This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next two 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, this year July 4th, our

great National Holiday, falls on the Sunday, which gives me a chance to reflect a little

bit on this, I think, always fascinating theme of being American and being Catholic.

What does it mean for us to say, yes, we're proud Americans and we're also Catholics. Are

those two statements just utterly reconcilable? Are they at odds with each other? Some blending

of the two? Let's explore that a bit. You know what comes to mind when this issue comes

up is what I call a tale of two Cardinals. I mean, George Cardinal Mundeline and Francis

Cardinal George. Two Cardinals of Chicago, both of whom had interesting things to say about

the relationship between being American and being Catholic. Mundeline, you might say, is

a bit more sanguine, a bit more optimistic and positive on this relationship. Cardinal

George, a bit more wary. If you go out to a Mundeline Seminary, which was Cardinal Mundeline's

Pride and Joy, that's the place where I teach and where I have a residence, you'll see

in bricks and mortar, you'll see in the very architecture of the place, Cardinal Mundeline's

understanding of the relationship between America and Catholicism. Mundeline Seminary was

built in the early 1920s, so a time when there was still a lot of suspicion of Catholics

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