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've

always loved the prophet Jeremiah and that just as a literary spiritual figure as

a writer but but also as a person. You know even the most superficial reading of

the book of the prophet Jeremiah reveals the person of the prophet. Can I

urge everybody by the way? I know it's a little bit dense and complicated but

take out your Bibles and open to the book of the prophet Jeremiah and see if

you can plow your way through the whole thing. You'll get a sense of this person

behind the words because he's not just an oracle passively receiving the word

of God and then a non-seating it like a robot. No really almost of all the

prophets Jeremiah is the most vividly alive the most real credible. Sometimes

majestically confident other times conflicted sometimes sure of himself

sometimes anxious and it's this wonderful complex personality who emerges in

the pages of that book. One of the most moving passages I've always found dealing

with Jeremiah has to do with his prophetic call. So the Lord summons him and right

away he resists. Oh Lord God Yahweh look I'm too young don't don't ask me.

Scholars speculate Jeremiah might have been as young as 17 when he's first

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