How Unsearchable His Ways!
August 19, 2026
Fr. John Riccardo
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid? For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:33-36).
These few verses are the conclusion of three of the most difficult chapters to read in all of the New Testament — Romans 9-11. That’s how I experience these chapters, anyway.
For whatever reason, our Sunday lectionary only includes very brief snippets of these chapters in the readings for Mass. The tragedy of this is that it means most people never have to wrestle with what Paul himself is wrestling with, namely, how it is that God called a particular people to Himself and prepared them for the arrival of the anointed One who would defeat the common enemies of the human race (Death, Sin and the evil force behind them), only to see many of them not accept Him when He did that. That widespread non-acceptance, Paul comes to see, opened the door for the Gentiles to be grafted on to the olive tree that is Israel (cf. Romans 11:17-24). And now, somehow, diving deeply into many Old Testament passages that fill these chapters of Romans, Paul sees in the Spirit that God is going to use this inexplicable occurrence to bring all of His children into communion with Himself and into union with each other.
How is all of this going to happen? I have no idea. And, in a very real way, neither does Paul. We aren’t going to be able to figure all of this out. God’s ways are not our ways. These verses we are going to hear Sunday are an abrupt break from the tangled and dense argumentation of the Apostle we read in Romans 9-11. It’s as if we are to imagine Paul, after wracking his mind with God’s dealings with the human race, suddenly push himself back from his desk, stand up, throw down his pen in wild exasperation and then break into praise of God and His mysterious ways.
How timely I find all of this. There are so many things I do not understand about this world that God has lovingly brought into existence. There are so many people for whom I am concerned. There are so many situations that seem to make no sense at all to me. There are so many things that happened to me in my life that I don’t understand, and yet I can see how God has used them to draw me to Himself.
And so perhaps this week, as we pray for the world — and especially for those we love who are far from the Lord for whatever reason — let us resist any and all temptations to fall prey to discouragement.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not some bland, generic “everything works out for the best” idea. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the unfathomable good news that God is in control of this world and that He knows what He is doing.
He has a plan.
He is faithful.
He is love.
He breaks into history.
He breaks into people’s lives.
He is able to make believers out of unbelievers.
Jesus died for the ungodly.
That’s all of us.
Let us then, like Paul, make time to break into praise of this good Father!
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
August 2026
For the many missions we will lead throughout California this month, that our time with God's people would bear abundant fruit, drawing hearts more deeply into the love of Jesus and strengthening His Church.
For Fr. John and his new book, The Resistance: God's Plan for Renewing the Human Family, that all who read it would rediscover who God is, who they are as His beloved sons and daughters, and embrace His call to become agents of renewal and re-creation in the world.
For our mission with the presbyterate of the Diocese of Joliet, that the Holy Spirit would bring hope where there is discouragement, healing where there are wounds, and renewed passion for proclaiming the Gospel.
For all those attending our upcoming Leadership Immersive, that they would encounter Jesus in a fresh way, be equipped for the mission entrusted to them, and return home eager to restore the initiative to God and fired up for the Gospel.
For the planning and preparation of the Jesus Conference, that every decision would be guided by the Holy Spirit, every obstacle removed, every detail serve God's greater purpose, and that the conference would be a powerful catalyst to be mobilized for mission for all who attend.
For our Board of Directors, our benefactors, and all who faithfully pray for ACTS XXIX, that God would abundantly reward their generosity and fidelity, bless them and their families, and continue to use them as instruments in His work of rescuing, renewing, and transforming the human family into the family of God.