Word on Fire Reflection

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our Gospel today gives us Jesus’ raising of the son of the widow of Nain. This is a prime exemplification of the key Gospel truth that everything Jesus said and did, in one way or another, is an anticipation of his Resurrection. The God of Israel, the God of Jesus Christ, … Read moreTuesday, September 19, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is amazed at a Roman centurion’s faith: “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” How often the Bible compels us to meditate on the meaning of faith! We might say that the Scriptures rest upon faith, remain inspired at every turn by … Read moreMonday, September 18, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable that illustrates God’s mercy. The Latin word for mercy is misericordia, which designates the suffering of the heart, or compassion—cum patior (I suffer with).  Mercy is identical to what the Old Testament authors refer to as God’s hesed or tender mercy. It is the … Read moreSunday, September 17, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’ Gospel is Luke’s conclusion to the Sermon on the Plain. Someone who comes to him, Jesus says, who “listens my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst … Read moreSaturday, September 16, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we hear in today’s Gospel that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus looked to his mother and the disciple whom he loved, and he said to Mary, “Woman, behold, your son,” and then to John, “Behold, your mother.” We are told that “from that hour the disciple took her … Read moreFriday, September 15, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and tells him, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Why does the Son come? Is it because God is angry? Because God wants … Read moreThursday, September 14, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel is Luke’s pithy version of the beatitudes. First we are told, “Blessed are you who are poor.” We notice that there is none of the softening offered by Matthew (“poor in spirit”), but a simple and straightforward statement of the blessedness of being poor. How do we interpret what … Read moreWednesday, September 13, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel recounts Jesus selecting and appointing the Apostles. Bible scholar and theologian N.T. Wright has explained why Jesus commissioned twelve disciples as Apostles. Wright tells us that when a first-century Jew spoke of the arrival of God’s kingdom, he was taken to mean something very specific. He was announcing that … Read moreTuesday, September 12, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Pharisees plot against Jesus because he healed a man on the sabbath. Christians know something of God from sources philosophical, mythological, historical, and poetic, but their deepest grasp of the nature of God comes from Jesus of Nazareth, the Logos, the spoken Word of the Father. This … Read moreMonday, September 11, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us how to correct a brother or sister. What is so rich here is the pursuit of the issue with a deep care for the person in question and also for the entire family of the Church (since love is our constant call). And then the … Read moreSunday, September 10, 2023