Word on fire is brought to you by Catholic cemeteries, serving the Chicago area since 1837.

This is Cardinal Francis George, and I invite you to join me for the next few minutes to reflect with Father Robert Barron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire.

Father Barron will challenge us to open our hearts to the Word on Fire, which is God's

word of love for each of us.

If our hearts are open, the Lord can change and transform us so that we might speak with

love about the one who is love.

The Archdiocese of Chicago through the generosity of Sacred Heart Parish in Winnetka

now presents the Word on Fire.

Peace be with you. Friends, all the readings for this weekend are in different ways about the law.

We Americans, you know, have a rather ambiguous relationship to the law.

On the one hand, we are a freedom-loving nation.

Don't tread on me. Don't tell me what to do.

I have the right, as Thomas Jefferson said, to pursue happiness as I see fit.

There's something in us that balks at the law.

On the other hand, let's face it, we're a very litigious society.

Precisely because we're preoccupied with our rights,

lawyers are thick on the ground in the American culture.

So many of our founding fathers were men of the law and the two great Protestant founders, Martin Luther and John Calvin, who have profoundly influenced our own

cultural structure. Well, they were law students in their early careers. So we hate the law

and we love the law. We balk at the law and we need the law.

We have a kind of love-hate relationship with it.

And probably to be honest, this makes us like most people up and down the ages.

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