http://wof.wordonfire.org/podcast.xml THE Word on Fire weekly podcast of sermons delivered by Father Barron. (c) 2008, Word on Fire All rights reserved. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us BSI RSS Feed Generator Tue, 26 May 2009 08:27:15 GMT Tue, 26 May 2009 08:27:15 GMT 120 Word On Fire Sermon Podcast This is the Word on Fire sermon podcast Sermons Father Robert Barron http://wordonfire.org/cmspages/podcast.aspx webmaster@wordonfire.org webmaster no http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=438 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=438 The gift of the Holy Spirit leads us to the Truth and Holiness of Christ as mediated by the Church. Tue, 26 May 2009 08:27:15 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=437 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=437 The Ascension of the Lord empowers the Church to fulfill its messianic mission: to gather the nations of the world into a relationship with the God of Israel. Sun, 24 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=436 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=436 Today's Gospel present the distinction between a generic spirituality which emphasizes our decision for God, and authentic Christian Faith, which is the recognition that God has chosen us in Christ. It is God's choice, his election of us in Christ, as not only his followers, but his friends, that matters most. Sun, 17 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=435 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=435 The image of the vine and the branches indicates that our relationship with Christ is greater than that of merely a teacher to his students. Instead, we are related to him on all levels of our existence because Christ is the eternal Logos through whom all things are made. Sun, 10 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=434 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=434 Jesus identifies himself with the figure prophesied long before by Ezekiel, the one who would definitively gather the scattered tribes of Israel. The good shepherd is the one who brings Israel together so that it might fulfill its mission of gathering the other nations of the world to the praise of Yahweh. Sun, 03 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=433 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=433 The readings for today effect a correlation between the resurrection of Jesus and conversion. The biblical word for conversion is "metanoia" which has the sense of "going beyond the mind that you have." What would it be like to move from a death-haunted consciousness to resurrection-haunted one? It would involve a conversion. Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=432 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=432 From the time of Marx, Feuerbach and Freud, we've heard the critique that religion is a wish-fulfilling fantasy, a game of "pie in the sky when you die." The readings for this second Sunday of Easter give the lie to this criticism, for they show how those who were convinced of Jesus' resurrection were also deeply commited to a more just society. Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=431 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=431 There are some debunkers of religion around today who want us to believe that the story of the resurrection is just another iteration of the myth of the dying and rising god that can be found in many ancient cultures. Nothing could be further from the truth. A careful reading of the Easter accounts shows that they have to do with a very particular, historical individual and with a very particular, unrepeatable event. Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=430 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=430 Life is grim. It is marked by conflict, division, inextricably difficult situations. And brooding over all of it is the fact of death. How do we deal with this mess? We can't, but God can. In Christ, he takes on the dysfunction and sin of the world and takes it away through the divine mercy. Walk through the Passion narrative with this idea in mind. Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=429 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=429 Jeremiah 31:31 is the great prophecy that the Lord will one day place his law within our hearts. In the Old Testament, God's law was written on stone and often appreciated as an imposition, a burden. But Jesus is the Law incarnate, the Torah made flesh. Therefore, when we eat his body and drink his blood, we take the law into our hearts, and thus we realize the prophecy of Jeremiah. Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=428 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=428 How do we know what's going on? How do we read the signs of the times? We could do so politically, sociologically, culturally, or economically. But the Bible insists that the world should be read theologically. What precisely is God doing and why? This sermon is about how to do this. Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=427 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=427 Scott Hahn refers to these famous laws as 'our declaration of dependence.' They teach us how to center our lives radically around God and his demands. They signal our total dependence upon the Lord. How wonderful that we meditate on them in the midst of Lent. Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=426 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=426 The story of the Aqedah, the Binding of Isaac, haunted the Israelite religious imagination. In it is contained one of the most important spiritual lessons in the Bible: everything we are and everything we have belongs, finally, to God. Knowing this is our liberation. Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=425 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=425 As Lent commences, we are given the great image of Noah's Ark. This story is not just a charming tale that we tell to the kids; in it is contained the whole message of salvation, if we but know how to decipher the symbolism Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=424 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=424 Paul tells us that with Jesus Christ it was never yes and no, but only yes. This means that in Jesus all the promises made to Israel have come true. I will tell you why this great Yes of Jesus still matters for us. Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=423 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=423 In our Gospel for today, a leper comes to Jesus and asks to be healed. He is suffering, not only from a physical malady, but from ritual uncleanness, rendering him incapable of worship. Jesus the Messiah has come to gather the scattered tribes of Israel to the worship of the true God and so he reaches out to the leper. That same Christ seeks to gather so many of us who have wandered away from the worship of the true God. Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=422 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=422 Why would an all-powerful and all-loving God allow his people to suffer so much? That's one of the oldest and most difficult theological questions. Our first reading from Job and our Gospel from Mark provide some fascinating answers. Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=421 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=421 Moses promised that a prophet like himself would one day arise among the Israelites and that he would have the very authority of God. It is precisely this authority that Jesus claims. And this is why, in his regard, we have to make a choice. Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=420 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=420 We hear in today’s Gospel Jesus’ inaugural address. He tells us that the time of fulfillment is now. This means that the whole of Israelite history is summed up in his person. He is the new Temple, the true prophet, the everlasting covenant, and the definitive Torah. And this means that all people must make a decision about him. Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=419 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=419 The story of the call of Samuel is illuminating for our time of corruption and cleansing. I argue that the sex abuse scandal in the church should be read through the lens of this narrative. Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=418 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=418 The Gospel compels us to come to grips with the fascinating figure of John the Baptist. John was the son of Zechariah, a temple priest. And John, baptizing in the desert, acts as a priest, cleansing the people for entry into the new temple. Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=417 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=417 The feast of Epiphany gives us the occasion to reflect on a distinction that is much in vogue today between spirituality on the one hand and faith on the other. The Magi represent all that is good and true and beautiful in religious seeking. But they come to the tradition of Israel to find the right focus for their spiritual quest. Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=416 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=416 The Bible is not particularly sentimental about families. What makes a family holy, as far as the biblical writers are concerned, is its willingness to surrender to the purpose of God. We see this in a number of key figures, including Joseph, Anna, and Simeon. Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=415 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=415 The church fathers saw so clearly that we will never understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament. Our readings for this weekend show how the angel's words to Mary at the annunciation are intelligible only in light of God's promise made, ten centuries before, to David. Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=414 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=414 In our second reading from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, we hear the strange recommendation to pray always, rejoice in every circumstance, and give thanks at all times. How is this possible? Only when our lives have been radically reconfigured around Jesus Christ. Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=413 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=413 The theme of preparing a highway for the Lord emerges from the time of the exile. When the Babylonian captivity was coming to a close, the prophet Isaiah envisioned God making a highway in the desert to facilitate the return of his people to Jerusalem. From what captivity of ours is God leading us this Advent? Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=412 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=412 Our first reading for this first Sunday of Advent gives us the master image of God as the potter and we, his creatures, as clay. St. Irenaeus said that God’s provident direction of our lives is easy as long as the clay of our hearts remains supple and moist. Trouble comes only when we allow the clay to harden. Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=411 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=411 Our readings for Christ the King focus on the shepherding function of the king. Jesus calls the tribes of Israel together--and he also separates the sheep from the goats. We would do well to attend to both of these dimensions of his shepherding work. Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=410 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=410 Your being increases in the measure that you give it away. That's the law of the gift, and it can be found from end to end of the Bible. One application of this law has to do with faith itself. Your faith will grow only in the measure that you give it away, sharing it with others. Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=409 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=409 We celebrate today the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran, the Pope's cathedral church as bishop of Rome. This gives us the occasion to speak of the importance of all church buildings, images of the temple in Jerusalem. Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=408 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=408 Why do we speak of the “soul?” We do so because there is something in us that links us to the eternal. Though the body fades away, the core of the person does not. And therefore, we remain connected to those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. We should pray for them in the hopes that one day we might live in communion with them. Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=407 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=407 Pope Benedict has said that the church has three basic jobs: to care for the poor, to evangelize, and to worship. These three are on clear display in our three readings for the weekend. Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=406 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=406 The Gospel for today raises the famously complex question of the relationship between "religion" and "politics." Though there is a legitimate distinction between the two, this can never turn into a separation. We should certainly render to Caesar what is Caesar's, but we must never forget that even Caesar belongs to God. Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=405 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=405 One of the most powerful and enduring symbols of God’s intention toward the world is the sacred banquet. God wants his life to flow into us and through us to one another. The result of this is life and life to the full. The question posed by the Gospel is this: when the invitation to this banquet comes, do we answer yes or no? Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=404 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=404 In both the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew, we find the image of the vineyard as a symbol of Israel. As Jesus develops this image, we see both the glory and the tragedy of Israel—as well as the promise that the church will emerge as the bearer of the God of Israel to the nations. Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=403 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=403 Our second reading contains one of the most precious texts in the Christian tradition, Paul's description of the mind of Christ. While the old Adam clung to godliness and hence fell, the new Adam let go of his divinity and hence reversed the momentum of the fall. What does it mean to be conformed to God? It means to embrace the path of self-emptying love. Which Adam do we choose? The Old or the New? Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=402 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=402 The Biblical manner of dealing with the problem of evil is neither to deny the fact of evil nor the fact of God's existence. Rather, it is to stress the transcendence and inscrutability of God's ways. What looks like pure evil or dumb suffering to us finds its place within the providential plan of a mysterious God. Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=401 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=401 We will understand the power of this feast only when we grasp how very strange it is to speak of the cross as a triumph. Paul's great hymn in his letter to the Phillipians helps us to grasp how the cross fits into the narrative of God's salvation. Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=400 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=400 The command to love compels us to engage in the difficult task of fraternal correction, but it enjoins us to do so carefully, always aware that it can slide easily enough into a game of ego-inflation. The Gospel gives us some very practical advice in this regard. Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=399 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=399 Most of the great religions and philosophies of the world center around the issue of suffering. Stoicism, Buddhism, Platonism all propose different paths to overcome suffering. Jesus proposes to his disciples the distinctively Christian path of embracing suffering in the act of self-sacrificial love. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=398 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=398 Jesus tells Peter that he will build his ekklesia on the rock of Peter's confession. The word ekklesia means "called out from." To be a member of the church is to be called personally by Christ out of the world and into a new way of being. Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=397 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=397 The story of the persistent Canaanite woman has intrigued and puzzled Christians for two thousand years. Why would Jesus treat this pious woman with what seems like indifference, even hostility? Why does he refuse (it seems) to answer our own prayers? The solution can be found in the very Biblical category of testing. Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=396 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=396 The Church never tires of confessing the divinity of Jesus, for in that confession, the Church finds its whole identity. Over the centuries--and in the present day--many have tried to portray Jesus as no more than an inspired teacher. But the disciples who witnessed Christ walking on the water know better. They confess "truly, you are the Son of God." Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=395 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=395 Our readings for this weekend are filled with grace, the free gift that God is. Our relationship with God gets off on the wrong foot the moment we see it in an "economic" or calculating way. God, who needs nothing from us, simply wants to share his life with us. And this is why he says, through the prophet Isaiah, "All you who are thirsty, come to the water!" Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=394 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=394 God says to Solomon in our first reading, "Ask for anything, and I will give it to you." What would you say if you heard that invitation? Solomon asks for wisdom and not for wealth or power or victory. Find out why that answer is so pleasing to God. Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=393 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=393 Jesus' parables in today's Gospel tell us how and why the Kingdom of God emerges. It does so often through struggle, quietly and clandestinely, and through infiltration rather than direct confrontation. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=392 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=392 We have the special privilege of hearing Jesus himself interpret one of his parables. He tells us the three basic reasons why the Word is not accepted into our hearts: lack of understanding, lack of discipline, and lack of prioritization. Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=391 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=391 The Gospel for today allows us to overhear a conversation between the Father and the Son. We learn that the Son receives everything from his Father, that he is, in a word, yoked to the Father. When the Lord tells us to take his yoke, he is inviting us to pull with him, receiving through him the life that he receives from the Father. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=390 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=390 Peter and Paul were the greatest "christophers," Christ-bearers in the early days of the church. Though they were very different, they came together in their love for Jesus and their conviction that he was Lord. It is largely because of their witness that we gather still today in the name of Jesus. Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=389 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=389 In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that Jesus is the new Adam or the second Adam. He means that Christ sums up the history of Israel and renews the human race. Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=388 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=388 One of the key themes of the Bible is the divine election, the fact that God chooses. But God chooses, not on the basis of merit, but simply through and because of his grace. And he chooses, not to glorify those whom he elects, but rather to give them a mission of love. Accordingly, he chose Israel so that it might be a priestly nation; and he chose the twelve so that they might proclaim the kingdom, and he chose us the baptized that we might be conduits of his grace to the world. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=387 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=387 Paul's letter to the Romans explores the great theme of justification, the process by which we become rectified or straightened out in regard to God. Key to this process, says Paul, is faith, that is to say, trust in the Lord. What has thrown us off-kilter is precisely a tendency to rely on our own powers. But when we, like Abraham our father in faith, learn to trust, then the divine life can flow into us and through us to the world. Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=386 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=386 What is the foundation of your life? How goes it with your heart? Are you building your spiritual house on sand or on rock? These are the fundamental questions that both the book of Deuteronomy and the Gospel of Matthew pose for us as we return to Ordinary Time. Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=385 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=385 In 1264, Pope Urban IV asked Thomas Aquinas to compose the office for the newly established feast of Corpus Christi. Thomas's texts are both beautiful and profound. By studying them, we can learn much of the Church's theology of the eucharist. He tells us that Christ serves us, with his own hands, the bread of angels. Sun, 25 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=384 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=384 There is no question more important than this one: who is God? The doctrine of the Trinity is the Christian answer to that question. The Trinity is simply a doctrinally exact way of stating the belief that God is love. If love is what God is, then in the very being of God there must be lover, beloved, and love. Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=383 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=383 The feast of Pentecost is the birthday of the church. Our readings show us the four major features of the church: it is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. What do these four things mean? Listen to the sermon! Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=382 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=382 Jesus assures his disciples that, if they pray for it, the Holy Spirit will definitely come upon them with great power. At the same time, he reminds them that the presence of the Spirit always awakens opposition and persecution. So ask for the Holy Spirit, but be prepared to suffer on his account. Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=381 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=381 As Pentecost approaches, the church gives us readings redolent of the Holy Spirit. Our passages for this Sunday speak in various ways of the presence of the Holy Spirit: bold speech, signs and wonders, joy, intellectual curiosity, and love. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=380 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=380 All the readings for today are, directly or indirectly, about the priesthood, that office that all of the baptized share. To be a priest is to be a mediator between God and human beings and to be a person who offers right praise. This identity should play itself out in all that you do. Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=379 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=379 Peter's sermon on Pentecost morning is the model for all evangelical proclamation. He declares that Jesus is both Lord and Messiah, and this straightforward, unambiguous confession leads to conversion on the part of the people. When our preaching about Jesus is wishy-washy, unclear, tentative, we shouldn't be surprised that no one listens. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=378 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=378 The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus teaches us how to see. When we listen to Christ explain the Scriptures to us, we understand the pattern of his life and death. And when we eat his body and drink his blood, we see precisely who he is: God's love made flesh." Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=377 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=377 Essential to the Easter message is mission: we are sent by the risen Jesus to do his work in the world. It is never enough that we contemplate his risen splendor; we must become his forgiveness-bearing presence to those around us Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=376 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=376 Our first reading for this Easter day is Peter's great kerygmatic speech on Pentecost morning. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses the Jerusalem crowd, telling them the impossibly good news that Jesus of Nazareth, a man who moved through their ordinary towns and villages, has been raised from the dead. The Easter faith of the Church is not an abstraction, not a vague claim about God's fidelity or our hope for immortality. Rather, it is the startling assertion that God has brought this man Jesus back from the dead. May we bask in the glow of this still surprising revelation. Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=375 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=375 Matthew shows us that, as Jesus resolutely does his Father's will, myriad forms of human dysfunction--betrayal, sloth, stupidity, violence, scapegoating, corruption--break out around him. This is the salvation story: God's compassionate embrace of sinners. Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=374 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=374 Jesus came to end the reign of death, to wrestle death to the ground. In the raising of Lazarus--which anticipates his own even more glorious resurrection--he fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel. Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=373 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=373 Blindness is a great Biblical symbol of spiritual blindness, the darkening and distortion of our vision. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=372 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=372 We are made for God, and therefore our hearts are restless until they rest in him. This longing is symbolized in the thirst of the woman at the well. Directing her away from all earthly goods, Jesus draws her to himself: "I will give you water springing up to eternal life." We hear the same invitation to the font of grace. Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=371 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=371 On his way to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified, Jesus is transfigured before three of his disciples. This manifestation of glory, says Thomas Aquinas, was designed to encourage the disciples during the difficult days that would follow. It gives hope to us too. On the sometimes painful journey through this life, we see in the Transfiguration of the Lord a sign of what awaits us: a glorified life with God. Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=370 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=370 "For the first Sunday of Lent, the church brings us back to spiritual training camp and encourages us to review the basics. We are in the garden with Adam and Eve and in the desert with Jesus. When the devil approaches us, do we respond as they did, or as he did? Everything else will flow from that decision.""" Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=369 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=369 In the beatitudes, the Son of God tells us what every one of us, deep down, wants to know: how to be happy. So we must listen with great attentiveness. At the heart of the program is the beatitude: blessed are the merciful. This is because mercy is a participation in the divine life itself. All of the other beatitudes center around and relate to this one.xyz Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=368 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=368 Our Gospel passage from the 4th chapter of Matthew's Gospel tells us, in very short compass, what the work of the Messiah was. Jesus proclaims the kingdom, commences the gathering of the tribes of Israel, and takes on God's enemies. We who are grafted on to him must do the same. Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=367 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=367 John the Baptist's designation of Jesus as Lamb of God is, I submit, largely misunderstood. It has little to do with Jesus' meekness, mildness, or humility and everything to do with his being the victim of a sacrifice. To find out why this is such good news, listen to the sermon! Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=366 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=366 The feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a celebration of God’s great humility. In order to rescue us sinners, God the Son bent low and stood with us in the muck and mud of our dysfuction. This was so that he could draw us up to his glory. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=365 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=365 "One of the truths that is manifested on Epiphany (that's what the word ""epiphania"" means) is the compatibility of faith and reason, of religion and science. The Magi were scientists, astronomers interested in tracking and measuring the heavenly bodies. But they also saw in the orderliness of the universe evidence of God. Their search for Christ symbolizes the fact that all of science leads finally to God." Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=364 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=364 Paul lays out for the Colossians (and us) the virtues that make a family healthy. They include compassion, patience, bearing the burden of the other and, above all, love. To find out precisely what these terms mean, listen to the sermon! Sun, 30 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=363 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=363 Both Ahaz and Joseph are being summoned out of a narrow perspective and encouraged to dream big, to think of their lives within the context of God's purposes and plans. This makes them prime Advent figures. Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=362 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=362 Hope is not this-worldly optimism. In fact, from a purely natural perspective, pessimism is the right attitude. Hope is that supernatural virtue which orders our desire toward heaven and the things of heaven. What Isaiah talks about in our first reading is not an expectation that will be realized here below, but only in a transfigured world on high. Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=361 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=361 John the Baptist sums up the Advent season. He lives in the desert, the place of no distraction, and he speaks a message of repentance and the confession of sin. Advent is a great time to clear away all that separates us from Christ. It is a time of repentance. Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=360 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=360 Advent is from the latin word adventus, which means coming or arrival. Some arrivals are positive; others are downright threatening. The Gospel for today paints a somewhat dark picture of the coming of the Son of Man, likening it to the flood of Noah. When Christ comes, we have to change, and that's often wrenching. Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=359 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=359 Along with Moses and Abraham, David is the most important figure in the Old Testament. The first Christians read Jesus in light of these heroes of the Old Testament. Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=358 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=358 Our readings for today are apocalyptic, which means that they describe the end of an old world and the beginning of a new one. The new world in question is the world of Christ’s lordship. To enter into that spiritual space, we have to go through earthquake, famine, and war. But this is, finally good news! Sun, 18 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=357 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=357 "Both our first reading and Gospel for today present the distinctively Biblical view of what happens to us after we die. We do not so much escape from the body as begin to live in a transformed and transfigured body, what Paul calls a ""spiritual body." Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=356 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=356 The story of Zacchaeus in the Gospel of Luke is a kind of spiritual itinerary. If we attend to it carefully, we will learn the essentials of the life of grace. Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=355 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=355 The second letter to Timothy is Paul’s parting advice to his young colleague and spiritual son. He speaks of being poured out like a libation, of being ready for a great journey, of having fought the good fight and run the successful race. All of these images are illuminating for us as well. Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=354 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=354 An awful lot of people probably find our first reading for this week offensive. We hear that Israel mowed the Amalekites down with the sword. How can this terrible story of conquest be a revelation of God’s intentions? Listen as I offer the surprising interpretation that Origen of Alexandria offers. Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=353 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=353 The story of Naaman the Syrian is not terribly well-known, but it contains some marvelous spiritual lessons for all of us. It tells us of the importance of patience, humility, perseverance, prayer--and above all following our weakness as it leads us to God. Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=352 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=352 The prophet Habbakuk expresses what most of us feel at some point in our lives: how can God be so indifferent to suffering? Listen carefully to the answer he receives from the Lord. Sun, 07 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=351 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=351 Summary to come... Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=350 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=350 Summary to come... Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=349 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=349 God does not love as we do, in a calculating manner. He makes his sun to shine on the good and the bad alike and his rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. This means that he is like the Good Shepherd who seeks even the one sheep who is lost and like the father who welcomes back even the prodigal. Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=348 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=348 Jesus tells us that we must get rid of all of our possessions, including the people that we have turned into possessions. It is in this sense that he encourages us to “hate our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters.” In the measure that these nearest and dearest are possessions of one’s ego, they are a block to salvation. Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=347 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=347 The lust for honor interrupts the great banquet that God wants us to enjoy. This is why Jesus interrupts the interruption in today’s Gospel, urging people purposely to take the lowest place and to entertain only those who cannot repay the favor. We must free ourselves of the addiction to honor! Sun, 02 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=346 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=346 In his new book, Pope Benedict engages in a fascinating dialogue with the American rabbi Jacob Neusner on the identity and meaning of Jesus. In this sermon, I will tease out the implications of this debate, especially in regard to the vocation of Israel. Sun, 26 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=345 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=345 Jesus’ words from our Gospel this week inspired the name for my program, Word on Fire. Jesus speaks of the divine judgment that will fall like a cleansing fire on the earth. This is not opposed to God’s love, but is rather what God’s love looks like to a fallen world. Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=344 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=344 Authentic faith has nothing to do with credulity or intellectual naivte. It has everything to do with placing one’s trust in the God whom we cannot, even in principle, know with clarity. It is the willingness to follow the promptings of God, even when we don’t see where they might lead. Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=343 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=343 Both our first reading and Gospel function as a slap in the face, cold water, a wake-up call. They show how passing, ephemeral, and unreliable are the goods of this world. The idea is to set our hearts, as Paul says, on the higher things, rooting our lives in God. Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=342 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=342 Our Gospel for this week is of the utmost importance, for we hear the Son of God himself teaching us to pray. In this homily, I walk rather carefully through the major petitions of the Our Father, noting how central this prayer is to Christian life and spirituality. Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=341 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=341 Paul says in our second reading that he “makes up in his own sufferings what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” This means that Paul—and all of us—have the enormous privilege of participating in the act by which Christ saved the world, an act of suffering love. How do you interpret your own pain? Might it be a participation in the salvation of Christ? Sun, 22 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=340 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=340 What the church calls “the natural law” is, as Moses suggests in our first reading, close to us, in fact, written on our hearts. Thomas Aquinas said that this natural, moral law is a reflection of the eternal law of God and is, in turn, the ground for all of our positive laws. When the relationship between God’s law, the moral law, and political law is lost, our society suffers.xx Sun, 15 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=339 http://wof.wordonfire.org/AudioDetail.aspx?SermonNo=339 St. Paul tells us in our second reading that he boasts in the cross of Jesus. To any of his hearers in the first century this would have sounded like madness. Paul can boast in this shameful thing precisely because God has raised Jesus from death and thereby placed the world—the realm of hatred, violence, and division—under judgment. Now we must have the courage to leave the world and enter into the new creation which is the body of Christ. Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT