This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next few 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 on 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, the gospel for this weekend

addresses an issue of tremendous practical importance, namely whether and how we ought to engage

in fraternal correction. That's the traditional term for the constructive criticism of our brothers

and sisters. Now, I realize, according to the etiquette of a

liberal society, we oughtn't to do this at all. I mean, for everyone is his or her own boss.

Who are you to tell me what to do? I mean, we can find, let's face it, an excuse or a justification

for practically any kind of behavior. And at the same time, as long as we're being honest,

we all engage in correction and criticism of others all the time. In fact, it's pretty much our favorite indoor pastime.

How people look, whom people befriend, what political commitments people make, what people do or don't do,

all of it seems to be fair game for criticism.

And spiritually, we all know why we love this so much.

The lower we make others, the higher we appear, at least to ourselves.

You know, can I recommend something to you?

An examination of conscience at the end of the day, precisely with this issue in mind,

honestly assessing how often you've engaged in the criticism of others in the course of a day.

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