False voices collapse under their own weight, the will collapses under its own division, and the soul collapses under the weight of what it loves. Today’s reading from exposes three layers of truth: Theophilus tears down the authority of pagan thinkers, showing that those who claim wisdom contradict themselves and even justify evil; Augustine then turns inward, revealing the terrifying reality that knowing the good is not the same as willing it—that the soul can command the body more easily than it can command itself (Romans 7:18–19); and Aquinas completes the picture by explaining that sorrow itself is not meaningless—it is the weight of evil pressing on what we love, sometimes paralyzing us, sometimes driving us toward repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). Together, these readings force a sobering conclusion: error is loud, the will is weak, and sor ...