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, we come to the fifth Sunday of Easter and boy the gospel is so powerful from

the gospel of John because it speaks this truth and I've talked about a lot

before but it's what's distinctive really to Christianity. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a teacher from a distant age, not someone

we remember fondly from long ago, not a moral exemplar. I mean, who cares if that's all

he is? Rather, John is particularly good at presenting this.

Jesus is like a field of force.

Jesus is a life force.

We don't just listen to him or imitate him. We live in him.

Think of the very fact that he gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. We remain in him. Well the gospel

today gives us one of the most beautiful and powerful images for this.

Listen, you know in John's Gospel he says,

I am all the time because he's imitating the ego am me,

the I am who I am from the book of Exodus. So the divinity of Jesus being affirmed again and again.

But here's a famous one. I am the true vine and you are the branches.

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.

And anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like and talking about a life force that we're grafted

taking into teaching the way I would from any you know inspiring figure

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