Word on Fire: Proclaiming the Power of Christ

by Robert Barron

Word on Fire is one of the leading introductions to Catholic faith and culture. Based on specific Bible readings from the Old and the New Testament, Fr. Barron shares enthusiastically from the riches of Christian belief and tradition. His lively presentation of Catholicism uses art, music, painting, poety, philosophy and the saints' lives to illustrate the Biblical message. With sections on God, Jesus, the church, the liturgy, living the spiritual life, and the saints—each one featuring a beautiful illustration by Michael O'Neill McGrath—this book offers passionate evangelism for discerning readers interested in Catholicism, whether in private reflection or in group discussion.

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Theology, Christianity

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Bishop Robert Emmet Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is the former Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago and also is the founder of Word On Fire (www.WordOnFire.org).

Bishop Barron is the creator and host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking ten-part documentary series and study program about the Catholic faith. He is a passionate student of art, architecture, music and history, which he calls upon throughout his global travels in the making of the documentary.

Word On Fire programs are broadcast regularly on WGN America, Relevant Radio, CatholicTV, EWTN, the popular Word on Fire YouTube Channel, and the Word on Fire website, which offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries, and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts. In 2010, Father Barron was the first priest to have a national show on a secular television network since the 1950s.

Fr. Barron received his Masters Degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC in 1982 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Catholique in 1992. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and has been a professor of systematic theology at the nation's largest Catholic seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary since 1992. He was visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in 2002 and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.

In addition, Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad. Cardinal Francis George calls Fr. Barron “one of the Church’s best messengers.

Fr. Barron was baptized at Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago and grew up at St. John of the Cross parish in Western Springs, Illinois.
WordOnFire.org - Fr. Barron's website launched in 1999 and currently draws over 1 million visitors a year from every continent. Fr. Barron posts weekly video clips, commentaries and radio sermons and offers an audio archive of over 500 homilies. Podcasts of his sermons are widely used by tens of thousands of visitors each month.
TV - EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network) and CatholicTV broadcasts Fr. Barron's DVDs to a worldwide audience of over 150 million people.

Radio - Since 1999, Fr. Barron's weekly Word on Fire program has been broadcast in Chicago (WGN) and throughout the country (Relevant Radio - 950 AM Chicago) to 28 million listeners in 17 states. Fr. Barron also is a regular commentator on the "Busted Halo Show" on the Sirius satellite radio network based in New York.

DVDs - Fr. Barron's DVDs are used as powerful faith formation tools in universities, schools, churches and homes around the country. The series includes Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues; Faith Clips; Conversion: Following the Call of Christ; and Untold Blessing: Three Paths to Holiness.

YouTube - With over 180 online video commentaries by Fr. Barron, over 1 million viewers worldwide have made him the most popular of any evangelist on YouTube. These frequent, high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies such as No Country for Old Men, Apocalypto, and The Departed, a three-part critical review of Christopher Hitchen's book God is Not Great, The Discovery Channel's The Jesus Tomb, the HBO series "The Sopranos", "Rome" and more.

Missions - MISSION CHICAGO features evangelization lectures by Fr. Barron at the behest of Cardinal George. These special missions and presentations throughout the Archdiocese are centered in downtown Chicago and attract business, civic, and cultural leaders.
Books - His numerous books and essays serve as critical educational and inspirational tools for seminarians, priests, parishioners and young people worldwide. His published works are also central to the numerous retreats, workshop and talks that h

Reviews

[Emerson John Tiu Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a big fan of Word on Fire Podcast... this book is the written version.... its the collection of homilies of Fr. Robert Barron in Word on Fire Ministry. this book summarized the years of broadcasting the homilies since 2001

[Marcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lofty themes in an easily digestable and clear style, typical poetry of this great man of our age. Particularly strong chapter towards the end on Secularism, but wisdom permeates the entire book! Looking forward to the next one, and highly recommend his sermons on word on fire website, his youtube videos and any other format this man pronounces the Good news as well.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think everyone knows that Bishop Barron writes fantastic stuff and that you might want to have your dictionary ready on occasion, so I'll keep this one short and to the point. Yes, it is very good and rather accessible to people new to the Catholic faith or old hands. What makes this particular book so good is that you don't have to get buried in it for long periods of time. It's written in short chapters of just a few pages each. I don't think any really reached ten pages. These are chapters you can read on break or while you're in the bathroom hiding from your children or, like I did, in adoration. From my personal point of view, if you're in a particular hurry, start with part six and then go back to the rest. Also a good starter on the faith if you're in the mood to inquire about Catholicism.

[Zuziku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kniha je výborným sprievodcom Svätého písma. Napísal ju americký biskup, ktorý si v každej kapitole vyberá krátku stať zo Starého alebo Nového zákona a následne ju vysvetľuje naozaj rozmanitými spôsobmi, a to napríklad pomocou umenia, filozofie, hudby, poézie (aby boli jednotlivé úryvky pre čitateľov pochopiteľnejšie) či životopisov svätých (čím nám prezentuje, že podľa písma sa naozaj dá žiť a práve svätci sú toho príkladom). Rozhodne odporúčam prečítať každému, kto sa pri čítaní Svätého písma hlbšie zamýšľa nad Božím slovom a kto ho chce lepšie chápať a tak ho aj vedieť uplatňovať vo svojom vlastnom živote.

[David donegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! The sermons are brief, but packed with spiritual truths. There is a lot to digest in each one. Information offered in a easy to remember fashion that can be utilized by the reader for their own evangelism of the community.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent digest of Bishop Barron's homilies in written form. An easy read with some hard demands, if one is inclined to profit from the wisdom the words contain.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of Bishop Barron's homilies. It is very inspiring. He brings light to the scripture that I had never thought of before.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I love Father Barron. Really isn't anything he can write that I don't like. This is, however, simply a book of sermons strung together, so if you want a heftier book don't pick this one up.

Something from this book that will stick with me. Since I read Chesterton's Orthodoxy, I have loved the notion of the truth one can glean from paradox. Barron brings this out in the Adam and Eve story (and several other OT and NT texts). Nowhere is God more distant than in the Garden of Eden, nor more close than in the Expulsion from the Garden. Our experience of God is constantly in flux (in an often frustrating way).

There are many great insights in this book. If Father B's writings are your cup of tea, drink up.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good "Catholic" book. Father Barron is a renowned speaker on all things Catholic. He is easy to read and easy to listen to. I really like that he includes the secular history of the times and places of his scriptural disertations.
'Word on Fire' is a series of homilies given by Fr. Barron... try it, you'll like it.

[Amicizia]

An eloquent collection of essayes on a vasroeti of topics ranging from the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in th Eucharist to living as a faithful Catholic in contemporary American society. A great book both for cradle Catholics and inquirers into the Catholic faith.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well written and very exciting. I was excited to read each and every chapter. I love that the chapters were short. That always keep s my interest and gets me reading more chapters/pages than I normally do with long chapter books.

[Pat Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really thrilled with this book...... alot of
meaningless words. Expect to be enlightened from
a good read, to me, this was not.