Word on Fire is brought to you by Catholic Cemetery serving the Chicago area since 1837 and FSP dedicated to food service excellence.

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, clearly might speak with love about the one who is love.

The Archdiocese of Chicago through the generosity of Sacred Heart Parish and Wunekka now presents the Word on Fire.

Peace be with you.

I think it's fair to say that the biblical authors have a very realistic, at times even John's view of human beings and human affairs.

There's nothing gushy or romantic in the biblical authors about human beings, even about great heroes.

One of the marks of the Bible is that even the greatest figures, Moses and David and Isaiah and company, are flawed, are fallen.

Just think for a second. Moses, at one point, doesn't believe God's Word. That's why he's punished and never enters the Holy Land.

Jacob, one of the greatest of the patriarchs, well, he's a cheat. Self-absorbed as a young man.

Joseph, the dreamer, well, when he was a kid, he was unbearable and obnoxious.

David, the greatest king Israel ever had, was an adulterer and a murderer, and the stories go on and on.

Notice, too, please. We don't need a sort of muck-raking journalist or revisionist historian to uncover these flaws.

In fact, they're on display in the Bible. The Bible isn't romantic about the leaders, and then someone else is, oh, by the way, David had his problems.

In the contrary, the Bible itself, in fact, it's part of the Bible's witness, is that David is deeply flawed.

Let me make it a little more specific. The biblical authors are especially suspicious of those who wield power.

Now mind you, power is not bad in itself. It can't be because it's one of God's own attributes.

We describe God as all-powerful, hence we can't say that power in itself is a bad thing.

But the biblical authors are very aware of the fact that powerful people can easily become corrupt.

In fact, I think they might make their own Lord Acton's famous observation that power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt.

Absolutely. I think they would have been very at home with that claim.

...