We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. (2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082724.cfm
Deception is not just a problem of our “information age.” The ancient world (and the church) had the same problem. Saint Paul had to deal with fake letters circulating in his name. There have always been disreputable persons (even good church folk at times) who want to lead others astray, especially about the end of the world. We always have to check our sources, remember the traditions we have been taught, and USE OUR BRAINS! Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, was a woman of common sense that no one could fool. As she was dying she asked her son to simply “remember me always at the altar of the Lord.”
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saint Monica, August 27
