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 and 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 Baron as he preaches

the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, our gospel for today opens with this observation. Great crowds

were traveling with Jesus. Well, you say that's great, huh? Jesus is making a big splash

and a lot of people following Him and He's very successful. The numbers are up. Now that

I have a seminary rectal Roy's concerned about the numbers of students and when there

are a lot of them coming, we're happy. When you sponsor a talk or something and how many

came, where there are a lot of people there, so that's natural. We like it when there

are big crowds, but I want you to think about something. How many were following Jesus

at the very end? When He was hanging on the cross, how many were following Him? Well, there

were a handful of people, His mother, St. John, a couple of the women. Keep that contrast

in mind. Beginning of His public ministry, He's a miracle worker. He's a charismatic

presence. He's a great preacher. Of course, people were attracted to Him. There must have

been a lot of people who follow Jesus the way of people follow pop stars today. He's

the latest thing. But contrast that again with those who were with Him at the end.

It's easy to follow Jesus when everything's going great, but will you follow Him to the

bitter end? See, that's the question the gospel raises. The Lord Himself undoubtedly

sends this, which is why He turned to this great crowd of followers, all of these fair

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