This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next two minutes to reflect

with Father Robert Barron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire. Word on Fire Catholic

Ministries is a non-profit ministry at the forefront of Catholic evangelization, using

new media to spread the faith and every continent. Father Barron challenges us to open our hearts

to the Word on Fire, which is God's Word of Love for each of us. If our hearts are open,

the Lord can change and transform us so that we might speak with love about the one who

is love. The global benefactors of Word on Fire with the support of the Archdiocese of

Chicago now present Word on Fire. Peace be with you. Friends, our readings for this week

present us with the inauguration of two great prophetic careers, those of Jeremiah and Jesus.

Jeremiah tells us in the first reading how the Lord came to him when he was still a very young

man and called him to prophesy. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, a prophet to the nations

I appointed you. Extraordinary, isn't it? God claims to know Jeremiah from even before he was

born, even before he was formed in the womb. See, God knows each one of us from all eternity.

Jeremiah, though, protests his youth and inexperience, but God corrects him. Do not say you are too

young. Many tells this young man just what his prophetic career would be like. Listen, I have made

you a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass against the whole land. They will fight

against you, but not prevail over you. Now, here's what I want you to see. Jeremiah is being sent,

not just to Israel, but to all the nations. He's not just for the local people of Israel,

he's being sent by the God of all the world to the nations, and this provides the setting for the

gospel. The gospel today, which is taken from the fourth chapter of St. Luke, Jesus,

fresh from his baptism and struggle with the devil, returns to his hometown. He takes up the

scripture at the synagogue, and he chooses a passage to read. It's interesting that in our

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