[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, July 19, 2026, the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
[00:00:22] This week's episode is entitled: Parables… on wheat! And our readings this week remind us that there is always both good and evil in the world - and within each one of us. God, who is forgiving and merciful, doesn't just wipe out evil, though… he always provides us the time and the opportunity to repent, which is very good news for us.
[00:00:48] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
Matthew tells us that Jesus is still teaching the crowds in parables and still explaining those parables to the disciples. Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit always helps us, even in our weakness; and the Book of Wisdom says that those who are righteous must also be kind. But we don't always do what Jesus teaches us to do… we don't always turn to the Holy Spirit for help, and we - as a society and as a world - are not particularly righteous or kind. So, how do we change that?
[00:01:30] Let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, you have infinite patience with us, and your Son continues to teach us how we are to act - as your children and future citizens of your heavenly kingdom. But we do not always listen. Help us to have understanding minds and willing hearts so that we can make the world better and be worthy of our place in your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
[00:02:10] Our Gospel this week is from Matthew 13: 24-43.
[Another parable Jesus put before the crowds], saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” He said, “No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’
Another parable he put before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’
He told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.’
All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.’”
[00:05:07] This week's passage follows immediately after the conclusion of last week's passage, and there is again a shorter and a longer version of the Gospel this week. The shorter version ends after Jesus finishes telling the first parable. As always, I really hope that your home parish chooses to use the longer version of this Gospel… it is a fuller presentation of what Jesus taught his disciples, and we need to hear those words just as much as the original disciples did. This week, as we rejoin the narrative, Jesus is still in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, he is still off the shore of Capernaum, still with his disciples, and still speaking to the crowds gathered on the shore.
[00:05:56] This passage has three parables, all having a similar theme… but only one explanation is provided to the disciples. We always assume that Jesus explained all of his parables to his disciples, but this week reminds us that is not always the case.
[00:06:16] He does, however, explain overall themes… which allows Jesus to group together parables that have similar themes and then gives his disciples the opportunity to understand, on their own, how the parables relate to each other and how to extend that knowledge - that understanding - to other situations. And that's always what good teachers do for us. They don't spoon-feed us everything we need to know; they provide examples and then give us the time and space needed to achieve an appropriate level of understanding on our own. In school, that was called homework; as adults, we call that learning life lessons.
[00:07:03] This week, there are two themes that Jesus teaches the crowds and his disciples. One has to do with the growth of faith - and that theme is present in all three parables - while the other theme is that both good and evil exist in the world… that, however, appears clearly only in the first parable.
[00:07:27] Faith is a gift from God, but it doesn't spring up fully grown and mature within us when we first receive it. It's more like a seed that must be protected, nourished, and allowed to grow and thrive. However, if faith can be nourished and grow… then it can also be starved and die if it becomes overwhelmed by evil. So, let's listen to what Jesus has to say this week…
[00:08:01] “[Another parable Jesus put before the crowds,]”
This particular parable, by the way, is only found in Matthew.
[00:08:08] “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field:”
Jesus makes it a point to say that the man sowed good seed, not just any old seed, but good seed, which meant that it was free of contaminants… things like pebbles, small pieces of wood or other organic material, insect eggs, and the seeds of various types of weeds.
[00:08:38] “but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”
[00:08:47] The weeds that were sown among the newly planted wheat would have most likely been something called darnel. Now I will post a picture on my Instagram this week which shows wheat and darnel side by side.
[00:09:02] Darnel is what is called a mimic weed. It has evolved to look like wheat when it sprouts and first begins to grow, which makes it an extremely common weed and a nuisance for wheat farmers. It is sometimes called “false wheat” or “wheat's evil twin.”
[00:09:24] “So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.”
[00:09:30] Wheat and darnel sprout at the same time, they grow at the same rate, and their appearance - when the plants are young - is quite similar… which is why that particular weed manages to survive and thrive.
[00:09:46] “And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?””
[00:09:56] That's a perfectly logical question. The workers are trying to determine whether their boss actually bought inferior seed to save himself some money, or if he was perhaps cheated by an unscrupulous merchant who substituted seed containing contaminants for the good seed the farmer actually purchased.
[00:10:22] “[The householder] said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’”
In other words, he's saying: I know I bought the good stuff, and I checked to make sure I wasn't cheated, so the only other option is that one of my competitors did this on purpose and, by doing so, has made himself my enemy.
“The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’”
[00:10:47] Every gardener knows that weeds can steal water and nutrients from the purposely planted seeds, thereby overwhelming and stifling the growth of the intended crops. So, the workers want to know if they should try to pull up the weeds now so that the wheat can grow freely and produce a better harvest.
[00:11:09] “But [the householder] said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.’”
In other words, don't risk mistaking a stalk of wheat for a weed… which would, in fact, decrease the harvest.
[00:11:27] “Let both grow together until the harvest;”
With those words, Jesus sort of shifts the focus of this parable. It is no longer simply about God sowing seeds for the kingdom… it has now become a metaphor for tolerance, repentance, and forgiveness as well.
[00:11:55] “at harvest time I will tell the reapers,”
The angels who will reap the harvest of souls at the end of time.
“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned,”
[00:12:09] Jesus means that the angels tasked with harvesting souls will be able to distinguish those souls who are good and righteous from those who are evil and those who may have appeared good - so as to blend in - but whose choices always led them toward evil, injustice, and darkness. Those souls are destined for the eternal separation from God, which is the hallmark of hell.
“but gather the wheat into my barn.”
The wheat, of course, represents those souls who were by and large, good and righteous… not always and never perfectly… but who recognized their need for God and his forgiveness when they stumbled, who were willing and able to repent and receive God's mercy. This reminds us that good and evil are intertwined in the world and - sometimes - within our own hearts. Let's face it… sometimes we are wheat, but sometimes we are weeds.
[00:13:24] God - who sees into the heart - knows us and he will instruct his angels at the end of time regarding who was good and who was evil, so that the angels know who should be separated from God and who should be gathered into the barn, which, of course, represents God's kingdom.
[00:13:48] That is the end of the shorter version of this week's gospel. Now let's turn our attention to the rest of what Jesus has to say…
“Another parable he put before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed’”
The RSV is just a bad translation… it should be a grain of mustard or a mustard seed, not a grain of mustard seed. So, let's just call it a mustard seed!
“which a man took and sowed in his field;”
This really is an image of God sowing the seeds of the kingdom.
“it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree,”
This shrub, or bush, or tree - depending on the translation – is, in turn, a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven.
“so that the birds of the air will come and make nests in its branches.”
This is another one of those non-exact quotes, similar to Jesus paraphrasing Isaiah 6 last week or Psalm 72 two weeks ago. This particular quote is based on Ezekiel 17.
[00:15:04] Ezekiel was actually talking about a cedar tree, saying that just as a mighty cedar gathers all the birds of the air, Israel would gather all the nations of the earth. Jesus uses those words to demonstrate that while the kingdom may begin small like a mustard seed, it is - nevertheless - a divine construct, not a human one, and it will grow into a realm beyond our understanding… it will become as mighty as God wills it to be and will shelter all who accept God's message. And this particular parable is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels.
“[Jesus] told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven’”
I hate the fact that it rhymes because I think it takes our attention away from what's being said… but leaven is actually another word for yeast.
“which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.”
There are a few things I want to point out there… first, what the RSV translates as “hid in” the NAB translates as “mixed with.” Now “mixed with” makes more sense to our modern ears but when the RSV says “hid in” that captures the mysterious nature of the kingdom of heaven - which is present in the person of Jesus, in our midst in the Eucharist, and present in mystery within the Church – so, there but not always visible to our human eyes… much like yeast which produces Carbon Dioxide causing bread to rise… we see the results, but we don't actually observe the yeast cells at work within the dough.
Kind of like the kingdom of heaven… we will either reach the kingdom of heaven and be with God, or we will be separated from God for all of eternity. We don't know that here - just like we can't see yeast at work in a dough, but we will see the results when we are judged.
The second thing I want to point out is the word “meal” - that's a very generic word, and it simply means the edible part of any grain ground into flour. The RSV doesn't specify a particular type of meal - it could mean wheat, but it could mean something else like barley, rye, or corn. The NAB, on the other hand, specifies wheat flour. Now, since wheat relates back to the first parable in this passage, I think wheat flour is a better translation.
[00:18:13] That leaves us with only one other thing to understand, and that is the meaning of the term “three measures” - those words are used in both the RSV and the NAB translations. Three measures would have represented about 60 pounds of flour - that's a huge amount! Much more than a typical wife and mother would make for her family… which demonstrates just how generous God is to us.
[00:18:44] This very short parable is found in both Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark.
“All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable.”
Matthew specifies that to set up what follows…
“This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’”
[00:19:17] Matthew wrote his Gospel for Jewish Christians, and he is all about the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. However, you won't find that quote in any of the books we typically think of as prophetic books. That quote is actually from Psalm 78, which is identified as a “maskil of Asaph.” A maskil was a type of teaching meant to impart wisdom and stimulate meditation - those who encountered these teachings or were to dwell with them and learn from them… sort of like Lectio Divina (or praying with the Scriptures) in the Church today.
[00:20:10] Asaph was a Levite, he was a contemporary of King David, and both Asaph and David were skilled musicians. In 1 Chronicles 15, when David commanded that worship leaders for the tabernacle be chosen from among the Levites, Asaph was one of those chosen. In 2 Chronicles 29, we are told that Asaph is a prophet, so while that was quite a long explanation, it really was worth the journey to understand exactly what Matthew meant when he said: “what was spoken by the prophet.”
“Then [Jesus] left the crowds and went into the house.”
[00:21:00] Meaning that Jesus got out of the boat and went back to Peter's house in the town of Capernaum.
“And his disciples came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’”
[00:21:14] Clearly the disciples are seeking to understand what Jesus taught the crowds. They heard what he said - now they want to understand what it means. And notice they only asked him to explain one parable!
[00:21:29] “[Jesus] answered, ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of man;’”
And remember, the term Son of man comes from the Old Testament (the Jewish Scriptures), specifically Ezekiel and Daniel. Jesus commonly uses that term to refer to himself.
[00:21:49] “the field is the world,”
[00:21:52] That's pretty straightforward.
[00:21:53] “and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom;”
Those who are worthy of entry into the kingdom… the faithful, the just, and those who repent.
“the weeds are the sons of the evil one,”
Those who engage openly in evil in the world… the unjust, the unfaithful, the unrepentant, all of whom are not worthy of entry into the kingdom.
[00:22:26] “and the enemy who sowed them is the devil;”
[00:22:30] Also pretty straightforward.
[00:22:32] “the harvest is the close of the age,”
When we will all be judged.
“and the reapers are the angels.”
Those spiritual beings that will collect the souls of both the just and the wicked.
“Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire,”
That is a metaphor for hell - that eternal separation from God that is the destiny of all truly evil and unrepentant sinners.
“so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels,”
Jesus will send out his divine messengers.
“and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
But not until the end of the age, not until the day of judgment.
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
[00:23:39] In Philippians 3, we read that - in the resurrection of the dead, Jesus will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. If we are counted among the righteous, we will shine with the reflected glory of God. The righteous will reflect the same glory that was revealed to Jesus’ Inner circle on top of Mount Tabor in the Transfiguration, when Jesus face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Saint Thomas Aquinas (13th century Dominican priest, philosopher, Doctor of the Church, and one of the greatest theologians of all time), said: we can't have good things in the world without evil… the lion can't live if its prey doesn't die, there would be no martyrs without the cruelty of tyrants.
[00:24:47] Now, to our modern way of thinking, lions aren't evil… they are simply true to their own animalistic nature which requires that they eat the flesh of their prey in order to survive. But Thomas Aquinas’ point is still valid… and perhaps we can best understand it if we consider that we more easily recognize what is good when we can compare it to something that isn't good - when we can compare it with evil.
Think of it this way… without the persecutions undertaken by the Roman Empire, the earliest martyrs wouldn't have died, and we can't even begin to guess what impact that would have had on the developing Church but Tertullian (2nd & 3rd century author and theologian), wrote: new Christian converts rise up when brave Christians are killed for their faith, making the blood of martyrs the seed of the Church.
And to look at this from a more modern perspective, without Hitler, neither Maximilian Kolbe nor Edith Stein would have been martyred; without the repressive military dictatorship in El Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Romero wouldn't have been martyred, murdered in 1980 as he was celebrating Mass.
[00:26:25] I'm not advocating for evil in our world, but it is a reality… and its presence does often help us more easily recognize goodness and light.
[00:26:42] Our Gospel ends…
[00:26:44] “He who has ears, let him hear.”
[00:26:48] Those are the same words Jesus used after he told the Parable of the Sower in last week's Gospel. And they are particularly appropriate… we have ears, so we should listen, we should hear, we should understand what Jesus means, and we should do what he teaches us to do!
[00:27:13] But we don't always do that, do we? Our world, our government, our local communities, and especially each one of us as individuals… we don't always do what Jesus teaches us to do… we aren't always righteous or just, we aren't often loving or even kind.
[00:27:39] So, how do we change that?
[00:27:43] Perhaps we should start by looking in the mirror… Francis of Assisi is credited with saying: humble beginnings lead to great things. But we don't have to try to achieve great things… all we have to do is be humble, faithful, loving, kind, and righteous - to the best of our limited abilities - and God will do great things. That's a change we can all endorse!
[00:28:23] That takes us to our First Reading which is from Wisdom 12: 13, 16-19.
“There is no god besides you, whose care is for all men, to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly. For your strength is the source of righteousness, and your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all. For you show your strength when men doubt the completeness of your power, and rebuke and any insolence among those who know it. You who are sovereign in strength judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us; for you have power to act whenever you choose. Through such works you have taught your people that the righteous man must be kind, and you have filled your sons with good hope, because you give repentance for sins.”
[00:29:34] The Book of Wisdom, which is - at times - mistakenly called the Wisdom of Solomon, was not really written by King Solomon at all, but by a well-educated albeit anonymous Jewish author somewhere around 50 to 100 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, making it the latest writing in the Old Testament. There are times, in the text, that the author purports to be speaking as Solomon, but that was probably to emphasize the importance of certain teachings since this book was written long after Solomon's death.
It was most likely written in Alexandria, Egypt (the center of Greek learning at the time) and it is an amalgam of ideas synthesized from Jewish religion, Greek literature, and Greek philosophy. The Book of Wisdom abounds in superlatives… saying that God is
all-powerful and all-knowing, and that he is also perfectly good and perfectly just.
And while the Book of Wisdom is an accepted part of the canon of Scripture for Catholic Christians, most Protestant denominations either question or outright reject its place in the canon of Scripture. So, let's listen to what the Book of Wisdom has to say…
“There is no god besides you, whose care is for all men, to whom you should prove that you have not judged unjustly.”
At the beginning of this passage, the author uses the word “god” (that's lowercase “g” god, by the way), meaning any entity other than the one true God. In other words, God stands alone in the divine realm, therefore he alone is responsible for everything he created, including mankind. And because no other divine entity exists, there is no other being to whom God needs to explain his actions or prove that his judgments and his decisions are just and good.
[00:31:57] “For your strength is the source of righteousness,”
[00:32:02] Because God is all-powerful, his limitless strength enables him to always be righteous.
“and your sovereignty over all causes you to spare all.”
Being the only divine entity, God doesn't have to compete with any other gods (lowercase “g” gods). Remember, this author drew heavily on Greek literature and philosophy, which means he would have been quite familiar with the infighting that commonly occurred within the Greek pantheon. And because he stands alone, God is in no particular hurry… he can be patient… he can give his creatures the time and opportunity we need to properly repent and ask his forgiveness, so that he can spare us… he can be gracious and merciful to us.
[00:33:06] “For you show your strength when men doubt the completeness of your power, and rebuke any insolence among those who know it.”
[00:33:16] Meaning that God - in his might - will instruct those who still need to learn who he is, and he will be merciful toward those who obey his commandments, but he will not tolerate disrespect from anyone who already knows him. But, God is not capricious… he will never condemn those who are undeserving of condemnation, but he will exact justice on those who know him and still defy his power and reject his commandments.
[00:33:54] “You who are sovereign in strength judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us; for you have power to act whenever you choose.”
Because God is all-powerful, he can act in any way he chooses, at any time he chooses. And because he is perfectly good and perfectly just, he is fully and perfectly as gracious as he chooses to be. In other words, God possesses infinite amounts of patience, restraint, and mercy… making him a sympathetic and lenient judge.
[00:34:43] “Through such works you have taught your people that the righteous man must be kind,”
Meaning that mankind must learn from God and emulate his ways… we must learn to be restrained and lenient… we must be righteous… and because we are righteous, we must be kind.
[00:35:16] “and you have filled your sons with good hope, because you give repentance for sins.”
[00:35:24] Every time God manifests his divine strength, his divine hand is drawing his people closer to himself… in hope, with patience, through our repentance and his mercy. This passage from Wisdom, in a way, reinforces what we heard from the parables in our Gospel… faith does not spring forth fully grown and fully mature - it needs time and nourishment to grow, it requires patience and encouragement to become mature, and it takes willingness and effort on our part.
[00:36:11] However, we also have to understand this passage within the greater context of this part of the Book of Wisdom, which is that the author is responding to those who criticized the conquest of the land of Canaan by the Hebrews. Now, if we think back to the end of the Exodus from Egypt… after Moses’ death, the Chosen People, led by Joshua, crossed the Jordan River, entered the land of Canaan, and took possession of it. But that possession was not immediate.
[00:36:52] In fact, in the Book of Joshua, we learn that “Joshua waged war against [the kingdoms of the land of Canaan] for a long time.”
[00:37:02] So, because The Promised Land was already occupied when the Hebrews arrived, because they waged war for a significant amount of time in order to take possession of the land themselves, critics said that God acted unjustly in allowing the Hebrews to invade and conquer the land of Canaan. The author of Wisdom, however, says that the only entity entitled to criticize God would be another divine entity, another god (lowercase “g” god), but since no other gods exist all criticism is invalid.
[00:37:48] This passage from Wisdom reminds us both good and evil exist in the world, and that God, who is all-powerful, who is all-knowing, and who is also perfectly just and perfectly good, allows us time to repent and to seek his forgiveness always in the hope of the kingdom, which reminds us that change is not only possible but necessary.
[00:38:29] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 86, and the refrain is:
“You, O Lord, are good and forgiving.”
[00:38:39] And here are the verses:
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in mercy to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication.”
“All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things, you alone are God.”
“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and faithfulness. Turn to me and take pity on me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your handmaid.”
[00:39:29] This Psalm is an Individual Lament. Unfortunately, we only hear about a third of the Psalm text this week. But it actually begins with prayers asking for God's help, which are followed by declarations of God's greatness, and then ends with additional requests for God's help.
The verses we hear this week are all part of those declarations of God's goodness - that center section of the Psalm - that lists a number of reasons why God is great. This Psalm's connection to the First Reading may seem more apparent than its connection to the Gospel because it talks so effusively about God, but remember, all of Jesus' parables this week have to do with the need for faith to be allowed time and space to grow and mature, but that first parable also incorporated the idea that good and evil are both present in the world… and inside each of us.
[00:40:31] That really is what unites our First Reading, our Psalm, and our Gospel. We are all in need of repentance, and this Psalm reminds us that God is slow to anger and merciful and that he will take pity on us and forgive us.
[00:40:51] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is - again - from Romans 8: 26-27.
“[Brothers and sisters:] The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
[00:41:34] This is our sixth passage from Romans, and remember, we will hear from Romans throughout the summer and into September. This passage occurs shortly after the end of last week's passage. Last week, Paul reminded us that the destiny of all creation is inextricably bound to the destiny of mankind, and that together we are awaiting the glory of the kingdom of heaven. The three verses that the Lectionary omits are the ones I mentioned last week that talk about hope. And if we think back to two weeks ago, Paul said that we, who are Baptized, are guided by the Spirit.
[00:42:22] But, unfortunately, we are still subject to our all-too-human weaknesses.
[00:42:32] And that's what Paul will talk about this week. So, let's listen to what Paul has to say…
[00:42:39] “[Brothers and sisters:] The Spirit helps us in our weakness;”
James Dunn (20th century Methodist theologian) wrote: “The Spirit is seen … as typically active not so much in the heights of spiritual rapture as in the depths of human inability to cope.” And we experience that all the time ourselves, don't we? Because often when things go wrong, we reach out to God to help us. And that certainly reinforces what Paul is saying.
“for we do not know how to pray as we ought,”
[00:43:29] Notice, Paul isn't saying we don't know how to pray… because we're pretty good at giving God a list of things we want.
[00:43:36] Paul says we don't know how to pray “as we ought” - in other words, we don't know God's will for our lives, so we don't really know what to pray for or how to pray appropriately.
[00:43:58] “but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”
[00:44:07] The NAB translates that a bit differently… it says: “with inexpressible groanings” and we get a hint of what that means in 1 Corinthians 4 which says: “he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts” - so our deepest worries, the things that weigh most heavily on our hearts, and the concerns that we have buried so deeply that we may not even consciously be aware of them anymore. Paul isn't talking about things we want, things we think we want, things we think will make us happy.
[00:45:00] He's talking about the things that God knows, but that we may not even have realized; he's talking about our human limitations or - as James Dunn put it - the human inability to cope. That is where the Spirit steps in to help us, to intercede for us.
[00:45:30] “And he who searches the hearts of men”
Meaning the Father
“knows what is the mind of the Spirit,”
That is integral to the nature of God… to the nature of the Trinity. We heard a great deal about that back in May on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity… that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all distinct from each other, yet all comprised of the same divine essence, so… what one knows, all know.
[00:46:08] That's exactly what Paul just said! The Father knows the mind of the Spirit. That is of immense importance to us…
“because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Paul often uses the terms saints and holy ones interchangeably, but he is always referring to Christians. And what Paul is saying, in this very short passage, is that we don't know God's will, but the Spirit does… we don't know what is best for us, so we don't know how to pray appropriately, but the Spirit (whom we received when we were Baptized) does!
[00:47:02] He knows what's best for us, he understands our greatest fears, he knows the deepest longings of our hearts, and he knows the Father's plan and precisely where we fit into it, so he knows how to intercede for us according to God's will.
[00:47:32] Everything that happens to each one of us has a purpose, we may not know what that purpose is… but God does.
[00:47:44] And God's Holy Spirit is always at work in our lives, always interceding for us, always guiding us toward God's will for us… strengthening what is good within us while avoiding, as much as possible, what isn't.
[00:48:09] Because we all have both good and evil inside us… just as certainly as there is both good and evil in the world. God doesn't just wipe out evil, though…, which is fortunate for us, because it allows us the time and the opportunity to repent and to seek God's forgiveness and mercy.
[00:48:36] Jesus teaches us how we should live, but we don't always do what he teaches us to do… the Book of Wisdom teaches that we should be righteous - as God is righteous - and that we must, in turn, be kind, but we aren't always… Paul reminds us that the Spirit helps us even at our weakest points, but we don't always ask for that help… which means we need to change!
[00:49:09] We need to rely on Jesus' teachings - all of Jesus' teachings!
We need to love as Jesus loves - freely and without judgment!
We need to be righteous as the Father is righteous - which means we must always be kind!
[00:49:33] We need to ask the Spirit to give us understanding minds and willing hearts, within our weakness, so that we can change!
[00:49:48] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you safe and secure in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
