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, for this second Sunday of Advent, we have this magnificent reading from Isaiah

chapter 11, and it's this description of the Messiah's arrival,

but coming from the root of Jesse.

And then coming to full expression in the Messiah

are the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

You know, I was just at Shard Cathedral last summer filming,

one of my favorite places in the world.

And on the Western front, there's a depiction of this, just gorgeous.

Shows Jesse asleep, and then coming up from his loins is this great tree

and then these various figures on it, the ancestors of Jesus, at the top of the tree, kind of as

its flower, is the figure of Christ. And around his head are the seven doves, symbolic of the

seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. So that image from medieval France goes all the way back to

ancient Israel. And this passage, that's our first reading, on that day, the great day of the Lord,

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