Opening the oven door as the kitchen timer worked its way toward zero seconds, an unanticipated outcome awaited. The bread inside, although cooked through, was not quite what was expected. Shocked at its stature and the rather dense outcome, and wondering what happened, I revisited all that went into its making. First, I envisioned all the steps, and then opened cabinet doors to look again at some of the baking ingredients, but nothing stood out.

Upon thinking some more, and feeling certain that baking powder was added, I thought perhaps it was expired and had lost its potency. Then, there it was. In the process of re-examining, the problem was revealed. It wasn’t baking powder after all that was used. The canister had the same shape, height, color, and text, but rather than containing baking powder, it held cornstarch. And although the bread tasted almost the same as any other banana bread that was made, its consistency and body was not at all the same.

Contemplating the Gospel passage for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 13:24-43) and reflecting on Jesus’ words as he tells the parables of weeds among wheat, the mustard seed, and the yeast, one is reminded of the importance of what goes into things. Or, in other words, what makes them up or influences them. Are there hidden ingredients? What’s the intent, the source, or motivation, and what, ultimately, is being sought?

So how does one really know what’s what with so much that is conflicting and competing in the midst of what can be confusing and misleading times? How does one distinguish between what things look like and what they really are, and decipher what’s happening around them and how it might be influencing them?

Prior to the Gospel, in this week’s readings, we read:

“The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.”—Romans 8:26-27

To discover what’s real, or what’s true, one must not only be willing to take a good look inside and out, but also be willing to look again, and then some more, searching with a heart that is sincere and an openness to the possibility that what looked like baking powder might not have ever been baking powder at all.