Friends, welcome to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an

apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization using media both old and

new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an encounter with

Christ and His Church. The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring

the transformative power of God's Word where it is most needed. Today we invite

you to join Bishop Robert Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the

warmth and light of Christ with each one of us. Peace be with you, friends. We

are continuing our celebration of the Easter season on this second Sunday of

Easter, Mercy Sunday, Divine Mercy. Once Mercy, St. Thomas Aquinas says it's

compassion in regard to someone else's suffering. So to speak of God's

mercy is to say His compassion reaches out to us precisely in our suffering. I

want you to keep that in mind as we walk through this extraordinary passage

that's our gospel for this week. It's from the gospel of John and it's the

account of Jesus appearing. The risen Jesus appearing to His disciples. Look

up again. On the evening of that first day of the week when the doors were locked

where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, moving to that fear for a second.

We can forget it, I think, too easily. Jesus has just been brutally put to death

in this horrific way. His disciples fled and we get it. You know, they were

afraid for their lives and there they are cowering because they know the next

move of the authorities could well be to track them down, crucify them. They

symbolize here everybody all of us in our fear. So take whatever it is that

frightens you right now. You're afraid of in terms of your family or your

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