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 and 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 Baron as he preaches

the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, our readings for this weekend are all about humility, which

is such a fundamental virtue in the moral life of spiritual life. I think I've told you

before about St. Bernard of Clarevo was once asked, what are the three most important elements

in the spiritual life? He said humility, humility, and humility. St. Catharine of Siena,

I've been reading a lot of her recently. In an ecstasy of prayer, she once heard the

Lord say to her, remember that I am and you are not. Now, don't take it literally to

suggest that we don't exist, but take it in its spiritual and indeed metaphysical

significance. God is the one who is. Everything we have, everything we are is therefore a gift

from God. Indeed, God is and we are not. And so whatever we have is grace, gift. St. Augustine

said, well, we've all been made from nothing, ex nihilow. And therefore we tend to nothing.

We carry about within us the heritage of non-being. We see it, of course, in our frailty, our sin,

our mortality. St. Paul summed it up. What do you have that you've not received? So why

do you boast? It's a good question, isn't it? Everything we have, we've received. So why

should we boast in what we have as though it's our unique accomplishment? Well, to believe in

God, everybody is to know these truths. To live out of them is to live in the attitude of what

the church calls humility. That's why Thomas Aquinas said, humility tasks very tasks. Just

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