In all things Christ is to be placed at the center of our life. To this unity of faith we are to flock, but we must also stay on guard against those who desire to lead us astray. As the Gospel of Saint Matthew stated: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
With the voices of so many coming at us, far left and far right, it is important that we desire to be orthodox in all of our beliefs. If something is to be orthodox it is found to be faithful and accurate. If we follow the orthodox way we remain within the confines of the Church and follow after Christ who is in the words of the Gospel of Saint John, is “the way, and the truth, and the life.”
We must remember that the world isn’t perfect. Therefore, there are those within the Church who have a false understanding of Church teaching or even worse twist Church teaching to the point that it no longer reflects Christ and an authentic reflection of the Gospel. Where there is ignorance we should pursue knowledge even if knowledge calls us to change something about our life. Christ always leads us towards conversion.
Among these many false prophets there is a call which leads towards division for we no longer allow ourself to be unified in Christ Jesus. A saintly person does not say and do things in order to lead others into their cult of faith, but rather into an authentic relationship with Christ and His Church on this earth. If we are to stay close to Christ and His Church we must come to pursue sound doctrine.
Sound doctrine is the orthodox teachings of the Church. Sound doctrine is not left nor right, but is truth. False prophets lead us from one extreme to the other, but they fail to lead us towards the truth of Christ. These false prophets may give great testimony, but we must ask if what they have to say is in line with Christ and the Church’s teachings.
If we are not to be swayed one way or the other we must be grounded in this sound doctrine. This means there is a need for us to study the faith that we profess. We must come to understand and know the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The catechism assists us remaining grounded when we begin to hear the testimony of false prophets who do nothing more then sway as one way or the other thus ultimately removing our attention from Christ.
We cannot be led to believe that the faith is relative and changing. We cannot be led to believe that the ways of old are superior to what is currently professed. No matter the day and age the faith always remains the same. At its heart it is unchanging for this is the faith which was handed on to the apostles and which continues to be handed onto us. Let us avoid all false prophets and always come to orient our sight upon Christ Jesus.
