Good morning, this is Cardinal Francis George, and I invite you to join me for the next few minutes to reflect with Father Robert Baron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire.

Father Baron will challenge 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, who we might speak with love about the one who is love.

The Archdiocese of Chicago through the generosity of Sacred Heart Parishing Winnetka now presents the Word on Fire.

Peace be with you.

The great Protestant theologian Paul Tillic said,

Faith is the most misunderstood word in the Christian vocabulary.

Now it's a word we use all the time, have faith, he's a person of deep faith.

We recognize it as the very heart of the faith, heart of Christianity, but what does it mean exactly?

Our readings today I think give us two wonderful images for faith, two ways of approaching it.

The first one comes from the book of Genesis, and that mysterious story of the visit of the three men to Abraham.

Who were these three men? They've been interpreted in different ways over the centuries. Some see them as three angels.

Some even as an anticipation of the three persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit.

But in the story Abraham is there outside his tent, as the day is growing warm, and these three visitors come.

And with his customary hospitality, he receives them, offers them food, and asks them to bathe and refresh themselves.

Then he serves them a good meal.

At the end of the meal, one of them says,

I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will then have a son.

Now, this is pretty amazing news. Abraham is an old man. His wife, well-passed childbearing age.

So here's this amazing word that next year your aged wife will have a son.

When Sarah hears it, she laughs. Later when the angel or when this man challenges her, she says, I didn't laugh.

He said, yes, you did. It's a little funny exchange in the book of Genesis. Yes, you did laugh.

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