Word on Fire Reflection

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today the Lord directs his disciples to ask the Father to send laborers for the work of evangelization. The Christian life is lived in between these two imperatives: conversion and mission. Having been seized by the beauty of revelation, our only proper response is a change of life and a commitment … Read moreTuesday, July 11, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus demonstrates his miraculous power to heal the sick and raise the dead. He cured a woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years who came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. And he took the hand of the official’s daughter and raised her from the … Read moreMonday, July 10, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about his relationship to the Father. Jesus, the Son, was sent by his Father in love. Thus there is in God a play of lover and beloved; but the lover and beloved are connected by the love they have in common. Therefore the God disclosed in … Read moreSunday, July 9, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the parable of new wine and old and new wineskins. The new wine is the Good News, the Incarnation, the reconciliation of the divine and the human. But this powerful elixir cannot be contained in the receptacles of the old consciousness. As long as the … Read moreSaturday, July 8, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our Gospel for today is the simple but magnificent story of the conversion of Matthew. I urge you to read it and meditate upon it this week, for it’s about you. The Bible says that Jesus told Matthew, “Follow me.” The call of Jesus is meant to get into your mind, … Read moreFriday, July 7, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord heals a paralytic after first forgiving his sins. Jesus’ initial words to this paralyzed man are, “Your sins are forgiven.” Why does God forgive our sins? Because he wants us alive, he wants us moving, he wants us in action, realizing what we can be. Jesus … Read moreThursday, July 6, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus drives demons out of two possessed persons. Notice that the demons always know who Jesus is. The demonic voice stands for the sinful structure of consciousness; it is the mouthpiece for a soul dominated by the fearful ego.  When the New Being appears, when the new consciousness … Read moreWednesday, July 5, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in this wonderful story of the calming of the storm at sea, we witness some of the spiritual dynamics of fear and trust. The disciples stand symbolically for all of us journeying through life within the narrow confines of the fearful ego. When they confront the storm and the mighty waves, … Read moreTuesday, July 4, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel tells of Thomas’ doubting the Resurrection. Indeed, Catholicism has a rich tradition of questioning, seeking understanding. Aquinas, another great St. Thomas, spent much of his life asking and answering hard questions about the faith.  Do you remember Hamlet’s great line, “There are more things in heaven and earth than … Read moreMonday, July 3, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus lays down the condition for discipleship: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. . . . Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life … Read moreSunday, July 2, 2023