Special Broadcasts

Bishop Barron answers questions from non-Catholics around the world, including:

If we are beloved children of God, how could he banish anyone to an eternity of Hell?

Why do priests have to be celibate?

What’s the difference between the Jewish Bible, Catholic Bible, and the Koran?

How do we read similarities between the Virgin birth and similar stories found in other myths/religions?

Why do Catholics need to confess their sins to a priest, and not directly to God?

Dr. Chris talks with Cameo Anders about the Christian meaning of human suffering, something which we are all experiencing in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

God made this world good, but He did not make it unbreakable. This world has come undone, and our sickness and suffering reveals the deeper ways our hearts have come undone.

Friends, the coronavirus outbreak has left countless people all over the world asking themselves: Why is God allowing this to happen? How do we respond? And where can we find hope? In this bonus episode of “The Word on Fire Show,” we discuss these and other questions, exploring the ancient problem of evil, the impact of the virus on Catholic sacramental life, and other spiritual dimensions and effects of this crisis. Please listen and share!

In John 5, we hear the story of the man who lay paralyzed for 38 years at the pool of

Bethzatha. Sharon combines archaeology, mythology, scripture and theology to reveal the deeper

meaning of this passage. The pool of Bethzatha was actually a healing pool dedicated to the Greek

mythological deity Asclepius, the god of medicine, health and healing. Jesus does not use the pagan

waters when he heals the lame man. Jesus is the true source of healing.

In this lesson, Dr. Jan George, a retired university teacher of literature with a Master of Theology from the University of Dallas and founder of Sacred Heart Productions, discusses: Life and Death in Christ, God Raises the Humbled One,The Lord Is Our Boast and Joy

Before an in-depth look at John 5, Sharon reminds us of some of the themes of John’s

Gospel, including “the hour” and “the seven signs”. Christ offers salvation to all: Jesus came for the

common Jews at Cana, for the Jewish aristocracy with Nicodemus and for the Samaritans.

Chris talks with Fr. Andrew Dickinson about what it means to be a Christian

We live in a world that has come undone with hearts and relationships that have come undone. Jesus comes to that wound to undo what has been undone.

The fathers of the Second Vatican Council referred to the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life, that from which authentic Christianity flows and that toward which it tends. Yet a recent Pew Forum study found that only 30% of church-going Catholics believe what the Church teaches about the Eucharist, that under the forms of bread and wine, Christ is really present in the sacrament.

That alarming statistic is why Bishop Barron devoted an hour-long keynote address to the topic at the 2020 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. Today we share the first half of his talk, which looks at the Biblical and patristic basis for the doctrine of the Real Presence, and next week we’ll share the second half. Enjoy!