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, what a great literary artist St. Luke is.

And what a gem he's given us in our Gospel story for this weekend, the conversion of Zacchaeus.

I'm recording these words actually on the Feast of St. Luke, and Luke is just one of my heroes.

And the older I get, the more I spend time with the Gospels, the more I have come to admire Luke

and his great artistry. This account of Zacchaeus is an historical account to be sure, but as is the case

with all the Gospel accounts, it's also carefully embellished to bring out its deep theological

and spiritual meaning. What I mean is this account of Jesus talking to Zacchaeus was in the memory

of the Church. But the time it got to Luke, and the time it came out now as a story from Luke,

all of the iconic and spiritual and theological significance of it is brought forward, and that's part of the

artistry of this author. I think we can see in this icon all the dynamics of conversion. What it

means to be converted to Christ. What it looks like, what it feels like. Luke gives us all that

texture in the story. We hear first that Jesus was passing through Jericho. Now, I know before I've

told you that Jericho is a spiritual symbol in the Bible, because the Israelites and the Old

Testament come into the Promised Land, and they have to conquer Jericho, knock down its walls, take it

over. Jericho, therefore, becomes a symbol of sin. It's the city of sin. That's why in the Good

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