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, I've always been fascinated by Mary's haste in the story

of the visitation. So we have this for our gospel today for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

We hear that upon taking in the message of Gabriel concerning her own pregnancy and

at her cousin, Mary, I'm quoting now, proceeded in haste into the hill country of Judah to

see Elizabeth. Why did she go with such speed and purpose? I'll tell you why. Because she

had found her mission. She had found her role in the Theodrama. Today were dominated

in the Western culture, but what I've called the ego drama and all of its ramifications

and implications. The ego drama is the play that I'm writing, I'm producing, I'm directing

and above all, I'm starring in. As I say, we see this everywhere in our culture. Freedom

reigns supreme. I become the person that I choose to be. Any appeal to objective truth

or moral goodness tends to be written off as an imposition of an alien will as a play

of power. Look, for example, to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. I've said the most influential

philosopher of the 19th century is Nietzsche. More than Marx, I think. Because Nietzsche had

the philosophy of the will to power. Everything's reduced finally to power and the play of power.

And so from an ego dramatic standpoint, if my play is what matters, then anytime you're

appealing to an objective truth or goodness, all that can be is a play of power on your

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