SundayPrep

Friends, Dr. Christian Smith has written a new book titled “Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation.” It's based on new research about how parents successfully raise children to become religiously-practicing adults. In this episode of "The Word on Fire Show," Brandon Vogt and I walk through his findings and discuss what actually helps our kids to retain their faith into young adulthood. A listener asks, how do we know which religion is right, Catholicism or Protestantism? 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 depe...

Friends, when envy takes over our spiritual lives, we sow disorder and disintegration. The life of Jesus is about self-emptying love; it is in this gift of self that we are called to live. Watch the Spanish version here: https://youtu.be/lRm6q6TnoHc SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel to watch every Sunday Sermon: http://bit.ly/wof-subscribe ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on Pride, Humility, and Social Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFszRqu1oA0 Bishop Barron on Original Sin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdmsnbz1-EE Bishop Barron on the Best Way to Conquer Pride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQrK7PuwU5k Bishop Barron on The Fall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3u4kYuSTHA ...

Friends, though California Assembly Bill 338 rightly calls for the contributions and sufferings of native peoples to be recognized, it also encodes into California law calumny against St. Junípero Serra, and evokes the dark history of anti-Catholicism in this country. This is deeply troubling and demands our attention. Read the Wall Street Journal article from Archbishop José H. Gomez and Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone: https://www.wsj.com/articles/slander-saintt-junipero-serra-california-legislature-statue-indigenous-11631470675 To learn more about St. Junípero Serra, please read these FAQs from Word on Fire: https://wordonfire.org/serra ———LINKS——— Bishop Barron on the Canonizat...

Friends, I am thrilled to share with you a brand-new book from the Word on Fire Institute: https://books.wordonfire.org/jonah. Jonah is the only ancient prophet with whom Jesus identifies in the Gospels. But when we turn to read the book of Jonah itself, we discover that this so-called “book” is only two pages long—and that Jonah’s prophesying is limited to one short sentence. And yet, around this small book, as if it were around Jonah’s own troubled ship, high waves of controversy and mystery have swirled for centuries. In A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of Bewilderment, Fr. Paul Murray strives to uncover the great lesson of this story. Following Fr. Murray’s exploration i...

Friends, with our readings from this weekend, we are on very holy ground because we're dealing with the imagery, symbolism, and theology of the suffering servant. Yes, he is the one who will bring God's salvation to all the world, but he will do it by bearing the pain and suffering of the world. Watch the Spanish version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIhXfVCe83A SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel to watch every Sunday Sermon: http://bit.ly/wof-subscribe ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on Should Suffering Shake Our Faith?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfK5xYK0EzQ Bishop Barron Comments on Stephen Fry, Job, and Suffering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07AWWJiyAU8 Bishop Barron...

Friends, a recent poll from the Survey Center on American Life revealed that people are rapidly losing their close friends, especially men. The number of American men who view themselves as having "no close friends" quintupled over the last 30 years, increasing from 3 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2021. Why is this happening, and how can we reverse it? How can we develop closer friendships? Brandon Vogt and I discuss those questions today. A listener asks, why does God love us? ———EPISODE LINKS——— “The Creed”: https://wordonfire.org/creed ———WATCH——— Subscribe to this Channel: https://bit.ly/31LV1sn Word on Fire Institute Channel: https://bit.ly/2voBZMD Word on Fire en Español C...

Friends, I fear that as our culture lurches away from the authority of the good and falls toward the supremacy of the individual will, we put ourselves in a rather parlous condition. The door opens for totalitarianism when we no longer make distinctions between truth and falsity. ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on Conscience and Morality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYvbgOTGm7g Bishop Barron on the Rise of the “Nones”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG2mtELrxkg Bishop Barron on Modernity and Morality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0sspv5npis ———WATCH——— Subscribe to this Channel: https://bit.ly/31LV1sn Word on Fire Institute Channel: https://bit.ly/2voBZMD Word on Fire en Espa...

Friends, I have no quarrel with a university chaplaincy reaching out to seekers and nonbelievers. But I do have a problem with the religious leadership at Harvard University electing someone who does not believe in God precisely as chaplain. If you don’t believe in God, then you’re not a chaplain. Read my article for the New York Post here: https://nypost.com/2021/08/31/catholic-bishop-harvard-jumped-the-shark-with-atheist-chaplain/ ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on the New Atheists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe5kVw9JsYI Bishop Barron on Creating Atheists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU12lJ020fE ———WATCH——— Subscribe to this Channel: https://bit.ly/31LV1sn Word on Fire In...

Friends, I am thrilled to share with you my newest book, “Light from Light,” the companion to my new film series, “The Creed” https://creed.wordonfire.org. In recent decades, antipathy toward religious belief in general, and Christianity in particular, has been on the rise, with over a quarter of Americans now identifying as religiously unaffiliated. The dumbing down of the faith, the influence of the new atheists, and the culture of self-invention have all contributed to obscuring the truth of what thoughtful Christians actually believe. In “Light from Light: A Theological Reflection on the Nicene Creed,” I invite skeptics and seekers to discover the intellectual richness of the Cath...

Friends, I am happy to share with you my newest film series, “The Creed” https://creed.wordonfire.org. Recent decades have witnessed a surge of the religiously unaffiliated, especially among young people. Many former believers have simply turned their backs on Christianity and no longer accept its teachings. But what are those teachings? And are they the same as what so many people reject? In “The Creed," my new film series blending documentary conversations and dynamic talks, I attempt to guide viewers into the depths of the Nicene Creed, a fourth-century statement of faith that has profoundly influenced Christian spirituality, theology, and liturgy in both the East and West. Expl...

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus travels outside of Israel and heals a man of his deafness. Today, we live in a realm of spiritual deafness. We are bombarded with voices from outside, echoing around us until we are as incapable of hearing as the man from our Gospel. Like him, look to Jesus to heal you so that you might hear the word of God and understand his truth, rather than the lies of the world which surround us. SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel to watch every Sunday Sermon: http://bit.ly/wof-subscribe ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on Should Suffering Shake Our Faith?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfK5xYK0EzQ Bishop Barron on Having a “Personal Relationship” with Jesus: https:...

Friends, the more we revere something, the more we surround it with laws. The most important thing in our lives is to be in harmony with God, and so we follow his divine law. We must, with prudence and wisdom, distinguish between the commandments of God that structure us, and fussy human traditions that distract from our relationship with him. Watch the Spanish version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XDRYiCx07s SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel to watch every Sunday Sermon: http://bit.ly/wof-subscribe ———VIDEO LINKS——— Bishop Barron on Israel, the Church, and the Law (Part 1 of 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8xQD8hN8is Bishop Barron on Israel, the Church, and the Law (Part ...