This is Cardinal Francis George, and I invite you to join me for the next few minutes to reflect with Father Robert Baron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire.

Father Baron 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 Parish in Winnicka now presents the Word on Fire.

Peace be with you. Friends, one of the most persistent questions I get when I give a talk or a sermon, and I speak of God's will, walking God's path, doing what God wants.

One of the most persistent questions is, okay, Father, how do I know? How do I discern? Fine, if I knew, for sure, this is the will of God, of course I would do it.

But how do I know? One of the best places to look in the Scripture for an answer to this question is our first reading for this week.

It's taken from the first book of Samuel, the story we know well. It's the story of the call of Samuel, unlike a lot of these beautiful biblical passages.

It's a story that contains in itself a spiritual program. When it's read symbolically, we can see the whole spiritual life encapsulated.

Remember how the story begins from the first book of Samuel?

Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God was. The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, here I am.

He ran to Eli and said, here I am, you called me. I did not call you, Eli, said, go back to sleep.

Origin said that every detail of the Scripture is meaningful and should be treasured the way you treasure every morsel of the blessed sacrament.

So we attend to the details. How's the story open? Samuel is asleep in the temple.

Christian sleeping is a great biblical theme for inattentiveness.

You're asleep. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, wrestling with the will of his father.

At the high point of spiritual attentiveness, Peter, James, and John, and the other disciples are asleep.

Not paying attention. Drowsing off.

Here, Samuel, listen, is in the temple. He's in the holy place. He's in the church, sitting even by the Ark of God.

He's in the holiest place you can imagine. What's he doing? He is sleeping.

Here's a first spiritual lesson from this story. You want to know the will of God? You want to discern the will of God?

Well, wake up. First step, wake up. Make sure you don't fall asleep to the spiritual dimension of life.

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