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Bishop Robert Barron

Join Bishop Robert Barron for a weekly podcast on faith and culture. Find more episodes at http://WordOnFireShow.com and submit your questions at http://AskBishopBarron.com.

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

The Enlightenment believed reason was its own authority. Heteronomous authority was anathema. Autonomy was the ideal. Thus, the Church's hierarchical structure was viewed as enslaving. In light of this critique, Newman offered an insightful defense of freedom and truth in the Catholic Church. 
 
 
 
 
 Topics Covered: 
 
 
 • Consulting the faithful in matter of doctrine 
 • Conscience 
 • Reason and authority 
 • Bishops and theologians 
 
 
 Links: 
 
 
 • Article: 
Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church • Video: 
John Henry Newman on the Laity • Read: 
On Consulting the Laity on Matters of Doctrine • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 527: Reason and Authority (12 of 12)

Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. In 2025, Word on Fire Catholic Ministries celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. And in October of that same year, Bishop Barron and Word on Fire CEO Fr. Steve Grunow gave a presentation at the Good News Conference in Orlando in which the two men took a deep dive into Word on Fire's origins. How did it begin? What were its animating principles? What were some of its earliest strategies? Where did the name "Word on Fire" even come from? Why, in short, did Word on Fire develop the way that it did? Here to discuss these roots with Fr. Steve Grunow, in this first half of an hour-long conversation, is Bishop Robert Barron.
 

 

 Links: 

 
 • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 

 
 
 

 

 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 526: The Early Days w/ Bishop Barron & Fr. Steve (pt. 1)

Since the mind can infer truths of which it does not have certainty, what judges the validity of an inference in concrete matters? The Illative Sense. It is the power of judging and concluding when not having apodictic certainty. Bishop Barron explores Newman's analysis of the Illative Sense, explaining why it is an essential element in religious conversion. 
 
 
 
 
 Topics Covered: 
 
 
 • The Illative Sense 
 • The nature of certainty 
 • Formal Inference 
 • Informal Inference
 
 
 Links: 
 
 
 • Read: 
The Illative Sense (from the Grammar of Assent) • Video: 
The Personalist Spirit of Newman's Thought • Video: 
The Freedom of Truth: The Nature of Conscience in Aquinas and Newman • Book: 
Communities of Informed Judgement • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 525: The Illative Sense (11 of 12)

In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan show, evolutionary biologist and public intellectual Bret Weinstein observed that two emerging features of contemporary societies, especially, though not exclusively in the West, are challenging the very meaning and purpose of human life: 1) the decoupling of human sexuality from human reproduction—defining sex primarily as recreational and 2) with the rise of AI and robotics, the real possibility that having a job will become entirely optional in the future. By secular standards, pursuing both of these goals seems entirely rational, if not laudable: raising children and going to work are, indeed, challenging, so why shouldn't we live in a world in which both become increasingly rare? Weinstein, however—who doesn't profess adherence to any religious tradition—suggests that humanity may lose something important, if not essential, if we continue down this path. Is he right to be concerned? Is it, in fact, wise to relegate having children and going to work—which defined how most people spent most of their adult lives throughout history—entirely to the realm of subjective preference? Or, in seeking ever greater freedom from these responsibilities, are we undermining what it means to live a fully human life?
 

 
A listener asks: How can I respond to "God loves me the way I am"?
 

 Topics Covered: 

 

 
00:00 | Introduction
 01:39 | Bishop Barron's Christmas season
 02:48 | Examining Bret Weinstein's grim assessment
 06:36 | Procreation as a sign of the covenant
 09:34 | Why not frame children through the lens of lifestyle choice?
 13:23 | The valorization of personal choice
 16:31 | What about celibate priests?
 17:52 | Work and technology
 23:42 | Can AI or robotics truly replace the human genius?
 25:48 | Limitations for using AI
 28:06 | The necessity of work in giving a gift
 30:02 | Why can't technology help us create heaven on earth now?
 33:01 | The active dimension of rest
 37:03 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
 

 

 Links: 

 
 • Papal Encyclical, 
Humanae Vitae • : 
Vatican website • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 

 
 
 

 

 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 524: The Dangers of Life Becoming Too Easy

An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent was Newman's most difficult work. While not a formal epistemology (theory of knowledge), Newman prompted a movement away from modern epistemology, stressing certainty that is best found in logic and mathematics, to common sense epistemology, affirming truth that is not absolutely certain. Bishop Barron explains why this epistemology is proper to religious knowledge, which includes notional and real assent. 
 
 
 
 
 Topics Covered: 
 
 
 • Why assent is not certitude 
 • Religious Liberalism 
 • Notional and Real Assent 
 • Conscience 
 
 
 Links: 
 
 
 • Article: 
A Meditation on the Grammar of Assent • Video: 
Dr. Reinhard Huetter on Newman • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 523: The Grammar of Assent (10 of 12)

St. Pope John Paul the II memorably observed that the Catholic Church comes from the eucharist and that the eucharist, in turn, comes from priests. As Bishop Barron noted in a recent letter to his diocese, "by an inescapable logic [therefore] no priests, no Church." We should add, however, that priests come from bishops, which expands the ecclesial logic to this: no bishops, no priests; no priests, no eucharist; no eucharist, no church. In other words, bishops not only hold an important administrative position within the Church; tracing their authority back to the apostles and, ultimately, to Jesus Christ himself, they constitute the very sacramental and liturgical foundation of Catholicism itself. That, to say the least, is a weighty responsibility. So what is it like to be a bishop? How does one come to hold this office? What, specifically, do bishops have authority over–and what don't they have authority over? What kind of relationship do they have with each other and with the Holy Father, the pope? What are their day-to-day obligations and activities? And what are some challenges they face that both clergy and laity may not be aware of?
 

 
A listener asks what made Bishop Barron want to be a priest.
 

 Topics Covered: 

 

 
01:38 | Bishop Barron's Thanksgiving in Chicago
 02:45 | The origins of the office of bishop
 04:51 | The theological dimension of the bishop's role
 06:41 | The liturgical symbols of the office
 10:45 | Bishop Barron's coat of arms
 12:12 | How does one become a bishop?
 16:10 | How are dioceses formed?
 17:20 | Relating bishop to archbishop
 18:51 | Understanding the bishop's authority
 20:03 | What is a chancery?
 21:03 | Essential tasks of the bishop
 29:38 | Bishop Barron's approach to his official duties
 33:01 | The meaning and authority of a conference of bishops
 37:19 | Myths about Catholic bishops
 40:06 | Listener question: What made you become a priest?
 41:41 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
 

 
 
 

 Links: 

 
 • United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: 
https://www.usccb.org/ • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 

 
 
 

 

 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 522: What's It Like to Be a Catholic Bishop?

Newman believed that a liberal arts education would instill a philosophical habit of mind in students, helping students reason to the foundational principles of every discipline and see how everything fits together. The philosophical habit of mind distinguishes between significance and triviality, helping society and individuals order everything to the Good. 
 
 
 
 
 Topics Covered: 
 
 
 • Pattern recognition 
 • Sapientia 
 • Useless education is useful
 • Advantages and disadvantages of the philosophical habit of mind
 
 
 Links: 
 
 
 • Article: 
The Philosophical Habit of Mind: Aristotle and Newman on the End of Liberal Education • Video: 
Alasdair MacIntyre on Newman's Idea of a University • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 521: The Philosophical Habit (9 of 12)

Religious freedom, especially for Christians, is under attack across the globe, including in the West–including right here in the United States. Whether insidiously in the form of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that block Christians from employment and advancement opportunities, or, overtly, like vandalism against churches, or, in some parts of the world, murderous violence against Christians themselves, in terms of sheer numbers–and this fact is often ignored–Christians are, by far, the most persecuted religious group in the world. While defending religious freedom is important for people of all faiths, or no faith at all, it is thus especially urgent for believers in Christ. How, then, can we work together as a church and as a society to make progress on this front? Taking a step back, what, specifically, is religious freedom and why is it a universal human right? What is the relationship between the free exercise of religion and freedom of speech? And how can we respond to the secular charge that religious freedom is merely a backdoor means for the faithful to impose their beliefs on others?
 

 
A listener asks how we can grow in confidence that Catholicism is the one true religion.
 

 Topics Covered: 

 

 
00:00 | Introduction
 01:36 | Concluding Winona-Rochester's diocesan synod
 03:24 | The work of the Religious Liberty Commission
 07:33 | Responding to Religious Liberty Commission criticism
 09:11 | The inherent priority of religious liberty
 12:32 | Distinguishing the freedoms of religion, conscience, and speech
 14:26 | Is religious liberty necessary for worship?
 16:33 | Understanding "due limits" to religious liberty
 19:33 | Proposition or imposition?
 20:24 | Civil authority and religious authority
 22:40 | Truth and relativism
 27:25 | How poor conceptions of religion undermine religious liberty
 28:27 | Advocating for religious liberty
 30:06 | Religious freedom in society
 31:36 | Why religious liberty matters for evangelization
 32:48 | Listener question: How can we know Catholicism is true?
 36:01 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
 

 

 Links: 

 
 Dignitatis Humanae • : 
 Vatican document • Word on Fire Institute: 
 https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 

 
 
 

 

 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 520: Defending Religious Freedom

Theology is the queen of the sciences. It is not just one science among many but the principal organizing science. If it is taken out of this central organizing place, something else will take its place. In this lesson, Bishop Barron helps us understand why Newman thought theology was of crucial importance in education. 
 
 
 
 
 Topics Covered: 
 
 
 • Theology as the queen of the sciences 
 • Consequences of supplanting theology
 • The Liberal Arts 
 • The Philosophical Habit
 
 
 Links: 
 
 
 
 
 • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 519: The Queen of the Sciences (8 of 12)

Poverty is not only a complex problem to address economically–not to mention sociologically, psychologically, and culturally; it is also often caught up in political and ideological currents, both domestically and internationally, that run counter to a Catholic understanding of human dignity and the common good. So what, then, is the authentically Catholic way of caring for the poor? What does it mean to say that Catholicism has a preferential option for the poor? How, moreover, can the Church coherently both advocate for reducing poverty on the one hand while praising the embrace of voluntary poverty on the other? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A listener asks advice on how God being in a non-competitive relationship with human beings applies to his mission as an evangelist.
 
 
 Topics Covered: 
 
 
 
 
00:00 | Introduction
 01:53 | Bishop Barron at the annual meeting of US bishops
 03:39 | The three essential tasks of the Church
 07:48 | The necessity of charity in true worship
 09:04 | Understanding and identifying poverty
 10:58 | The margins, the marginalized, and Catholic social teaching
 16:08 | Understanding institutional sin
 18:40 | The salvific dimension of poverty
 21:17 | The voluntary poverty of the Church
 22:57 | What about spending money on cathedrals?
 26:03 | Beauty as service to the poor
 27:11 | Defining "preferential option for the poor"
 31:16 | The Church, policy, and the poor
 35:18 | Right to private property or universal distribution of goods?
 37:42 | The evangelical dimension of caring for the poor|
 40:06 | Listener question: If God exists noncompetitively, does my mission matter?
 41:45 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
 
 
 Links: 
 
 
 Dilexi Te • : 
 https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20251004-dilexi-te.html • Word on Fire Institute: 
https://institute.wordonfire.org/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.

WOF 527: Reason and Authority (12 of 12)

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