Word on fire is brought to you by Catholic cemeteries, serving the Chicago area since 1837.

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, so that we might speak with love about the one who is love.

The Archdiocese of Chicago through the generosity of Sacred Heart Parish and Winetka now presents the Word on fire.

Peace be with you.

Friends, as you know, there's been a burst recently of militant atheism.

Lots of books and articles have appeared debunking the very idea of God and religion.

Now, all this flies in the face of the stubborn fact that 95% of Americans believe in God.

That's been proven in study after study over many years.

This nearly unanimous affirmation must be grounded in something substantive.

You read the atheist. They'll say, well, sure people believe in God because it's just wishful thinking.

It's a projection of their desires, et cetera. But come on, that can't be the case.

Something is powerful and consistent as the belief in God must be grounded in something very real.

My sense is that most believers probably grasp, at least intuitively, the truth of this argument.

There must be something like a first cause or a first mover.

To explain the world and those things in it.

People know by kind of intuition that the impermanency and contingency of the world have to be grounded in something substantial.

And this we call God.

And in the face of that intuition, the objections of the atheist ring pretty hollow.

But I must say this.

There is at least one great and cogent argument against the existence of God.

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