This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next few minutes to

reflect with Father Robert Barron on the word of God, which is the word on fire. Word on

fire, Catholic Ministries, is a non-profit ministry at the forefront of Catholic evangelization

using new media to spread the faith and every continent. Father Barron challenges us to

open our hearts to the word on fire, which is God's word of love for each of us. If our

hearts are open, the Lord can change and transform us so that we might speak with love about

the one who is love. The global benefactors of word on fire with the support of the Archdiocese

of Chicago now present word on fire. Peace be with you. Friends, these wonderful gospel readings

from the A cycle of land bring us into the depths and they move to a kind of crescendo. So two

weeks ago in the story of the encounter with the woman at the well, we learn that sin is a kind of

thirst and Jesus is the living water. Last week in the encounter with the man born blind, we

learn that sin is like darkness and Jesus is the light. This week now in a kind of climax,

we learn that sin is a kind of death and Jesus is the resurrection in the life. I think of

these great encounters that people have with Jesus now moving to a climax just before his own

passion death and resurrection. They reach a sort of crescendo now in the story of Lazarus.

This entire reading, and again, it's a typical Johanna masterpiece. The entire reading is haunted

by death, but death it does not have the final word. Might I even say that in this death haunted

story, death is treated with a sort of flippancy. Look how it begins. Jesus hears that his good friend

Lazarus is sick. Well, you think, okay, I want to save Lazarus, I will hurry to Judea. I will see

him before he dies so I can cure him. Instead, Jesus purposely delays going to Judea, essentially

giving Lazarus time to die. We wonder at this, but the Lord could not be more explicit. Listen

to what he says. I am glad for you, he says his disciples, that I was not there, that you may believe

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