Welcome back to the Word on Fire show. I'm Brandon Vot the content director at Word

on Fire and with us is Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron always great to talk with you.

Brandon, a joy to be on with you as always.

Hey, we're still here in the beginning of the New Year and I forgot to ask you in the

last episode as we kick off 2017. Do you have any goals or resolutions for the New Year?

Goals are, I've never really been a big New Year's resolution kind of guy.

I just got through a retreat. You know, you think I would have made a spiritual resolution.

I did. I suppose I did talking about deepening my own prayer life, spending more time with the

Lord, trying to get my life in better order is because I'm trying to keep all these things

balanced. You know, my work in the region, my work in LA, my work around the country, my work with

Word on Fire. So I suppose that's kind of a resolution is to get my life in some better order.

Now, when you first became Bishop, I remember and I don't know if we talked about this on the

show or not, but you asked Archbishop Gomez during one of your first trips out to your new region,

what do you want me to do here? Like what are your goals for me here and what did he tell you?

Yeah, he thought for about 20 seconds maybe and then he said, I want you to be present to the people.

I want you to give them hope and I want you to teach them doctrine.

And so I've taken that very seriously. I think being present to the people is huge.

Was it Woody Allen said, you know, 80% of life is showing up? There's a lot to that. I mean,

you show up at things. So this morning I was, I said, massive seven o'clock with the poor

clairs out here in Santa Barbara. Tomorrow I'm doing a funeral mass for a young Deacon who died.

I go to schools and to a parishes and confirmation. So being present, that's a big part of it.

And then giving hope, LA, you know, the last 10, 15 years has gone through a rough time.

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