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, one of

the most important doctrines of the Church is the doctrine of original sin.

The teaching that holds that there is something fundamentally off about us,

something that's just not right. We're off-kilter, we're skewed, we're mixed up.

We Catholics don't hold to a doctrine of total depravity as though sin is just

wrecked us spiritually. I mean we think that mine and will are intact as

spiritual powers. But we do indeed hold, if you want the details by the way look

at the Council of Trent. We do indeed hold that original sin has worked its way

into every nook and cranny of our lives. Into our minds, our wills, our desires,

our passions even into our very bodies.

GK Chesterton argued, oh a century ago now, that original sin is the only doctrine

for which there is clear empirical evidence. See what he meant? We can feel it

in ourselves and we can see the effects of it everywhere. Watch the 10 o'clock

news. If you want to see the effects of original sin, look inside your own

psyche, your own soul, you'll see it. Read Paul to the Romans chapter 7 sometimes

in those famous words, the good that I would do, that's what I don't do. The evil

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