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, our readings for this dramatic

fourth Sunday of Advent put us

in the heart of a deep and abiding mystery.

I'm talking about the mystery of God's providence.

Just when we're tempted to say, you know, nothing makes sense. The Bible interrupts us to say,

wait a minute. God works in subtle ways, and often it takes years, even centuries, for God's plan fully to be realized.

And that's why we wait, isn't it? Advent. I've often said that this season, of all the liturgical seasons, in some ways, most clearly names what all of our time on earth here is about.

You know, all of our life here below is an advent period.

It's a period of waiting and watching.

The Bible tells us, don't give up on God's providence.

Wait, watch, it'll have its day.

Okay? So the first reading takes us back to the 10th century BC.

So about 1,000 years before Jesus, 600 years before Plato and Aristotle, 500 years before the Buddha.

So we're going a long time ago.

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