Focus

Fr. Juan P. Ruiz. "Striving for What is Worth Having" Juan Point at a Time. November 29, 2022 The Gospel reading sounds like it's about the rapture, but it's actually something much more mundane, and rather frightening.

Bishop Robert Barron. "Focus on the One Thing Necessary" Word on Fire. July 17, 2022 Friends, the Gospel for this Sunday is the wonderful story of Martha and Mary. But the Church sets this up in a really interesting way by giving us a first reading from Genesis 18—the mysterious story of Abraham being visited by three guests. The two stories together show us that the problem is not hospitality, nor being active as opposed to contemplative; rather, the problem is being focused on many things instead of the one thing necessary, in which everything else tends to fall into the right place.

Gemma Thomson and Senior students from Iona College. "Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time" Australian Women Preach. July 17, 2022 Gemma Thomson is a passionate, faith-filled, young woman who seeks to role model the Church that Christ calls us to be; missionary, humble, inclusive and joyful.

Jill Gowdie. "Together on the Way" Australian Women Preach. June 26, 2022 Dr Jill Gowdie is known across Australia and overseas as a speaker, writer, facilitator, educator and system leader with wide and deep experience in Catholic education, mission and formation.

Bishop Robert Barron. "To What Does Your Heart Belong?" Word on Fire. February 13, 2022 Friends, when our heart belongs to anything in this world, we live in an empty and lifeless spiritual space. But when our heart belongs to the Lord, the rest of our life falls into right order around that center. Our readings this week raise a crucial question: To whom—or to what—does your heart belong?

Bishop Robert Barron. "Give Up the Ego-Drama!" Word on Fire. December 19, 2021 Friends, most of us are stuck in the boring and narrow confines of the ego-drama. Mary is not playing an ego-dramatic game; she is playing a theo-dramatic game. We hear of how she sets out “with haste”—the sign of the saints—and it’s because she knows her mission and her purpose in God’s story.

Bishop Robert Barron. "Have You Found Joy?" Word on Fire. December 12, 2021 Friends, on this Gaudete Sunday, we are called to rejoice! Detach yourself from the anxieties of the world and live in the peace and joy of Christ.

Fr. Addisalem Mekonnen. "Homily" St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church. October 24, 2021

Richard Rohr. "Life Coming to a Focus" Center for Action and Contemplation. March 7, 2020

Richard Rohr. "Money" Center for Action and Contemplation. September 22, 2019

Bishop Robert Barron. "Bigger Barns or Treasure in Heaven?" Word on Fire. August 4, 2019 All three of our readings for this weekend speak of a primordial spiritual truth—that is to say, the need to detach oneself from the goods of this world. This has nothing to do with hatred of this world or of matter or the flesh; all of that sort of dualism is repugnant to the Bible. It has to do with a “wearing lightly” of this world and its goods, even as those goods are acknowledged and celebrated.

Richard Rohr. "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" Center for Action and Contemplation. August 4, 2019

Bishop Robert Barron. "Walking Truly and Completely with Him" Word on Fire. June 30, 2019 In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus clarifies that all worldly goods find their value in relation to Him. If we believe Jesus is the only Son of God, we must place our grudges, personal desires, and even our most sacred worldly obligations aside in order to walk truly and completely with Him.

Richard Rohr. "Tribalism versus Otherness" Center for Action and Contemplation. June 30, 2019

Bishop Robert Barron. "Tell John What You See and Hear" Word on Fire. December 7, 2016 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 jail cell whether Jesus “is the one or should we look for another?” When this inquiry is conveyed to Jesus, the Lord does not respond theoretically, but rather by pointing to things that are happening, namely, God’s grace is making people whole again. “Go tell John what you see and hear”.

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Mountain of the Lord" Word on Fire. November 27, 2016 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 mountain. As you enter the Advent season, think about this holy mountain. Is the mountain of the Lord higher than every other mountain for you? Do you stream toward it with your whole being?

Bishop Robert Barron. "Bubbles, Everything is Bubbles" Word on Fire. July 31, 2016 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 repeated to each generation afresh, a truth that many older people have an easier time understanding than young people: nothing in this world lasts.

Richard Rohr. "Scattered Insights from Three Readings" Center for Action and Contemplation. July 3, 2016

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Great Yes and The Great No" Word on Fire. August 4, 2013 Very often we find ourselves drawn towards extremes: puritanism or hedonism, idolizing the world or demonizing the world. The proper Catholic balance involves a balance—a yes and a no—to both extremes. We should enjoy the world we have been given while understanding that it is not as important as the God who gave it.

Richard Rohr. "Jesus Is Honest About Wealth" Center for Action and Contemplation. August 4, 2013

Bishop Robert Barron. "All Is Loss" Word on Fire. March 21, 2010 In our second reading for this Sunday, St. Paul lays out his resumé. In terms of the Judaism of his time, Paul was about as accomplished as one could hope to be: he was a defender of the tradition, steeped in the wisdom of his people, and blameless under the law. But after seeing Jesus risen from the dead, Paul said that he counted all of those achievements as loss and refuse. So we, he implies, should not base our lives on our accomplishments, degrees, social status–but rather on Christ crucified and risen.

Bishop Robert Barron. "Whom Will You Trust?" Word on Fire. February 14, 2010 Our life takes shape in relation to that which we are willing to trust. What then is worthy of our trust? Worldly powers can disappoint and will all ultimately fail us. The Scriptures insist that we trust in the Lord’s promises, promises that are proved to be true through the Resurrection of Jesus from dead.

Bishop Robert Barron. "Not One Stone Upon Another" Word on Fire. November 14, 2004 Our Gospel for this Sunday opens with Jesus’ disciples admiring the splendor of the Temple, the most beautiful, important, and impressive building they had ever seen. And Jesus, as is his wont, pulls the rug out from under them: “Not one stone of this temple will be left upon another, but it will all be torn down!” The Gospel emphasizes over and again that nothing in this world lasts, nothing here below is ultimate. Therefore we shouldn’t spend our time and energy gawking at the glories of this world; rather we should see and act in the light of a glory to come.

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Trouble With Honor" Word on Fire. August 29, 2004 Some people organize their lives around the love of money; others do so around the love of pleasure or power. Still others make honor–the esteem of others–the central value. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus criticizes all of these false gods, and in today’s passage, he focuses on this last problem. The key, he suggests, is to order one’s life so that winning the esteem of God is all that finally matters. Why play to the fickle, unreliable crowd? In all of your thoughts, words and actions, play to the divine audience–and you will find liberation and joy.

Bishop Robert Barron. "The One Thing Necessary" Word on Fire. July 18, 2004 Both our first reading and Gospel for this week speak of the importance of keeping our attention riveted on God. The three angels visit Abraham, and he drops everything in order to receive them with hospitality; Jesus comes to her home, and Mary sits at his feet, listening to his words. When God is the absolute priority in our lives, everything else that we are worried about about falls into place. Augustine said, “love God and do what you want.” This implies that once God is the unambiguous center of our lives, we can confidently arrange and respond to all of our particular concerns.

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Steadfast Love of God" Word on Fire. December 7, 2003 Everything in nature, culture, and the cosmos is passing away. Nothing here below finally lasts. Though certainly sobering, this is not, ultimately, bad news, for it orients us toward the one power that does last: the steadfast love of God. In the Gospel for today, the Word of God comes not to the mighty and powerful of the world, but to John who is living a life of renunciation and prayer in the desert. How important this message is for the setting of our priorities.

Bishop Robert Barron. "The Program for Freedom" Word on Fire. February 3, 2002 At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, we hear the eight beatitudes. These are a summons to be liberated from the various addictions–to material things, to power, to good feeling, to the esteem of others–that keep us from following the will of God.

Bishop Robert Barron. "A Passion for the Impossible" Word on Fire. July 22, 2001 The philosopher Kierkegaard defined faith as the passion for the impossible. When we stand, like Abraham, at the edge of what we can know or control, we look out into the alluring darkness of what God can do in us and for us. To say “yes” to this invitation beyond reason is to have faith.