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 want to focus this weekend on our second reading,

which is taken from St. Paul's magnificent first letter to the Corinthians. By

the way, if you're starting with St. Paul, it's not a bad place to start. You'll

find it right after the letter to the Romans in the New Testament. First

Corinthians is full of so much rich spirituality and theology. But our passage

for today, Paul's talking about what stands at the very center of his life. And

it's the very theme that the last five popes have emphasized. I'm talking

about evangelization. So listen now to Paul. If I preach the gospel, there's no

reason for me to boast. For an obligation has been imposed upon me and

woe to me if I do not preach it. It's magnificent stuff. It's so typical of

Paul. And he's laying out for us what stands at the very center of his life.

It's preaching what he would have called the U1 Gheleon, the glad tidings, the

Godspell, the good news. And the term would have had multiple resonances for Paul's

audience, which is kind of a mixture of the Jewish and the and the Greco-Roman.

To the Jews, they probably heard echoes of Isaiah. How beautiful upon the mountains

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