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 of us. Peace be with you. Friends, we return this

weekend to the regular cycle of readings for ordinary time and were met with a bracing

spiritual teaching from the Lord Jesus. The Church has very wisely cleverly coupled

our gospel for today with a passage from the prophet Jeremiah. I like to begin with that

passage. Jeremiah was such a human character. He was indeed one of the greatest prophets of Israel,

a man deeply in touch with the purposes and presence of God, but at the same time, he was

often unsure of himself. He felt he was too young when God called him. He was beset by lots

of real enemies, and he also cultivated what we might call today some paranoid fears. He strove

with all his heart to do and say what God wanted, but he also hesitated. He questioned God and

sometimes even blamed God for his problems. So complex human figure. Well, listen to him today

as he speaks in our first reading. I hear the whisperings of many terror on every side, denounce,

let us denounce him. Well, this is what the prophet hears in the wake of his prophecy.

I don't know about you, but I don't know where any of the prophets of Israel were met with extraordinary

positive response. Almost all of them got a lot of negative feedback. He goes on, all those who are

my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. Now, I must say maybe the risk of myself sounding

paranoid. As someone who does a fair amount of commentary in the public sphere, that sounds

pretty contemporary. You know, you say something, you write an article and people are just watching

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