Sermons - Word on Fire

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our Gospel for this Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time is the familiar story of Peter asking the Lord how many times he should forgive his brother: “As many as seven times?”

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for this Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, I want to begin with our very brief second reading from Paul to the Romans.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for this Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, I want to begin with our very brief second reading from Paul to the Romans.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for this Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church brings us once again, with Jesus and the disciples, to Caesarea Philippi, and to a famous question:

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for this Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear the story of the Syrophoenician woman.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in my evangelical work online, I often encounter people who are skeptical of religion and dismissive of its claims.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, I want to focus on the Second Reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come to the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and we’re going to finish our reading of the thirteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, which deals with the parables.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we continue this weekend reading from the thirteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, which is dedicated to the parables of Jesus.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we continue our reading of the Gospel of Matthew.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, our first reading is from the prophet Zechariah, who is a very important figure for the Lord Jesus.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we’re reading this week again from the tenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, and Christ’s teaching here is—as always—astonishing:

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, Jesus cannot be reduced to just one ethical teacher among many. But this doesn’t mean that his teaching isn’t important or astonishing—because it is!

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Gospel is about Jesus sending the Twelve on a mission.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we’ve come to the great Solemnity of Corpus Christi—a celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we’ve come to Trinity Sunday, one of my favorite Sundays of the year.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we’ve come to the great Solemnity of Pentecost, which is, along with Christmas and Easter, one of the most important feasts of the Christian year.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today is the great Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, which is situated between Easter and Pentecost.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come to the Sixth Sunday of Easter, which means we’re coming to the end of the Easter season—and coming toward the Solemnity of Pentecost.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Fifth Sunday of Easter, there’s a somewhat hidden theme that runs like a golden thread through the readings, and that theme is the temple.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, all during the Easter season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles, and this Sunday, we hear part of Peter’s oration on Pentecost morning.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for this Third Sunday of Easter, we read once again the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus—a literary masterpiece, yes, but above all, a spiritual masterpiece.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, peace be with you—an echo of the words of the risen Jesus in our Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter, also called Mercy Sunday.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, Happy Easter! We’ve come to the high point of the Church’s liturgical year, the reason why we’re Christians at all.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come now to Palm Sunday, also called “Passion Sunday” because we read, in its entirety, one of the Passion narratives from the Synoptic Gospels.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, this Lent, we’ve been journeying through some marvelous stories in John: the woman at the well two weeks ago, the man born blind last week, and now the climactic story of the raising of Lazarus.

Bishop Robert Barron As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Third Sunday of Lent, we hear the story from John’s Gospel of the woman at the well—a kind of master class in evangelization.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, on this Second Sunday of Lent, our first reading about Abraham and Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration orient us to a basic biblical principle.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, today’s Gospel tells of the Lord’s temptation in the desert.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, this Sunday, right before the commencement of Lent, the Church is giving us something of great moment to reflect on—namely, the centrality of freedom and choice for the good at the center of the spiritual life.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, a great professor of mine at Mundelein Seminary, Dr. Richard Issel, once said, “If you want to be happy, stop worrying about being happy and get on with becoming fulfilled.”

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for the next several weeks, we’re going to be reading in our Gospel from the primal teaching of Jesus: the Sermon on the Mount.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends for this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, our first reading from the prophet Isaiah and our Gospel from Matthew both have a section that’s a little weird.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we return now to Ordinary Time, and the Church asks us again to think about the baptism of the Lord, this time in light of Saint John’s distinctive account.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come to this wonderful feast of the baptism of the Lord. And the first thing to know is that this was a profoundly embarrassing event for the first Christians.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, why has the story of the Epiphany—the three wise man paying homage to the Christ child—so captivated us over the centuries?

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, the great feast of the Holy Family follows immediately upon Christmas—a very interesting juxtaposition with a deep theological significance.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our readings for the fourth and final Sunday of Advent are all about maybe the central motif of the spiritual life.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our readings for this Third Sunday of Advent help us understand what to do while we wait for the Lord. An Advent spirituality of waiting is part of Christian life; our entire life, in a way, is waiting.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, our first reading for this Second Sunday of Advent, taken from Isaiah 11, describes the Messiah’s arrival: He “shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,” and “the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him.”

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come to the New Year celebration of the liturgical year: the First Sunday of Advent.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come to the final weekend of the liturgical year and the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, we come to the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, which means that next Sunday is the final Sunday of the liturgical year.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, this Sunday we’re celebrating, with the whole Church, the dedication of the great cathedral of Rome: the Lateran Basilica.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, All Souls Day, November 2, falls on a Sunday this year, so we can really spend some time reflecting on this wonderful feast, which means so much to Catholic people.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, for this Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we are treated to the wonderful and deeply challenging parable of the Pharisee and the publican from Luke 18.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, when something tragic happens and people offer their prayers, you’ll often hear now, “I've had it with thoughts and prayers.

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, in our second reading this Sunday, Paul writes to Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel.”

Bishop Robert Barron Friends, this Sunday, I want to talk to you once again about faith. As I’ve said before, faith is the most misunderstood word in the religious vocabulary.