Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
Episodes
Spiritual Food
08 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our first reading today, Elijah is dejected and requests that the Lord take his life. But an angel touches him and orders him to get up and eat. St...
Food for Freedom
01 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s first reading, we see God giving the Israelites mysterious bread on their way to the land of liberation. We need this same food ourselves...
The Mystery of the Mass
25 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The sixth chapter of John's Gospel, from which we will be reading these next several weeks, is a sustained meditation on the meaning of the Mass and t...
Looking for a Shepherd
24 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In today's first reading, God announces that he himself will shepherd his people. Yet a few sentences later, he suggests that he will raise up a right...
Summed Up in Christ
11 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For many people in the West, liberty seems to trump everything. We avatars of the egodrama, we worshippers at the altar of freedom, say that our choic...
The Mission of the Prophet
06 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week's Scriptures illuminate the identity and mission of a prophet—a calling that belongs to all the baptized by virtue of our Baptism. God app...
God Did Not Make Death
27 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Book of Wisdom offers us the strange assertion that God did not make death, for he formed humanity to be imperishable. This revelation directs us ...
He Must Increase and I Must Decrease
20 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
John the Baptist is one of the most important figures in Christianity, and provides a window into the tradition of the Jewish priesthood and the histo...
The Mustard Seed Principle
13 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for today features one of Jesus’ most beloved parables: that of the mustard seed. How does God tend to work? What does the building up of...
Sin and Blaming
06 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In all the literature of the world, I don’t know of a richer account of who we are, what we’re called to be, and what goes wrong with us than the ...
The Ultimate Blood Sacrifice
30 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
To truly understand what Jesus did at the climax of his life—and what the Catholic Church does at every Mass—we must understand the importance of...
The Trinity as Call to Action
23 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's often joked that Trinity Sunday is "the preacher's nightmare." But while the Trinity can be viewed as the most arcane and inaccessible Christian ...
Walking According to the Spirit
16 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I’m delighted that on this Pentecost Sunday, I can reflect on one of my favorite passages in the New Testament. It is taken from the fifth chapter o...
The High Priestly Prayer
09 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As the Easter season draws to a close, we hear from one of the most magnificent passages in the Gospel of John—namely, the high-priestly prayer of J...
God's Marvelous Choice
02 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today's Gospel presents the distinction between a generic spirituality, which emphasizes our decision for God, and authentic Christian faith, which is...
Four Spiritual Lessons from the Life of Paul
25 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I would like to focus my attention this week on the magnificent first reading, taken from the pivotal ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. I say...
Getting St. Peter’s Sermon Right
18 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our first reading for today proposes a very serious challenge to the inclusiveness and non-judgmentalism that is taken for granted in our culture to...
The Basics of Christian Proclamation
11 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Divine Mercy
05 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, we remember the dedication of this day by Saint John Paul II in honor of St. Faustina’s vision...
The Empty Grave
28 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Many people enjoy visiting the graves of famous people, from Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, IL to St. Peter in the Vatican. We feel a sense of peace ...
The Return of the King
21 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Entering Holy Week, we see numerous stirring examples of Jesus' fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies. From the direction he enters Jerusalem to his...
Planting the Law Within Us
14 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremiah 31:31 contains the great prophecy that the Lord will one day place his law within our hearts. In the Old Testament, God's law was written on ...
“Hesed” All the Way Through
07 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Divine Love is the great theme of the Bible, but one of the mistakes we can make is to project onto God our way of being. God’s love is uncondit...
Cleansing the Temple
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Temple, for Old Testament Jews, was everything. But St. Paul, who lived for many years in Jerusalem and knew the rituals of the Temple very well, ...
The Mystical Transfiguration of Christ
21 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the Transfiguration of Christ has beguiled the Christian mind for centuries. It is the clearest New Testament evocation of mystical exper...
Angels and Wild Beasts
14 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this first Sunday of Lent, the Church asks us to meditate on animals and angels. For Christ, in his own person, joins together the disparate elemen...
The Leper and Evangelization
07 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel this week gives us one of the great scenes of healing in the ministry of Jesus, and as is usually the case, the Gospel writer composes the ...
How to Evangelize
31 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A Prophet Like Moses
24 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It is of particular importance this week that we read the first reading and the Gospel together, for the former sheds enormous light on the latter. In...
Radical Christianity
17 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When Christianity is reduced to deism or moralism, we turn the Gospel into a faint echo of the surrounding culture. But today's readings propose somet...
The Call of Samuel
10 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the call of Samuel is illuminating for our time of corruption and cleansing. I argue that the sex abuse scandal in the church should be r...
Spiritual and Religious
03 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our modern culture suggests a tension between spirituality and religion. But the Magi in today's Gospel demonstrate that when spirituality is lifted u...
Following the Star
02 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our modern culture suggests a tension between spirituality and religion. But the Magi in today's Gospel demonstrate that when spirituality is lifted u...
Keeping Your Family Holy
27 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Bible is not particularly sentimental about families. What makes a family holy, as far as the biblical writers are concerned, is its willingness t...
Building a House
20 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The readings for this dramatic fourth Sunday of Advent put us in the heart of a deep and abiding mystery: the mystery of God’s providence. Just when...
Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks
13 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our second reading today is taken from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians—and it always takes my breath away. He says, “Rejoice always. P...
Clear a Path
06 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In our magnificent first reading from the prophet Isaiah, which is echoed in the words of John the Baptist in today's Gospel, a voice cries out: “Ev...
Watching for Grace
29 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Every time Advent rolls around, I remind people to go back to the words of that most famous of Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We hear, “...
He Reigns! The Solemnity of Christ the King
22 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Israel begins to long for a new David, the true David and true king of the world, we witness the longing for God. Jesus Christ is precisely thi...
The Parable of the Talents
15 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Your being increases in the measure that you give it away. That's the law of the gift, and it can be found from end to end of the Bible. One applicati...
The Wise and Foolish Virgins
08 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How do we wait? That is the question addressed by Jesus' parable for today. While we wait for the second coming of the Lord, we should keep our lamps ...
A Challenge to the Sons of Levi
01 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our readings for this weekend are tough for everyone, but especially for those who are in positions of leadership in the Church. I’ve been a priest ...
The Great Commandment
25 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today's magnificent Gospel should set the tone for your entire life. Trying to trap him, the Pharisees ask Jesus which of the commandments of the law ...
Caesar and God
18 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus places everything in its proper relationship to God. But he also chastises those who are involved in power games. God is ultimately in charge an...
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
13 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Many devout believers find the parable of the wedding feast in the Gospel of Matthew difficult to understand. The story is meant to stir us up with it...
The Vineyard
04 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today's readings pose a question: how are we tending the vineyard? We have received so much from God, but are we making the world fruitful? Are we re...
In the Form of God
27 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Some skeptics suggest the divinity of Jesus is a myth, or a later invention of the Church, that Jesus was nothing more than an ordinary man or great t...
The Privilege of the Mission
20 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today's Gospel reading is one of the most confounding. Many people struggle with this parable about the landowner and the workers, but as the old sayi...
Not Your Life, Not Your Death, Not Your Choice
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In today's brief selection from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, we learn, “None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we liv...
Judgment and Love
06 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If there is one absolute in our secular culture today it is non-judgmentalism. Some people, seeking to defend this point of view from a Biblical pers...
Jeremiah and the Word of God
30 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve always loved the prophet Jeremiah, and not just as a literary/spiritual figure, but as a person. He was known as the “weeping prophet” and...
The Inscrutable God
23 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I want to concentrate this week on our second reading, which is a very brief passage from Paul’s magnificent letter to the Romans. It comes at the e...
A Religion of Grace
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Christians have said for centuries that everything is a grace, that no one deserves anything, and therefore we should never complain about inequities....
The Silent Presence of God
09 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Elijah is a contemplative who has the eyes to see and the ears to listen. God does not appear in the glory of the world. Rather, he appears in a silen...
Transfiguration and Deification
02 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Transfiguration signals the purpose of religion. The first thing we notice is that Jesus' appearance becomes more beautiful. Second, in his trans...
All Things Work Together for Good
26 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our second reading for this weekend is taken from the end of the eighth chapter of Paul’s magnificent letter to the Romans. In this great book of th...
Wheat, Seed, and Leaven
19 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Gospel for this Sunday is taken from the 13th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and it features three marvelous parables of Jesus. How rich are the...
The Fecundity of Your Heart
16 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
God sows his Word into each of our hearts liberally. He does not solely give his grace to those he knows will bear fruit. He sows the Word in everyone...
The Yoke Upon Your Shoulders
05 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What is it like to have Christ for a king? All three of this Sunday's readings examine this very question in some way. The answer is to submit to his ...
No Fear of Death
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In our second reading for this week, St. Paul reminds the Christian community in Rome that baptism means an immersion into the dying of the Lord. In h...
Prioritizing Our Fears
19 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As we return to the regular cycle of readings in Ordinary Time, we meet with a bracing spiritual teaching from the Lord Jesus. No matter who is threa...
Every Word from the Mouth of God
14 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi in Latin. This feast displays the distinctiveness of C...
The Communication of Love
07 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
On Trinity Sunday we contemplate the mystery of God as a play of persons. The Father gives rise to the Son while the Father and Son give rise to the H...
The Breath of Life
31 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you want the Holy Spirit, you have to declare the Lordship of Jesus. Love is precisely what the Holy Spirit is. Do you want life? Do you want meani...
At the Right Hand of the Father
24 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, perhaps one of the most misunderstood elements within the Christian narrative. The Ascension does ...
The Spirit on the March
17 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This Easter season, the Church has asked us to meditate on the Acts of the Apostles. Today Jesus tells us to wait for the coming of the Spirit, which ...
The Paradox at the Heart of Christianity
10 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for this weekend is taken from the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John, which describes the farewell discourse of Jesus the night of the Las...
Apostolic Preaching
03 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our first reading for this weekend, taken from the second chapter of Acts, conveys one of Peter’s great sermons. If we listen attentively, we can le...
The Pattern of Love
26 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Like the two disciples walking towards Emmaus, a symbol of worldly power and security, and away from Jerusalem, the center of sacrifice, we need to be...
The Mystical Union of Christ and His Church
19 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus has come to bring us the divine life. Under his influence we become peaceful, unafraid, evangelizing, and forgiving. Through the Church, saints ...
And Now I See
21 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel story for this weekend is the narrative of the man born blind. In the Bible generally and in John particularly, sight is used as a metaphor...
A Master Class in Evangelization
15 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday we have the great privilege of hearing the story of the woman at the well, the definitive text on Christian evangelization. Take the time ...
Listen!
08 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our magnificent first reading is a short passage from the beginning of the twelfth chapter of the book of Genesis. We see that at this point in the cr...
Three Shortcuts from the Cross
01 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent covers the three "shortcuts" the Devil offered Jesus to lure him away from his central mission of the cross. ...
Seek First the Kingdom of God
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the rest will be given to you." Make God the center of your life, and you will be spirituall...
Be Holy, Be Perfect, Be a Temple
15 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Each one of this week's readings speaks of holiness, letting the Divine Life enter into you so that you become set apart. To be holy is to love with a...
Choosing the Way of Love
08 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What a privilege we have in this week's readings to hear from the book of Sirach, composed by an ancient sage who was deeply immersed in the Torah, th...
The Responsibility of Christians During Troubled Times
01 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus compares his disciples to salt, light, and a city set on a hill. All these things exist not for the...
Blessed Are We
25 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As we look into the famous “Beatitudes” described in this weeks Gospel, we learn that the Divine Mercy is the path to true joy. The more we allow ...
A Great Light in the Darkness
18 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week's reading from the prophet Isaiah emphasizes God's tendency to bring the best from the worst situations, light from the darkness. Throughout...
To Treasure Revelation
28 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There are three words that jump out at me from our Gospel reading for today's feast: "haste," "astonished" and "treasured." Each one says something im...
Christ-Mass
21 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for Christmas day is, of course, one of the most famous texts in the entire Bible: the Prologue to the Gospel of John. In many ways, it is ...
History is Going Somewhere, And It Rhymes
14 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As the Advent season comes to its climax, we are reminded that all of time and history comes to a kind of fulfillment in the Messiah. All of the stran...
“Tell John What You See and Hear”
07 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for this weekend is taken from the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, where John the Baptist has been arrested and wonders from his...
Eden, The Mountain, and The One Who Baptizes with Fire
30 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week's readings take us to chapter 11 of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah looks back to the garden of Eden and the world in right alignment with God, a...
The Mountain of the Lord
23 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week we enter into the great season of Advent. Our first reading from the prophet Isaiah describes how every nation streams towards God's holy mo...
Three Aspects of Christ’s Kingship
16 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We celebrate, as the very last Sunday of the liturgical year, the Solemnity of Christ the King. Think perhaps of the way that a king would come last i...
The Love of Predilection
25 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In Luke's Gospel we read the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, as chief tax collector, was considered a very bad man in first century Israel, b...
Prayer and Pride
19 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy,...
The Integrated and Variegated Body of Christ
12 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Our first reading from the book of Exodus is illuminating at so many levels. On the surface, this is a report of an ancient war, more of a tribal dis...
Paul on the Meaning of “Gospel”
05 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Something I’ve found over the years is that people use the word “Gospel” to mean all sorts of different things. People say, “I’m committed t...
What it Means to Live by Faith
28 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This Sunday's readings compel us to meditate on the meaning of faith. Paul Tillich, the 20th century theologian, said, "Faith is the most misunderst...
Rich Man, Poor Man
21 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Friends, I have spent the past 12 days in Rome for “baby Bishop school”, and just returned today. As such, I asked my Word on Fire team to reach i...
A Warning Bell in the Night
14 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Most of us spur into action when we believe that our financial state is in dire straits. Why don't we act in the same way in regards to our spiritual ...
The Awful Gospel of the Cross
31 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week's Gospel contains one of the greatest challenges Jesus ever offered to his disciples: "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and m...
Humility, Queen of the Virtues
24 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week's readings focus on the importance of humility. Humility is the foundation for the whole of spirituality. In order to truly pursue truth and...
The Narrow Gate
17 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
To gain eternal life is to participate to the fullest degree possible in the very life of God. It is to walk the path of love, surrendering to grace a...
Faith and the Reasoning of the Religious Mind
03 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
God cannot be analyzed scientifically the way one would study the things of the world, but God can be approached through religious reasoning, or Faith...
Bubbles, Everything is Bubbles
27 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The readings for this weekend have a tremendous cohesiveness. They all speak to a truth about our world that is hard to take in, that has to be repeat...
Abba Father, Bring us Jesus
23 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer, is a request for Christ. As we examine this most famous prayer line by line, we see it's all about Jesus. That ...