This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next two minutes to reflect

with Father Robert Barron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire. Word on Fire Catholic

Ministries is a non-profit ministry at the forefront of Catholic evangelization, using

new media to spread the faith and every continent. Father Barron challenges 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 global benefactors of Word on Fire with the support of the Archdiocese of

Chicago now present Word on Fire. Peace be with you. Friends, today, the great feast

of the Assumption of Mary falls on a Sunday, so we have the privilege of really reflecting

more deeply on this important feast. The first reading is taken from the book of

Revelation. It's a very extraordinary vision. I know we've heard it many times, but it

behooves us to dwell on it, I think, with some care. We're taken right into the heavenly

court. We're taken as it were into the realm of God. We see the celestial temple opened,

and within it we can spy the Ark of the Covenant. Now all this can be fairly alien to us, even

though we have the Indiana Jones movies reintroduced us to the Ark of the Covenant. But if you're

a first century Jew reading this text, all this would have extraordinarily powerful overtones.

Because the Ark, as you know, was the box that contained the remnants of the Ten Commandments.

It was the raison d'être que for the temple. It's why the temple existed to house the

Ark of the Covenant. It was the object found within the Holy of Holies in the very heart of the

temple. It bore the divine presence to Israel. That's not too strong a term to use. Before the

temple of Solomon was built, the Ark was carried in the battle by the Israelite armies when they

went out against their enemies. Because it symbolized, but even more than that, it more than symbolized.

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