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 wonder if you've heard about this phenomenon

discovered by some sociologists of primal cultures. There's a scenario in which

two of chieftains, two rulers of tribes, essentially destroy each other in

rivalrous displays of hospitality. I know that sounds weird, but here's the

scenario. One chieftain entertains his rival with this lavish display of

hospitality with a great meal and giving gifts and so on. The other chieftain

then feels, wait a minute, I've now been put in a sort of advantageous position

because now I look like I really owe this guy something. He responds with an

even more extravagant dinner and more extravagant gift giving. So now the

original fellow is, well, wait a minute. Now I'm in the disadvantageous position.

I've got to just go over the top with another show of hospitality and this

goes back and forth until the two societies, the two tribes, basically

destroy themselves. Well, curious thing, but it's pointing to in its own

exaggerated way, a reality that we all face. The French sociologist,

Emil Benveniste, noticed an interesting etymological relationship between

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