Word on Fire Reflection

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Palm Sunday, Matthew’s magnificent Gospel of the Passion bids us to reflect on the seriousness of sin. To be sure, the Gospel proclaimed by the first Christians involves the glorious Resurrection, but those initial evangelists never let their hearers forget that the one who had been raised was none … Read moreSunday, April 2, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, the chief priests and Pharisees unite in a plot to kill Jesus because he raised Lazarus from the dead. The Crucifixion of Jesus is a classic instance of Catholic philosopher René Girard’s scapegoating theory. He held that a society, large or small, that finds itself in conflict comes … Read moreSaturday, April 1, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares, “The Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Charles Williams stated that the master idea of Christianity is “coinherence,” mutual indwelling. If you want to see this idea concretely displayed, look to the pages of the Book of Kells, that masterpiece of early … Read moreFriday, March 31, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts his pre-existence by declaring that “before Abraham came to be, I AM.” There has been a disturbing tendency in recent years to turn Jesus into an inspiring spiritual teacher. If that’s all he is, the heck with him. But the Gospels are never content with such … Read moreThursday, March 30, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord tells some Jewish listeners that they are enslaved to sin and that the truth will set them free. Jesus was distinguishing between sins and sin, between the underlying disease and its many symptoms. When the Curé d’Ars was asked what wisdom he had gained about human … Read moreWednesday, March 29, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus predicts his death on the cross. We are meant to see on that cross not simply a violent display but rather our own ugliness. What brought Jesus to the cross? Stupidity, anger, mistrust, institutional injustice, betrayal of a friend, denial, unspeakable cruelty, scapegoating, fear, etc. In other … Read moreTuesday, March 28, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel presents the story of the woman caught in adultery, which is one of the clearest demonstrations of what René Girard called the scapegoat mechanism.  The scribes and Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman they had caught in adultery. Where must they have been standing and how long must they … Read moreMonday, March 27, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel about the raising of Lazarus has a pointed message for us. Everyone reading this is, to a degree, spiritually dead. Maybe you’re like Lazarus—four days in your tomb. Maybe you feel there is just no hope for the likes of you. I don’t care how far you’ve fallen. I … Read moreSunday, March 26, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel from Luke, we find the Annunciation to Mary. Here is what Gabriel said to the Virgin: “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. . . . The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will … Read moreSaturday, March 25, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims during the feast of Tabernacles that the Father has sent him. In his passion to set right a disjointed universe, God broke open his own heart in love. The Father sent not simply a representative, spokesman, or plenipotentiary but his own Son into the dysfunction of … Read moreFriday, March 24, 2023