Word on Fire Reflection

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that “the Father and I are one.” Jesus appeared two thousand years ago and announced that he had been sent by the Father. There was a strange “something more” regarding Jesus, for he spoke and acted in the very person of God. The first Christians had … Read moreTuesday, May 2, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.” He specifies that he knows intimately those whom he will gather—and that they know him. A good shepherd will be able to recognize clearly which sheep are of his flock, and the sheep … Read moreMonday, May 1, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself as the sheepgate and says, “Whoever enters through me will be saved.” Well, does this mean that only explicit Christians will be saved? Does it mean that unless you are baptized, you don’t receive the Holy Spirit? There are two extremes to be avoided here. … Read moreSunday, April 30, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, we learn that many disciples left the Lord because he said they had no life unless they were to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Why has the gift of the Eucharist been, from the beginning, a source of contention? Why have we, from Jesus’ time to … Read moreSaturday, April 29, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that “unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.” The talk that Jesus gave concerning the sacrament of his Body and Blood was quite literally revolting. It is a rather remarkable understatement when … Read moreFriday, April 28, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” The bread is referred to as living. Bread is good, but it’s not alive. Instead, when we take it in and it is turned by our bodies into fat or muscle or bone, then it comes … Read moreThursday, April 27, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he is the bread of life and promises eternal life to all who believe in him. Many of the Church Fathers characterized the Eucharist as food that immortalizes those who consume it. They understood that if Christ is really present in the Eucharistic elements, the … Read moreWednesday, April 26, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel gives us Mark’s very laconic account of the Ascension: “Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.”  Now, don’t literalize this language—there aren’t chairs in heaven—but take it very seriously indeed. What Mark … Read moreTuesday, April 25, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, the crowd that experienced the miracle of the loaves pursues Jesus to see more wonders. They finally track him down in the synagogue in the lakeside town of Capernaum.  When they ask Jesus how he had got there ahead of them, the Lord chides them: “Amen, amen, I … Read moreMonday, April 24, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus joins two disciples on the road to Emmaus, but they do not recognize him. In the course of their conversation, he opens the Scriptures to them, disclosing the great biblical patterns that make sense of the “things” they have witnessed. The interpretive key is none other than … Read moreSunday, April 23, 2023