Word on Fire Reflection

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus feeds the crowd of four thousand, which is a wonderful biblical illustration of what I have often called the loop of grace. The constant command of the Bible is this: what you have received as a gift, give as a gift—and you will find the original gift … Read moreSaturday, February 11, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today we celebrate the memorial of St. Scholastica. St. Gregory the Great tells a charming story about Benedict and his twin sister, Scholastica, a woman deeply devoted to God. As was her annual custom, Scholastica came to visit her brother in a small building just outside the monastery. The two of … Read moreFriday, February 10, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, a feisty woman engages Jesus in an argument. It is one of the only scenes in the Gospels where someone cajoles Jesus into doing something he wouldn’t ordinarily do. There is a long tradition that stresses the woman’s perseverance in the face of the “test” that Jesus sets … Read moreThursday, February 9, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that evil comes from within. From our hearts “come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.”  The Church teaches that such evils are consequences of original sin. The doctrine holds that there is something fundamentally off about us, that … Read moreWednesday, February 8, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites because they “disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” For instance: “If someone says to father or mother, ‘Any support you might have had from me is qorban’ [meaning, dedicated to God], you allow him to do nothing more for his father … Read moreTuesday, February 7, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel reports Jesus healing many people at Gennesaret. We hear that people brought the sick from all over the region and all of them were cured. “Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the … Read moreMonday, February 6, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asks, “If salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?” That question ought to bother us as much today as it did Jesus’ audience long ago. What he means is that a weak Christianity is a disaster for the world, for the world depends upon … Read moreSunday, February 5, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel shows Jesus’ compassion for the multitude in the desert. “When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” There is the motif of the people Israel … Read moreSaturday, February 4, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel gives an account of Herod’s murder of John the Baptist. John is a proto-martyr, anticipating the martyrdom of many Christians. Martyrdom has always been an important chapter of the Christian story, from believers in the early Church who refused to sacrifice to Rome’s pagan gods, to great saints of … Read moreFriday, February 3, 2023

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel tells the story of the presentation of Jesus in the temple. The temple was, in practically a literal sense, the dwelling place of the Lord. In the temple, divinity and humanity embraced, and the human race was brought back online with God.  But the sins of the nation had, … Read moreThursday, February 2, 2023