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, not too long ago, I was reading a wonderful commentary on the writings of the church's

greatest mystic, St. John of the Cross.

You know, I've got a long relationship with John of the Cross because my home parish outside

Chicago when I was growing up was called St. John of the Cross. So home parish outside Chicago when I was growing up

was called St. John of the Cross. So I just knew it as the name of my parish. And then later on,

largely through the administrations of Thomas Merton, I came to understand the importance of St. John

of the Cross. He was a 16th century figure. The spiritual director, by the way, of St. Teresa Vival.

Imagine that little task.

You're the spiritual director of one of the great spiritual masters of the whole tradition.

He was a reformer of his Carmelite order.

And also, here's one for the literary people, one of the very greatest poets in the Spanish language. So even those who have no

interest in religion, they just love linguistics and poetry, read St. John of the Cross

simply for his literary prowess. Anyway, John's treatises on the spiritual life are basically

lengthy commentaries on his marvelous poems.

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