Friends, welcome to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization, using media both old and new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an

encounter with Christ and his church.

The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring the transformative power of God's word where it is most needed.

Today we invite you to join Bishop Robert Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each one of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, I guess, um, yeah, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

I'm going to go once more into this great issue that has been a dividing Western Christianity

since the reformation.

The issue of faith and works. I do it not just because I have a, you know, I'm a glutton for punishment, but because it's in our second reading from the letter of James, which is a key text for Catholics on this issue.

Let me just read you a couple lines from the letter of James.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith,

but does not have works. Can that faith save him? So also faith of itself

if it does not have works is dead. So pretty strong stuff, huh? That faith and works seem both necessary

for salvation. Now you know where this issue emerged and emerged out of the very powerful

experience of a young Martin Luther, this intense Augustinian monk, so we're

beginning now of the 16th century, Luther brilliant, a teacher of theology. monk,

so we're beginning now of the 16th century.

Luther, brilliant, a teacher of theology,

expert in scripture.

But wrestling with this problem of,

do I know I'm saved?

Luther was a monk, he was a friar, and so he had all kinds of works at his disposal if you want.

He had sacraments and sacraments and sacraments and

...