultivate hatred by way of true statements, but in Truth Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). He wants to know you and for you to know Him, and the fruit of your love will not be forced but natural, arising from an abundance of love rather than a feeling that you must go and do good work. This love abounds in love and sweetness, represented by the grapes and figs, for the fig is notable for its sweetness and close adhesion of its seeds, so too does the Catholic Church wrap her dear little ones together closely in the sweet embrace of love; the grape brings joy in the form of wine. It is the duty of the Christian to make others feel so unfathomably loved and be filled with the sweetness thereof, which cannot be gathered from the thorns or thistles of outward display or false teaching, for wisdom has her own perfume: “I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh” (Ecclesiasticus 24:20). “I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope” (Ecclesiasticus 24:24); it is wisdom that is the mother of fair love, a love that is truly sweet and truly burns, for a flashfire that spans quickly is destructive and blazing, but a white flame from a torch is controlled and cuts through even the hardest substances. A love that is not enriched by the sacraments and by the wisdom of divine love cannot, due to human frailty, bring forth the truly good fruit of Christian love: “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and he that shall retain her is blessed” (Proverbs 3:18). Finally, it is not your station to judge or strike down a false prophet, or one who thinks incorrectly. “The Lord beholdeth the heart” (1 Kings 16:7), and it is your duty to love and invite, not slam down with an airtight argument: “Rebuke not a scorner lest he hate thee” (Proverbs 9:8). Do your work of love, spreading flowers and perfume: “Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes” (Song 4:14), and let the Lord work through you with love, or He shall Himself rebuke in His own time. Therefore, surround yourself with other lovers of Christ, that you may grow in love together, for by the truth and warmth of their love you shall know them: “He that walketh with the wise, shall be wise” (Proverbs 13:20); “I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the lilies,” that is, amongst the other hearts that are inflamed for Him. Those that you encounter that are far from Him, love with His same love, that you may plant His love in their hearts, and pray that they may be watered with more love to bear the fruits of love.