This is Father Robert Barron. Friends, I invite you to reflect with me on the word of God, which is the word on fire.

Word on fire Catholic Ministries is a non-for-profit apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization.

We utilize media both old and new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an encounter with Christ and His Church.

Through our efforts, we hope to take the gospel out into the peripheries of the culture,

where the transformative power of God's Word is most needed.

Let us open our hearts to the word on fire, which is God's Word of Love for each one of us.

If our hearts are open, the Lord can change and transform us, so that we might share the warmth and light of Jesus Christ, who is the Word on fire.

The global benefactors of Word on fire, with the support of the arts dices of Chicago, now present Word on fire.

Peace be with you.

Friends, our gospel passage for today, this second Sunday of Advent, is precious indeed, for it's the opening of the first of the four gospels, the one written by St. Mark.

Like many other great writers, Mark signals his purpose and intention in the very opening line. Listen.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Now, I know as we read the gospel, Mark, we just probably pass that line over.

Oh, yeah, just a little introductory boilerplate. No, no, no.

The whole gospel is in that line if we read it a right.

First of all, the word beginning, archa in Mark's Greek, is of course a charged one if you're a biblical person.

John's gospel will commence with the phrase N.R.K. and Hologos, right in the beginning was the word.

And this in turn, hearkens back to the very beginning of the entire Bible, Beresheeth, in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.

In other words, like John, Mark is going to tell us a story of new creation, of the remaking of the world.

That's the heart of the Christian thing. If he's just one more teacher giving us a moral vision.

Great. I mean, that's fine. But we got a thousand visionaries and philosophers and moral teachers.

The point of the gospel is it's archa, it's beginning, it's creation, it's the remaking of the whole world.

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