A recent article in The Atlantic magazine highlights the crisis of isolation befalling the United States. Americans have never been—or felt—more solitary, especially the younger generations. And the consequences are often fatal: loneliness is a major cause of the recent spikes in depression, anxiety, and suicide, which are at unprecedented levels. …

Today we are excited to bring you the first lecture from Bishop Barron’s popular course, “Dante’s Catholic Imagination,” which is available in its entirety inside the Word on Fire Institute. We hope you enjoy this deep dive into Dante’s evergreen, always-relevant poetic, moral, and theological genius. NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word o…

Pope St. John Paul II used the term “culture of death'' in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae to capture the secular world’s dark confluence of poisonous ideas and practices that lead—directly and indirectly—to spiritual and physical ruin. Sadly, we’ve seen the the culture of death advance on many fronts. Today, we focus on the increasing legaliz…

Today we bring you Bishop Barron's keynote address from the recent Good News Conference. In it, he speaks in depth about what it means to be a full witness to Jesus Christ. Enjoy! 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…

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 w…

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 …

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 woul…

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…

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’…

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 achiev…

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…

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…

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 […

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 Ch…

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-Roches…

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! NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron a…

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 Eucha…

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…

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 B…

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 thi…

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 Surprisi…

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 …

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 i…

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. …

Friends, the New Atheism movement rose quickly in the early 2000s, led by vicious critics of religion such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. What made their polemics so popular and effective? And how did the New Atheist movement decline and fade almost as quickly over the past few years? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s …