This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next few 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, as is customary, the church

considers apocalyptic scriptures as it comes to the end of a liturgical year, end of a year,

end of the world. That's the way it tends to work. As I mentioned before, though, end of the

world is not the primary meaning of apocalypse. Rather, the word render from the Greek apocalypsis

means unveiling, taking away the veil. That's why apocalypsis is rendered as revelatio in

revelation, taking the vellum, taking the veil away. Therefore, an apocalyptic literature is

something of great significance is revealed to us, is disclosed to us. That's what it means primarily.

What's revealed in our gospel? A section of the so-called little apocalypse in Luke

is the full significance of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That's what's unveiled.

The resurrection involves a triple shaking of things. It's impossible to overstate the importance

of the resurrection for the first Christians. It was everything. It was the world

changing event. It was God's definitive intervention into human affairs. And listen now, it shook

and rearranged everything they knew about religion, about politics, and about nature itself.

There's the triple shaking. Religion, politics, nature itself are all

recontextualized, rethought, reconsidered in light of the resurrection.

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