# The Key to Human Flourishing - Bishop Barron's Daily Sermons

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 22 Aug 2026, 13 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72733601/classic_sunday_sermon_the_key_to_human_flourishing.mp3



## Transcript

[0:06] Speaker 1: Peace be with you friends. Our first reading for this
[0:09] Speaker 1: weekend is taken from the fifth chapter of the Prophet Isaiah.
[0:13] Speaker 1: Isaiah is probably the prophet we read from the most
[0:16] Speaker 1: in the Old Testament throughout the liturgical years. So again,
[0:19] Speaker 1: when you have a chance to take out your bibles
[0:21] Speaker 1: and maybe get a good commentary, but read your way
[0:24] Speaker 1: through the Prophet Isaiah. He is featured prominently in many
[0:27] Speaker 1: of the liturgical readings, and the image from today's reading
[0:32] Speaker 1: is a classic trope within the Israelite tradition. And what
[0:35] Speaker 1: I mean here is the image of the vineyard as
[0:40] Speaker 1: an evocation of the people Israel. You know, it's funny
[0:44] Speaker 1: since I came out here to southern California. I live
[0:47] Speaker 1: in vineyard country because I'm in Santa Barbara, and just
[0:50] Speaker 1: north of me a bit you have some of the
[0:51] Speaker 1: most famous vineyards, and you know, wine tasting centers and
[0:56] Speaker 1: all of that. So as I make my way around
[0:58] Speaker 1: the region, I go past Vinue all the time. So
[1:01] Speaker 1: the imagery from this sings to me a little bit
[1:03] Speaker 1: more now that I'm here. What we have, Isaiah tells
[1:08] Speaker 1: us is a kind of love song between the maker
[1:13] Speaker 1: of the vineyard and his vineyard. But it's a love
[1:18] Speaker 1: song that emphasizes, if I might put it this way,
[1:21] Speaker 1: the demand of love. Here's what I mean. Listen to
[1:26] Speaker 1: how he lays this out. So the builder of the
[1:29] Speaker 1: vineyard constructs it first on a fertile hillside, and I've
[1:34] Speaker 1: seen this out here in California, just the right conditions
[1:38] Speaker 1: for the growing of vines. Next, he worked the land assiduously.
[1:45] Speaker 1: I'm quoting now, he spaded, spaded, it cleared of stones.
[1:49] Speaker 1: Anyone that's ever done that kind of work, even today,
[1:52] Speaker 1: trying to clear stones from a field, How difficult that is,
[1:56] Speaker 1: how time consuming, how backbreaking that is. Then we hear
[2:02] Speaker 1: he planted this on choice territory, and he plants the
[2:09] Speaker 1: very best vines he can find, so he spares no expense.
[2:14] Speaker 1: He's not messing around. He gets the very best vines
[2:17] Speaker 1: to plant on this best of grounds. Even more, within it,
[2:23] Speaker 1: we're told he built a watch tower and hewed out
[2:27] Speaker 1: a wine press. What's the watch tower for, Well, to
[2:32] Speaker 1: keep an eye on this precious bit of ground and
[2:35] Speaker 1: make sure that it's not victimized by marauders, etc. How
[2:41] Speaker 1: about the wine press, Well, that's in anticipation of a
[2:45] Speaker 1: wonderful yield. Of grapes, find me. We're told he built
[2:50] Speaker 1: a wall around his vineyard, even further to protect it
[2:55] Speaker 1: from marauders, from animals, etc. Now here's the point of
[2:59] Speaker 1: all of it. The builder, the Friend, has gone all out.
[3:09] Speaker 1: He's done everything he can to cultivate this vineyard. He's
[3:15] Speaker 1: loved it, savored it, protected it, given it every consideration,
[3:21] Speaker 1: and then finally expected great things of it. Well, this
[3:29] Speaker 1: is the Lord God of Israel in regard to his
[3:34] Speaker 1: holy people. This is the Lord vis a vis Israel.
[3:40] Speaker 1: All the spading and protecting and care, all of it
[3:45] Speaker 1: is evocative of the thousand ways that the God of
[3:48] Speaker 1: Israel has cultivated his people. So we're meant to think
[3:53] Speaker 1: of the scriptures, the law, the covenants, the great patriarchs,
[3:58] Speaker 1: the prophets, the temp and his rituals, all the ways
[4:02] Speaker 1: that God has shared his heart with Israel, all the
[4:05] Speaker 1: ways he's cultivated the life of his holy people. Were meant,
[4:09] Speaker 1: perhaps above all, to think of the great act of
[4:11] Speaker 1: liberation by which God brought Israel out of Egypt. These
[4:15] Speaker 1: are all the ways that He's prepared on this beautiful
[4:19] Speaker 1: fertile hillside, this beautiful vineyard. Okay, but then this image
[4:28] Speaker 1: takes a rather dark turn. Why despite all his efforts
[4:34] Speaker 1: were told, the vineyard owner is frustrated. Why because when
[4:40] Speaker 1: he comes to find his crop of grapes, he finds
[4:44] Speaker 1: only and I'm quoting here, wild grapes, or some suggest
[4:48] Speaker 1: the sense of the Hebrew is stinking grapes, some grapes
[4:52] Speaker 1: that have not come to fruition despite all his efforts.
[4:58] Speaker 1: When he comes to harvest, stinking grapes are all he fines.
[5:05] Speaker 1: What's the harsh point? And you know this is the
[5:07] Speaker 1: prophet Isaiah, but you can hear it all the prophets
[5:10] Speaker 1: up and down the prophetic literature. God gave his whole
[5:17] Speaker 1: heart to this people, but his people have not responded. Yeah,
[5:23] Speaker 1: they know the law, they were given the covenants, they
[5:26] Speaker 1: have the temple, they have the benefit of the of
[5:30] Speaker 1: the exodus from Egypt, and yet they've not responded. Here's
[5:36] Speaker 1: the spiritual truth. I'll put this in Catholic terms. Everything's grace,
[5:43] Speaker 1: I mean grace comes first. Absolutely, God lavishes his love,
[5:48] Speaker 1: and his grace is his unmerited love upon us. But
[5:53] Speaker 1: then we are meant to cooperate with that grace. God's
[5:59] Speaker 1: grace in itself, Well, there is no guarantee that the
[6:02] Speaker 1: harvest will be fruitful and plentiful. There's a response to
[6:07] Speaker 1: grace that's needed. Now, I want to emphasize something. I've
[6:11] Speaker 1: been using the word we to do it. Don't think
[6:14] Speaker 1: for a second. This story is just about ancient Israel.
[6:18] Speaker 1: You know, these people long ago it was poor things,
[6:20] Speaker 1: didn't cooperate with God. I mean, Saint Paul refers to
[6:24] Speaker 1: the Church as the new Israel. Look up and down
[6:29] Speaker 1: our tradition, all kinds of prophetic voices have been raised
[6:32] Speaker 1: in just this way. That though God has lavished his
[6:37] Speaker 1: grace upon the new Israel of the Church, way too
[6:42] Speaker 1: often we've not cooperated. Think for a second again, I'm
[6:49] Speaker 1: in the Catholic perspective. Here, the sacraments, the Mass, the Eucharist,
[6:55] Speaker 1: the example of the saints, the teaching office of the
[6:57] Speaker 1: pope and bishops. What do those represent? But all these
[7:00] Speaker 1: ways that God continues to cultivate his vineyard. This is
[7:06] Speaker 1: the spade work and the removing of the stones, and
[7:08] Speaker 1: setting up of the wall, and the tower and the
[7:10] Speaker 1: wine press. These are all the ways that God has
[7:12] Speaker 1: lavished his grace upon us. But when he comes for
[7:17] Speaker 1: the harvest, will he find good grapes or wild stinking grapes. Well,
[7:25] Speaker 1: it is a question of our cooperation with His grace,
[7:30] Speaker 1: you know. Again and again everybody, the gospels remind us
[7:35] Speaker 1: that something is very much at stake in the spiritual life.
[7:39] Speaker 1: We have no warrant to be blase about it. You know.
[7:43] Speaker 1: I'm on public record, and I've gotten some heat for it,
[7:46] Speaker 1: for arguing that we may hope that all people be saved.
[7:51] Speaker 1: And it's grounded in the Catechism. The Catechism says that
[7:55] Speaker 1: in hope, the Church prays for the salvation of all. So, yeah,
[7:59] Speaker 1: we hope for it, and that hope is based upon
[8:02] Speaker 1: the mercy and grace of God. But hope is not
[8:06] Speaker 1: the same as expectation. Hope is not the same as,
[8:12] Speaker 1: you know, blithe confidence, not at all. Thomas Aquinas says,
[8:15] Speaker 1: we only hope for things that are difficult. Sure, I
[8:20] Speaker 1: hope that all might be saved. Will all be saved?
[8:23] Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm in no position to say that.
[8:26] Speaker 1: What will God find when he comes to harvest my
[8:30] Speaker 1: own life within the church, which He has cultivated in
[8:33] Speaker 1: all these different ways. Well, I need to cooperate with
[8:38] Speaker 1: his grace. I need to respond. Now, go back to
[8:41] Speaker 1: the image from Isaiah. What's the result of Israel's lack
[8:47] Speaker 1: of cooperation. Listen, the Lord says, I will take away
[8:55] Speaker 1: its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall,
[9:02] Speaker 1: let it be trampled. Yes, I will make it a ruin.
[9:05] Speaker 1: It shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with
[9:08] Speaker 1: thorns and briars. So here's this beautifully cultivated vineyard on
[9:14] Speaker 1: the fertile hillside that God has given everything to. But
[9:19] Speaker 1: when he finds these, these wild, stinking grapes, there's the result.
[9:25] Speaker 1: The whole thing falls into ruin. Now, mind you, I've
[9:28] Speaker 1: said this before. Never read this sort of text as
[9:31] Speaker 1: God falling into a snit. God is now raging like
[9:36] Speaker 1: a like a dysfunctional father. No, no, this is spiritual physics.
[9:43] Speaker 1: When we cooperate with grace, we flourish. That's the point.
[9:49] Speaker 1: God lavishes us with his love, and we cooperate with
[9:52] Speaker 1: that love. What happens is flourishing and fruitfulness. When we
[9:58] Speaker 1: don't cooperate with that grace, we refuse it. We turn
[10:02] Speaker 1: in ourselves. Augustine said sin as being in cravactus, and say, right,
[10:07] Speaker 1: I turn in on myself, not opening myself to grace.
[10:10] Speaker 1: What happens. This happens, This beautifully cultivated vineyard now falls
[10:16] Speaker 1: into ruin, the wall broken down. That means anyone can
[10:20] Speaker 1: get in and ravage it. This is not God being arbitrary.
[10:25] Speaker 1: This is just spiritual physics. This is what happens when
[10:28] Speaker 1: we don't cooperate with Grace. I've said this before to everybody.
[10:36] Speaker 1: Statistics now over many years have shown something like seventy
[10:41] Speaker 1: percent of Catholics stay away from Mass on a regular basis.
[10:47] Speaker 1: That means they're not receiving the eu christ. It means they're
[10:49] Speaker 1: not hearing the word of God. It means they're not
[10:52] Speaker 1: gathering as a community. They're staying away from the source
[10:55] Speaker 1: and summit of the Christian life. Now, fully one quarter
[11:02] Speaker 1: of our country claims no religion whatsoever among Catholics. It's
[11:06] Speaker 1: as bad. Among younger Catholics, it's even worse than the
[11:09] Speaker 1: general population. Something like forty or fifty percent of young
[11:14] Speaker 1: Catholics under thirty are now claiming no religion whatsoever. Well,
[11:18] Speaker 1: I mean, God lavishes his love upon his vineyard, ancient
[11:23] Speaker 1: Israel and the new Israel of the Church. God works
[11:27] Speaker 1: and protects and removes the stones and spades the earth
[11:30] Speaker 1: and buys the best vines. But if we're staying away
[11:36] Speaker 1: from mass and droves, we're repudiating our connection to religion.
[11:40] Speaker 1: We're refusing to hear the word of God. We're staying
[11:43] Speaker 1: away from the Eucharist. Remember that Pew form study just
[11:47] Speaker 1: what a year ago, seventy percent of Catholics don't believe
[11:50] Speaker 1: in the real presence. We'll see all of that is
[11:53] Speaker 1: a sign of a lack of cooperation with graves. What
[11:58] Speaker 1: happens the thing falls into ruin, And I mean the
[12:04] Speaker 1: vineyard that God's cultivating. I mean the vineyard in each
[12:07] Speaker 1: one of us, our own spiritual identity. So as I close, everybody,
[12:12] Speaker 1: stay with this image from the fifth chapter of Isaiah,
[12:16] Speaker 1: because it's very beautiful, very positive. On the one hand,
[12:20] Speaker 1: beautiful how God loves and cultivates as holy people. But
[12:25] Speaker 1: it's not a cheap grace. It's not a frivolous love.
[12:31] Speaker 1: It's a love that demands and calls forth from us
[12:36] Speaker 1: a cooperative response. When those two loves meet, the divine
[12:41] Speaker 1: love and the human love meet, then we have the
[12:44] Speaker 1: flourishing of this great vineyard. And God bless you

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