Word on Fire Reflection

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear a passage from Isaiah echoing the Baptism of Jesus: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight.”  In the Greek philosophical tradition, God is the supreme good around which everything in the universe revolves. But that Aristotle’s prime mover would stoop … Read moreSaturday, July 16, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, again and again in the Gospels, Jesus is portrayed as violating the sacred command to rest on the seventh day. For example, he often cures on the Sabbath, much to the dismay of the protectors of Jewish law. And then in today’s Gospel, after his disciples pick grain on the Sabbath, … Read moreFriday, July 15, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is not offering us one more philosophy of God. He is offering us the view from the inside of the Trinity. And that is why we should respond to his compelling invitation: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you … Read moreThursday, July 14, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus praying to his Father. We are being given a share in the inner life of God, the conversation between the first two Trinitarian persons.  And what are the “things” that have been concealed from the learned and revealed to the little ones? Nothing other than … Read moreWednesday, July 13, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today Jesus declares judgment on the towns of Galilee that did not believe in him and repent. He stands at the end of the long line of prophets God sent in order to reconcile his people to himself. Like the prophets before him, Jesus is ignored, mocked, and rejected.  What happens … Read moreTuesday, July 12, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus lays down the conditions 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; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not … Read moreMonday, July 11, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our Gospel today is one of the best-known of Jesus’ parables, the story of the Good Samaritan. Every story, parable, illustration, and exhortation is, at the end of the day, a picture of the Lord. In one of the great windows of Chartres Cathedral, there is an intertwining of two stories, … Read moreSunday, July 10, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, Jesus instructs his disciples in today’s Gospel, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”  What is the greatest fear we have? Undoubtedly, the fear of losing our own … Read moreSaturday, July 9, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in our Gospel today, Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will help us when we face persecution. Speaking to his disciples the night before he dies, Jesus says that he and his Father will send another Parakletos (Advocate). That word, stemming from kaleo (to call) and para (for, or on … Read moreFriday, July 8, 2022

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus sent the twelve to evangelize the countryside. To evangelize is to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. When this kerygma, this Paschal Mystery, is not at the heart of the project, Christian evangelization effectively disappears, devolving into a summons to bland religiosity or generic … Read moreThursday, July 7, 2022