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 an 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 Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the

warmth and light of Christ with each one of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, our first reading for this weekend is taken from the

fifth chapter of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is probably the prophet we read from

the most in the Old Testament throughout the liturgical years. So again when you

have a chance take out your Bibles and maybe get a good commentary but read your

way through the prophet Isaiah. He is featured prominently in many of the

liturgical readings. And the image from today's reading is a classic trope

within the Israelite tradition. And what I mean here is the image of the vineyard

as an evocation of the people Israel. You know it's funny since I came out here

to Southern California I live in vineyard country because I'm in Santa Barbara

just north of me a bit. You have some of the most famous vineyards and you know

wine tasting centers and all of that. So as I make my way around the region I go past

vineyards all the time. So the imagery from this sings to me a little bit more now

than I'm here. What we have Isaiah tells us is a kind of love song between the

maker of the vineyard and his vineyard. But it's a love song that emphasizes if

I might put it this way the demand of love. I heard what I mean listen to how he

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