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, I love how all three the readings for the second

Sunday of Lent call to mind the mystical, the strange, the transcendent world

that's the goal of all of our religious striving. Our first reading for the book

of Genesis talks about the covenant that Lord makes with Abraham. He has to cut

these animals in two and then all these strange darkness descends and this

flame passes through the severed pieces of the animals, a voice has heard. All

these symbols are meant to evoke this mystical and strange higher world with

which Abraham is having intercourse. In other words, it's never just a question of

what goes on within this realm of our experience but we have a relationship to

this higher reality which is summoning us. Then the second reading from Paul to

the Philippians, let me just read a little bit to you. But our citizenship, he

tells the Philippians, is in heaven and from it we also await a savior, the Lord

Jesus Christ. Listen, he will change our lowly body to conform with his

glorified body. Extraordinary lines aren't they? They're very beginning of the

church when they're handful of Christians around the world but Paul speaks

...