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, we

come now to the fifth Sunday of Lent and just this magnificent series of

marvelous readings from the gospel of John. Now is a kind of climax we come to the

story of the raising of Lazarus. As I mentioned before in the stories of the

woman at the well and the man born blind and so many others the whole

spiritual life is summed up in a kind of iconic way in these stories and this

is is no exception to that rule. Before we get to Lazarus though the church

asks us to contemplate a little passage from the 37th chapter of the prophet

Ezekiel is that famous story of the of the dry bones. Remember the prophet is

given this vision of the dry bones the result of a battle and all these bodies

that have wasted away and leaving the bones behind but then we hear how

Spirit of the Lord breathes upon them and you know first comes the sin you and

then the flesh then they stand up as a mighty army and then God breathes his

life back into them. It's God reviving Israel and we hear this line I will open

your graves and have you rise from them. I don't know about you but there's

there's we to mind my nothing more extraordinary in the whole spiritual order

...