Episodes

  • According to Fortune magazine, overall undergraduate enrollment experienced the steepest rate of decline on record from 2019 to 2022, and it has only worsened since then. There are several explanations, but one cause is entirely self-imposed: most universities and colleges have now replaced education with ideology, subverting the search for truth with political indoctrination. Today, we discuss the ideological takeover of higher education and how the Catholic conception of the university can help provide an antidote.

    A listener asks, if priests are meant to represent Jesus, are nuns supposed to represent Mary?

    00:00 | Intro
    01:47 | Catholic social thought tradition and the higher education crisis
    03:50 | Differences between Catholic and secular universities
    04:50 | Seeking while knowing the truth
    07:33 | Resisting relativism
    09:30 | Catholic staff ratios for Catholic universities
    11:16 | Segregating Catholic identity
    13:51 | Academic freedom at Catholic universities
    15:46 | Dicy freedom of speech claims
    17:06 | Catholic universities and male participation
    18:37 | Higher education and vocational training
    20:35 | High costs and accessibility
    21:51 | What can we do to course-correct universities that have lost their way?
    24:50 | Listener question
    26:01 | Word on Fire Institute

    Links “Ivy League Presidents and the Collapse of Moral Reasoning” by Bishop Barron Statistic on men in 4-year schools: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/18/fewer-young-men-are-in-college-especially-at-4-year-schools/ Learn more about the Word on Fire Institute: Institute.WordonFire.org

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  • Today, we are bringing you a recent conversation from the “Bishop Barron Presents” series between Bishop Barron and Congressman Ro Khanna. Congressman Khanna represents California’s 17th Congressional District, best known as the home of Silicon Valley. Over the course of the conversation, the Bishop and he discussed his background, Catholic social teaching, various policy matters, finding common ground, and why the American experiment is a great and worthwhile endeavor. Enjoy!

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  • Friends, the Book of Jonah is one of the shortest books of the Bible, yet it’s packed with profound truths about hearing and obeying the voice of God. On today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show,” Brandon Vogt and I discuss this powerful little book.

    A listener asks, why did Jesus show up when he did and not at a different point in time? What would the world look like had he showed up later, or not at all?

    00:00 | Intro
    00:46 | Bishop Barron on Catholic Schools Week
    01:51 | Bishop Barron’s recent conversation with Jordan Peterson
    02:47 | Intro to the book of Jonah
    04:41 | Jonah’s opening narrative
    09:25 | Lessons from Luke’s road to Emmaus and Jonah
    11:00 | The significance of Jonah’s storm
    14:31 | The significance of Jonah’s fish
    16:58 | Answering Jonah’s critics
    18:22 | Jonah’s concluding narrative
    20:17 | Jesus’ words on Jonah
    22:48 | More resources on Jonah
    23:34 | Listener question
    26:17 | New book—Princesses of Heaven: The Flowers
    27:13 | Special announcement about future of WOF Show

    Links A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of Bewilderment by Fr. Paul Murray Princesses of Heaven: The Flowers by Fabiola Garza

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  • Friends, what’s the proper relationship between liberal democracy and the Catholic Church? Many smart and reflective people, on either side of the Catholic/American divide, have felt that the two systems, democracy and Catholicism, were incompatible. But why?

    Using the thought of the 19th century French diplomat and political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, Bishop Barron explores this question in his 2023 Russell Kirk Lecture for the Heritage Foundation, titled “The Breakdown of the Tocquevillean Equilibrium.” Enjoy!

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  • Friends, we are in the midst of a mental health crisis, with many calling it another pandemic. Record-high numbers of Americans are facing depression and suicide. Nearly half of young people report feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness. What’s behind this crisis, and how can the Church help? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show.”

    A listener asks, is “just war theory” a concession to human weakness? How do we square that with Jesus’ teachings on non-violence?

    00:00 | Intro
    01:09 | USCCB recap on surrogacy
    03:49 | Why the mental health crisis matters to bishops
    06:00 | Social media's role in damaged mental health
    09:39 | Community's role in healing mental health
    13:03 | The connection between psychological and spiritual suffering
    16:09 | Religious disaffiliation and mental illness
    17:47 | Who is St. Dymphna?
    18:40 | A word for those wrestling with poor mental health
    20:55 | Listener question
    24:17 | New book—“Christ Brings All Newness”

    Links Bishop Barron’s statement on surrogacy Christ Brings All Newness: Essays, Reviews, and Reflections by Fr. Robert Imbelli

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  • Today, we’re excited to share with you Bishop Barron’s recent talk at the 2023 Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) Conference held in London, England. His talk was titled “What is the True Nature of Freedom?”

    As Bishop Barron explains, freedom for excellence is not self-determination. It is the disciplining of desire so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless. Enjoy!

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  • Friends, the Catholic Church seems locked in constant disagreements, often between so-called liberal and conservative Catholics. But is there a third way to lead us out of this quagmire?

    Cardinal Francis George offers a compelling answer, which Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s episode of the “Word on Fire Show.”

    A listener asks, did Jesus ever get sick?

    00:00 | Intro
    01:13 | New episodes of “Bishop Barron Presents” are back!
    03:24 | Who was Cardinal Francis George?
    06:31 | Cardinal George’s critique of liberal Catholicism
    09:45 | Why liberal Catholicism falls short of giving life
    12:26 | Cardinal George’s critique of conservative Catholicism
    18:11 | Cardinal George’s solution: simply Catholicism
    20:53 | How Is Catholicism for our times and against our times?
    23:38 | What Cardinal George might say to us today
    24:39 | Listener question
    26:41 | 2024 Wonder Conference

    Links “How Liberalism Fails the Church” by Cardinal Francis George (Commonweal) Register for the 2024 Wonder Conference (August 2-4, 2024 – Rochester, MN)

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  • Friends, today we’re excited to share with you the newest episode in our “Bishop Barron Presents” series. In this discussion, Bishop Barron talks with Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ.

    Fr. Fessio was formed by some of the greatest figures of twentieth-century Catholicism, including Henri de Lubac, Joseph Ratzinger, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. This fascinating conversation covers his life story, his education, his experience in Europe, the founding of Ignatius Press, and much more. Enjoy!

    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
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  • Friends, we all strive to be spiritually great. We want to be magnanimous, great-souled men and women. But how do we get there? The Church offers a concrete seven-fold path, and that’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode.

    A listener asks, I’m coming back into the Church after a 15 year absence, and all the words [of Mass] have changed. What happened?

    00:00 | Intro
    00:55 | Bishop Barron’s California recap
    02:18 | How spiritual works of mercy relate to corporal works of mercy
    05:08 | Why loving others includes meeting spiritual needs
    05:44 | 1) Admonish the sinner
    08:24 | 2) Instruct the ignorant
    10:17 | 3) Counsel the doubtful
    13:32 | 4) Comfort the sorrowful
    15:54 | 5) Bear wrongs patiently
    19:00 | 6) Forgive all injuries
    22:18 | 7) Pray for the living and the dead
    26:18 | Listener question
    28:32 | New book—Ethics for Beginners by Peter Kreeft

    Links Ethics for Beginners by Peter Kreeft

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  • Today, we’re excited to share with you Bishop Barron’s recent talk at Harvard University titled “The Catholic Intellectual Tradition,” sponsored by the Harvard Catholic Forum.

    Bishop Barron explores some foundational themes in the Catholic intellectual tradition, including God, the human person, sin and grace, society, and freedom. All flow from Christology, our understanding of Jesus, so that, as St. Bonaventure said, Christ is truly found at the center of all the disciplines pursued in the university.

    Get your copy of Word on Fire's 2024 Lent Reflection booklets: WordonFire.org/Lent2024

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  • Friends, each of us wants to be a good person. But how do we actually do that? How do we truly become a person of love? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode.

    A listener asks, if I did not inherit the sins of my parents, why did I inherit the sins of Adam and Eve?

    00:00 | Intro
    00:46 | Update on Winona-Rochester Diocesan Pastoral Center
    02:38 | Dorothy Day and the need for corporal and spiritual works of mercy
    04:41 | The seven corporal works of mercy
    05:50 | Corporal works of mercy as measuring marks for self-examination
    06:36 | 1) Feed the hungry, 2) give drink to the thirsty, 3) clothe the naked
    10:53 | Direct aid for the needy vs. indirect aid
    12:57 | 4) Visit the imprisoned—is this literal?
    14:41 | How acts of love can lead to peace
    17:27 | 5) Shelter the homeless
    18:53 | 6) Visit the sick
    21:02 | 7) Bury the dead
    22:57 | How ordinary parents can pursue corporal works of mercy
    24:12 | Listener question
    27:21 | 2024 Lenten Reflections booklet from Word on Fire

    Links 2024 Lent Reflections Booklet – FREE copy!

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  • Friends, the prologue of the Gospel of St. John is one of the richest and most densely textured writings in the scriptures as John expresses the very nature of God and the profundity of the Incarnation that we celebrate every Christmas.

    Merry Christmas to you on behalf of my whole Word on Fire team!

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  • Friends, is the Christmas story little more than a sweet, saccharine tale about a cute baby being born? Or do the Gospels present something more subversive and revolutionary, a battle between two great kings? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode.

    A listener asks, whose body is the Body of Christ in the Eucharist? Infant, crucified, or resurrected Jesus?

    00:00 | Intro
    01:31 | Bishop Barron at Good News Conference
    03:56 | The surprising subversiveness of the Christmas story
    05:44 | Christmas details—Caesar and his census
    08:31 | Christmas details—“no room in the inn”
    10:37 | Christmas details—swaddling clothes
    12:06 | Christmas details—laid in a manger
    13:36 | Christmas details—shepherds as first witnesses
    15:47 | Christmas details—“do not be afraid”
    18:38 | Christmas details—“heavenly host” of angels
    23:47 | Why did God come as a baby?
    25:16 | Listener question
    26:43 | Join the WOF Institute

    Links Word on Fire Institute – Join Today!

    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
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  • Today, we’re excited to share with you Bishop Barron’s keynote talk from the 2023 Acton University conference, hosted by The Acton Institute.

    “Wokeism” is arguably the most influential public philosophy in our country today. It has worked its way into the minds and hearts of our young people, into the world of entertainment, and into the boardrooms of powerful corporations. But what is it precisely, and where did it come from?

    Bishop Barron argues in his presentation that “wokeism” is a popularization of critical theory, a farrago of ideas coming out of the French and German academies in the mid-twentieth century. Until we understand its origins in the thinking of Adorno, Horkheimer, Derrida, Marcuse, and Foucault, we will not know how critically to engage this dangerous philosophy.

    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
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  • Friends, can everything in the world be reduced to atoms bumping against each other, and chemical reactions in our brains? Or is there something more to reality than its material elements?

    That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode, with the help of a new book by Justin Brierley, titled The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again.

    A listener asks, if feelings are not acts of the will, what is contrition? A feeling, an act of the will, both, or neither?

    00:00 | Intro
    00:58 | Word on Fire’s New Ressourcement Conference
    03:10 | The problem with Materialism
    07:56 | The problem with Determinism
    10:57 | Consciousness and the problem it poses to Materialism
    16:34 | Rationality, C.S. Lewis, and atheism
    19:44 | Beauty as a path to transcendence
    23:25 | Materialism’s inadequacy as a source of meaning
    26:03 | The Meaning Crisis without the Highest Good
    29:48 | Listener question
    31:36 | New book—“Popcorn with the Pope”

    Links The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List by David Paul Baird, Andrew Petiprin, and Michael Ward

    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
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  • Today, we’re excited to share with you a talk that Bishop Barron recently gave at the University of Notre Dame titled “What Makes a University Catholic?”

    The talk was cosponsored by the Notre Dame Student Government, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, the McGrath Institute for Church Life, and Campus Ministry.

    Enjoy!

    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
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  • Friends, an exciting group of psychologists, scientists, and thought leaders are rediscovering the beauty and brilliance of the Bible.

    What’s causing so many of them to look at the Bible with fresh eyes? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode, with the help of a new book by Justin Brierley, titled The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again.

    A listener asks, how can Jesus be, at the same time, a God and a human being since God’s nature and human nature have many differences?

    Links The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley The Golden Key and Other Fairy Tales by George MacDonald

    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
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  • Today, we’re excited to share Fr. Robert Spitzer’s keynote talk from the 2022 Good News Conference on “The Evidence for God from Science.” Fr. Spitzer introduces a growing amount of evidence for God found in contemporary science, along with data suggesting a rising number of young scientists who are open to God.

    Fr. Spitzer is the President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith and the Spitzer Center. He has authored several books including New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy (2010) and Science at the Doorstep to God: Science and Reason in Support of God, the Soul, and Life after Death (2023).

    Links 100 Great Catholic Poems edited by Sally Read

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  • Today, we’re excited to share with you the newest episode in our “Bishop Barron Presents” series. In this discussion, Bishop Barron talks with writer, filmmaker, and activist Chris Rufo.

    Chris is the author of a new book titled America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything. He has directed four documentaries for PBS and is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a contributing edi­tor of the public policy magazine City Journal. His reporting and activism have inspired a presidential order, a national grassroots movement, and legislation in twenty-two states.

    Sit back and take in this latest conversation in our series “Bishop Barron Presents”. Enjoy!

    Links America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything by Christopher Rufo

    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
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  • Today, we share a discussion between Brandon Vogt and Fr. Steve Grunow, Word on Fire’s CEO and resident Halloween expert.

    Several years back, Fr. Steve wrote an article for Word on Fire’s website titled “It’s Time for Catholic to Embrace Halloween” that went viral and remains one of our most popular articles of all time.

    In today’s discussion, Fr. Steve explains what Halloween is fundamentally about, whether it is of pagan origin, and what a properly Catholic celebration of Halloween looks like.

    00:00 | Intro
    00:56 | Why is Halloween fascinating?
    02:11 | What is Halloween fundamentally about?
    03:10 | All Saints, All Souls, and Halloween
    05:01 | Excesses in how Halloween is sometimes celebrated
    06:36 | Is Halloween essentially a pagan holiday?
    08:33 | Is Halloween evil, a doorway to darkness?
    11:10 | Memento mori and Halloween
    12:34 | Connection between Halloween and costumes
    14:18 | “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
    14:54 | Candy and Halloween
    16:31 | What would a properly Catholic celebration of Halloween look like?

    Links “It’s Time for Catholics to Embrace Halloween” (Word on Fire) – Fr. Steve Grunow

    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!