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 Parishing Winnetka now presents

the Word on Fire.

Peace be with you.

Friends, the past couple of weeks, I've been reading a lot in the writings of Iris Murdoch.

Iris Murdoch was an Irish novelist and philosopher.

She died just two years ago after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

You might have read or heard about this lovely book that her husband wrote.

Her husband is John Bailey, who is an Oxford professor of English, and he wrote a lovely

book called An Elegy for Iris, and it's about the years where she was struggling with

Alzheimer's disease leading up to her death.

But her writings are terrific.

They're wonderful and strange and surprising.

If you like novels, you'll find her very interesting, both from a story standpoint and a philosophical

standpoint, but she also wrote extensively in philosophy and theology, which are my

areas of interest.

She has a very dark view of human nature, not unlike the Christian doctrine of original

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