The Word On Fire Show - Catholic Faith And Culture

Friends, what is a Holy Hour? How do you do it, and why should you start? On today’s episode of the “Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I discuss one of the most powerful spiritual disciplines you can adopt. A listener asks, if the Eucharist is so important, why isn’t it mentioned in the Nicene Creed? Links The Holy Hour: Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration edited by Matthew Becklo The Word Became Flesh: Reflection for Advent and Christmas edited by Matthew Becklo NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, today we share a conversation I had with leaders at Biola University on proclaiming and encountering Christ. It was wonderful to sit down with our Protestant brothers and sisters to discuss the importance of evangelization in today’s culture. In this discussion, we explore how to evangelize through the new media, reach the disaffiliated, prepare to become an evangelist, and much more. Links Story of a Soul by St. Thérèse of Lisieux (WOF Classics)

Friends, on today’s episode of the “Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I discuss some comments recently made by Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, about space and religion. What does Catholicism have to say about the universe and the possibility of alien life? Should we be curious about the cosmos? And what opportunities might space exploration introduce to Catholic evangelists? A listener asks, given recent research on anti-aging, is aging a disease? Links WonderConference.com With All Her Mind: A Call to the Intellectual Life edited by Rachel Bulman The Holy Hour: Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration edited by Matthew Becklo NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, today we share a talk I recently gave to the service men and women at the United State Air Force Academy. After previously speaking at the Naval Academy about three sailors from the Bible, then at West Point about three soldiers from the Old Testament, I wondered, what should I speak of to the Air Force Academy? What came to me was the angels, those famous fliers in the pages of the Bible. I told the Air Force men and women that they are flyers, too, and so they should consider the angelic realm, the realm of pure spirits, those who fly into the very presence of God, becoming radiant by contact with him. I encouraged them to join the angels in flight, trust their life to a higher power, and become a person of right praise. Links The Holy Hour: Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration edited by Matthew Becklo With All Her Mind: A Call to the Intellectual Life edited by Rachel Bulman NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, an

Friends, on today’s episode of the “Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I recap two recent discussions I shared with Lex Fridman and Shia LaBeouf. With over two million views combined, these discussions struck a chord with people and I think they reveal several lessons for Catholics interested in drawing others closer to God. A listener asks, how do you get so many things done? Links Lex Fridman discussion Shia LeBeouf discussion The Holy Hour: Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration edited by Matthew Becklo With All Her Mind: A Call to the Intellectual Life edited by Rachel Bulman Wonder Conference

Friends, today we share my recent “Bishop Barron Presents” discussion with Shia LeBeouf. Shia is an actor famous for his roles in Transformers, Honey Boy, and Peanut Butter Falcon, among other films. His most recent role is as the young Padre Pio in a new biopic on the great saint, a role which changed his life as he explains in this discussion. His story of conversion is profound and I think you will find it deeply moving. Links New book – The Holy Hour: Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration edited by Matthew Becklo Wonder Conference – WonderConference.com NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, today on the “Word on Fire Show,” we conclude our series of discussions called “Understanding the Present Moment.” Brandon Vogt and I have examined four massively influential figures who together help explain our present moment, how we arrived at where we are today. The ideologies undergirding much of the unrest in our culture stem from these four thinkers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault. Once we understand these figures and their key ideas, we will recognize them everywhere and be prepared to engage today’s challenges. In today’s fourth and final discussion, we focus on Michel Foucault, perhaps the least known of the four but maybe the one with the greatest direct impact on the way many in our culture think today. A listener asks, how do we understand God as bring if he’s both Father and Son? Links Two new Thomas Aquinas books! – Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master by Bishop Barron and Thomas Aquinas: Selected Commentaries on the New Testament edited by Jason Pao

In this new “Bishop Barron Presents” discussion, Bishop Barron sits down with bestselling author Luke Burgis to discuss his new book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. Why do we want what we want? And how do our desires shape us as people? How are desires related to freedom? In their conversation, Bishop Barron and Burgis discuss these topics and more, such as: René Girard Mimetic desire Social media The scapegoat mechanism Links Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, today on the “Word on Fire Show,” we continue our series of discussions called “Understanding the Present Moment.” Brandon Vogt and I are examining four massively influential figures who together help explain our present moment, how we arrived at where we are today. The ideologies undergirding much of the unrest in our culture stem from these four thinkers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault. Once we understand these figures and their key ideas, we will recognize them everywhere and be prepared to engage today’s challenges. In today’s third discussion, we focus on Jean-Paul Sartre. A listener asks, how does someone be selfless and yet love himself? Links The Installation of Bishop Robert Barron Wonder Conference – WonderConference.com NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part

Friends, today we share the homily I gave for my installation Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rochester, Minnesota. Celebrating the Feast of Sts. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, I correlated those three disciples to what Pope Benedict XVI identified as the three tasks of the Church: worship, service of the poor, and evangelization.

Friends, today on the “Word on Fire Show,” we continue our series of discussions called “Understanding the Present Moment.” Brandon Vogt and I are examining four massively influential figures who together help explain our present moment, how we arrived at where we are today. The ideologies undergirding much of the unrest in our culture stem from these four thinkers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault. Once we understand these figures and their key ideas, we will recognize them everywhere and be prepared to engage today’s challenges. In today’s second discussion, we focus on Friedrich Nietzsche. A listener asks, what’s the difference between the theological virtues of faith and hope? Links Wonder Conference – WonderConference.com NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission

Today we share the second half (listen to the first half here) of Bishop Barron’s presentation titled “Breaking Through the Buffered Self,” which he offered for the prestigious 2022 Albert Cardinal Meyer Lecture series hosted at Mundelein Seminary back in March 2022. In the talk, Bishop Barron looks at the intellectual matrix that has made the army of the disaffiliated possible, namely, what Charles Taylor calls the culture of the “buffered self,” the ego cut off from any living contact with the transcendent. Then, using the three great transcendentals—the good, the true, and the beautiful—as his framework, he proposes ways to break through the buffered self and to open the restless heart to a consideration of God and the things of God. NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, as you may have heard, Pope Francis recently appointed me the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota). I will be formally installed on July 29.  On today's episode of “The Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I discuss how I found out, how the process works, how it will affect Word on Fire, and what I'm looking forward to most in my new diocese. A listener asks, what is it like to act in persona Christi from a physical and emotional perspective?

Today we share Bishop Barron’s presentation entitled “Breaking Through the Buffered Self,” which he offered for the prestigious 2022 Albert Cardinal Meyer Lecture series hosted at Mundelein Seminary back in March 2022. In the talk, Bishop Barron looks at the intellectual matrix that has made the army of the disaffiliated possible, namely, what Charles Taylor calls the culture of the “buffered self,” the ego cut off from any living contact with the transcendent. Then, using the three great transcendentals—the good, the true, and the beautiful—as his framework, he proposes ways to break through the buffered self and to open the restless heart to a consideration of God and the things of God. (This is Part I of his lecture series. We will share Part II on a future episode.)

Friends, today on the “Word on Fire Show,” we kick off a new series of discussions called “Understanding the Present Moment.” Brandon Vogt and I will look at four massively influential figures who together help explain our present moment, how we arrived at where we are today. The ideologies undergirding much of the unrest in our culture stem from these four thinkers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault. Once we understand these figures and their key ideas, we will recognize them everywhere and be prepared to engage today’s challenges. In today’s first discussion, we focus on Karl Marx. A listener asks, what advice would you give to a man discerning the permanent diaconate? Links Redeeming the Time: Gospel Perspectives on the Challenges of the Hour by Bishop Robert Barron NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our list

In this new “Bishop Barron Presents” discussion, Bishop Barron sits down with bestselling author Tara Isabella Burton to discuss her new book, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World. Burton argues that while younger generations are supposedly the most secular according to surveys, they’re actually notably religious—it’s just that they have adopted strange new religions. She claims today’s Americans are embracing a kaleidoscopic panoply of spiritual traditions, rituals, and subcultures, from astrology and witchcraft to SoulCycle and the alt-right. In search of the deep and the real, they are finding meaning, purpose, ritual, and communities in ever-newer, ever-stranger ways. In their conversation, Bishop Barron and Tara discuss topics such as: Are people actually moving away from religion? The unaffiliated The retreat into self Christian truth claims Why people leave organized religion And numerous other topics Links Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World by Tara Isabella Burton Redeemi

Friends, our culture is obsessed with self-determination: finding our own voice, setting our own agenda, doing things according to our own lights. But is this problematic? And what does the Bible have to say about self-determination? On today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I discuss how, in the Christian tradition, heroes are never those who “find themselves,” but rather those who heed the voice of God and remain obedient to the mission that God has given them. A listener asks, how do you possibly balance a passion for baseball with your faith life? Links “Why Doing What Is Right in Your Own Sight Is Such a Bad Idea” by Bishop Barron The New Apologetics: Defending the Faith in a Post-Christian Era edited by Matt Nelson NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

In this new “Bishop Barron Presents” discussion, Bishop Barron sits down with evolutionary biologists Dr. Heather Heying and Dr. Bret Weinstein, the best-selling authors of A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life. They discuss several topics, such as: Evolution, science, and religion The importance of public discourse G.K. Chesterton’s fence The problems of pornography Links The New Apologetics: Defending the Faith in a Post-Christian Era

  Friends, what can St. Benedict, a sixth century monk, teach us about evangelization today? That's what Brandon Vogt and I discuss in today's episode of “The Word on Fire Show.” We explore several Benedictine principles including humility, justice, the cultivation of beauty, the intellectual life, community, and becoming masters of the spiritual life. Also, a listener asks whether I truly do my own dishes. Links “Bishop Barron Presents: Tara Isabella Burton” “The Making of a Catholic Priest” – YouTube film with Fr. Stephen Gadberry NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, in the book of Revelation, Jesus says, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you and you with me.” But how does this work? How do we allow him into our hearts? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss in today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show.” A listener asks, what do you think about the series, The Chosen? Links Word on Fire Liturgy of the Hours